Introduction: How to Make a Paper Airplane Slingshot
Oh yeah, you read that right. This is going to be awesome! I made it at Techshop! Gotta love this place.
Step 1: Gather Your Materials!
Okay your going to need:
- paper to make your airplane with
- rubberband
- something stiff to make your slingshot out of
- something long and thing to make your airplane hook out of
I used some spare wood I had left over from other projects.
- paper to make your airplane with
- rubberband
- something stiff to make your slingshot out of
- something long and thing to make your airplane hook out of
I used some spare wood I had left over from other projects.
Step 2: Fold Your Paper Airplane!
This step is pretty straightforward, go with whatever design you want to use.
Step 3: Make Your Slingshot!
This step you can MacGyver with whatever you have around. The main important things is that it needs to be:
- Y shaped
- stiff
- something that you can cut notches into the side or something that already has notches, so that you can mount the rubberband
These were some left over back scratcher pieces from an early project, but perfect for my purposes as a slingshot today! I just used some super glue, clamped it down nice and tight, and while it was drying I sawed off the extra at the end.
- Y shaped
- stiff
- something that you can cut notches into the side or something that already has notches, so that you can mount the rubberband
These were some left over back scratcher pieces from an early project, but perfect for my purposes as a slingshot today! I just used some super glue, clamped it down nice and tight, and while it was drying I sawed off the extra at the end.
Step 4: Augment Your Paper Airplane!
Okay, so now we want our paper airplane to not rip apart when we cock back the airplane with the rubberband. So instead of putting all that force on the paper, we put it on a stronger material that will be our frame. In this case, we're putting a long slender backbone through the middle of the paper airplane.
I dropped the wood spine inside and cut off the excess. Then I glued it down in several locations along the spine with superglue, you'll want to glue it down well in at least four locations so it doesn't rip off.
Then rip out a small hole in the underside. This is where the hook is going to come out from. I filled down another small piece of wood so it glues down flush with the spine but at an angle. Now put down a fair amount of glue and really let it dry, because this part needs to be strong.
Also at the same time, fill in the gap with some extra glue. This ensures that the airplane releases from the rubberband smoothly.
*One last tip, it's better to cut down the hook to just long enough to catch the rubberbands. The longer it is the more likely it'll hit the ground with a lot of force and thus breaking it off.
I dropped the wood spine inside and cut off the excess. Then I glued it down in several locations along the spine with superglue, you'll want to glue it down well in at least four locations so it doesn't rip off.
Then rip out a small hole in the underside. This is where the hook is going to come out from. I filled down another small piece of wood so it glues down flush with the spine but at an angle. Now put down a fair amount of glue and really let it dry, because this part needs to be strong.
Also at the same time, fill in the gap with some extra glue. This ensures that the airplane releases from the rubberband smoothly.
*One last tip, it's better to cut down the hook to just long enough to catch the rubberbands. The longer it is the more likely it'll hit the ground with a lot of force and thus breaking it off.
Step 5: All Finished!
Now just strap the rubberband in and load the airplane into the slingshot. However! There is one important piece of advice. Hold the airplane from the top, not from the spine on the bottom.
This is because we want the orientation of the force to be parallel with the wings. If you held it from the bottom, you'd notice that the wings are pointed down and thus would fly straight down. Holding it from the top lets it slice straight through the air!
Alright have fun guys!
This is because we want the orientation of the force to be parallel with the wings. If you held it from the bottom, you'd notice that the wings are pointed down and thus would fly straight down. Holding it from the top lets it slice straight through the air!
Alright have fun guys!
