Imagine my surprise when I'm reading down the HN list like I do every day and I stumble upon my own website. Thats a pretty cool feeling! Im happy to answer any questions people may have. This was my Angular learning project back when Angular just came out. I think Angular ended up being the wrong choice for this project, but it works and I learned Angular, so its all good.
> I remember the frustration as kid getting a book of designs from the US and having none of them work quite right.
"Not quite right" means even more fun. We used a non-standard paper format, the resulting planes were a little bit different than shown and this made them unique.
I've recently started running a STEM club for girls. One of the lessons is about flight: what makes an airplane fly, and can we design a better airplane than the standard 6-fold-arrow?
I've been searching the internet for a website that ranks paper planes both difficulty AND purpose. You just saved me a lot of time. On behalf of the girls in my club: thank you!
That's awesome. I have fond memories of similar experiments in physics, where the winning group used the "paper clip" trick to put some weight on the nose.
The world record paper airplane flight is just a straight up rectangle haha.
My only problem with this website is that when I used it with a class of students, there were pornographic advertisements in between the plane types. That was really upsetting. Please reconsider your ads.
I just wanted to say that your portfolio is amazing [1], and you've had the coolest career ever [2]! I was wondering, are you still the sole developer of Toodledo, or do you have some employees now?
It would be great to have some data on these designs, for example avg time aloft, max distance travelled. May be users should be able to report this and you can do average or median?
Some of these look so similar to the ones I used to design. We used to call a single "swoop" where it would go down and glide back up a "neener-neener". The peak of our design was the "neener-neener 9", which I recall would do a full 9 neener-neeners on a blustery day.
Nice diagrams. Do you know the book "Kids' Shenanigans" by Klutz? [1] I grew up with it, and it has three paper airplane designs, corresponding to your "Basic Dart", your "The Square Plane", and one called the "Nakamura Lock"[2] (also mentioned elsewhere in this thread), which you don't seem to have but bears some resemblance to your "Tail Spin".
You might already be aware, but when toggling some of the tag filters, mixed in with the normal square images, I get several empty squares that don't link to anything.
The main problem I ran into with Angular was SEO. With a single page app, I had a hard time getting google to index the individual airplane pages. This was 5 years ago, before good solutions existed. I cobbled together a solution, but its not perfect. And Google is better about this now anyway. It would have been better to use vanilla JS or jquery to do the simple home-page filtering. But I wanted to learn Angular, so thats what I did.
I used to make one like the square plane, except at step 4 I would fold the outer points on more time toward the center line then fold the tip while inserting the previous folds into the folded tip so it makes a thick triangle. You could then fold the wing tips up or down to make the vertical surfaces. I'm not sure I'm describing it well.
I just want to say thank you. Your site just made my teaching job a lot easier.
PSA: am working with kids on some optimization stuff.
Teaching not daily.
To counter that, I personally find the padding to be absolutely spot on. I often see designs where the designer has added lots of beautiful white space, and the result is that the actual content spans 2 or 3 pages instead of one.i personally feel that web sites that use less padding often feel more"real" and fit for purpose.
Its hard to say. I never did a test where I threw them all and compared distances. I should do this! A lot depends on how accurate your folds are, and how well you tune it by small bends to the wings. This can make a big difference. I would say that "The Buzz" or "V-Wing" probably are the best. Also the classic "Basic Dart" thrown hard is difficult to beat.
In the 90's I went to a small middle school, the 8th grade class was 21 people. Once, the school had a contest in the indoor gym, we each designed paper planes and the one who flew it the farthest won a prize. We argued with teachers over an allowance for a little bit of tape, which some of us used just as nose weight. However, each kid was the one to "fly" his own plane, a big oversight.
Almost the last kid, when it was Sam's turn to "fly", he stepped up to the line, crumpled up his design very tightly into little ball, and hurled the paper mass as far as he could.
Strangely, I can't remember what happened or who won! But his genius observation of the rules stuck with me.
The plane I designed is not among these designs, but a totally square design that I had learned earlier from an origami book. This is the closest one: https://www.foldnfly.com/17.html#The-Square-Plane
Similar story from a university aero course that ended with a paper airplane competition.
There were some remarkable paper airplanes, making amazing flights, all sorts of research and time went into developing the ideal model.
One guy comes up representing his team and he gets out a piece of rolling paper and a lighter. Tears the tiniest portion off the rolling paper, sets it alight, and then follows it with his finger through the air as it took forever to land on the ground.
I believe the incident led to a rule change for later years.
I did the same in elementary school, I made my own plane design after many iterations of a/b testing. It won pretty much every airplane contest. No tape, pennies, or paperclips needed, they actually reduced the overall distance if the center of mass was too close to the tip.
When thrown you had to keep the wings folded down unlike a traditional plane. Basically I made a dart. You didn't have to be good at throwing either, guaranteed to work in any weather condition since it didn't rely much on aerodynamics.
Unlike regular origami planes, the harder you threw it the further it went. So I always had the biggest guy in class throw it.
