How to Fold an Awesome Paper Airplane

An awesome paper airplane will travel a long distance on a smooth glide.

Making an awesome paper airplane is simple but also amazing in that you create a flying object from a simple sheet of paper. Adding some origami techniques to the traditional lawn dart shaped projectile adds stability and distance to the craft. There are a large number of variations on paper airplanes out there. Some are built to twist or tumble, others to glide long distances, others for speed.

Instructions

1. Fold the top two corners of a plain sheet of paper so they meet on the center line and form a triangle shape to the top of the paper.

2. Fold the tip of the paper down at the base of the triangle. Now fold about 1 inch of the tip up, then unfold it.

3. Bring the top corners down again, this time meeting the tips of the corners at the fold line you just made on the tip. Have them meet in the center just above this line. Crease them down.

4. Lift the tip back up and fold over the two points.

5. Crease the plane along the center line and fold in half so that the part you were just working on is on the outside of the plane. Now fold the wings down at an angle from the tip to the tail about half way up each side of the plane. Test fly the plane. Trim, or make folds at the tail and ends of the wings to adjust the flight of the plane.

References

• Exploratorium: How To Make Paper Airplanes
• Best Paper Airplanes: The Best Origami Paper Planes To Fold and Fly