DETERMINING WHICH PAPER AIRPLANE FLIES FOR THE LONGEST AMOUNT
OF TIME
Buzzy Barrow
Cary Academy
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the experiment was to determine which design of paper airplane flies for
the longest amount of time. The different paper airplane designs used in the experiment were the
Classic Dart, the Barracuda, the Sea Gull, the Monsoon, and the Hickory. The hypothesis was
that the Classic Dart paper airplane design would fly for the longest amount of time because it
was the most popular design of paper airplane. First 2 planes of each paper airplane design were
crafted. Next, each design of plane was flown 10 times. Then, the time that it took the plane to
finish its flight and land was recorded. After, the results were averaged. Next, the duration of
each planes flight was compared. The Hickory paper airplane flew for the longest amount of
time. The average flight time for the Hickory was 1.51 seconds. The Monsoon averaged 1.38
seconds, the Sea Gull averaged 1.22 seconds, and after the Sea Gull was the Barracuda with only
1.14 seconds per flight. The Classic Dart flew for only 1.08 seconds. It was also found that both
room temperature and cold paper airplanes average 1.12 seconds per flight, while the hot
airplane averaged 1.17 seconds per flight. The wet Classic Dart flew for .85 seconds per flight
while the dry Classic Dart flew for 1.32 seconds per flight. When flown into wind the Classic
Dart flew for .71 seconds, the Barracuda flew for 1.52 seconds, and the Hickory flew for 1.45
seconds per flight.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the experiment was to find out which paper airplane design flies for the
most amount of time. It was wondered whether the simplest plane, the Classic Dart, would
perform better than the more complex paper airplanes. It was discovered that other similar paper
airplanes to the Classic Dart are the Barracuda, the Sea Gull, the Hickory, and the Monsoon. The
experiment was conducted with those other paper airplanes, along with the Classic Dart.
The Classic Dart paper airplane is the most common and simple airplane tested. It looks
like a regular paper airplane and is not special. The Barracuda paper airplane is a shorter paper
airplane, and is more complicated. The Sea Gull is a plane which is all wings. There are is no
place to hold it so it is sort of complicated to throw. The Hickory is very similar to the classic
dart and is very simple. The Monsoon airplane is a wide, but short paper airplane that is really
complicated to create.
Any plane, whether it is a real or paper airplane, flies when the lift and thrust overcome
the weight and drag. Thrust is the force that pushes the airplane through the air. On a real
airplane the thrust is the force of the propellers, or the jets, but on a paper airplane, that force is
the force of the paper airplane being thrown forward. Drag is the force of friction against the
plane. For example running into the wind is a bit difficult, but running into the wind with a large
board is much harder. That is why the planes are horizontal not vertical, and also why people are
trying to make them more aerodynamic. Lift is created when air is diverted down by the wings.
Lift can also be increased with flaps. Flaps are located towards the back of the front wing.
They work by the pilot letting the flaps down. They hang off the back of the wing to divert the
air down. The air pushing down forces the plane to move upward. Even though the flaps create
lift they also create drag. They create drag because they hang of the back the air is pushing
against them which pushes the plane back. The reason airplanes have to go faster at take-off is
because the flaps are down creating lift so they can get off the ground, but it also creates drags so
more thrust is required. Flaps are used on landing too because lowering them helps slow the
airplane down. Planes turn side to side using rudders. The rudders are located on the vertical
stabilizer, which is the wing sticking straight up and down towards the back of the plane. It
works using the same concept of the flaps. It moves side to side, causing the air to be directed to
either side. This makes the plane turn side to side. The pilot banks by using the ailerons. There is
one aileron on each side of the wing. They move the opposite way of one another to make one
side of the plane to move down, and the other side to move up. This causes the plane to bank to
bank left or right. Elevators are used to angle the nose up or down. They work by diverting the
air either above or below the smaller wing in the back. When the air is pushed either up or down
that pushes the tail of the airplane either up or down. The tail going up or down makes the nose
of the plane dip and rise.
On the outside paper airplanes are really different from real airplanes. But the physics of
their flight is pretty much the same. The main difference is how each of them generates thrust. A
paper airplane gets its thrust from it being thrown while a real plane generates it from their
propellers or jets. Even on a paper airplane elevators can be adjusted by bending the back of the
paper airplane either up or down to make the plane angle up or down.
It was observed that all of the planes were made of the letter-size copier paper. The
dimensions of the letter-size copier paper were 27.9 by 21.6 cm. The copier paper was also
observed to be white, and was not see-through. When the paper is folded, but not very hard the
paper bends, and comes back unfolded a little. Also when the Classic Dart paper airplane is
dropped without throwing it the nose dips and it skids on the ground. It was also observed that on
the table, and tile floor the plane slides on the ground for about 30 cm. After several throws of
the plane the nose gets banged up, and damaged. The Classic Dart paper airplane was observed
to be the easiest of the 5 paper airplanes to make, and was much simpler. The wingspan of the
Classic Dart was 13.6 cm, and the length of the plane from nose to tail was 28.1 cm.
It was hypothesized that the Classic Dart paper airplane would fly for the longest amount
of time. The reason for this was because the Classic Dart is the simplest paper airplane. The
other airplanes might try to be too complex, so they might not function as well. Also it was
thought that the other airplanes, might try to be more looks oriented, so they might not be as
practical. Another reason that the Classic Dart paper airplane would perform the best is because
it is the most common paper airplane, and if lots of people use it, it is probably a pretty decent
paper airplane.
MATERIALS AND METHOD
The experiment was conducted with the following materials:

