Читать книгу High-Performance Paper Airplanes - Andrew Dewar - Страница 6

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Adjusting and Flying Your Planes



Your plane won’t fly well if the wings are warped or twisted. You can check the wing alignment by holding the model at arm’s length and examining it from the front and back.

Camber and warping


Add camber (a gentle arching of the wings that aids flight) and fix warping by gently twisting the paper in the wings and tail with your fingers. Tweak a tiny bit at a time until everything is straight.

Adjusting the dihedral


The upturn of the wings is called dihedral. It helps keep the plane level, because lift pulls at right angles to each wing, and when the plane banks, the lift created by the level wing increases, and straightens the whole plane until the lift is equal again.


If the plane turns to one side or the other, adjust it until it flies straight as in pattern 2.


Fix a left turn by slightly bending the rear edge of the left wing down, the rear edge of the right wing up, and the rudder right.


Just right!


Fix a right turn by slightly bending the rear edge of the right wing down, the rear edge of the left wing up, and the rudder left.

Test flying the plane


Test fly the airplane gently at first, onto a carpet or bed or dry lawn. Toss the plane straight forward firmly and watch how it flies. If it stalls (B) or dives (C), adjust it and test fly again, until it glides gently like pattern A.


Just right!


Fix a dive by bending the rear of the stabilizer up slightly.


Fix a stall by bending the rear of the stabilizer down slightly.

High-Performance Paper Airplanes

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