In our experiment, we tried to see how a paper airplane’s wings would change the distance it would cover before hitting the ground.  We had 3 separate planes. Each plane had different wings, one being very small, and more of a dart-looking design. One felt pretty basic and had a normal size of wings, and it was labeled “The Basic” on the website we took the designs from…  The last one has the largest span of wings.

The reason I wanted to make this experiment was to see how much the lift would change underneath the plane. I felt like the more “wing” there was, the more “lift” the plane would have. Lift is the force of air that goes under the plane, originating from the “thrust” at the front of the plane.

What did you learn?

We learned that the larger the wing, the poorer the planes would perform. Our dart plane ended up covering more distance but interestingly hit the ground the fastest. My thoughts were somewhat correct, our large winged plane covered more distance than the Basic plane, but couldn’t beat the dart’s speed. However, I did feel like it was in the air the longest.

What would you do differently next time?

I feel like there’s not much to go off from this. I think I would try different designs, and I think the folds I did for the plane were flimsy and inaccurate.

The Dart (Small Wing)

“The Basic Plane” (Normal Wing)

The “Hunting Flight” (Large Wing)