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Basic Glider

 Basic Glider
Property----|----|
Difficulty _]
Speed _______]
Maneuverability _________]
Robustness __________]
Stability ____]
Subjective analysis:
This model is fast, robust, and quite amusing to fly. This is the design that I initially started toying around with to develop other airplanes.

Folding instructions:

  • dashed lines indicate valley folds
  • solid lines indicate mountain folds
  • congruent angles are indicated

  1. Taking the extra time to make sharp, accurate creases from the beginning increases your odds of building an aligned and true aircraft.
    basic X-crease
  2. This is the base fold for most of the airplanes I like developing. The center of gravity turns up at just the right spot for just about any airplane you could make from this base (well, almost).
    base folds executed
  3. This is a nice way to get rid of those pesky extra wing surfaces and add some bulk to the nose.
    nose formation
  4. This step really isn't necessary unless you want to fly outside during a windy day. I used to like to leave the tabs out and pretend they were engine nacelles, or something.
    nose reinforcement
  5. A couple more folds create the fuselage, tail, and winglets. Make these last steps any way you like, half the fun is varying the parameters to see how they affect the plane's looks and performance.
    Basic Glider

Short Story

Flying this glider almost always yields surprises. When I was about 7, one of my friends made one of these and went outside to throw it. The wind was quite favorable, and we ended up chasing it for what seemed like a full minute as it lazily dipped and bobbed some 20 feet above our heads. It finally came down in a field behind our neighbor's house -- across the street!
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Rowin Andruscavage
Last modified: Tue Dec 20 12:08:16 PST 2016