A site about model airplanes, helicopters and other aircfats
Contents:
History Of Paper Airplanes
The history of paper airplanes obviously has begun after the real airplanes have been invented. There are some reports online claiming it starts before 1900, but you would agree this is not possible. However people usually view the paper airplane history as part of the history of paper models in general which starts much earlier than XIX century.
Let's review together the history of paper airplanes with a bunch of text and pictures:
China, 2000 years ago
The history of paper models starts in China about two thousand years ago. The first models have been made of papyrus paper. Such models have not remain intact till the present time however so we can only guess how exactly they looked like.
Later these first models evolved to the origami craft. We know very well how the shapes of origami have looked as we keep doing them nowadays.
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Aero Magazines, the beginning of XX century
The first evidence that paper airplane history has started its wheel can be found in the aviation magazines from 1908 - 1909. They have contained articles explaining the use of paper airplanes for understanding and exploring the aerodynamics and aircraft design.
As the creator of die-cut paper airplanes is considered Wallis Rigby whose company were developing paper aircraft, cars and boats.
Second World War, 1939 - 1945
During the Second World War the paper airplanes production increased because there was no development of plastic model airplanes and balsa wood models. Paper is cheap, you know.
Present time
Paper airplanes are not history - they are still here, pretty much alive and kicking. People keep looking for good paper airplane designs and build paper airplanes themselves. There are plenty of paper aircraft books, containing instructions or lined models that you can cut or build. There are websites and tutorials on making paper airplanes like the ones on this site.
Knowing the history is not required if you just want to build or collect paper airplanes, but it certainly helps feel better the beauty of this hobby. Unfortunately there is no detailed timeline, with years, dates and pictures of paper airplanes. If you know some facts and have evidence for them, I would appreciate you share them so you can build a complete history of paper airplanes on this site.
Do you want to learn how to make a paper airplane? Read our articles and guides and subscribe to this site to learn everything about paper aircraft and other model airplanes and helicopters! You can also buy instructional videos that will help you make great paper airplanes in minutes.
There are millions of websites on the Web who give far flying paper airplanes plans and explaining how to build an aircraft yourself. The problem is most of them just go into too much detail of very complicated model airplanes. Even our article on how to make paper airplanes is focused at the advanced ones.
What to do if you just want to let your child learn making paper airplanes by creating a simple one?
Searching for such information online or in your local book store might turn out to be a pain. But I have an answer and it is pretty short:
Origami Paper Airplanes
The origami art is the answer because it lets you make far flying paper aircraft by just folding a square sheet of paper. No joining parts, no cutting, no compex drawings are required. And there are no long explanations with the origami airplanes - usually you will only have to go through a few pictures and a few words. That's the perfect manual for children!
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It's easy to find origami paper airplanes instructions online - for example visit this site. Pick a model you like and let your child study it. It's so simple and so beautiful.
It's even more recommended to buy a book about origami airplanes from your local store. Sometimes the drawings in these books are in real size so it's easier for your children to follow them. In some books you'll find even pages intended for cutting and making the airplane directly from them following the marks on the foldings. That might be a bit too easy to your likes however.
Problems With Simple Paper Airplanes
"Just too simple" might be the first "problem" that comes to your mind, but that's actually an advantage. It lets you and your kids get the first model airplane done and flying in pretty short time. That's much better than cutting, spoiling and building for several days just to end up with something that they don't like. Kids are impatient so better let them do simple things first.
The real problems with simple paper airplanes are mostly related to the way they fly. Here are the most common ones:
Bumpy Flight. Often the simple paper airplanes have a jolting ride. Usually lowering the elevators can help fixing this.
Diving and going down. Paper airplanes are too light and throwing them too strong often causes this. Just don't throw it so hard or try adding elevators.
Not flying straight. If your airplane's wings are not identical or the tail is crooked, this will happen often. Make sure the wings are exactly the same and the tail is straight.
Unstability. If the paper airplane is not stable, you need to add fins. The fins are small bends at the edges of the wings. Usually they would be 1-2 sm wide.
Looping and crashing. If the entire airplane structure is not well symmetric, the model will often loop and crash down. Besides redoing the model completely, you have the options to check its symmetry and try to fix it, or to manipulate the angle between the wings.
There are of course all kind of problems that may happen to the flight of your paper airplane. But don't forget that making a new one is always pretty easy and fun. It's not like investing a lot of money and time in some complex model aircraft kit. So don't worry, just go ahead, let the kids play with the models and enjoy with them. To give them a kick start, get one of these great videos - visual instruction works best epsecially with kids.
