Getting your player ready...
Once the bane of schoolteachers everywhere, paper airplanes are now teachers themselves because they’re a great way to experience the physical principles of flight firsthand. Ken Blackburn, a Florida aeronautical engineer who also happens to hold the Guinness World Record for the longest paper-airplane flight – 27.6 seconds – will be in Denver for the Great Paper Airplane Fly-In at Wings Over The Rockies Air and Space Museum next weekend. He’ll teach kids and adults how to fold an airworthy paper plane Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. If you can’t get there to learn from the master himself, here are some of Blackburn’s best tips.
- Start with a good design, such as the classic dart that many people know, or try the design at right, which made the world-record flight.
- Choose your paper wisely. “I usually use copier paper, letter size, either 20-pound or 24-pound weight,” Blackburn says. “Lighter and thinner paper will usually be too flimsy, and heavier paper can be difficult to fold.”
- Make flight adjustments. “This includes making sure the wing tips are up – the plane should look a little like the letter ‘Y’ when viewed from the front or back – and bending the back edge of the wing up a little bit to prevent nose dives.”
- Decorate with caution. Don’t press too hard on the wings while personalizing your plane. This can bend the paper and cause the plane to crash. Don’t put on too much ink with a marker; if the paper gets wet, it will cause the wings to warp or twist.
- Pick a good spot for takeoff. “Indoor flying is good, because you don’t have to worry about the weather. If you have only a small place to fly, you can try precision flying, like flying through a door or trying to land on a spot on the floor. I also really like flying outdoors. The best conditions are no wind to light wind, and no rain. Beware of paper-airplane-hungry trees and roofs.”
- Make a nice, smooth throw. “Since you bent the back edge of the wing up, you no longer need to throw your plane upward. Throw your plane level for the best flights,” Blackburn says.
Source: paperplane.org and Blackburn’s “Kids’ Paper Airplane Book.”
