PAPER AIRPLANE

 

 

A paper plane, paper aeroplane (UK), paper airplane (US), paper

 glider, paper dart or dart is a toy aircraft, usually a glider made

 out of paper or paperboard; the practice of constructing paper

 planes is sometimes referred to as aerogami

(Japanese: kamihikōki), after origami, the Japanese

art of paper folding.

 

 

 

 

History

 

The origin of folded paper gliders is generally considered to be of Ancient China,

 although there is equal evidence that the refinement and development of folded

gliders took place in equal measure in Japan. Certainly, manufacture of paper

on a widespread scale took place in China 500 BCE, and origami and paper

 folding became popular within a century of this period, approximately

 460-390 BCE. It is impossible to ascertain where and in what form the

 first paper aircraft were constructed, or even the first paper plane's form.

 

For over a thousand years after this, paper aircraft were the

 dominant man-made heavier-than-air craft

whose principles could be readily appreciated, though

thanks to their high drag coefficients, not of an

exceptional performance when gliding over long distances.

The pioneers of powered flight have all studied paper

 model aircraft in order to design larger machines.

Da Vinci wrote of the building of a model plane out

 of parchment, and of testing some of his early

ornithopter, an aircraft that flies by flapping wings,

and parachute designs using paper models.

Thereafter, Sir George Cayley explored the performance

of paper gliders in the late 19th century. Other pioneers,

such as Clément Ader, Prof. Charles Langley, and

Alberto Santos-Dumont often tested ideas with paper as

well as balsa models to confirm (in scale) their

theories before putting them into practice.

 

The most significant use of paper models in aircraft designs

 were by the Wright brothers between 1899 and 1903, the date

of the first powered flight from Kill Devil Hills, by the

Wright Flyer. The Wrights used a wind tunnel to gain knowledge

of the forces which could be used to control an aircraft in flight.

 They built numerous paper models, and tested them within

 their wind tunnel. By observing the forces produced by flexing

 the heavy paper models within the wind tunnel, the Wrights

determined that control through flight surfaces by warping

would be most effective, and in action identical to the later hinged aileron

and elevator surfaces used today. Their paper models were

 very important in the process of moving on to

 progressively larger models, kites, gliders and ultimately

on to the powered Flyer (in conjunction with the development

of lightweight petrol engines). In this way, the paper model

 plane remains a very important key in the graduation from

 model to manned heavier-than-air flight.

 

With time, many other designers have improved and developed

the paper model, while using it as a fundamentally useful tool

in aircraft design. One of the earliest known applied (as in c

ompound structures and many other aerodynamic refinements)

 modern paper plane was in 1909^{[citation needed]},

followed in 1930 by Jack Northrop's (co-founder of Lockheed

Corporation) use of paper planes as test models for larger

 aircraft. In Germany, during the Great Depression, designers

at Heinkel and Junkers used paper models in order to establish

 basic performance and structural forms in important projects,

 such as the Heinkel 111 and Junkers 88 tactical bomber programmes.

In recent times, paper model aircraft have gained great

sophistication, and very high flight performance far removed from

their origami origins, yet even origami aircraft have gained many

 new and exciting designs over the years, and gained much

 in terms of flight performance.

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PAPER AIRPLANES CARRYING SMILES

 

 

 

The children with ear-to-ear smiles are flying paper

 airplanes.The paper airplanes are made of handmade papers

from the indigenous cogon grasses. Cogon grasses

have been treated as a nuisance because they cover

plantations and arable lands, deprive the nutrients of the

soil and sometimes cause wildfire. People have studied

ways of utilizing the grasses and came to invent handmade

 paper. Cogon grass papers have a distinctive touch,

and are processed into postcards, letter papers,

envelopes, lamp shades, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Handmade paper-making, leading to the reduction of troublesome

 weeds and also as a source of income, has become one of the

 industries in Mindanao. In OISCA Mindanao Echotech Center,

too, we are teaching paper-making to the local residents and

are making cards with the children at CFP schools.

At Jose Hamoy Elementary School, Children’s Forest Program

was held. The children, after having played with Tsumiki No

Hiroba (Environmental Education through Wooden Blocks),

folded paper airplanes with Cogon grass papers. The children fly

and chase paper airplanes on the school ground. They repeat it

 again, again. It is hoped that they will grow up without forgetting

the warmth of woods and the tenderness of handmade papers.