How to Make the MetaVulcan Paper Airplane

Fast, long range and versatile, the MetaVulcan is an advanced dart paper airplane, capable of flying long ranges at high speed. It was developed from the Vulcan Warrior (alongside the HelioVulcan and CosmoVulcan) as a complement to the similar UltraStratoVulcan.

The MetaVulcan was derived from the Vulcan Warrior, by way of the HelioVulcan. The canard design of the aircraft remained unchanged, but the wing and fuselage were slightly altered to enable easier folding through a refocus on fold lines rather than measurements. The decision to incorporate this feature came as part of a response to the popularity an earlier Vulcan variant (the Super StratoVulcan) has seen with similar shaping. The prototype MetaVulcan was a slightly modified HelioVulcan; testing went well, and the aircraft proved itself to be quite capable and worthy of publication. The name of this variant was something I pondered for some time, but I eventually settled on "MetaVulcan" in recognition of how much change the Vulcan family has seen since the first variant was published in early 2013. Indeed, there is almost no aspect of the aircraft that has not seen some alteration in one form or another.

TAA USAF Designation: F292-20

Required:
1 Piece of 8.5 by 11 inch paper

Tape

Pencil

Ruler

Optional:

Scissors (for additional surfaces only)

Fold your paper in half length-wise. Then pull the paper down so that the crease stretches from the fold at the front you just made and the corner of the paper on the other side. Repeat on the other side. Pull the edge of this layer back toward the crease on each side and then open these folds. Fold the edges into the creases as shown, the pull the creases of these corner folds into themselves as shown.

Fold the previous folds along the existing creases as shown, then pull the overhanging paper back away from the center crease. Repeat on the other side. Pull the tip of the nose back until its tips meet the apex of the diamond; then tuck the edges of the paper underneath the other layers as shown.

Pull the tips of the paper along the trailing edges into the center fold and crease. After completing this, unfold and flip the paper and then pull the blunt edge of the nose down to trailing edge. Measure 1 inch from the crease, and pull the nose forward again and crease. Unfold the nose and fold the edges of the previous folds down as shown, then pull the nose back forward over these folds once again.

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Fold down the canards whilst keeping their leading edges aligned with the nose to maintain an angle of incidence of zero degrees. Following this, fold down the wings at the fourth folds you made previously. Align the trailing edges of the wings with that of the fuselage to keep the angle of incidence at zero degrees. After this is finished, fold the wingtips down to the fourth folds.

Apply tape to the nose above and below the canard, as well as to the dorsal LERX-wing joint. Then apply tape to the rear of the fuselage and over the wing root near the trailing edge. Once this has been done, apply tape to the ventral LERX joint and canard folds to secure them to the fuselage. This will complete your MetaVulcan.

The MetaVulcan flies much like older Vulcan variants--particularly the HelioVulcan and CosmoVulcan; origami aviators should have little difficulty transitioning with previous experience with other Vulcans. Launches should be done at neutral or positive attitude at moderate to high speed. Additional applicable surfaces include flaps, elevators, ailerons, flaperons, elevons, rudders, air brakes, canard trim and an "electronic warfare" tail. Enjoy!