Читать книгу Next Generation Paper Airplanes Ebook - Sam Ita - Страница 5

Introduction

One of my most vivid childhood memories is of a paper airplane contest held at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. The rules were simple; Several huge circles were painted on the floor of the arena. The names of prizes were spelled out in the circles. From the stands, thousands of contestants would throw airplanes, folded from sheets of paper with their names written on them. You had to buy the paper. At the end of the day, the pilot whose plane ended up closest to the center of the circle won the prize. A trip to Disney World was the grand prize. There was also a Jeep parked on the floor with its windows open. The first person to get a plane inside won the vehicle. Serious contestants purchased stacks of paper and brought homemade launchers, staples, rolls of tape, bone folders, etc.

My family and I, on the other hand, were woefully ill-prepared. We had traveled across the country to visit my grandmother, and were attending the contest on a whim. This was the mid 1980s. I had mastered shoe tying not too long before. In any case, the designated paper cost 25¢ per sheet, so we only bought about a half dozen. Folding instructions for “The Dart” (page 12) were printed on each sheet.

I vaguely recall a couple of attempts. My darts began their descent, just after leaving my hand, landing just a few rows in front of our seats. My parents hadn’t fared much better. Their adult strength enabled them to throw their darts only another ten or twenty rows. None of my family’s aircraft even made it out of the stands. I now blame this poor performance on The Dart’s major design flaws. I will get into this subject more later.

For the purpose of this book, darts are an entire category of paper plane. They are long, pointy, and built for going the distance—the sort of plane that should have been ideal for this contest. With decent folding, a good throw, and a little luck, I believed any of my darts could have made it to the Kingdome’s floor.

Although it would have been nice to have done better in the contest, what I remember most about the contest was how incredibly fun it was, and how I’ve always wanted a chance to try it again. The contest was held annually from 1978 to 1987. I have never heard of anything quite like it, since. The Kingdome was demolished in 2000.

In the same spirit, I designed these planes for maximum enjoyment. They represent a variety of forms and flight styles. For the most part, they require only beginner level origami skills. There are a few intermediate-level folds, which are explained in detail. If you get stuck, just pop in the DVD, so you can watch the process on your television or computer. Happy flying!