How to Make the Vulcanoid Paper Airplane

Fast, long range and simple, the Vulcanoid is a quick dart paper airplane shaped very similar to its popular namesakes, the aircraft of the Vulcan family. In spite of this, the Vulcanoid shares surprising few things with them.

As simplicity has always been something asked for by origami aviators, I decided to develop a simple but capable dart paper airplane to address the need. The Vulcanoid's development went fairly quickly as its design was generally conventional. Flight testing showed the plane was an able one, though its simplicity left it slightly less capable than more complex planes like the Turbo MetaVulcan. Despite this slight inferiority, I felt the Vulcanoid was still a worthy design that balanced simplicity and performance well and opted to publish it on that basis.

TAA USAF Designation: F412-1

Step 1: Materials

Required:
1 Piece of 8.5 by 11 inch paper

Tape

Pencil

Ruler

Optional:

Scissors (additional surfaces only)

Step 2: Length, Corner and Airfoil Folding

Take your paper and fold it along its length. Then pull the corners in and fold them into the center. Then flip the paper over and pull the creases of the corner folds inward.

After doing this, place the corner folds back against one another inside of the paper and fold the outside edges into the crease as shown in the eighth to eleventh photographs. The paper should then appear as it does in the twelfth photograph.

Step 3: Nose Folding

Pull the tip of the nose back to the rear edge of the airfoil folds as shown in the first photograph. After doing this, pull the paper in toward the center until you reach the limits of the paper on each side, as shown in the second photograph. After making these folds, tuck the paper into the folds as shown in the third photograph and pull the triangle of paper forward as shown in the fourth photograph.

After doing all of this, pull the leading edge of the nose to the trailing edge of the paper and crease. With that done, pull the nose forward again until the leading edge is over the rear edge of airfoil folds and crease. After making this crease, undo the last fold. Pull the corners of the paper into the crease made in the sixth photograph and then pull the nose forward again.

Step 4: Canard, Wing and Winglet Folding; Taping

Fold the canards down by aligning their leading edges with that of the nose. The paper will tear at the rear edge of the canards; this is normal.

Measure 1 inch above the center crease and then 1 inch from the wingtip along the trailing edge (make these on both sides at these points), as shown in the fourth and fifth photographs. Fold the wings down at the first mark. After doing this, fold the winglets perpendicular to the wings.

Apply tape where designated in the photographs to complete your Vulcanoid.

Step 5: Flight

The Vulcanoid flies where pointed in a predictable manner much like most other dart paper airplanes.

Launches should be done at neutral or positive attitudes at moderate to high speeds. Test flights should be conducted to see if any trimming is necessary. Additional applicable surfaces include ailerons, elevators, elevons, rudders, air brakes and an "electronic warfare" tail.