9

Fold‘N Fly

REVIEW FIELD TEST

aper planes fill that niche where

they’re easy to get started, use cheap

and widely available materials, and

are great fun for almost anyone with

a sense of joy. If you want to go into

it, they’re also a vehicle for learning the

basics of aerodynamics. They’re almost the perfect

maker project, yet so often we explore no further

than the basic ‘dart-style’ paper planes that littered

the corridors of our schools. While there’s nothing

wrong with these planes, they’re only the first step.

Explore a little more and there’s a wealth of options

to take paper into flight, and FoldNFly.com is the

perfect place to continue your aviation adventure.

Fold’N Fly gets straight down to business. It’s

there for one thing and one thing only – teaching

people how to make paper planes, and it does

this really well. On the main page, you’re greeted

by a list of different designs that you can filter by

difficulty, specialism (distance, time in the air, etc.),

and whether or not you consider scissors cheating.

Follow any one of these links, and you get a series

of photographed steps, guiding you through a build,

as well as a video of it. That’s it. There’s no cruft, or

anything else filling up the site. It’s paper aeroplanes

all the way.

P

Fold’N Fly

Here at HackSpace towers, we’re fond of the

acrobatic planes because, well, we like twirling in

the sky. The Royal Wing design is our preferred craft

for this. The combination of large wing area, and

well-balanced weight, make it great for low-speed

manoeuvres. However, the implausible shapes of

the King Bee or the Gliding Plane make them also

top contenders for our affections.

The one thing missing from this page is advice

on flying the planes. Particularly with acrobatic

planes, the minutiae of how you launch (and some

last-minute folding) can have a huge impact on the

end result. Perhaps, though, it would be mundane

for a website to guide you all the way. This omission

does give us license to experiment freely, and see

what we can discover about the science of cellulose

aviation (as we term this hobby on our CV).

If you want to start making better paper planes,

or if you’re bored at work, this is the site for you.

There are plenty of options for both beginners and

experts alike.

By Ben Everard ben_everard

Everyone needs

to know a few

good paper

aeroplane

designs.

9 / 10

VERDICT

Above

Simple and to-the-

point. Exactly what a

website should be

Below

The Royal Wing: for

when you need to

impress people

with your paper-

flying skills

Take to the skies, no pilot’s licence necessary

FOLD’N FLY free foldnfly.com