Suprisingly I never came across the design in any origimai books/sites I've found either, even years later. Its probably out there somewhere but I still remember how to make it.
I did this too! My exploitation of the loophole was aided by the fact that we were also allowed to use (an unspecified number of) paperclips to "balance" our designs. The result was a very dense square with the aerodynamics of a skipping stone. I also brought a traditional paper airplane which I was allowed to fly when my other design was predictably disqualified for general bad faith.
I heard a take on this story in a book about origami (origami airplanes, I guess? It's been long enough I don't specifically remember the source). The artist said, roughly, that if you crumple up a sheet of paper, dip it in water, squish it hard, let it dry, and then throw it as far as you can, it will go quite far. A paper airplane must go farther otherwise it might as well not be a paper airplane.
I did the same thing in eighth grade. Put my toes on the throw line with an unfolded sheet of paper, and crumpled it right there on the spot. We were judged on both distance and "straightness" of flight, I believe that I won on both counts. However, I was disqualified for "not being an airplane" though nobody, not even the teachers, could tell me why. I was hoping to justify my stance that golf balls produce lift, so therefore my ball should produce lift and be considered an airplane as well, but there was no interested ear to appeal to.
we have similar contest, but in the University, and it was for the longest (time) flight, not the farthest. Among all guys that tries different setups the contest won... a girl (to make it even more awesome, I think she was the only female contest member :D) :)
I used to roll a sheet of paper up into a very tight tube, then flatten one half and tie an overhand knot in it. That's how I won the "distance shot" portion of informal classroom wastebasketball competitions. You just hold the light end and flip it towards the trash can.
So even the wadded-up ball can be improved upon.
And no, I don't know why the teachers ever left us alone in the classroom.
We did the same in elementary school. The winning plane was essentially a dart hurled at a 45 degree angle. It didn't fly per se, but did get launched pretty far.
I thought this was a fantastic eggcorn[1], until I realized that it is the actualy origin of the word 'pastime'. So, it sort of is, but isn't at the same time.
Question: there is a "rule" separating "no cuts" from others, let's call it a purity class. Is "no arbitrary folds" also an established purity class? When I was a kid with too much paper at my disposal, arbitrary folds felt like chatting. Arbitrary folds would be any fold not defined by either a side or existing fold aligning with another side or existing fold or by a corner aligning with another corner. Many intermediate folds would be done just as guidelines for layer folds, and four the structural effect they would have after getting undone. A bit like the "only lines and circles, no measurements" rule in geometry.
But it doesn't have to! It could just as well have started with a center fold and then folding the corners to the center to measure, then folding that over to measure again. The measurement folds don't have to even be full folds -- you could just fold only at the very edges to lock in the measurement. Also, this plane ultimately has a center fold in it, so it could easily have begun with one.
Paper airplanes are generally symmetrical, which means you can begin by folding the paper in half and using that fold to determine where the nose is. Unless you mean something else?
Hi! There's a paper airplane I've made which I learned out of a book a while back - the book called it either a "condor" or "albatross", I forget which, but searching for either of those names turns up different designs. It's an excellent glider, and one of the few designs I know that start with the paper in landscape orientation.
If you're interested, here's how to fold it:
- With the paper in landscape orientation, fold the top corners to meet in the middle.
- Fold the top corner [just created] down to the point where those two corners meet.
- Fold the two new obtuse corners on the top to meet in the middle. Tape into place.
- Fold in half left-to-right, so that the taped corners are on the outside of the fold.
- Fold the edges back down to the centerline.
- Unfold, and smooth out to give it the profile of an upside-down flattened W. The flatter, the better it will glide, but if it's too flat it will spin.
Launch by holding the back, as it has no vertical surface to grip on the bottom.
I actually "invented" another paper airplane design called the Nakamura Hammer (because it combines the designs of the nakamura lock and the hammer). I made it to the frontpage of Reddit, so that were my 15 minutes of fame. Here's the tutorial
In high school we used to receive printed notices aka 'circulars' from administration to give our parents (do they still do this?) -- our classroom window overlooked a cabin used for temporary classes with a corrugated asbestos roof. After promptly turning my circular into a plane and flying it out the window, exclaiming "hey i got to the 5th row on the cabin roof!"
Thus began the hottest aerodynamics contest in my academic life, we experimented with so many designs, tried all kinds of crazy modifications.
The interesting thing was, our classroom window was an entire story higher than the cabin roof -- the usual "paper plane contest hack" of rolling a paper ball and chucking it as hard as you can was not very good compared to a functional aerodynamic design with some lift.
The "contest" ended when a week later someone reported our antics and the school was aghast to find 40-odd paper planes roosting on the portacabin roof and our entire class was given some stern warnings but luckily noone sold me out as the instigator.
Readit News
(And not the A4 size common in the UK and elsewhere. http://betweenborders.com/wordsmithing/a4-vs-us-letter/)
I remember the frustration as kid getting a book of designs from the US and having none of them work quite right.