15 different pieces of letter-size copier paper

5 different designs of paper airplanes

1 stopwatch

1 piece of lined paper

1 pencil

1 large hallway

3 pieces of temperature sensitive paper

1 chair

1 large fan with 3 levels of intensity.
First the 5 most popular paper airplanes were found. It was discovered that the Classic
Dart, the Barracuda, the Sea Gull, the Hickory, and the Monsoon paper airplanes were some of
the most popular designs, so they were used to test. 2 different planes of each style were
constructed using instructions off a website included in the citations. The planes were crafted as
carefully as possible, so they would be the exact same as the ones on the website. After the 2
Classic Dart paper airplanes were thrown 10 times combined. So each individual Classic Dart
paper airplane was flown exactly 5 times. All of the planes were flown in a large hallway, so
they would not hit the walls. Also it was made sure that each of the throws was similar to each
other to avoid messing up the experiment. To decide how long the planes flew in the air this
process was used. Someone would walk down to the beginning of the hallway. The moment that
the paper airplane left the thrower´s hand, the stopwatch was started. Then the stopwatch was
then stopped when the plane touched the ground. The thrower would throw the airplanes again 4
more times, and switch to the other plane of the same style. That process was repeated with the
other 4 different designs of paper airplanes. Once that was finished the data was averaged out. To
do this the longest 2 flights and the shortest 2 flights were eliminated from the data. Then the 6
middle flights were averaged out to find how long each plane flew. Finally, the different
durations of the airplane´s flight was compared between the models to find out which design of
airplane flies longest during regular use. The independent variable for this experiment was the
different types of paper airplanes. The dependent variable was the time that the plane stayed in
the air. It was decided that the classic dart paper airplane was chosen as the control because it
was the most popular paper airplane and it was the simplest of the 5 paper airplanes.
A second experiment on paper airplanes was conducted. 3 pieces of temperature sensitive
paper were acquired. The paper was made into 3 different classic dart paper airplanes. The
instructions on how to construct the classic dart airplanes was from a website included in the
citations. 1 of the planes was kept in the incubator to heat up for 5 minutes, one airplane was
kept at room temperature for 5 minutes, and the final airplane was kept in a refrigerator for 5
minutes. The paper airplanes were flown in a large hall way to make sure that the planes
wouldn´t hit the wall, and end their flight short. First, the thrower would throw the room
temperature airplane, and start the stopwatch once the paper airplane left the thrower´s hand. The
thrower would again stop the stopwatch when the plane hit the ground. After each airplane was
flown 4 more times, and the amount of time they flew was recorded each time. Next, that same
process was repeated with both the hot and the cold airplanes. After, the time for each airplane´s
flight was averaged out. Finally, the length of the paper airplane´s flight was compared between
the different temperatures of airplanes to determine what temperature is the best to fly paper
airplanes in. The room temperature airplane was chosen to be the control because it was the
middle of the three temperatures. The independent variable in this experiment was the
temperature of the airplanes, and the dependent variable was the length of the flight.
A third experiment was conducted on if a wet or dry paper airplane flies longer. First 2
pieces of letter-size copier paper were crafted into 2 classic dart paper airplanes. These airplanes
were made using instructions off of a website included in the citations. 50 mL of water was
poured on 1 of the 2 paper airplanes. First the dry airplane was flown 1 time and the duration of
the flight was measured using a stopwatch. The paper airplanes were flown in a large hallway to
ensure that the planes would not hit the wall, and crash. First the dry plane was flown. To do this,
the planes were thrown, and a stopwatch was started when the plane left the thrower´s hand. The
stopwatch was then stopped when the plane touched the ground. The dry paper airplane was
