Paper Planes

flying · simple craft · physics

Folded from paper. A paper plane is made from just one sheet of paper or paperboard that you fold into a special shape. Most paper planes have a nose-heavy triangle design so they fly like a dart.

Flies like a glider. Paper planes are gliders, which means they don't have a motor or engine. Once you throw them, they float through the air using the shape of their wings to stay up.

Simple to make. You can create a paper plane in just a few folds without any tools or special materials. Even small changes to the folds can make the plane fly differently.

Shows real science. Paper planes help us understand how air moves around wings and how gravity pulls things down. Pilots and engineers study the same ideas that make paper planes fly.