japanese flyer

This plane is another older one, around the end of 1991. It is a bit tricky to fold; it probably has the most influence from origami. It is not as predictable in the amount of lift it has as my other planes, but I have included it none the less, mainly because I think it looks pretty good. It's also true that most people probably couldn't fold it first time, which always is impressive if you've got an audience.

Notes on the contruction

The beginning of this plane in the same as Plane No. 3. Usual A4 piece of paper (297mm*210mm), horizontal crease and the two diagonal creases.
Fold in again, so the edges meet up.
The diagonal folds, to get some weight down the other end of the paper.
Fold the sides into the middle, and the left flap over the make this fold. It should be obvious if the previous step was done well.
This is the tricky one. The guideline for the fold is that where it meets the diagonal edges of the paper, it needs to be about half way along (hence the distance marks on the diagram. You can just fold the side flap over to make a rough mark each side. You then need to fold the top flap (and only the top flap) back, and you will find that the side flaps sort of come up towards you a bit. You then fold these flat, making sure that the corners are flat and neat, to make it look like the next picture. If where you folded was perfect, then the two edges meet in the middle. However, to fold the plane in half at the end you really need to make a little gap, as shown in diagram 6. Where the edges come to will depend on where you make the fold - don't be afraid of doing it a couple of times to get it right, as a couple of mm difference in the placing of the fold can make all the difference. I did say it was the tricky one!
Just fold the top flaps over so they meet in the middle. Again for ease of folding later on you might like to leave a small gap of a couple of mm.
Now a less tricky fold; fold the bottom flaps in, basically as far as you can without disturbing the top half of the plane. If you turn the plane over you can probably see more clearly what you need to do. Fold in so the edge meets the fold that 'joins' the top and bottom halves of the plane.
Now the easy bit. Fold to make the wings and vertical flaps. About 23mm for the fuselage and 35mm for the flaps is what I did on the one I made when drawing the pictures, and that flies quite micely. Again, make all the folds to 90 degrees, with all the surfaces flat.

Notes on throwing

This should fly straight, however you can bend the back of the vertical flaps in the appropriate direction just a tad if it doesn't. Sometimes this plane has too much lift when I make it, but just gently (and I mean gently - it's very easy to overdo) curve the back of the wings down to reduce lift, or up to increse it. You'll find that the wings will actually stay like this for quite a while, so you shouldn't have any other major problems. This plane doesn't really keep well - some of my others (notably No. 1) you can pick up off the floor/wardrobe/coving and will fly as good (if not better) than ever. This plane tends to degrade a bit faster, but makes up for it with good looks. Bit like some women, really...