How to Make the Aerohawk Paper Airplane

Fast, long range and very simple, the Aerohawk is an easy to make paper airplane designed as a successor to the Buffalo series. The Aerohawk does not require anything besides one sheet of paper though some tape is highly recommended.

The Aerohawk was developed to complement my other similar "simple but capable" types like the Spartan and Dracula. In construction the simple design of the Aerohawk enabled very rapid development and so flight testing followed quickly there after. In flight testing, the Aerohawk proved itself to be capable of flying both with and without tape (being only slightly slower and shorter ranged when lacking tape). With these promising results, the Aerohawk was approved for publication.

TAA USAF Designation: F406-1

Required:
1 Piece of 8.5 by 11 inch Paper

Optional:

Tape (recommended)

Pencil

Scissors (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. Once this is completed, pull the overhanging paper back above the center crease made earlier.

Reopen the folds without damaging the overhanging folds you handled previously. Fold the outward edges of the paper inward to the creases as shown on each side. After this, refold along the original creases.

Pull the forward tip of the nose backward until the apexes of the diamond are reached on each side. After doing this, pull resultant tips inward until the limits are reached. Pull the forward edge of this fold back outward and align it with the wing's leading edge. Repeat on the other side.

After making the folds, pull them outward slightly then insert them into the nose folds as shown in the seventh photographs. Fold the overhanging paper back over itself and crease it over top of the folds you made in the third and fifth photographs. After making the crease, reverse the folds and tuck the paper into itself as shown in the ninth photograph.

Once this is done, pull the rear triangle forward until it appears as it does in the tenth photograph.

After folding the paper in half along its center crease, fold the leading edges of the paper down to the center crease on each side.

Apply tape to the nose, rear of the fuselage and across the wingroots near the trailing edges as noted. (This is optional but highly recommended.) This will complete your Aerohawk.

The Aerohawk is a conventional dart paper airplane which is designed to be easy to handle even for the newest of origami aviators; people with experience with the similar Buffalo series should make the transition very seamlessly.

Launches should be done at neutral or positive attitude at moderate to high speeds. Test flights should be conducted to determine what trimming (if any) is necessary to get the Aerohawk to fly as desired. Additional applicable surfaces include flaps, elevators, ailerons, air brakes and an "electronic warfare" tail. Enjoy!