Hacker News Reader

Comment by yabones | Hacker News Reader

I'm surprised they don't have the "lock fold" or "Nakamura Lock" design. When I was younger, that was the most consistent design for a good plane. Not always the best, but never the worst. Somebody talented could fold up a dart to beat it on distance, or a glider to stay up longer, but everybody could make a decent "lock fold".

https://origamimag.com/nakamura-lock-paper-airplane/

View on HN

This is the exact same design I used in middle school to win a paper airplane competition! It is called "The Moth" on the website I found it on back in the day: https://www.10paperairplanes.com/how-to-make-paper-airplanes.... I still remember how to make it to this day.

This one doesn't cut it? https://www.foldnfly.com/2.html#The-Stable Granted, they fold the wings a really weird/ugly way. Also this variant for some reason: https://www.foldnfly.com/29.html#Lock-Bottom-Plane

That's not even the kind of lock I expected. It's possible to design a plane so once the wings are folded down, the fuselage is locked in a tightly folded position. I don't have a good online reference at the moment...

I agree. I didn't know it had a name. Thanks for it.

Also plus points. 1) It was easy to remember how to fold it. 2) It had good structural resistance and could withstand several flights and bumps. 3) It provided the first lesson in aeronautical engineering i.e. you could slightly tilt the one or the other wing in order to make flight behavior corrections.

My real love was one model that I didn't know how to make. An older cousin did. It was a tailed design. Best Flight Ever... See, when you are 5 it is easy to impress!

My Grandfather worked at the Forestry Service and would come home with reams of used type paper (filled with statistics and reports, I assume). My grandparents would put the paper in the toy cabinet for us. I've made thousands of that design of paper airplane and just today learned that it had a name. Thanks!

This is the only plane design made in my country. Every kid makes these.

For the longest time, I thought this was the only kind of paper airplane and that other designs were just for kids who didn’t know how to fold.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com