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Making 3"x5.5" mono and bi planes! That Fly!!!(over 15 ft)

$Making 3\"x5.5\" mono and bi planes! That Fly!!!(over 15 ft)$

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You can make mono and bi plane gliding models with this instructable!
Next up, the paper jet-engine!, also the bi-prop pontune plane(looks mega-cool
Should I post them?

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Step 1Supplies

General supplies for this project.
I am going to instruct you in the creation of mono and bi planes together.

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35 comments

Jun 23, 2011. 1:23 PMjhaupt says:

Is the bearing just rolled up cardstock that has been taped?

Dec 24, 2010. 4:37 PMbobbubbles says:

i cant either

May 21, 2009. 1:24 PMNaesDraw says:

I might recommend scale templates, to ease building these.

Feb 11, 2007. 1:26 PMwhysolate says:

isn't 15 feet a bit too short? and do we have to follow strict dimensions to make sure stability while on flight?

Feb 11, 2007. 5:41 PMSoDDiggerCpl (author) says:

For the monoplane, you can cut out any design as long as it the the point at which you fold the wing down ends a the fuselage, and the wing width is never too short to provide stability. Properly adjusted, I've gotten these planes to fly across a 30' room.

Mar 21, 2008. 7:19 AMclaw1892 says:

how big are the cards exactly?

Nov 5, 2007. 8:45 AMTomturbo says:

Hi SoCal..very well done..some people our there just want a Mercedes for the price of a Schwinn LOL..but again Very Nicely Done...not built to break flight records..just for the enjoyment of the build..Thanks again......Tom

Mar 18, 2008. 5:51 PMjonnxos.. says:

I like the idea and the biplane TOTALLY but I can't follow the steps.

Feb 25, 2008. 12:29 PMnoornisaik says:

Thanks for the instructable. I'm a total newbie so forgive me if this sounds silly: would replacing some parts (the parts that don't need to be folded) with foam affect the flight capability of the plane? A reply would be most appreciated.

Jan 25, 2008. 7:31 AMbumsugger says:

Nice Instructable SoDiggerCpl,well thought out and presented,a lot of thought has obviously gone into this project.

Jul 3, 2007. 5:46 PMthe gizmoman says:

cool ! heres a coolweb sight I found:) http://www.loftymansion.com/users/takechan/PAPER_ANGELS/down/des1.html and http://www.geocities.jp/micropaperplane/index2plan.htm

Apr 8, 2007. 10:45 PMMetalicspark says:

OMG i love building things that can fly! I only use to know how to make paper airplanes n stuff but now with these instructables i can make awsome flying stuff! :D if any1 has any good instructables for other flying crafts that u can make out of household items (that really fly) send em to me pls!:D thx

Mar 19, 2007. 10:14 PMyour mom says:

is it alright if i post a diffrent version of this?

Feb 23, 2007. 4:54 PMcactus1 says:

Ehh.. Sorry for bad grammar and ignore the first half of my post. Didn't notice the comments were arrannged most recent to mrst ancient,

Feb 23, 2007. 4:11 PMcactus1 says:

AS stated fore by its creator, it glides. One good addition to it would be a rubber band so its propellers could actually propel the plane.

Feb 12, 2007. 6:17 AMll0ll says:

just made one of these, .. bi plane and wow, looks cool , but it flips around a lot. Any chance of some photos of the finished bi-plane?! (more photos!) I cant quite work out how to weight it properly. Fun though, going to make another one with a shorter fusalage, with all the crashes, it became very damaged.

Feb 21, 2007. 9:39 PMSoDDiggerCpl (author) says:

If you watch a real plane as it takes off, you'll notice that there are flaps on the wings and tail. While in flight, adjustments of these surfaces control the direction of the plane. If the plane is doing an upwards loop, an adjustment that makes it level off is needed. Adjustments: Plane goes up: Bend points (on the front) of rear wings UP (allows more air to pass under the wing) until flight is stable. Plane goes down: Bend point of rear wings DOWN (lets more air go over the wing) until flight is stable. Plane flies to the left: Bend point of tail LEFT (lets more air past on right) until flight is stable. Plane flies to the right: Bend point of tail RIGHT (lets more air past on the left) until flight is stable. A combination of these steps may be needed. Notice how you bend the points of the control surfaces towards the problem? In a conventional aircraft, the control surfaces are on the rear of the wings, not the front, so an adjustment away from the problem is needed. For my designs though, it looks cooler, and you don't need to cut flaps!

Feb 20, 2007. 10:34 PMuzerzero says:

This is really neat, but it would be a lot neater if there was a version that not only looked nice, but could also be made in just a few minutes with practice. This would make it extremely useful for times you're bored at the office, or in classes, and then just launch a little paper airplane that flies across the room. Still, I'll try it sometime wen i get the chance.

Feb 21, 2007. 9:28 PMSoDDiggerCpl (author) says:

I impressed my whole chemistry class by building a monoplane in under a minute, and it flew quite well. As I've said in the instructable, the accessories are just that, and the only thing you need is the tail. The biplane took me two minutes, and need a few adjustments before it worked. Just step back and think, the monoplane is made out of one piece of paper and two paperclips, its faster to make one of these monoplanes than to make the plane in my first instructable.

Feb 12, 2007. 4:20 AMll0ll says:

any chance of adding a pdf or something to get the shapes correct to cut out? Maybe I'm lame, but it looks complicated..Wicked, but complicated :)

Feb 12, 2007. 7:53 PMSoDDiggerCpl (author) says:

Its not as bad as it looks. For the biplane, all you need to do is make the wings, assemble the fuselage (tail-wings, fuselage, and wing-mounts) And it all goes together pretty easy. To make it fly (view last step) just add weight (four paper clips for bi, two for mono) and adjust the control surfaces (in this case adjusting the front of the tail-wings so the point is facing down at a 45 deg angle ore more.