A Very Simple Paper Airplane

This is a very simple paper airplane, easy to teach and fast to make. It is a good model to show a student who may not have made paper airplanes before or does not remember how to make one from memory.

This Instructable is part of the Paper Flight Workshop.

All you need is a sheet of paper.

Fold the paper in half the long way, bringing the bottom edge up to the top edge, and creasing the fold that is facing you.

Fold-down the paper (only the top layer), so the top corner meets the bottom edge. Crease.

Flip the paper over, and fold the front corner on this side, so the corner meets what is now the top edge. Crease.

(Some people add a step here and reverse the paper: unfolding the long fold, and folding it the other way, so the two folded triangles wind up inside the folded paper. Some people also do this after the first wing folds. Experiment!)

Fold the wing on the top side, taking the bottom corner (only the top layer) and bringing it up to the top edge. Crease.

Flip the paper over and fold down the wing on this side, bringing the top corner down to the bottom edge. Crease.

Fold down the top edge (only the top layer) to meet the bottom edge. Crease.

Flip the paper over, fold the bottom edge up to meet the top edge. Crease.

Hold the middle fold on the bottom, adjust the wings, and your plane is ready to fly!

Experiments with making adjustments — bending the back tail corners a bit upwards or downwards, adding fins, fold the wings one more time, you name it. Test, modify and make the design yours.

This work is made possible by support from STAR, a Biogen Foundation Initiative. The team at Lesley supporting this initiative includes faculty and staff in the Lesley STEAM Learning Lab, Science in Education, the Center for Mathematics Achievement, and other related Lesley University departments and programs.