Click on a hangar
to explore planes and
choose your paper
fighter(s) to build
Make your secure
purchase through
Download & print
out your
paper jet plane
Gather tape and
scissors and start
folding-along with
the instruction video*
Make any necessary
adjustments** and
enjoy your incredible
Paper Planes!
*View the quick
assembly tips & tricks
video (highly suggested)
**View the quick
flight tips video
(highly suggested)
LESSON 2. Basic Types of Aircraft
HOW DO PLANES FLY?
HOW DO PLANES FLY?
LESSON 1. The Four Forces
PRIVACY POLICY/COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
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2. WEIGHT
Weight, second in our list of forces, is a heavy hitter. So heavy, it pushes
everything we see (and don’t see) down to the center of gravity which is
at the center of the earth. If you toss a ball, it falls to the ground. If you
toss a paper plane tuned just right, it will win against the weight (gravity)
pulling it down until its thrust runs out, then it returns to the ground.
3. THRUST
Thrust is our way of getting around. Since most paper planes do not have an internal
method of propelling themselves through the sky, external thrust must be
introduced. For your Incredible Paper Planes, this thrust is generated by
your own muscles, and transferred to your plane as you throw and
release it into the sky.
4. DRAG
When an Incredible Paper Plane is thrown into the air, the air “resists”
the plane forcing its way through. This resistance is called “drag”.
Drag behaves a little like glue, sticking to your plane and slowing it
down as it flies. Relatice wind is the force coming against the front
of a paper plane. The more surfaces your paper plane has which
“catch” the relative wind passing over it will cause it to slow down
and eventually stall (stop flying).
1. LIFT
Lift can be created a number of ways. For Incredible Paper Planes,
it happens when the wings, especially the back edges of your wings
(called ailerons), or the back edges of your horizontal stabilizers
(called elevators) react to the air flowing over and them. They deflect the
air upward, pushing the rear of your plane down and raising the nose of your plane.
Most paper planes attain lift this way. Also, the warmer the air temperature, the more lift
your plane will experience.
Nearly all private, commercial and military aircraft attain lift throuh wings which
are curved over the top causing air to pass over the top faster then the bottom
which causes lift. This type of lift is known as the Bernoulli principle.
1. LIFT
Lift can be created a number of ways. For Incredible Paper Planes,
it happens when the wings, especially the back edges of your wings
(called ailerons), or the back edges of your horizontal stabilizers
(called elevators) react to the air flowing over and them. They deflect the
air upward, pushing the rear of your plane down and raising the nose of your plane.
Most paper planes attain lift this way. Also, the warmer the air temperature, the more lift
your plane will experience.
Nearly all private, commercial and military aircraft attain lift throuh wings which
are curved over the top causing air to pass over the top faster then the bottom
which causes lift. This type of lift is known as the Bernoulli principle.
2. Propeller Powered Aircraft
Propellers cut through the air and force it to the rear the same way your household fan does. When
the Wright brothers made their first successful powered flight in 1903, it was powered by a small
gasoline engine with two propellers at the rear of their plane but now, the majority of propeller
powered aircraft have their propellers located at the nose or at the front edges of the main wings.
Props, as they are nicknamed, are limited by speed, altitude and engine power. Yet, many aircraft
today are powered by propellers including cargo, passenger, military, stunt and even pylon racing
planes! It was propeller power which sent planes into the air through two world wars. Hobby shops
often sell miniature rubber-band powered airplanes. Vairiable-pitch propellers are controllable blades
which can adjust or even reverse the direction of thrust in some cases!
4. Rotorcraft / Helicopters
Rotary wing aircraft attain lift using thin wings (blades) mounted to a shaft which spins around like a top.
These “wings” are called rotors. Ideas for helicopter-styled aircraft are found as long ago as the 4th
century! Modern helicopters are powered by engines which allow the aircraft to fly straight up, hover,
move forward and backward, left and right then land straight down. In order to fly straight, a seperate
tail rotor is required which compensates for the one-way turning energy which the main rotor generates.
A number of rotorcraft use additional turbine engines to cause them to travel at high speeds.
Rotocraft are used worldwide for rescure and emergency airlifts, firefighting, sight-seeing, cargo and
passenger transportation and of course, the military in combat and non-combat roles.
1. Paper Planes, Kites, Gliders and Such
This type of flight depends on the forces surrounding the craft to keep it aloft. The center of gravity
is usually located near the nose. The craft falls nose first, increasing speed which allows its wings to
react to the relative wind force coming straight at it. Using elevators, or flaps as they are sometimes
called, the air is deflected up, raising the nose and allowing the aircraft to sail through the sky.
nearly all unpowered aircraft can take advantage of thermal lift. Thermal lift takes place as the sun
heats the ground causing the air over the heated ground to rise. Centain gliders can take
advantage of this and reach 8000 ft. above ground before they begin their descent. Also, lift can be
attained as air passes over large rises or ridges on the landscape.
1. Paper Planes, Kites, Gliders and Such
This type of flight depends on the forces surrounding the craft to keep it aloft. The center of gravity
is usually located near the nose. The craft falls nose first, increasing speed which allows its wings to
react to the relative wind force coming straight at it. Using elevators, or flaps as they are sometimes
called, the air is deflected up, raising the nose and allowing the aircraft to sail through the sky.
nearly all unpowered aircraft can take advantage of thermal lift. Thermal lift takes place as the sun
heats the ground causing the air over the heated ground to rise. Centain gliders can take
advantage of this and reach 8000 ft. above ground before they begin their descent. Also, lift can be
attained as air passes over large rises or ridges on the landscape.
3. Jets
Jet powered aircraft made their operational debut during World War 2 (1939-1945). Jet engines use
a system of high speed fans to compress air (taken in at the front of the engine), mixed with fuel
which is then ignited, passing through a turbine and released through the rear of the engine causing
thrust. This thrust can be reversed to stop (on the ground) or slow the aircraft (in the air) by deflecting
the exhaust forward rather thean backward using thrust deflectors. High-performance aircraft (mainly
military fighter jets) are able to use afterburners. The afterburner process takes place when jet fuel
is sprayed directly into its exhaust giving the plane an extra “boost” of thrust. Jet aircraft are
used in many applications: science and research, cargo and passenger transportation, military and
space exploration. New technologies involve ramjets and scramjets!
Lift takes place based on how much the plane weighs, its wing’s shape,
size and the amount of thrust you generated by throwning it. Airplanes with
engines (machine or houman powered) generate thrust and release it to the rear
of the aircraft pushing it forward to allow relative air to pass over the under
the wings or for the wings to provide lift using the Bernoulli principle.
Incredible Paper Planes don’t weigh much and even air itself has a weight and
mass. We want our paper planes to “float” down on as much air as possible.
Large wings with a good amount of thrust help the plane “float” on the air
longer. The smaller the wings, the less air mass it has to float on and more
thrust is needed to keep the plane in the air.
Drage does all sorts of strange things to flying objects, it can make them
spin, dive and bank. Worst of all, drag slows your paper plane’s speed.
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