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How to Build the Perfect Paper Airplane
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The Tao Glider Paper Airplane
Preparation: You will need a sheet of paper and a pair of scissors. The folding pattern can be found in the Paper Airplanes chapter of the Personal Tao.
Please note: remove all foreign objects, especially pissed off cats.
This is an original design of mine and you can read the Paper Airplanes chapter for the story behind it.
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Fold the Paper in half. Try not to get too excited like I did, as it makes for a blurry picture. And if you notice uneven folding...
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Step 2: Unfold and then cut.
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Ok the second trickiest part, you need to cut 1/3rd of the paper along the center
fold on each side of the paper...
Ok for the young inspiring engineers: please note: under cutting results in a bad balance later. Over cutting will introduce
a tear into the plane. This under the extreme g-force of the liquid oxygen rockets from Step 32 will cause
the plane to crash and burn. Remember engineering is all about precision!
That is why I sucked as an engineer, a Taoist approach of : ehhh yah it looks about right... isn't a solid engineering skill.
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Step 3: Fold the upper half of the paper airplane in half again.
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Fold the upper half of the paper airplane in half again...
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Step 4: "Slip" and bend the "sleeves" from the upper fold into themselves.
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This is the trickiest step and why this design works so well (its also why my engineering brilliance earned me many beers in college ...) Fold & Slip one side of the upper fold into the sleeve of the other side. Look carefully at the picture if this is confusing. This step is tricky because you have to make sure the overall folded sleeve fits snug and evenly. Yah, I know it looks easy, but the paper kicks and fights back in this step. Its tempting to just slap the fold together, but the final weight here needs to be balanced or the plane will fly crooked as a politician later in life.
Also note, we are not just folding the paper over itself, the paper forms a sleeve, which you slip the other side into. This way the fold is tight. |
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| OK I fess up, I never even got one beer for this design. |
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Step 5: Take a break, relax, admire how damn good you are.
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The paper airplane will now look like this. The hard part is over, get a beer, relax for moment before we get ready for the liquid oxygen tank extensions we are about to place on this beauty...
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Step 6: Fold the plane in half.
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Fold paper airplane in half.
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Step 7: Fold paper airplane back out and fold the wings.
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Fold plane back out and fold the wings. |
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Step 8: Airplane Flaps are optional.
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Flaps are optional. However, I recommend them as you can use the flaps to balance out the flight, in case the plane is a little off balance. Plus you can do stunts with the flaps.
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Step 9: Prepare for flight.
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Hire a super model to power up the plane. This way when the rocket tanks fail (don't forget we were drinking back a few steps ago) we are safely in the control booth away from the whole issue.
(Note, I could only afford to take a picture of her hand. Super models are expensive.)
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Step 10: Launch Paper Airplane!
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Let loose! |
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Sun Glasses are recommened at this stage, the blast of light witnessed here almost blinded me when this thing took off. |
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Step 11: Activate the optional trans-dimensional gate drive installed back in step 72.
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Watch the paper airplane bebop around the dimensions. Enjoy!
Most paper airplanes are not equipped with such high tech gizmos so use with care
and keep an eye out for pesky aliens curious about the advance technology.
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