Paper Airplane Research Articles

Fancy Fliers: Understanding Financial Reporting Pressure

ABSTRACT Fancy Fliers uses a simple and fun activity—making paper airplanes—to create a competitive environment where students feel reporting pressure. Students engage in an interactive group learning activity that helps them appreciate the pressures under which accountants operate in a manufacturing or corporate setting and develop an understanding of what constitutes aggressive accounting. The activity facilitates a meaningful discussion of financial reporting pressure and distinctions between aggressive accounting and fraud. This activity can be used in undergraduate or graduate accounting classes and is designed as an in-class group project.

Research on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of the Relationship between Lift-to-drag Ratio and Wing Shape of Gliders

A glider is a special type of aircraft without a power unit, which relies on the lift of airflow to resist weight. The characteristics of a glider are essential to its flight performance, which includes aspect ratio, sweepback, and taper ratio. Proper design of the wing shape can help achieve good performance, so research on these elements can be helpful. This paper aims to calculate the relationship between the aspect ratio and lift-drag coefficient which affects the performance of gliders. By calculation, this paper found out that high aspect ratio aircraft could generate more lift force and was optimum in designing gliders. Then an experiment with a paper plane was designed to show the impact of aspect ratio on glider performance. Then a paper airplane experiment was designed, and the changes in different aspect ratios were achieved by reshaping the wings of the paper airplane, while flight performance was estimated by the lift drag coefficient and descent angle of the glider. After data collection, calculation and analysis, different flight routes were recorded, and based on this, the lift drag coefficient and descent angle were calculated. The experimental results indicate that aspect ratio is one but not the only factor affecting the flight performance of gliders. Through theoretical analysis and experiments, this study verifies the basic mechanism of the influence of wing shape, especially aspect ratio, on glider flight, providing new ideas for improving glider performance.

Experimental Study and Analysis of Aerodynamic Characteristics of Gliders with Different Wing Geometries

At present, airplanes are widely used in people's daily lives, and research on this means of transportation is of great importance. Currently, academic research still lacks the influence of different aircraft wing shapes and areas on aircraft flight conditions. This article analyzes the basic principles of glider flight and explores the aerodynamic principles of gliders through paper plane simulation. Firstly, this paper introduces the development history of gliders. Secondly, the mechanical analysis of the aircraft is carried out. The factors that affect the flight performance of the aircraft are analyzed by paper airplane simulation experiments. The experimental results are analyzed, and the future development direction is forecasted. From the final research results, there is a close relationship between the aspect ratio and the glide angle of the plane. In the experiment, lower induced drag allows the aircraft to move further horizontally while descending resulting in a smaller glide angle. This study reveals the relationship between aspect ratio and glide angle, which provides intellectual support for the development of the aircraft manufacturing industry.

Taking risks by flying paper airplanes

We propose an outdoor activity for game theory courses in which students are invited to fly self-made paper airplanes to earn points in three tests. The main goal of this outdoor classroom experiment is to help students learn by experiencing concepts of uncertainty in the domain of profit, specifically risk aversion. After the experiment, students are encouraged to reflect on decision making under uncertainty. We present a theoretical model to explain the decisions made by the participants, their optimal behavior and any deviations from it. Our activity aims to introduce the study of decision making under uncertainty through an experience.

First Person: Make every child the brightest star

In this personal column, Educator Shanshan Wang recounts her experience helping Jack, an 8-year-old student, become more confident in the classroom. Despite myriad academic struggles, including dyslexia, the student’s hands-on abilities and rich imagination showed through in his devotion to crafting the perfect paper airplane. Wang’s experiences with Jack inspired her to create opportunities for all students to share their knowledge and skills with their classmates.

Paper Airplane Toys: Interpreting Children’s Thinking

The article aimed to analyze the students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills in making paper airplane toys. It is phenomenology research that was conducted on elementary school students with a total of 15 students. The data collection techniques used documentation and interviews. Because of the form of the data obtained descriptive, the analysis was carried out qualitatively, namely by coding with the flow of data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion. The results showed that the students apply critical thinking and problem-solving concepts in making paper airplane toys. Several other factors were students planning and designing carefully, measuring in detail with mathematical concepts and estimating what allows paper airplanes to fly for a long time or even for a short time. This research contributed to creating learning that develops critical thinking skills and problem-solving through simple things close to children's lives (contextual). Keywords: STEM, Critical Thinking, Paper Airplane Toys

