Sam Ita - Next Generation Paper Airplanes Ebook: Engineered for Extreme Performance, These Paper Airplanes are Guaranteed to Impress: Origami Book with Downloadable Video

About the Author Sam Ita lives in Queens, New York. Having studied graphic design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, he began working as a paper engineer and creating pop-up books. Taking his inspiration from comics, origami, and various other sources, he has applied his talents to publishing, advertising, animation, and toy design. He is noted for his pop-up adaptations of such famous novels as Moby Dick , 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , Frankenstein, and The Odyssey . The Basic The Basic represents the ultimate lazy paper aircraft design. That said, with careful folding and proper adjustment, if launched indoors with all the windows closed, you should get a fraction of a second of nice flight before this plane stalls and tumbles to the floor.

Most of the problem is its lack of weight in the front. The center of balance is way too far back. Despite (or perhaps because of) its shortcomings, The Basic, with its tall fuselage and short wings, possesses a certain charm. If nothing else, it provides a clear demonstration of how paper interacts with the air around it. It is simple enough to experiment with, and leaves plenty of room for experimentation and improvement. Orientation Begin with the printed side facing down, with the long sides oriented vertically.

Valley fold through the center and unfold. Fold the top edges to the central crease. Refold the central valley fold. Fold the front wing down. Fold the rear wing down.

The Martian Cruiser Planes from square paper do not necessarily fly any better than those from rectangles. The Martian Cruiser Planes from square paper do not necessarily fly any better than those from rectangles.

It does open a whole new range of possibilities for planes, though. Particularly from a diagonal orientation. Square-based models can be folded from typical origami paper ( kami ). Kami is very thin and light. It is strong and folds well in all directions. These properties are all excellent for folding planes to be flown indoors.

The square format allows for the eccentric shape of the Martian Cruiser. Its design was inspired by mid-twentieth century science fiction. Orientation Begin with the printed side facing down, with the paper oriented in a diamond configuration. Valley fold the model in half corner-to-corner both ways. Unfold after each. Unfold. Valley fold the top halves of the diagonal edges to the vertical center, and the bottom halves to the horizontal center. Valley fold the top halves of the diagonal edges to the vertical center, and the bottom halves to the horizontal center.

This will form a triangle at the top of the model. See the next diagram for the shape. Push the top corner down and squash fold. Mountain fold the bottom half upward along the central crease. Valley fold the wings upward, completing the creases under the triangular flap. Continue folding the model in half. Fold the wing down, bisecting the nose of the plane Unfold. At point x, the plane becomes thicker. At point x, the plane becomes thicker.

Fold from point x to the intersection of the edge and the crease. Inside reverse fold the corner along the crease. Fold the wing down. Zoom in on the fuselage. Valley fold the tips of the flaps down as far as they will go.

The Martian Fighter Another Martian aircraft, this one is built for speed. The Martian Fighter Another Martian aircraft, this one is built for speed.