Paper airplanes are one of the most popular paper craft models. Every kid seems to learn how to make a paper airplane (or paper boat, or paper hat) by osmosis or instinct, but the world of paper planes is so much richer and and more fascinating than the simple paper dart. Beyond folded origami aircraft and scrappy aeroplanes made of school notebook paper, there are model airplanes, flying card gliders and so much more.
Paper Plane Designs
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How To Make An Easy Origami Paper Plane
There are a few basic paper planes that are fun to fly, though how to make a paper airplane is a wide and infinite rabbit hole to go down. Besides the simple paper dart covered in a previous…
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How To Make An Easy Origami Windmill
We’ve seen the paper pinwheel shape which I hint at in the double-hulled boat video, but this one is different and exciting. Making paper planes is a well-covered topic with various pointy and winged models that soar through…
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How To Make An Easy Origami Paper Dart
Do you remember making paper darts when you were a kid? I do. I remember dozens of them flying through the air on one occasion in school, but that’s a story for another day. Most of us have…
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The Gnat – Paper Airplane Instructions
One of the staple paper planes of my childhood, the Gnat, I’ve already covered in detailed folding instructions, but I think there are varying ways to learn origami, paper folding and how to make a paper airplane. I…
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The Gnat – Paper Airplane Design
My love of origami and paper folding started very young, and was tied into my love of aircraft and, by association, making paper airplanes. Paper folding in general was fascinating and magical, but it was paper planes that…
Is a Paper Airplane Considered Origami?
Yes.
The majority of paper plane designs are purely folded, usually from a single sheet of paper, all of which qualifies paper planes to be called Origami, even in the strictest modern sense of the term.
Speaking of which, the strictness in defining Origami is a modern invention, not a traditional one. Traditional Japanese origami embraced multiple pieces of paper, cutting, and even gluing. The strict single-sheet, no cuts limitation is more of a newer Western imposition and the need for some people to add gates and walls were none were welcome.
Most paper planes are made of single sheets, but there are some great designs with multiple pieces of paper, or those that require cuts (for ailerons/wing-flaps, for example) and even some that require fasteners (a staple pin or paper clip). Almost all of them involve folding.
Personally, any piece which is largely built by folding is origami to me, and paper planes are one of the most fun forms that can take.