Analysis on the relation between the vertex angle of a tube airplane and its flying time

The tube is a type of airplane that is shaped as a hollow cylinder. In common sense, it seems impossible that an airplane has no wings, however, the tube airplane can fly even longer in the sky comparing with normal airplanes. In this paper, the practical experiment related to Bernoullis theorem and Magnus Force will be introduced. In order to understand those equations more deeply with logic, a paper airplane model called the tube is going to be studied. The author makes the models with different shapes and angles so as to figure out the relationship between the angle of the index and the flying time of the airplane. Results show that the angle of the index has an impact on the time of the airplane staying in the sky, and the angle affects the angular and linear rotating speed of the airplane so that the time required for the airplanes varies.

Launching phenomenon of a centimeter-scale solid object using explosive boiling due to electrical discharge in water

Technology to launch objects into the air is essential for various applications. In this study, we propose a solid object launcher that pushes the object of centimeter-scale by the rapid liquid motion resulting from explosive vaporization due to electric discharge in water. In particular, by using the electric discharge in a trapezoid-shaped chamber, we demonstrate that a centimeter-scale L-shaped piece of paper with 0.92 mg mass can be launched with an initial velocity ∼4 m/s in the direction of an elevation angle of ∼50°, while a centimeter-scale paper airplane with 29.6 mg mass can be launched with the maximum velocity ∼2 m/s along a glass slide runway with an elevation angle of ∼45°. In addition, to clarify the mechanism of solid launching phenomena, we systematically carried out vertical launching experiments of the centimeter-scale solid object of 60–340 mg. Moreover, as a central design concept peculiar to the solid launching device, we demonstrate the importance of water-repellent treatment of the solid surface. In the future, our device might be used to provide object-shooting technology for hybrid manufacturing technology or to protect orchards from birds.

Research on Methods of Improving Fuel Efficiency

In recent years, the improvement of aircraft fuel efficiency has been one of the hot topics discussed by scientists. Especially in today's increasingly tense environment of fossil fuels, how to effectively improve the fuel efficiency of aircraft engines is an important scientific problem facing us. The improvement of aircraft fuel efficiency depends not only on high-performance engines, but also on the structural design of the aircraft itself. Therefore, if the aircraft structure can be optimized, it is bound to improve the fuel efficiency of the aircraft and make it have a better flight distance in actual flight. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate ways to reduce emissions while improving fuel efficiency. A small paper airplane experiment is introduced to study the influence of wing area on speed, time, lift, drag and lift drag ratio, so as to further explore the central theme of this paper, including the analysis of many physical models. It also includes many products and ideas that engineers are now designing.

Robotic automation and unsupervised cluster assisted modeling for solving the forward and reverse design problem of paper airplanes

Although often regarded a childhood toy, the design of paper airplanes is subtly complex. The design space and mapping from geometry to distance flown is highly nonlinear and probabilistic where a single airplane design exhibits a multitude of trajectory forms and flight distances. This makes optimization and understanding of their behavior challenging for humans. By understanding the behavior of paper airplanes and predicting flight behavior, there is a potential to improve the design of aerial vehicles that operate at low Reynolds numbers. By developing a robotic system that can fabricate, test, analyze, and model the flight behavior in an unsupervised fashion, a wide design space can be reliably characterized. We find there are discrete behavioral groups that result in different trajectories: nose dive, glide, and recovery glide. Informed by this characterization we propose a method of using Gaussian mixture models to extract the clusters of the design space that map to these different behaviors. This allows us to solve both the forward and reverse design problem for paper airplanes, and also to perform efficient optimization of the geometry for a given target flight distance.

ANALYSIS OF FLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS OF PAPER AIRPLANES

The trajectory of a paper airplane is dependent on its lift and drag performance and aerodynamic stability. Historically, darts were the perfect choice for distance competitions because of their excellent stability, but John Collins has changed this tradition with his incredible design, Susanne, by making a new distance record in 2012. In this paper, differences between this world record design and other typical paper airplanes are represented using typical models of a dart and glider since the wingspan of Susanne fits in between them. Solid models of these three airplanes are created with Solid Works and analyzed with ANSYS Fluent at different attack and sideslip angles. Finally, a comparison is made considering lift, drag, and aerodynamic stability. From the simulated results, it is observed that Susanne performed moderately in terms of lift and drag performance and yaw stability; however, it possesses the maximum amount of roll stability.

