The world's deadliest paper plane
Nearly killed author Simon Haynes
Flies better than Hal Spacejock ever did!
In the first Hal Junior novel, this plane is called the 'Phantom X1'
As folded & demonstrated during my class visits!
My dad made me one of these when I was about five years old, and left it in the hallway outside my bedroom late at night. When I discovered it in the morning I didn't have any throwing instructions, so I developed my own method which was NOTHING like that described in the original book this plane came from. They talk about gently launching the glider by its tail, where I held it by the nose and used the whip-like motion of my arm & wrist to flick the thing at the sky. When folded & thrown correctly it usually performs a huge loop-the-loop, then describes a huge circle (flying upside-down) before returning to the launching point like an obedient boomerang.
The launching method and wing-tip mods I discovered are described after the pics. I've been making these planes for over 35 years now, and nothing comes close. I use A4 80gsm bond paper .. not sure how they'll come out with letter size because I've never tried it.
You'll find PDF templates here: A4 size and Letter size
To Launch hold your throwing hand out palm down with fingers together & extended, then raise your middle finger and lower your index & ring fingers slightly. Now put the nose of the paper plane into the gap and grip firmly by bringing your fingers back together again. Draw your arm back and whip that sucker straight into the sky.
One important mod: Fold the last 3/4 inch (2cm) of the wingtips up at a right angle, parallel to the body, then fold half of this tip again. (You end up with a 1cm box shape at the end of each wing, which contributes to the amazing acrobatics when you throw the thing really hard.) If you're not sure what I mean, look at the winglets on a modern jet, and imagine them folded again so the tip of the wing is pointed at the passengers.