The Lugosi

The twin-tails are reminiscent of fangs, thus the name. It flies, sorta, but it's mostly designed to look cool. On a breezy day, it will make a great glider when dropped off a second story balcony (like every model that sports this design, it is so light that it manages to ride any slight breeze), but it's also fun to watch such a weird, unweildy thing glide across my living room.

Whitewings Paper

I recently got a second secondhand copy of THE Paper Airplane Book: The Official Book of The Second Great International Paper Airplane Contest. Aside from containing the plans for several interesting designs, it also contains countless photos of competing models. More importantly, the book really captures the combination of creativity, exuberance, and technical mastery of the participants, and is a joy to read.

Most importantly, my used copy arrived with all three sheets of Whitewings paper intact. An extremely light, strong material, Whitewings Paper is characterized by having a minimal grain, and a remarkable ability to maintain whatever shape it is bent into. Unfortunately, it still seems to be a proprietary product of Dr. Ninomaya's Whitewings line of pre-printed glider kits, and remains unavailable for separate purchase.

Let me preface: Whitewings paper is a joy to work with. It is indeed light, versatile, stiff, and lives up to its reputation.

However...

I carefully cut out the "Phaeton" pattern from one of my sheets of Whitewings paper, folded it up, and watched the craft plop to earth like a stone. I experimented with different flap positions, dihedral angles, and COGs (I even broke the cardinal rule of my design: adding a small tab at the bottom to accomodate a "throwing" launch rather than the traditional "pushing" launch). The Whitewings paper just seems to be too heavy for this design. Plus, models made from traditional 20-weight copy paper seem to move WITH the surrounding air, while the Whitewings model is much stiffer, and seems to force itself into the air.

A possible solution would be to construct a larger version of the craft from several sheets of the paper. There is a definite size-to-weight ratio in the craft's construction that remains to be decoded, and I plan to explore future models made with different materials. However, given the scarcity of it, I will be unable to experiment with Whitewings paper. I have two sheets left, though, and I am looking forward to designing a craft that will take full advantage of the material's advantages.

The Mazerati

This model is distinguished by long, thin wings and sexy curves. A distinctive design feature is the length of the folded leading edge of the front wing: it covers over half of the plane's total wingspan! This offers a little more strength and stability to the design.

In spite of this, the long, thin rear wing will vibrate heavily once the plane reaches full airspeed. As with The Firebird, this seems to be a product of a stable flight. With enough experimentation, and/or precision engineering tools, a fully aerodynamic version could be produced...but what's the fun in that?

If these designs interest you, I encourage you to experiment with them. Each model has unique design features that can be mix-&-matched, and infinite variations beyond that. Experiment with different materials: interesting models could be constructed with cardboard, heavier-weight papers, wood, or even plastics.

PDF Pattern:
http://www.zshare.net/download/59221363ddffa45c/

Firebird

The Firebird is an early model of my "Flying Biplane" prototype. It is light and angular, and an amazingly friendly glider. The "hammerhead" front stabilizer lends another plane surface to modify, and more importantly, it looks pretty fucking cool.

As with the Phaeton model (and the forthcoming "Mazerati" model), it is constructed from a single sheet of 8.5x11 copy paper, and a small piece of scotch tape.

Unlike the Phaeton, this model has no stabilizing fold on the rear wing. This causes the rear wing to be much more flexible, and you will notice that it vibrates during flight. This seems to be a self-regulating property of the craft's design that allows for a straight, linear flight. Compare Firebird's flight path with Phaeton's.

One last note: this craft was constructed before I began incorporating the landing-gear assembly that is prominent with other models. If you choose to incorporate a landing-gear assembly on The Firebird, be sure to compensate by modifying the Center of Gravity.

PDF Pattern:

http://www.zshare.net/download/59193734695b5763/

The Phaeton

IT ALL started about twenty years ago, when, in my rebellious early teens, I decided to give the finger to the popular notion that a "paper airplane" necessitated a sleek, aeronautical "dart" design. An experiment in minimalism revealed that a plain sheet of paper, folded down the middle with a few folds on the front end, made for a beautiful glider when dropped from any substantial height. From there, the fun began:

My "Flying Biplane" prototype emerged from a desire to design the most awkward, unwieldy plane that could possibly achieve flight. The "Phaeton" model presented here accomplishes this nicely.

This model presents some solutions to the initial flaws of original designs. Paradoxically, these "solutions" present problems of their own: The most obvious is the stiffening fold on the leading edge of the rear wing. This keeps the rear wing from destabilizing in mid-flight. But, it turns out that the vibrations of the rear wing are actually a product of a stable, linear flight. By stabilizing the rear wing, this craft compensates by performing a sliding, yawing flight that is not altogether unpleasant or undesirable. The Phaeton is an interesting craft with infinite possibilities. Please let me know of any improvements/modifications you might discover.

I will include links to the original patterns for my designs as I post them, but I would encourage anyone who happens across this blog to post your own models.



http://www.zshare.net/download/59187499e6486b72/