Paper Airplanes

By Corliss Clayton

Just as Amelia Earhart learned much from each of her early long-distance flights, you can learn about the best way to fly paper airplanes by experimenting with different designs and techniques.

For a basic paper airplane, you will need: 8 1/2″ x 11″ (22 cm x 28 cm) piece of paper and cellophane tape.

1. Fold paper in half lengthwise, then unfold.

2. Fold corners of one end to center fold line, then fold resulting diagonal sides to center fold line.

3. Refold paper down center, with previous folds on inside.

4. Fold wings backward to center fold, then straighten and tape inside edges of wings together.

Experiment with your paper airplane to discover how to make it fly higher, spin, or fly greater distances. Try some of the following ideas:

1. Use different weights of paper to make airplane.

2. Place a paper clip on the underside of plane. Place paper clip toward the nose of plane, then try shifting it toward tail.

3. Fold tips of wings up or down, or fold one wing tip up and the other one down.

4. Cut two small slits to make tabs in each tail section and fold tabs up or down.