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Step 6Flying A Plane and Unusual Designs
There's a few flight patterns that can be used, most basic is just aim it slightly down and toss lightly(Blue). If your plane seems to always turn, your wings may be warped, which can be fixed by carefully warping them the opposite way(you can use the head-on check to see if they're straight). Another pattern I like alot is HEAVE it with ALL you got, if done right the plane will do a loop, then continue in level flight(Red). You can launch it tipped sideways, which will result in a circle pattern, or hold it nose up and belly towards yourself, throw it straight up and if you're good enough, it will loop around and come back to you(Green). There's tons of fun ways to fly, and with these they don't need much room(it is more fun though). You can also get some friends and see who's airplane can stay up longest or go farthest, or even do more advanced tricks. Airplanes can be made specifically for kinds of flight, more stream-line wings can give more speed, or long thin wings can give a smoother glide. There's no end to the possibilities, and I'd highly suggest trying to make your own designs or ideas work!
Just to show that different designs work, here's some unusual ones I've made:
Quad plane, based on this:http://flickr.com/photos/jerub-baal/132671055/, flies very well.
Dual-frame Bi-plane, this was actually going to fly the other way, but I turned it around last minute :-P
Basic Mono-plane, This one was mostly a test for advanced framing and landing gear, tends to turn but flies fairly well.
Helicopter, This one is fairly old, simple rubber-powered, tends to spin out of control instantly but CAN gain some height before dying!
Basic Bi-plane, This one, with it's relatively short wings and large tail, is quite fast and smooth in the air.
Auto Gyro, Doesn't work so well :-P It was worth a try, and it coasts to the ground with almost realistic speed... But not a beginner design to be sure.
Langely Aerodrome Historic Replica, This one is heavily based of the Langely Aerodrome, originally a competitor to the Wright brothers. It flies surprisingly well, sometimes rocking from side to side but generally great.
Fokker Dr.1 Triplane, Another "historic" replica, I had to try to make one :-P It flies fairly well, main problem is it's high weight from all those wings and struts.
Twin-Tail experimental, Pretty basic, flights are ok but not the best.
Flying Wing, a surprisingly simple design, works out well due to low air friction and no added weight. However, these wings are hard to balance and very hard to tune, and you can't just chuck 'em however like the others.
Elevated-Wing Tandem, since my Langley Aerodrome model worked so well, I decided to make another tandem wing design, this time cutting the tail. It works quite smoothly, and I believe the dihedral of the wings is crucial for stable flight.
"Butterfly" Almost Flying Wing, a very simple design simply made up by my silly brother... It works pretty well, but is difficult to launch due to lack of grip points and the wings sometimes "cut", causing a fast dive.
Rear-Wing, these have always seemed the easiest to build, but I could never quite get one to work very stable. This one seems to work well due to a low center of gravity from the rudder, and from the heavy up-thrust caused by the front elevator. It has some slight stability problems, and flies fairly fast but all-in-all the lack of balance weight I think gives it an advantage in theoretical distance potential.
Basic Bi-Plane, This is a very basic plane, doesn't use the cross-struts. It flies fairly slowly and somewhat stable, probably one of my best fliers.
Random Weird Thing, I was trying for an original design :-P Ended up with the rudder in the back and elevator in the front.. It's a kinda wobley flier, but still fairly smooth.
Avro Triplane Replica, This was my replica of the Avro Triplane, built 1909-10. It's not very to-scale, but notice the British flags :-P It flies smoothly, though somewhat heavily.
Bi-Plane Canard, This was made at my grandma's house just out of boredom.. I didn't have much to counter-weight with so I made it a canard. It has a sharp turn problem, but I believe it could be fixed with slight adjustment.
More to come!
This concludes my tutorial on toothpick gliders and basic aerodynamics, I hope you find it useful and fun! Anything you're wondering just leave me a comment, and I'll try my best to answer!
~End~
Just to show that different designs work, here's some unusual ones I've made:
Quad plane, based on this:http://flickr.com/photos/jerub-baal/132671055/, flies very well.
Dual-frame Bi-plane, this was actually going to fly the other way, but I turned it around last minute :-P
Basic Mono-plane, This one was mostly a test for advanced framing and landing gear, tends to turn but flies fairly well.
Helicopter, This one is fairly old, simple rubber-powered, tends to spin out of control instantly but CAN gain some height before dying!
Basic Bi-plane, This one, with it's relatively short wings and large tail, is quite fast and smooth in the air.
Auto Gyro, Doesn't work so well :-P It was worth a try, and it coasts to the ground with almost realistic speed... But not a beginner design to be sure.
Langely Aerodrome Historic Replica, This one is heavily based of the Langely Aerodrome, originally a competitor to the Wright brothers. It flies surprisingly well, sometimes rocking from side to side but generally great.
Fokker Dr.1 Triplane, Another "historic" replica, I had to try to make one :-P It flies fairly well, main problem is it's high weight from all those wings and struts.
Twin-Tail experimental, Pretty basic, flights are ok but not the best.
Flying Wing, a surprisingly simple design, works out well due to low air friction and no added weight. However, these wings are hard to balance and very hard to tune, and you can't just chuck 'em however like the others.
Elevated-Wing Tandem, since my Langley Aerodrome model worked so well, I decided to make another tandem wing design, this time cutting the tail. It works quite smoothly, and I believe the dihedral of the wings is crucial for stable flight.
"Butterfly" Almost Flying Wing, a very simple design simply made up by my silly brother... It works pretty well, but is difficult to launch due to lack of grip points and the wings sometimes "cut", causing a fast dive.
Rear-Wing, these have always seemed the easiest to build, but I could never quite get one to work very stable. This one seems to work well due to a low center of gravity from the rudder, and from the heavy up-thrust caused by the front elevator. It has some slight stability problems, and flies fairly fast but all-in-all the lack of balance weight I think gives it an advantage in theoretical distance potential.
Basic Bi-Plane, This is a very basic plane, doesn't use the cross-struts. It flies fairly slowly and somewhat stable, probably one of my best fliers.
Random Weird Thing, I was trying for an original design :-P Ended up with the rudder in the back and elevator in the front.. It's a kinda wobley flier, but still fairly smooth.
Avro Triplane Replica, This was my replica of the Avro Triplane, built 1909-10. It's not very to-scale, but notice the British flags :-P It flies smoothly, though somewhat heavily.
Bi-Plane Canard, This was made at my grandma's house just out of boredom.. I didn't have much to counter-weight with so I made it a canard. It has a sharp turn problem, but I believe it could be fixed with slight adjustment.
More to come!
This concludes my tutorial on toothpick gliders and basic aerodynamics, I hope you find it useful and fun! Anything you're wondering just leave me a comment, and I'll try my best to answer!
~End~
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http://www.geocities.jp/micropaperplane/index2plan.htm
don't be afraid, it's in chinese...;)
pls put another instructable on explaining
What kind of paper do you use? Do you just use printer paper or cardstock?
http://www.instructables.com/id/Fireballs_you_can_Hold_in_Your_Hands/step8/Light-er-Up/
BTW Im making your heli now :D
The heli is tough and really didn't work great for me, I've been meaning to do an instructable on it for quite some time but I haven't gotten the right materials together yet.. I used alot of carbon fiber for the frame.