Paper Airplane Design and Flight Distance

Standard A4 printer paper (20 sheets) Measuring tape (30m) Gym or hallway with minimal wind Masking tape (for launch line) Protractor Pencil and data sheet

1. Fold 5 identical planes of each design: classic dart, glider (wide wings), delta wing, canard (front-weighted). 2. Mark a launch line with masking tape. 3. Each plane is thrown by the same person with a consistent overhand throw. 4. Measure straight-line distance from launch line to landing point. 5. Throw each plane 3 times and record all distances. 6. Calculate average distance per design.

Classic dart: avg 12.4m (range 10.1-14.8m). Glider: avg 8.7m (range 5.2-11.3m) — most variable. Delta wing: avg 14.1m (range 12.8-15.6m) — most consistent. Canard: avg 10.2m (range 8.4-12.1m). The glider had the longest individual throw (11.3m) when it caught a slight air current, but also the shortest (5.2m) when it nose-dived. Delta wing had the tightest grouping.

Expected the dart to win on distance. The delta wing's consistency and slight distance advantage were a surprise. The glider's high variance makes it unreliable. Throwing consistency is the biggest confounding variable — would be improved with a mechanical launcher.