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Paper Airplane Designs

foldnfly.com

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Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#151
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

This! Haha. Way back in my 2nd year at university (1985!), these were all the rage. Myself and a couple of friends made a giant version out of 6 university calendars. It had a diameter of about 40-50cm. We launched it one day (when the lecturer was facing the board) from the back of a math lecture. The slope of the lecture hall was a gentle 20 degrees, slowly tapering off towards the front. Initially it cleared peopl…

I first saw one back in the 70s as a kid at a summer activity. I had made a sharp double folded dart that I would throw furiously towards the rafters to trace a ballistic arc and land almost point down. I was easily beat by a ring an older kid gently launched from the elevated stage that glided and swooped well past where my dart landed.

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here I took pictures of the build https://imgur.com/a/KvsowhC I tested it out a few times. It actually sucks. I can't help but see all the flaws this plane has many years later. It only flies up to ~50 to 100feet max indoors which is kinda of awful (world record indoors is 226feet) . Once it hits peak pivotal height it just nosedives straight to the ground. Most top tier plane designs have a gliding mechanism on the…

My Dad showed me me how to make that design! That was always my favorite way to make a plane. I think it's because the design holds up well to a kid throwing it as hard as possible. It doesn't glide so much as arcs like an arrow with enough force. It also works OK if you tape a slightly hooked paperclip to the tip, and then use a large rubber band to launch it.

That's awesome :). I didnt think my design was unique, it just seemed like the natural way of making a paper airplane

I never tried out the rubberband trick but I definitely will next time. Seems like an easy way to make a quick projectile

Whenever I visit my nieces/ nephews, this is one of my cheap parlor tricks / fun toys I make.

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the very same reason I wonder whether there might be a difference in taste between a metric recipe and an imperial one.

Fun story: when the Soviets tried to reverse-engineer captured B-29s bombers (into Tupolev Tu-4s) they had a lot of trouble because their production of sheet aluminium, rivets, etc. was done in metric sizes, whereas the B-29 used imperial-sized components, and thus extensive re-engineering was required to compensate the slight differences in thickness (and thus in weight and balance) of all components.

And Airbus only uses imperial bolt sizes.

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#156
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.

Cool website!

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!

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#157
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.

you can start selling the physical paper with dotted lines and instructions on the back, would be so cool for gifting

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#159
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 was wondering how much time it took you to build the content?

Also is missing the most important thing. A video of the plane flying.

Re: Paper Airplane Designs

#160
post #52

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.

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