Exotic Paper Aircraft

This is a collection of a few of my favorite paper airplanes. Much of this was developed during years of sitting through French class in high school.

There is also a Gallery photo engine to manage the folding instructions. Among other things, this means:

  • You can now add comments to individual instructions and rate the aircraft. This should provide a good forum for things people are having trouble with, and maybe even provide a means for people other than me to lend help. (Of course, I reserve the right to delete inappropriate or profane comments with extreme prejudice :P )
  • Finally, this automation should make it easier for me to create detailed instructions. I'll spend the next few bouts of insomnia adding new stuff (I currently have a HSCT, a canard which still needs some refinement, a payload bomber, and even a boat to add), redoing some of the older / low quality aircraft in more detail, and adding pictures & links to other people's aircraft.

I seem to have picked up a disproportionate share of the press coverage from the recent New Millennium Paper Airplane Contest. Congratulations to the winners of the much more challenging Duration (Howard Fink with a modified Barnaby), Surprise (Peter Genovese), Children's (no names printed, but were apparently part of Peter's Boy Scout troop), and the several Spectacular Failure categories! The New York Times has the most comprehensive report I've seen on the event. Wired blogger has video.

Here's a picture of my entry for the Distance category, which received some close competition from Peter's dart.


Thanks to the artist Klara Hobza and the NYC Public Art Fund for bringing this event together! Looking forward to seeing her book on the contest.


The Hangar

Select the images for more information
Property----|----|
Difficulty _]
Speed _______]
Maneuverability _________]
Robustness __________]
Stability ____]
Basic glider
... worth hours of fun in its own right
Property----|----|
Difficulty __]
Speed ______]
Range ________]
Flying Wing
Property----|----|
Difficulty ___]
Speed ]
Stability _________]
Floater
a nice slow glider
Property----|----|
Difficulty ____]
Speed ___]
Maneuverability ___]
Robustness ______]
Stability ________]
Slant-Nosed Glider
Property----|----|
Difficulty ____]
Speed ______]
Maneuverability _____]
Robustness ___]
Leading Edge Extension Glider
(see Trint for general instructions)
Property----|----|
Difficulty _________]
Speed _____]
Range ______]
Stealth ______]
Stability ________]
Stealth Glider
(formerly known as the "Condor")
Property----|----|
Difficulty ________]
Speed ________]
Range ________]
Stability ___]
Aero Spike
... useful for getting rid of pesky vampires from a distance.
Property----|----|
Difficulty _____]
Speed _______]
Maneuverability ___]
Attack Points ________]
Double-hulled...
heck, there's no sense in covering it up, those are obviously Death Spikes. Just don't get suspended from school for it.
Property----|----|
Difficulty _____]
Speed ______]
Attack Points ______]
Trint
- This one has three.

Connecting Flights

Notable aircraft from other web sites
[caret-shaped device] Aaron Hunt's World-Class paper glider
detailed on his web page
[flying fish thingy] Canard dart
Well, this is actually one of mine. And it looks more like a carp to me. I obviously need more ideas. Let me know about any aircraft you know of!
[Your Contributions Needed] Reader's Rides
And here's how you can help add content to this site. Just email me asking for a Gallery account, and you'll be able to create and maintain your very own section on this site.

External References

My bookmarks to other paper aircraft related sites.

Hairball:

Inanimate entity
at work.		 -8X-
Rowin Andruscavage
Last modified: Mon Nov 3 19:56:53 EST 2008