Stunt Plane

A great, fun and easy to make paper plane project. Great for use indoors (mind the ornaments!) or outdoors on a wind free day!

Start with an A4 (or letter) sized sheet of paper. Normal copier paper works great.

Crease the paper down the centre, lengthways, then unfold again. The result is a 'Mountain Fold', not a 'Valley Fold', so the point of the fold should be pointing upwards.

For this and all creases in this Instructable, please ensure they are accurate and sharp for best performance.

Fold each of the top corners in towards the centre line. Do not unfold them.

Fold the top triangle section downwards, ensuring the point is perfectly centred.

Fold each corner down to meet the centre line. Leave enough of the previously folded triangle sticking out, as this will need to be folded up in the next step.

Fold the small triangle upwards to secure the previous folds in place.

Fold the model in half, along the previously creased centre line. Ensure again that this is a 'Mountain Fold'.

All the previously folded flaps and triangles etc should be on the outside.

Now for the tail. You will need to 'Sink' a triangle into the model. This is best achieved by folding along the indicated line, unfolding, turning the model over and then fold again. Next, sink the triangle inwards and flatten the model.

Note that the size of the triangle doesn't matter too much, but I find it bast to start it from just behind the small triangle and fold upwards so the rear edge is about 2 - 3 cm tall.

Note the 'Sunken' tail.

Fold each wing down on each side - as with all creases, ensure it's accurate, straight and really sharp.

The line goes from the base of the tail, down to about halfway down the vertical edge of the front of the plane.

Now for the wing tips.

As with the tail, the size isn't too important but you should ensure the fold lines are parallel with the top edge of the model. If you don't ensure this, it will create two 'funnels' between each tip and the tail, reducing performance.

This is the finished model, which is flat at the moment. Open up the wings so they're at 90 degrees to the body, then open the tips so they're at 90 degrees to the wings (and parallel to the body).

For best results, hold the small triangle on the plane's body when throwing.

Start with a light throw, just to get a feel for the plane, as each will vary slightly.

The sunken tail will lift the plane into a loop ar it might peak at the vertical and reverse direction.

When you're confidence increases, throw it harder and learn to control and predict the movement - eventually, you should be able to glide it, make it loop and make it boomerang.

As a final show of confidence, you can even try throwing it hard at a 45 degree downwards trajectory - watch the plane then lift up into the air!

Have fun and mind you don't poke anyone's eyes out ;-)