one of my aviation fantasies came true

[Keith Smith]

Went to a nice park yesterday with the family and brought along a frisbee, hula hoop and soccer ball. One of the kids asked if we could bring a few sheets of paper to make some paper airplanes, too.

Now, my kids know that I make a pretty mean paper airplane, but we mostly fly them indoors or occasionally outside in the street, but they get banged up pretty quickly and they soon lose interest. Well, we got to the park, played with the hoop, ball and frisbee for 15 minutes or so. One of the kids then asked me to make a plane, so I did my best to find a flat surface and handed it over.

It wasn't long before all 4 of us (wife and two kids) were flying these from the highest spot in the park (it's a gentle slope, maybe 15ft change in elevation) and having a blast. We must've been at it for close to an hour. Beth (my wife) quickly became known as the Plane Whisperer, being seemingly able to nurse some of the damaged planes back to life. We only had 4 sheets of paper, so we had to make the best of it.

Quite a few people stopped and watched with big smiles on their faces as Ruby loudly reported her 8th loop for the day, while Beth manged to complete 3 in a row. The planes having working elevons (combination of elevator and aileron), so they can be tweaked to fly fast or slow. As the fuselage starts losing structural integrity, usually the result of multiple encounters with tree trunks, you have to add trim to the left or right to keep the thing going straight.

The yelps of joy when the kids had massive hang time as a result of a well timed updraft were not something I'll forget any time soon. I ran alongside one of Ruby's flights for what seemed like an eternity before reaching out to catch it just before it landed. Ruby must've been 100ft away back on the hill, but even from that distance, there was no missing that smile.

It was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable aviation experiences I've had with my family, even though there wasn't a real airplane in sight.

[Kyle.Sanders]

Nice story Keith haha

Like a passage from a novel.

[Keith Smith]

Btw, I found a picture online of the design that I use (have been using this for 35 years or so): http://i.imgur.com/eW6eDHW.png

There is a modification in step 5, though, you need to move the solid black dot (the target point for the next fold) 2 dashes down.

In terms of launching, you can give it a pretty decent throw, I usually aim for a 45deg launch angle, the goal being for it to just get past vertical, then stall (the recovery is more or less instant), which means it'll resume level flight from the highest point possible. Whereas, if you launch too steeply, it'll fly all the way through the loop (no stall) and will not level out until it's about 1/3 of the height of the top of the loop.
It's all about the launch angle and the strength of the throw. Don't throw too hard, the structure is pretty flimsy and you'll deform it if the loads are too high.

Between that and tweaking the elevons on the back, there's a lot of fun to be had.

[BonanzaDude]

I have to be honest with you. I was expecting the; "I was on a commercial flight and both pilots collapsed. They asked for someone in the plane that had their pilots license. And then you stepped into the cockpit."

John

[Kyle.Sanders]

That's what everyone is going to think reading the subject line lol!!!

[Keith Smith]

Good point, I understand what you mean. I gotta tell ya, though, this was just so much fun, seeing the kids and even She Who Normally Isn't That Wild About Aviation(tm) getting into it and everyone smiling the whole time.

It's a family thing

[stevekirks]

Flight report:

Was able to knock this out pretty quick and adhered to the two dashes down mod. Flew far and fast inside the two story house that I'm confident in the outside enough to test. Be right back.

[stevekirks]

Update: Flew easy 50ft, with a vertical profile like a 737 from Burbank to Las Vegas --all up then all down.

looks like the CG is too far forward on mine but a paper clip might solve that.

[trigger_fsx]

Btw, I found a picture online of the design that I use (have been using this for 35 years or so): http://i.imgur.com/eW6eDHW.png

There is a modification in step 5, though, you need to move the solid black dot (the target point for the next fold) 2 dashes down.

In terms of launching, you can give it a pretty decent throw, I usually aim for a 45deg launch angle, the goal being for it to just get past vertical, then stall (the recovery is more or less instant), which means it'll resume level flight from the highest point possible. Whereas, if you launch too steeply, it'll fly all the way through the loop (no stall) and will not level out until it's about 1/3 of the height of the top of the loop.
It's all about the launch angle and the strength of the throw. Don't throw too hard, the structure is pretty flimsy and you'll deform it if the loads are too high.

Between that and tweaking the elevons on the back, there's a lot of fun to be had.

I am definitely going to have a go at this.

[Kerbo]

I'm late to the thread, but great story Keith. I have 2 young kids (5 and 8) and totally understand how satisfying these family moments can be.