Wings Reading #5

How do Paper planes fly??

A question I always ask myself whenever I see a paper plane being thrown into the air. With a paper airplane there are four forces in balance that play a large part of keeping the paper airplane in the air. According to an article titled “What makes a paper plane fly” by author Keith Evans states the four major aerodynamics that help make a paper plane fly. The four balances are drag, gravity, lift and thrust. First is the drag this is the air resistance that comes from the behind the paper airplane paper plane needs as little resistance as possible so that front of the paper airplane can properly glide through the air. The second force is gravity, there needs to be as little weight on the paper airplane as possible because gravity pulls things to the ground and the airplane needs to float and stay in the air and have as less pressure like gravity pulling it down to the ground. The third force of balance is the lift. This is the air that is pushing the airplane upwards, the opposite of gravity that pulls the plane down. The more air that is pulling the wings upward the higher the paper plane will fly. And the last force of balance is thrust, this is the forward movement of the airplane as it is gliding in the air. All of these forces of balance are just some of the major aerodynamic factors to that allow the air plane to fly. In addition to these aerodynamic factors there are a few other factors that help make an airplane fly like the design of the airplane, and the thrusting of the airplane. The builder of the airplane determines the wingspan of the airplane and how long or short the wings will be shaped and this will determine how much the wings can stand with gliding in the air. And the builder will determine how far the plane will go by how much thrust and push is being pressured against the airplane to make it glide. In Conclusion, there are many factors that help make a paper airplane fly in the air like aerodynamics and the design of the airplane that help make paper planes fly.

Works Cited:

Evans, Keith. "Aerodynamics: "What makes Paper airplanes fly"." 1. (2014): n. page. Web. 1 Feb. 2014.