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Ask Slashdot: The Very Best Paper Airplane?

Posted by Soulskill on from the important-life-skills dept.

An anonymous reader writes "'The Harrier' (or 'Eastern star,' as it is also called), is very well known, and is considered to be one of the best paper airplane designs. After much searching and trying, I have not found a better plane. So, I am asking Slashdot: is there anything that beats 'The Harrier' in a competition (indoors or outdoors)? This would be a really nice geek skill!"

28 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Outdated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The harrier is 1980s technology. Try a F35-B joint strike fighter STOVL variant. Folding instructions are a bit behind schedule and over budget still.

    1. Re:Outdated by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 4, Funny

      The F35-B only uses one sheet of paper, and we have to have two sheets to fly properly in Canada's arctic weather.

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  2. Ask the mythbusters by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They can test out ideas in a cool way.

    1. Re:Ask the mythbusters by LordLucless · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes. They will test out which paper plane travels the furthest by considering a number of different launch techniques, one of which will inevitable be being propelled by the force of an explosion.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    2. Re:Ask the mythbusters by MiG82au · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Bullshit. The paper plane throw record is 69 m. Try match that with your paper ball. You can definitely exclude a ball from the definition of "plane". It follows a ballistic trajectory because it doesn't generate lift.

    3. Re:Ask the mythbusters by JosKarith · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "A great long canon fires a ballistic trajectory, with it's impact speed higher than it's initial muzzle velocity."
      Orly? the only way the cannon shell would gain speed from such a trajectory is if it dropped farther than it rose and I believe that both ships would be sitting on a medium that tends towards a certain amount of flatness. I'm willing to bet that any miniscule gain from this would be greatly outweighed by velocity lost due to air resistance.

      --
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  3. the bat by electrosoccertux · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.instructables.com/id/Awesome-paper-plane!!/

    due to its erratic flight, it let you use the full gymnasium, much more exciting than anything that flew in a straight line....

    1. Re:the bat by Darth_brooks · · Score: 4, Informative

      That is by far my favorite design. Great for letting loose in the office, and it's easily customizable. You can easily add ailerons with just a couple of scissor snips.

      --
      There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
    2. Re:the bat by ChenLiWay · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In my life, I've thrown two of these that I tracked with my eyes for 5+ minutes that never came down.

      First was from ground level but in a downtown area. It caught the currents between the tall buildings and just kept going and I lost it after it crossed a street and I couldn't cross fast enough to follow.

      Second was from a 19th floor balcony. The two other paper plane designs my friends used fell to the ground in less than a minute. Mine reached about the 4th floor, caught an updraft from the hot asphalt streets, and never came down. It flew so high that it became a dot and eventually wasn't visible.

      Cliffs: this design is great for gliding and catching air currents, and will fly forever if it catches the right one. Throw outdoors for great fun.

    3. Re:the bat by sunderland56 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I prefer "The Great International Paper Airplane Book", by Mander/Dippel/Gossage (from 1968!):

      http://www.amazon.com/Great-International-Paper-Airplane-Book/dp/1578660289/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334112956&sr=1-1

      Probably the first serious book on the subject, and a must-read if you're into paper airplanes.

  4. The Ring by khendron · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Might not win a competition, but I've always liked this design. Looks way cool when flying.

    The Ring.

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  5. What are you aiming for? by Hentes · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Speed? Distance? Height? The optimal design depends on what you want to achieve.

  6. Barnaby by pcjunky · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I remember this from an old over 30 years ago.

    http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-the-Barnaby-Paper-Aeroplane/

  7. Take environment conditions into account by ninjackn · · Score: 5, Funny

    One time at my university the engineering department had this paper airplane competition, everyone was given a sheet of 8.5x11" paper and a paper clip. It was particularly windy that day and the event had been organized for better weather so we ended up having to throw the planes directly into the wind from ground level. The distance of the various planes people built ranged from -10 feet to 20 feet from launch point. Taking this into account I decided to modify my design at the last second. I stepped up to the launch area with my plane, aimed it at a 45 degree angle, crumbled it up into a ball and threw it as hard as I could. I got something like 40 feet and had the furthest distance. I kept saying that it was designed to minimize air resistance but In the end I was disqualified for being a smart ass.