flown 4 more times to have a precise average. This process was repeated with the wet paper
airplane, and the duration of the flight was compared between the dry and wet airplanes to
determine whether the dry or wet paper airplane flies for the longest amount of time. The control
was decided to be the dry paper airplane because usually paper airplanes are dry. The
independent variable in the experiment was the wetness, or dryness of the airplanes, and the
dependent variable was the length of their flight.
A fourth experiment was conducted on which type of paper airplane can withstand wind
the best. First 3 different pieces of letter-size copier paper were crafted into a hickory paper
airplane, a classic dart, and a barracuda style airplane. The planes were crafted using the
instructions off of a website that is included in the citations. First, a large fan was placed onto a
stool in a stool in a large hallway to ensure that the planes would not crash into the walls. The
fan was turned onto the 2nd of the 3 intensity levels. The plane was thrown, and the stopwatch
was started when the plane left the thrower´s hand. The stopwatch was then stopped when the
plane touched the ground. The same plane was flown into the fan 4 more times, and then the
process was repeated with the other 2 styles of paper airplanes. Afterwards the average duration
of the plane flight was compared between the other models of paper airplanes to determine
which of the three airplane models fly the best in windy circumstances. The control in this
experiment was decided to be the classic dart paper airplane because it was the most common.
The independent variable in this experiment was the different types of airplanes, and the
dependent variable was the duration of the flight.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1.6
1.4
Length of Flight
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Classic Dart
Barracuda
Sea Gull
Monsoon
Hickory
Type of Airplane
Figure 1: Which design of paper airplane flies for the longest amount of time during
normal circumstances?
The first experiment that was conducted was the one on which design of paper airplane
fly for the longest amount of time. In this experiment, the hickory paper airplane flew for the
longest amount of time. The Hickory paper airplane averaged 1.51 seconds per flight. The
closest competitor was the Monsoon, which was quite a ways away from beating the Hickory.
The monsoon averaged 1.38 seconds per flight, which was .13 seconds away from the Hickory.
The most common airplane, the Classic Dart, flew for the least amount of time, averaging only
1.08 seconds during a regular flight. The middle 2 planes were the Barracuda, and the Sea Gull.
The Barracuda averaged 1.14 seconds per flight, while the Sea Gull averaged 1.22 seconds per
flight. Overall the Hickory airplane was by far the best in the group.
One thing that was noticed about the Barracuda airplane was that it did not stay flying
straight. It often times would go high in the air then come back down and it would swerve to the
sides often. On the other hand, the Classic Dart was quite the opposite. It went much straighter
than the other airplanes. The thing that helped the Sea gull was that it went much higher than the
other airplanes, and was much slower. That might have helped it take longer. The thing that took
a lot of the monsoon´s time away was that it crashed often. It probably would have flown much
longer if it hadn´t crashed. The Hickory airplane was much more stable, and flew long far flights.
It was much slower than the rest of the airplanes.
1.18
1.17
Length of Flight (s)
1.16
1.15
1.14
1.13
1.12
1.11
1.1
1.09
Room Temperature
Hot
Cold
Temperature of Paper Airplane
Figure 2: What temperature will paper airplanes fly for the longest amount of time in?
Both the room temperature and the hot airplanes flew for the same amount of time. They
each flew for 1.12 seconds on average. The cold plane´s average flight time was barely more
than the hot and room temperature. The cold´s average flight time was 1.17 seconds per flight.
The difference between the 3 planes was so little that they were pretty much the same time. Only
.05 seconds separated the flights, so it was almost like no difference between the 3 planes. The
planes also flew similarly too. All of the planes were very straight and did not veer off to either
the left or the right. Overall these planes were very straight fliers.
1.4
Length of Flight (s)
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Wet
