Newbie & Paper Aeroplane Challenge.

Try moving the CoG back a bit.

RedKev
That's pretty good! It must be getting close to 4:1 glide.
I think you will find further improvements get harder and harder. I suspect from now it will depend on the wing section or rather how accurately you can maintain it across the whole span of the wing.
To achieve this in paper requires it to be well supported over its entire surface which means lots of internal structure which of course adds considerable complexity and weight.

The real answer is of course that paper is not an ideal material to make anything but the smallest plane!

Thanks for all your comments.
Its been really fun and very cheap.

My next thought was an engine but it is too far from the original concept to be practical.

In the original thought-set was the use of a lacquer spray to stiffen and strenghten the paper and allow extention of the wings etc. After all, fibre and glue are all carbon fibre and glass fibre are. It adds weight in trials and the lacquers I have tried are too flexible (Halfords clear car and Plasticote Projekt Paint fast dry enamel clear). Any one know of a stiffer drying spray lacquer?

However I am really pleased with how its turned out (thanks again Eric). Any one, even a child, can now build a working model air craft useing only A4 paper, Sellotape, a pencil, scissors and a ruler.

Here are the up-dated instructions should any one want to use them or pass them on. Please post any improvements on here

The A4 Glider by KD-J (and Eric).

You will need 5 sheets of A4 paper depending on your dexterity (paper is cheap so do not be afraid to mess about and experiment), a ruler, a pair of scissors, a pencil and some Sellotape (sticky back flexible plastic strip) 2 cm wide is best.

Step 1. Making the parts.

Fuselage. Roll half an A4 sheet of paper, lengthwise into a tube that is exactly two-ply and hold in place with two tabs of Sellotape (tab x 2) at each end.

Nose Cone. Angle-roll a folded A4 sheet (A5) into a cone about 23 cm long and hold it in shape with a tab. Cut the front 10 cm off.

Tail Assembly. Fold an A4 sheet from the top right to the mid left side. Cut along the fold to leave the triangle. Fold the triangle in half then fold the two open ends back to form a tail section. Tape the tail with a tab that wraps round the two ply tail fin.

Wings. Fold 2 sheets of A4 in half lengthwise. Butt the two L shaped sheets together and join the two wings with a 9 cm strip of tape. To stiffen the lower wing section run a 40 cm strip of tape along the centre of both wings at right angles to the joining strip. Push the top fold of each wing flat then push back the top fold of each wing 1.0 cm and tab in place to form an airfoil. Cut the 1.0 cm over hang off. Tape neatly and evenly along the wings upper curved surface.

Wing Bracket. Cut a 1.0 cm A4 length of paper. Wrap round the fuselage and snip half a cm in two places so that when interwoven at the snips the strip forms a neat loop about the fuselage. Place the bracket at the centre of balance and tab it.

Step 2. Mock-up Assembly.

All the parts needed are now completed. The next stage is to assemble them as they are, before the final tape up. This is because changes and modifications are very difficult once final tape up is completed.
1. Insert the fuselage into the nose cone. Tab the cone in place. Tab over the front of the cut cone.
2. Cut a 10.0cm slit along the top of the fuselage from the base. Then press the fuselage flat so that the slit is central and cut two more 10.0 cm slits half way up each side of the fuselage. Slide the tail assembly into the slits.
3. Remove the tail assemble and place the fuselage and bracket on top of the up turned wing. Tab the bracket to the underside of the wings. Re-attach the tail assembly. Adjust wings, bracket, tail and nose cone so everything looks straight and symmetrical. Test that the centre of balance is half way under the wings and that the glider feels balanced left to right.

Final assembly.

1. Tab the front and rear of the wing to the fuselage. Run a strip of tape 25 cm along the bottom of the front edge of the wing and over/round the fuselage. Run two similar strips along both sides of the bracket onto the wing just short of the fuselage.
2. Tab the tail section in place.
3. Fluff out any dents in wing, fuselage. Straighten, smooth the tail section. FLY IT.

Looks pretty good at that, but as suggested by poly, try easing the c of g back a touch, try to go one millimeter at a time, until the aircraft starts to waffle about or nod it's nose, then go forward a fraction from there.