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    [FUCK BETA 2.6.2014]
    1. Re:Take environment conditions into account by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      My school did the same thing at a physics competition. They gave us paperclips duct tape and paper to make a device that would travel the furthest through the air after being launched by hand. They never said "paper airplane" but that's what they had in mind. We put a bunch of paperclips in a paperball and taped it together, and one of the kids on our team was a pitcher for the school's baseball team so he just chucked it down the hallway. It hit the backwall and we won our school an award for it.

    2. Re:Take environment conditions into account by flaming+error · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I would have appealed their decision. If that's the whole story you were smart, not an ass. I've always judged my planes against the baseline of a crumpled paper ball, and when I've run competitions, we always had an event specifically for crumpled balls. If your event organizers didn't want that design, they should have prohibited it before the event. If that design never occurred to them, then you taught them a valuable engineering lesson.

    3. Re:Take environment conditions into account by nameer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The intent of the organizers is to generate designs with "nice" glide ratios. But to encourage that, the right metric is not distance of flight, but time aloft. A paper airplane that slowly covers 15' is a much "nicer" design then a wadded paper ball that covers 40' in two seconds.

      --
      "Uh... yeah, Brain, but where are we going to find rubber pants our size?" --Pinky
    4. Re:Take environment conditions into account by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 3, Funny

      The simple explanation is that you throw like girl. :-)

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      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  8. Re:I made a Saturn V once by Genda · · Score: 3, Funny

    She initiated deflagration to which he exploded in premature ignition!!!

  9. Hypersonic shaped Paper Airplane by Banichi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The very best distance paper airplane I have ever encountered was shown to me by a fellow church-going Virginian when I was about 5 years old.
    You fold the paper into a very narrow dart looking shape, a wingspan of maybe an inch or so at most, a length of almost the entire sheet. Throwing this paper airplane, you can get incredible distances.
    I've never seen anyone else use that design, not that I've looked especially hard.

  10. Scientific American Published a book on it. by Earl+The+Squirrel · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Great International Paper Airplane Book by Scientific America : http://www.amazon.com/Great-International-Paper-Airplane-Book/dp/0671211293
    had, at least at the time, the "best performing" for time aloft, distance, etc. The designs were very solid.

  11. world record... by mortonda · · Score: 4, Informative

    The record was recently broken: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/weirdnewsvideo/9112031/Paper-aeroplane-throw-in-US-sets-new-world-record.html

    1. Re:world record... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Video of the John Collins, the inventor/creator of that design folding the plane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VG-4BSZcwI
      Unlisted video, don't know why.

      I've just tried it, and even without the tape, it flies much better than the Harrier

  12. Magic trick by eulernet · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just use a sheet, draw a treasure map on it, and let it fly.

    In a lot of movies, a simple sheet of paper is able to fly long distances, even when there is no wind, as long as it contains something important for the hero.

  13. The Box. by Balinares · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Back when I was still at school, one year, my classroom was one overlooking a deep vale. One of our primary pastimes that year was chucking assorted stuff out the window and see how it'd fly. Mostly (but not limited to) paper planes.

    The record winner for that year in terms of distance covered, and by far, was also the simplest model we ever came up with.

    It was much like the Ring mentioned above, except even simpler. Where the Ring's profile makes an O, the Box's makes a square U. So you don't even need tape.

    Just take a rectangular piece of paper, fold the front over several times to make a thicker leading edge, and fold two vertical wings so the thing will look somewhat like an elongated cube with three missing sides. That's it. Not only it flies, but it flies pretty well, so long as you balanced the 'wings' well enough.

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  14. Re:FIRST by GeorgeMonroy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I recommend the learn the grammar.

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  15. Re:flying squarish thing by Botia · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.10paperairplanes.com/how-to-make-paper-airplanes/08-the-champ.html

  16. Longest flying plane by Stargoat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When I was a kid, we had a longest flying plane contest. The rules were the plane had to be moving, and out of your hands. I attached a piece of string to it, and whipped it around for four minutes. The buggers DQed me, stating that I should follow the spirit of the rules.

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