Paper Airplanes For Kids
Creating model airplanes on your own is a complex process. You can browse through the articles in this site to get a better idea of all kind of model aircraft you can do and what is involved. Regardless of its complexity, the hobby of aviation modeling is very popular beneath the more technically advanced kids. But if you are looking for airplane models which are appropriate for just any kid, better look for paper airplanes.
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Paper Airplane For Kids - What Is Specific About Them
Kids easily get excited about any new thing they face, but they also as easy lose interest in it. The kids still don't have our wisdom to accept failures so if they fail doing something, they often get quite disappointed. That's why the paper airplanes for kids must meet some specific requirements:
They must be easy model airplanes. To avoid frustration, the kids better be given easy paper airplanes so it is almost sure that they will complete their first aircraft successfuly. You don't want to turn your kid off the aviation just because he or she couldn't finish the first model.
They must be robust. Your kids might not be too careful with the paper airplanes once they make them. They will try to make them fly in all kind of conditions, they will play with them, throw them and sit on them. Too fine models are not appropriate paper airplanes for kids.
They must fly. Your kids will not get excited about static scale model no matter how great is to have such airplane made of paper. They want their airplanes to fly - the more they can fly, the better. So, pick good, simple, flying paper airplanes.
If I have to suggest a kid its first model airplane, I would definitely choose an origami model. The origami airplanes are great for kids because they are made by just folding a sheet of paper. There are no joints, no complex instructions and not things to go wrong if the sketches are good.
Origami is an ancient Japanese art which has been survived centuries. If you let your kids make origami airplanes you are intorducing them not only to model aviation but also to a great and beautiful art.
Some Great Paper Airplanes For Children
Here are the names of some of the best models paper airplanes:
Arrow airplane. Probably the most clasical paper airplane ever created.
Bat Airplane. The bat is one of the simplest models which can be made with just few folds.
Stealth Airplane. The stealth is beautiful wide airplane which flies exceptionally well if made carefully.
The paper airplanes really give a lot of opportunities to the kids to have a start in model aviation. All they need is a little help and passion from you.
Plastic Model Airplanes
In the past most model airplanes were made of balsa wood. Most of these models are looking very good and can sustain long time. The wood model airplanes are not that appropriate for flying models however because the balsa wood is not that light.
In the recent years it's getting more popular to build or buy plastic model airplanes. When you buy, the packages come as ready to fly, almost ready to fly or in a kit form.
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Ready To Fly Plastic Model Airplanes
Plastic is a very good and robust material and is sustainable to shocks, sun, water and cold. Best of all, it is light, that's why most free flying or remote control aircraft models are made from plastic.
When buying a plastic model airplane, consider the following:
The Civilian aircraft models are less popular which gives you the opportunity to own something unique
If you are looking for a gift, the military model airplanes are great for aviatiors and other government servants
Most indicative of the aviation history are the commercial model airplanes so if you collect aircraft with educational purpose, that's probably what you should look for at first.
The ready to fly or static scale plastic model airplanes often have more details than the wood aircraft models.
One of the most important factors to consider when buying a static scale plastic model is its size. These models are intended to stay in a room, so you must visualize the aircraft somewhere and see what size will fit best. If you are purchasing one for a gift, then prefer a smaller size because the receiver may not be happy if he can't find space for his gift.
Building Plastic Model Airplanes
Building plastic models yourself is far more exciting if you have the time and passion to do it. In general no one builds plastic models totally from scratch, because plastic is a material that needs to be factory-cut and prepared.
The easiest thing you could do is to buy ARF (almost ready to fly) plastic kit. These kits typically require just painting, but this gives you enough freedom to give your soul to your model.
If you choose to buy a plastic model aircraft kit for constructing, you should prepare for a nice adventure. If you have purchased a scale plastic kit normally you would start by building the interior, seats, cockpit and then move outside. It's important to follow exactly the instructions in the kit, otherwise you may miss some part and be unable to add it the already built airplane.
The free flight plastic models airplanes have much less details and building them with kit is more fun than a challenge. Just be very precise when joining parts because every inaccuracy may ruin the aerodynamic balance.
If you buy a plastic RC airplane kit you must find the engine and remote control inside it. These parts of the kits are always pre-built so you don't need to deal with electronics. With these kits you have to be careful mostly about placing the engine on the right place and make robust joints between it and the fuselage.
The plastic model airplanes are affordable gifts and easy to build. Of course wood gives you entire different sets of advantages, but if you need quick, easy and sustainable models, plastic is probably the best material for them.
