Paper aeroplane templates

Pre-crease everything first

This is the one instruction that makes these work, and it’s on every sheet.

Before you fold anything properly, run lightly along every dashed line while the paper is still flat, then open it out again. The direction doesn’t matter yet.

The reason is simple. Printed fold lines vanish under the first two folds, which is why most printed aeroplane templates fall apart at about step three. We found that out the hard way on a rainy Tuesday. Pre-creased lines are still there by feel when the ink is buried inside the plane.

Print at 100 per cent

More important here than anywhere else on the site. “Fit to page” shrinks the sheet by a few per cent, the template goes out of square, and the plane flies in a curve no amount of adjusting will fix.

Ordinary 80gsm copier paper, too. Heavier paper feels better and flies worse, and card doesn’t work at all.

Which one to print

Start with the easy beginner plane. Four steps, large fold lines, forgiving about imprecision, and it flies well enough that nobody feels short-changed.

The classic dart is next, and it’s the one most adults already half remember. Fast and straight, best down a hallway.

The long-distance glider is the one to throw indoors: slower, flatter, and it covers more ground than the dart despite feeling gentler in the hand.

The speed jet wants a hard, level throw and a lot of space.

The stunt plane is the only one that really needs an adult nearby. Six steps, winglets, and small tabs at the back that change how it behaves.

The tabs are the good bit

On the stunt plane, the two tabs at the rear are what turn a paper aeroplane into something worth an afternoon. Flat for a straight flight. Both bent up five to eight millimetres for a loop. One raised for a curve.

Make tiny adjustments and throw it after each one. A millimetre does more than you would expect, and the trial and error is the entire point.

Creases matter more than the design

Fold on a table rather than in mid-air, line the edges up before you press, and run a thumbnail hard along every crease. A sharply folded beginner plane will beat a sloppily folded stunt plane every single time.

If a plane turns to one side, it’s nearly always the wings. Check both are folded to the same height.

Decorate before you fold

Colour the sheet in first, not afterwards. Decorating a finished aeroplane means leaning on the folds and crushing them, and a crushed plane flies like a crushed plane.

Where to throw them

A hallway beats a living room and outside beats both, though a paper aeroplane and a light wind part company quickly.

If you want it to last more than ten minutes, mark a landing zone on the floor with masking tape and let them compete. The folding takes a quarter of an hour. The throwing can take the rest of the afternoon.

Every sheet carries the same line at the foot, and it’s worth repeating: fly in a clear space, and never aim at people, animals, roads or anything breakable.

For another wet afternoon with nothing to complete and nothing to get right, the colouring pages do the same job on the same kind of Saturday.