THE OPINIONS AND NEEDS OF SCIENCE CENTER INSTRUCTORS: THE CASE OF GOKMEN SPACE AND AVIATION TRAINING CENTER (GUHEM)

This study aimed to examine the opinions of the instructors who work at GUHEM (Gökmen Space and Aviation Training Center) on the exhibition's content, how the exhibition spaces contribute to science education, especially astronomy and aviation, and the types of visitors who frequently visit the center. Nine instructors from GUHEM's science centers participated in the study. Data were gathered using the "Instructor Opinion Form," with nine open-ended questions. The data elicited from these questions were subjected to content analysis. The findings showed that children aged 6 to 11 made up the majority of visitors; the fascinating exhibition areas focused on the Solar System and planets and interactive workshops with space and aviation themes, like those involving paper airplane construction and rocket competition, were very popular. In terms of the contribution of this center to science education, it was found that the GUHEM exhibitions played an active role in teaching the solar system, planets, and pressure. Although astronomy is the discipline with which the exhibition areas are most closely associated, it can also be linked to other disciplines like astrobiology, mathematics, and aviation. Instructors shared their worries that they won't be able to meet visitors' expectations and occasionally struggle to understand the subject during activities held at GUHEM. These findings led to the opinion that GUHEM and other science centers will function more effectively if schools and science centers collaborate more, the curriculum and exhibition content are improved, and the instructors receive professional assistance from academicians who are subject-matter experts. Keywords: astronomy and aviation, instructor, needs, opinion, science center

A Focus on Truth: Thomas Merton's Uncensored Mind by Patrick W. Collins

Reviewed by: A Focus on Truth: Thomas Merton's Uncensored Mind by Patrick W. Collins Robert Inchausti A Focus on Truth: Thomas Merton's Uncensored Mind. By Patrick W. Collins. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2021. 197 pp. $19.95. Based on the five volumes of Thomas Merton's selected correspondence, the ten essays that make up this book chart the evolution of Merton's thoughts on a variety of religious subjects—everything from interreligious dialogue to the priesthood, ecumenicalism, church authority, liturgy, and monastic renewal. They are united—Collins tells us on the very first page—by Merton's "unending search for what is real and true, not just in books but in living experience and practice" (1). As each essay unfolds, we see Merton evolve from a young convert thrilled by the "answers" he has found in the liturgy and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church to a seasoned monastic and spiritual master who has arrived at questions not so easily answered by the "verbal formulas" that satisfied him as a young convert. The chapter "On Spirituality," for example, starts with Merton's youthful aspiration to "be a saint" as he spelled it out in the Seven Storey Mountain, then jumps to this passage from a letter he sent to Catherine de Hueck Doherty ten years later: "After so boldly advertising to the world that I was out to become a saint, I find I am doing a pretty bum job of it. . . . But it is certainly a wonderful thing to wake up suddenly in the solitude of the woods and [End Page 85] look up in the sky and see and see the utter nonsense of everything, including all the solemn stuff given out by professional asses of the spiritual life: and simply to burst out laughing, and laugh, and laugh with the sky and the trees because God is not in words, not in systems, and not in liturgical movements, and not in 'contemplation' with a capital C, or in asceticism or anything like that, not even in the apostolate. Certainly not in books. I can go on writing them, for all that, but one might as well make paper airplanes out of the whole lot" (16–17). Collins follows this selection up with passages from Merton's correspondence with John Harris, a schoolteacher in England, and the Anglican scholar Etta Gullick. In both of these exchanges Merton defends contemplation against its facile popularizers in the late sixties and against those churchmen who reduce it to a species of rare and extreme piety not for public consumption. Near the end of this essay, Collins cites Merton's letter to Dom Francis Decroix in which Merton admits that when he entered the monastery in 1948, he had a lot of "answers," but now—twenty years later—he has only just begun to seek the right questions. "And what are those questions?" Merton asks. "Can man make sense out of his existence? Can man honestly give his life meaning merely by adopting a certain set of explanations which pretend to tell him why the world began and where it will end? Why there is evil and what is necessary for a good life. My brother, perhaps in my solitude, I have become as it were an explorer for you, a searcher in realms which you are not able to visit—except perhaps in the company of your psychiatrist. I have been summoned to explore a desert area of man's heart in which explanations no longer suffice, and in which one learns that only experience counts" (49–50). Each of the chapters in the book have a similar kind of progression as Merton corrects his own youthful simplifications, deepens his commitments, and qualifies his claims. On some topics, however, Merton retains his original positions now clarified and deepened by personal experience. Other times, he forges ahead into new territory or owns up to a new, honest, and hard-won befuddlement. Taken together, this multiple highlight reel of Merton's subtlest and most intimate spiritual turns of thought, throw light on the discerning operation of his mind and demonstrate for us what it means for a Christian contemplative to "focus...