"Not quite right" means even more fun. We used a non-standard paper format, the resulting planes were a little bit different than shown and this made them unique.
I've been searching the internet for a website that ranks paper planes both difficulty AND purpose. You just saved me a lot of time. On behalf of the girls in my club: thank you!
The world record paper airplane flight is just a straight up rectangle haha.
https://classicreload.com/win3x-greatest-paper-airplanes.htm...
Do you plan on doing something like that with your website?
I remember playing this with my dad and having it installed for a birthday party. Fun times.
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I hope this HN bump has been good for Fold N Fly!
[1] http://www.jakeo.com/portfolio.php
[2] http://www.jakeo.com/about.php
looks like they are hiring.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Kids-Shenanigans-Approve-Whoopie-Cush...
[2] https://www.instructables.com/id/Paper-Airplane-The-Nakamura...
You might already be aware, but when toggling some of the tag filters, mixed in with the normal square images, I get several empty squares that don't link to anything.
Anyway, happy folding!
Time to pick up a few more.
Deleted Comment
Also is missing the most important thing. A video of the plane flying.
Almost the last kid, when it was Sam's turn to "fly", he stepped up to the line, crumpled up his design very tightly into little ball, and hurled the paper mass as far as he could.
Strangely, I can't remember what happened or who won! But his genius observation of the rules stuck with me.
The plane I designed is not among these designs, but a totally square design that I had learned earlier from an origami book. This is the closest one: https://www.foldnfly.com/17.html#The-Square-Plane
There were some remarkable paper airplanes, making amazing flights, all sorts of research and time went into developing the ideal model.
One guy comes up representing his team and he gets out a piece of rolling paper and a lighter. Tears the tiniest portion off the rolling paper, sets it alight, and then follows it with his finger through the air as it took forever to land on the ground.
I believe the incident led to a rule change for later years.
Sounds interesting, but I'm confused. So is he walking in front of it, and the flame is pulled toward his finger? Did it travel the farthest that way?
When thrown you had to keep the wings folded down unlike a traditional plane. Basically I made a dart. You didn't have to be good at throwing either, guaranteed to work in any weather condition since it didn't rely much on aerodynamics.
Unlike regular origami planes, the harder you threw it the further it went. So I always had the biggest guy in class throw it.
Suprisingly I never came across the design in any origimai books/sites I've found either, even years later. Its probably out there somewhere but I still remember how to make it.
Ironically, my sister won that one with my design and won a 30-min flight in a "real" glider. That was probably ten years ago and I'm still sour.
So even the wadded-up ball can be improved upon.
And no, I don't know why the teachers ever left us alone in the classroom.
Windtunnel to test: https://www.instructables.com/id/Paper-aeroplane-wind-tunnel...
Project form: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project...
Another page with slightly different features: https://www.origamiway.com/paper-airplanes.shtml
I thought this was a fantastic eggcorn[1], until I realized that it is the actualy origin of the word 'pastime'. So, it sort of is, but isn't at the same time.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn
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Virtually all of the instructions on the site begin with folding the paper in half in some way. However, this one breaks that rule:
https://www.foldnfly.com/15.html#Spin-Plane "1. Fold the paper in half about two inches before the edge."
But it doesn't have to! It could just as well have started with a center fold and then folding the corners to the center to measure, then folding that over to measure again. The measurement folds don't have to even be full folds -- you could just fold only at the very edges to lock in the measurement. Also, this plane ultimately has a center fold in it, so it could easily have begun with one.
The Greatest Paper Airplanes[1], a virtual interactive encyclopedia for Windows 3.1
Of course, you can use it in the browser these days[1].
It goes through basics and history of flight, basics of paper folding, and gives you dozens of interactive, animated, step-by-step designs.
Loved it as a kid, and was thrilled to see it preserved online.
[1]https://classicreload.com/win3x-greatest-paper-airplanes.htm...
- With the paper in landscape orientation, fold the top corners to meet in the middle.
- Fold the top corner [just created] down to the point where those two corners meet.
- Fold the two new obtuse corners on the top to meet in the middle. Tape into place.
- Fold in half left-to-right, so that the taped corners are on the outside of the fold.
- Fold the edges back down to the centerline.
- Unfold, and smooth out to give it the profile of an upside-down flattened W. The flatter, the better it will glide, but if it's too flat it will spin.
Launch by holding the back, as it has no vertical surface to grip on the bottom.
https://imgur.com/gallery/b2Q8X
It flies really really well inside.
Thus began the hottest aerodynamics contest in my academic life, we experimented with so many designs, tried all kinds of crazy modifications.
The interesting thing was, our classroom window was an entire story higher than the cabin roof -- the usual "paper plane contest hack" of rolling a paper ball and chucking it as hard as you can was not very good compared to a functional aerodynamic design with some lift.
The "contest" ended when a week later someone reported our antics and the school was aghast to find 40-odd paper planes roosting on the portacabin roof and our entire class was given some stern warnings but luckily noone sold me out as the instigator.