Today I learned:
1. Paper planes actually predate aviation itself! The earliest folded gliders are thought to have originated in China as early as 500 BC. These flying toys caught on in Japan right around the same time, as origami, the art of paper folding, grew in popularity.
2. The term ‘paper airplanes’ is pretty broad. The category encompasses homemade jobs, the kind we all remember illicitly folding up from the back row of detention with a single sheet of spiral bound paper, as well as professionally-designed, store-bought kits. Kids of a certain age might remember purchasing those fancy “White Wings” gliders— made from several sheets of pressed balsa wood paper, these cutout kits are *technically* still paper airplanes too.
3. Paper planes have been used to demonstrate aeronautical principles for centuries. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have created his designs for a helicopter and a parachute using parchment paper, while Jack Northrop, a co-founder of the Lockheed Corporation, actually used paper planes as test models for larger aircraft.
4. There is actually an entire category of world records for paper airplane flying! Among the many achievements are longest flight (for distance), longest flight (time aloft), and, strangely enough, most paper planes caught in one’s mouth.
5. Last, there are way more paper airplane nerds out there than you would expect! Many of these people are grown adults, with way more resources than your average kid. One of my favorite finds was this Fold ‘N Fly website, a passion project with countless tutorials on different paper airplane designs. I really could’ve used this site about thirty years ago!
If I learned anything today, it’s that you never really need any kind of excuse to launch a sheet of paper flying across the room. So let’s get folding!