Paper airplane is not only a papercraft but it has the potential to be a Micro aerial vehicle – can act as an aerial video capturing device, surveillance vehicle and it also acts as a flying device. Paper airplane instructions are simple to follow and easy to make. It has the potential to be a better tool for a lot of current flight problems such as efficiency, longer range, and the thrust to weight ratio problems.
Making a paper airplane is simple but advancing the process of paper airplane making could be a difficult task because of the origami modules. For one to understand the origami process is not so easy but it is easy if you follow the step by step instructions from easy to difficult models.
There are so many models in paper airplane designs but only few of its potential is explored. How far your paper airplane go? The moment it leaves our hand there are multiple forces acting on it’s body as we throw them.
The hand throw gives them the necessary thrust to fly, not only because of the throw but the design is what matters. The important thing to notice, Paper airplane no more receives any thrust after leaving your hands. So it has to be designed in a way to balance well to keep it flying.
Drag:
Drag is the resistance offered by air (any fluid) when any object tries to move through them. They try to act against your paper airplane to reduce its speed. The more the surface area of your plane the more it experiences the drag – eventually your paper plane will slow down quickly. Here comes the need for aerodynamics in the best paper airplane designs.
Lift:
For your paper plane to be in the air for a decent amount of time its design has to equalize or overcome the lift to weight ratio. Lift is generated by the design of paper airplane wings whereas weight is determined by how heavy is your paper airplane. Lift to weight ratio should be balanced to keep your dart/glider design to stay in the air as long as possible.
Launching pad:
Paper airplane needs a nice runway to take off – Find a free open space having low and smooth wind. Make it easy with no one standing around you in a closer range. Check whether your plane flies properly, If not recheck the design and symmetry.
Try with different materials and different folding techniques, with different materials comes to different outputs.
Thanks to articles reader for allowing us to write a wonderful article about paper airplanes.
Control surfaces in aircrafts:
- Ailerons
- Flaps
- Fin
- Rudder
- Elevator
- Leading edge
- Trailing edge
- Winglets
- Fuselage
- Wing
Ailerons
Ailerons in aircraft are classified as Primary control surfaces that help aircraft to change their course and direction. In Pitch, Yaw, and Roll, Ailerons helps aircraft to do roll. Ailerons are mounted at the rear end of a paper airplane wing (i.e. Trailing edge in airplanes). Ailerons at both sides of the wing sometimes work inversely proportional to each other. When you fold the right aileron up and the left aileron down, similarly when you fold it vice versa. Paper airplanes roll right and left.
Flaps
Flaps in paper airplanes control the roll movement in paper airplanes and also the right and left turns if we use it right.
Fin
Fin is called a vertical stabilizer which helps the paper airplane to stabilize the movement in the air medium. Many websites teaches different paper airplanes with fins which helps you understand the vertical stability in paper airplanes and airplanes.
Rudder
Rudder helps the aircraft to move their direction right or left, mostly the impact of the rudder will start from the tail of the aircraft. Rudders exist in fighter jets, commercial aircraft, and also in Paper airplanes.
Elevator
Elevator produces pitch control; they are fixed at the horizontal stabilizers of the tail wings. It assists not only pitch also to control aircraft banking, increase or decrease the angle of attack and the lift of the aircraft.
Leading edge
The Leading-edge in a paper airplane decides the percentage of drag it has to produce, the aerodynamic the design of leading edge of the wing touches the air first in motion. The Leading-edge of a paper airplane may be narrow, rain drop-shaped, or sometimes combinations of them.
Trailing edge
The trailing edge is located at the rear end of the aircraft wing when the leading-edge separates the airflow and the air re-joins their boundaries at the trailing edge. Trailing edge is where most of the primary control surfaces of aircraft are located. The trailing edge has flaps and ailerons which controls roll and pitch.
Winglets
The main intention for Winglets in aircraft design is made to reduce the wingtip vortices i.e. the drag produced in the wing. In paper airplanes, winglets help aircraft to stay stable during their flight. Gliders having winglets have better stability over their flight.
Fuselage
The fuselage carries passengers, payloads, crew, landing gears, and avionics devices. In paper airplanes, the fuselage is the section where we hold onto before launching. The fuselage also helps maintain the weight distribution in paper airplanes.