Dry
Wetness of Paper Airplane
Figure 3: Will wet or dry paper airplanes fly for a longer amount of time?
The dry paper airplane flew for a much longer time than the wet paper airplane did. The
dry airplane averaged 1.32 seconds per flight, while the wet paper airplane only averaged .85
seconds per flight. It was observed during the experiment that the wet paper airplane’s flights
had an almost “floppy” characteristic to them. Once the plane was flown, the plane kind of fell
over to the ground, and did not fly straight at all. The dry airplane flew much more straight, and
flew quite smoothly. Overall the dry airplane flew for a much longer time than the wet airplane.
Figure 4: Which design of paper airplane flies for the longest amount of time during windy
circumstances?
When flown in windy circumstances the Barracuda airplane flew for the longest amount
of time. The Barracuda averaged 1.52 seconds per flight. The Hickory paper airplane almost flew
as long as the Barracuda, but it only averaged 1.45 seconds per flight, so it flew for .07 seconds
less. The Classic Dart did not perform well at all with only an average of .71 seconds per flight.
It was observed that the Barracuda paper airplane took advantage of the wind, and flew very
lofty, floating around in the air for a while before it the ground. The Hickory paper airplane was
also quite lofty, but it did not stay in the air for as long, so it did not perform as well. The Classic
Dart used the wind as a disadvantage, and landed quite soon. It did not have the lofty
characteristic, and was much shorter, landing as soon as it would get in the air.
CONCLUSIONS
The information in figure 1 proves the hypothesis false. The hypothesis that the Classic
Dart would be the paper airplane that flew for the longest amount of time was false. To test this
hypothesis, 5 different models of paper airplanes were tested. The Classic Dart was actually
found to be the paper airplane that flew for the least amount of time. The Classic Dart paper
airplane model did not fly as long as the other airplanes because it went much faster than the
others. The Classic Dart went too fast, causing it to take less time. The other airplanes went
much slower, causing them to fly for a longer amount of time than the Classic Dart.
The reason that the Hickory airplane flew the longest was because it went the slowest of
the airplanes. When it was flying it would take much more time than the other airplanes, causing
it to take much more time for the flight to finish. Also, the other airplanes had problems. Both
the Monsoon and the Barracuda flew off to the side and crashed instead of going straight, and the
Sea Gull would go high, then come crashing down. Overall, the Hickory was a much slower and
straighter paper airplane than the other models.
Often times during the experiment the paper airplanes would crash into the walls often.
Next time maybe there could be a larger hallway so the walls would not interfere with the
plane’s flight. Also next time a machine could throw the planes. This would prevent any
differences in the throws so the test would be fair. Future experiments that could be performed
could be the same thing, except measuring the distance of the flight, not the duration of the
flight. Additionally experiments could test other designs of the airplanes not just the Hickory,
Monsoon, Sea Gull, Barracuda, and Classic Dart.
It was observed that just because something is the most popular, does not necessarily
mean that it is the best. In this experiment, the Classic Dart, by far the most common plane,
performed the worst of the 5 airplanes. This is surprising because one would think that a
common airplane would perform the best, when that is not true at all.
It was also observed that the Classic Dart performed much worse in wind. Wind usually
makes planes fly longer (which it did with the Barracuda and the Hickory). Instead with the
classic dart it flew for a much shorter amount of time and nosedived almost immediately after the
plane was thrown.
REFERENCES

Anderson, David F., and Scott Eberhardt. Understanding flight. New York: McGrawHill, 2010. Print.

Blackburn, Ken. Kids' paper airplane book. New York: Workman Pub, 1996. Print.

Marshall Brain, Robert Lamb and Brian Adkins. "How Airplanes Work." How Stuff
Works. Discovery, 2012.Web. 1/11/12.

Paper Airplanes HQ. "How to Make 50 Cool and Amazing Paper Airplanes." Paper
Airplanes HQ. Paper Airplanes HQ, 2011. Web. 2/15/12.