Model Autogyro - An Extraordinary Cool Idea
Many people collect or build model airplanes and helicopters for years. Still there are very few who are creative enough to try with other types of model aircrafts - rockets, gliders, paragliders, ultralights or autogyros.
What Exactly Is An Autogyro
An autogyro is quite similar to helicopter rotorcraft because they both use a rotor to lift. However the rotor in the helicopters is used all the time during the normal flight. The autogyro is very different by this criteria - its rotor is auto-rotating by the aerodynamic forces during the flight.
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The real power of the autogyro comes from a propeller just like in the airplanes - but pretty often this propeller is behind the corpse instead in its front.
Because of these specifics the autogyros are very interesting aircrafts to build. Most model aviation fans consider them extraordinary and probably for this reason autogyros are less popular than the airplanes and helicopters.
The autogyros can also be called gyrocopters or gyroplanes so when searching for such models you can try these terms too. Sometimes an autogyro can be referred as gyrodine but strictly said gyrodine is a different type of aircraft.
Autogyro Models - Plans and Kits
Would you like to build or buy a model autogyro? Trying to design one yourself only by the given information here will be hard. Preferably if you want to build, you would need at least construction plans.
One of the good sites where you can buy gyrocopter plans is Aero Balsa - most of them are priced between $8 and $20. They also offer kits in the $100 - $150 range.
If you want to build scale models of gyroplanes, some good models to consider are Skyhook, Barnett J4B, McCulloch J-2, CarterCopter and Cierva.
Paper Autogyro That Can Fly
The autogyros are a bit complex aircrafts and making entirely from paper one that flies is a tough task. You will need to use some more robust material at least for the propeller and the rotorcraft. Some light wood or plastic should do the work.
Making the corpse from paper is a really good idea mostly because paper is very light. If you choose to do it, you need to strengthen the parts where the paper connect with the rotorcraft and the propeller - otherwise the rotation friction will quickly damage it. You can use small circles of plastic or wood - for example beads.
If you want to make a paper gyrocopter that flies without engine, you can try powering it with a rubber band. In general paper gyroplanes are not very stable and making one that can fly long time may require many trials.
Regardless the difficulties making model autogyros is very exciting. Even if you decide to buy a ready one, you will have something that most other model aviation fans don't even think about.
In the introduction article about paper airplanes written few months before this one we discussed jumping into the fun world of making paper airplanes. I gave some samples of more interesting and more advanced airplane designs. The builder's imagination is unlimited an you will see that there are models which go even further than what is shown there.
But how can you create really advanced paper airplanes yourself? Keep reading and you will understand.
Find And Download Plans
Of course you could go by your own plan and that's a nice thing to do if you are going to build a simple aircraft. But for more advanced models you'd better research the Web and find doiwnloadable plans which are specially designed for paper airplanes. Best of all, usually these plans are completely free.
To save you some time, I have collected a couple of the best resources about free paper airplane plans. Check out The Online Paper Airplane Museum which has a collection with literally thousands of designs.
Several easy and quick designs are available on Alex's Paper Airplanes. They are not exactly advanced but I would call some of them quite interesting.
Pick Paper
At the time when you are still at the start of making paper airplanes I would recommend you take a sheet of used paper - for example something printed that you will not need anymore. A sheet in Letter format (or A4 in Europe) will do the work. If having something on the paper confuses you and you need a white sheet, at least use recycled paper.
When you stop experimenting and want to create a real paper airplane that flies and looks cool, it's time to think about the paper quality. The paper should not be very heavy - the weight of the free flight aircrafts is one of the most important factors which determines how long will they fly.
At the same time the paper should be robust enough so it doesn't get torn on the first flight. Preferably it would be also sustainable to little amounts of water.
Origami Airplanes And Joint Aircrafts
When choosing plans to download, have in mind the following:
The simple paper airplanes are built following the rules of the art Origami - by using a single sheet of paper and folding. No cutting or sticking is used. Some Origami masters are able to create quite advanced models this way. The origami model airplanes often can fly very well.
The really advanced paper airplanes and especially the paper helicopters / autogyros can't be made by a single sheet. They usually involve using different parts, cutting and sticking them. Building such model aircraft requires more preciseness and patience.
Improving The Design Of Your Paper Airplane And More Tips
If you want your model to fly well, you could do some improvements to the design. Putting more weight in the nose, keeping the model symmetrical and trimming the problematic places can help your plane fly better and longer.
