Paper Airplane Designs • Hacker News Board

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#111

Post by amphibian87 » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 9:59 PM UTC

dirktheman wrote: post #78

offsky wrote: post #41

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'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.

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#112

Post by stretchwithme » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 10:03 PM UTC

offsky wrote: post #41

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.

We did paper airplane design when I studied the Taguchi method in college.

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#113

Post by dwd » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 10:04 PM UTC

offsky wrote: post #52

madeuptempacct wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which one flies furthest? (I can narrow down by category, but not sort).

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.

There is a ring design that will beat any dart for distance. Particularly when thrown gently from a height where its glide ability can be exploited.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/ring-wing-glider...

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#114

Post by j2kun » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 10:09 PM UTC

One trick I always used but never understood why it worked:

When you add a crease to the paper airplane, (say, folding a square corner in on itself at the nose or the tail), it weighs down that part of the plane. So if your plane is pointing up too much, you add a crease in the nose and it flies more level.

But why should adding a crease increase the weight of one section of a plane? You're not adding any more paper.

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#115

Post by verta » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 10:13 PM UTC

scoot wrote: post #73

verta wrote: post #6

Since this is going to be a great pass time for geekids, wanted to throw in a few resources for completeness: 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

> Since this is going to be a great pass time 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

Thanks for introducing me to a new linguistic trivia!

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#116

Post by tempestn » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 10:13 PM UTC

usrusr wrote: post #92

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 interme…

Going to be tricky since the leading edge of the wing where it meets the nose is often 'arbitrary' in this sense.

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#117

Post by mhh__ » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 10:13 PM UTC

j2kun wrote: post #114

One trick I always used but never understood why it worked: When you add a crease to the paper airplane, (say, folding a square corner in on itself at the nose or the tail), it weighs down that part of the plane. So if your plane is pointing up too much, you add a crease in the nose and it flies more level. But why should adding a crease increase the weight of one section of a plane? You're not adding any more paper.

Weight distribution, one assumes?

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#118

Post by dmerrick » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 10:14 PM UTC

j2kun wrote: post #114

One trick I always used but never understood why it worked: When you add a crease to the paper airplane, (say, folding a square corner in on itself at the nose or the tail), it weighs down that part of the plane. So if your plane is pointing up too much, you add a crease in the nose and it flies more level. But why should adding a crease increase the weight of one section of a plane? You're not adding any more paper.

You are moving the center of mass of the paper. Imagine balancing a pipe cleaner on your finger, should be pretty easy, right? Now add a bend and see that you have to reposition the pipe cleaner on your finger

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#119

Post by tempestn » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 10:16 PM UTC

From one of the example videos on the site, I got suggested this fun video where the maker of the world record distance paper airplane a few years ago shows off and explains a bunch of different designs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n4xq0DnbHI

The record flight is shown at the beginning, with more info on the plane at 13:55, but the whole thing is a fun watch.

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#120

Post by User23 » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 10:25 PM UTC

When I was a child I had a book that listed quite a few of these. It was so popular with my classmates in kindergarten that the school ended up banning paper airplanes except on "Paper Airplane Fridays."