Paper Airplane Project Understanding the Project Goal Build

Paper Airplane Project

Understanding the Project Goal: Build two paper airplanes. One for distance and one to stay in the air for as long as possible. Start by building prototypes then build final planes. Materials: Three pieces of paper, dab of glue, staples, paper clips, tape

Explore Thrust: Initial force Lift: Air under wings (Have bigger wings to get more lift) Symmetry: Keep everything equal in size/ measurements More lift and less drag/ weight on the planes (more aerodynamic)

Prototype 1 - World’s Best Narrow tip Wide wings Wings flat in the back Was not successful because it has a heavy front which caused it to fall quickly.

Prototype 2 - Dart Narrow tip Small wings Kite shape Heavy back Was not successful because of the heavy back which restricted the distance the plane could go

Prototype 3 - “Stingray” Stingray was an epic failure of a plane Continuous flipping No actual distance gained The “Stingray” plane was extremely front heavy causing the plane to flip in the air until Eventually crashing to the ground.

Prototype 4 - “Plane 2” Heavy back Open nose Fell quickly Back was heavy leading it to fall quickly backwards.

Prototype 5 - “Sloopy” Heavy Tip Flat tip Medium Wings The plane kept dipping nose first due to the Heavy nose

Prototype 6 - “Batman” (Small Dart) Batman traveled farthest Had an overall equal balance Small wings Condensed and heavier structure The “Batman” was later recreated into our final upscaled plane traveling farthest of all our designs. The plane had a great balance and was heavy enough

Batman Video Here is an Example of the small dart “Batman” Prototype: Small Dart

Prototype 7 - “JCT” (Glider) Large Wings Glided the longest of our planes (8. 6 seconds) Even weight “JCT” was later recreated into our final upscaled plane gliding longest of all our designs. The plane was showed great promise to be a good glider.

JCT video Here is an example of our glider “JCT” Prototype: Glider

Our two final planes JCT- Top plane Batman- Bottom plane

Batman Final

Distance Plane Final Product Results Batman Trial 1 52 ft. Trial 2 50 ft. Trial 3 62 ft.

Batman Final Video Here is an example of our small dart “Batman” distance trial: Batman Trial

JCT Final

Floater Plane Final Product Results JCT Trial 1 2. 4 sec. Trial 2 3. 1 sec. Trial 3 2. 6 sec.

JCT Final Video Here is an example of our Glider “JCT” trial: JCT Trial

Ending thoughts “Batman” did well both as a prototype and scaled up. Its design made it similar to a spear, and it was easy to scale. “JCT” did well as a prototype, but not as good scaled up. Its wings were extremely flimsy and did not stay upright when gliding. Looking back, we should have used multiple sheets of paper to scale thickness aswell.