Centre of mass location, flight modes, stability and dynamic modelling of gliders

Falling paper flutters and tumbles through air, whereas a paper airplane glides smoothly if its leading edge is appropriately weighted. We investigate this transformation from ‘plain paper’ to ‘paper plane’ through experiments, aerodynamic modelling and free flight simulations of thin plates with differing centre of mass (CoM) locations. Periodic modes such as fluttering, tumbling and bounding give way to steady gliding and then downward diving as the CoM is increasingly displaced towards one edge. To explain these observations, we formulate a quasi-steady aerodynamic model whose force and torque coefficients are informed by experimental measurements. The dependencies on angle of attack reflect the transition from attached to separated flow and a dynamic centre of pressure, effects that prove critical to reproducing the observed motions of paper planes in air and plates in water. Because the model successfully accounts for unsteady and steady flight modes, it may be usefully applied to further problems involving actuated motions, feedback control and interactions with ambient flows.

Flying Solidarity as an Introductory Lesson in Social Theory

Although students rely on social solidarity in their everyday lives, they generally fail to acknowledge its existence. An active learning class exercise, conducted within approximately 35 minutes, introduces sociology students to Emile Durkheim’s concept of solidarity and the distinction between its mechanical and organic forms. Some groups of students perform the task of creating and flying paper airplanes under the pretense of organic solidarity, and other groups perform the same task under the pretense of mechanical solidarity. Through reflection on their experiences and discussion with members of other groups, students begin to identify nuances of each type of solidarity. An evaluation of this exercise indicates that those who participate in it can describe the distinction between mechanical and organic solidarity and their respective associations with gemeinschaft and gesellschaft better than those exposed to a traditional lesson on the topic can.

Adding Reach and Ownership with Paper Airplane Circuits

University faculty members, librarians, and support staff developed hands-on, consumable, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricular materials that could be inexpensively provided to large audiences. Goals included fostering STEM interest, teaching STEM principles, and encouraging continued exploration in home and school settings. This case describes design processes to realize these goals through basic circuits with paper airplanes and simple origami. Following several design implementations, kits costing ~$0.33 each were created and distributed to learners. Within these kits, learners created a back-lit paper airplane as they explored concepts regarding circuit definitions; open, closed, series, and parallel circuits; shorts; polarity; and current. Additional activities included LED bracelets, cubes, and greeting cards. Within this paper, we document successive design decisions, failures, reflections, and iterations that moved goals to reality. We also describe new design challenges, including waste management, sustained exploration, and advanced concept introductions.

Awake by Mags DeRoma

Reviewed by: Awake by Mags DeRoma Elizabeth Bush DeRoma, Mags Awake; written and illus. by Mags DeRoma. Roaring Brook, 2021 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781250753199 $18.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 4-6 yrs Bedtime rituals from toothbrushing to book reading to goodnight snuggles are complete, and the narrator and her dog Oscar are ready to settle down. However, there’s a third set of eyes in the room, and there’s not going to be any sleep until the girl [End Page 53] evicts the unwelcome spider from her room. She concocts several outlandish plans for pest removal: sending it flying off on a paper airplane, lassoing it, launching it to the moon on a homemade rocket, or even, as Oscar suggests by pushing a book of nursery rhymes to her, washing it down the water spout outside her window. She settles on the time-honored method of trapping it under a glass and realizes the eight-legged creature isn’t nearly as scary as she thought; the closing scenes of an overturned glass, a spider nestled into its outdoor web, drowsy narrator and dog, and a blackout as the lamp clicks off assure viewers that everyone will sleep happily tonight. The plot is wispy, but the impossibility of nodding off with a creepy-crawly in the room strikes a virtually universal chord. It’s the artwork, though, that carries the story—“paint and soft pastels on a gazillion pieces of cut paper, all collaged together” convey the eeriness of the nighttime prowler that keeps getting bigger in the little girl’s imagination, while humorously spotlighting her inflated fear and planned overkill of the fragile little arachnid that just wants to get back to its web. An addendum demonstrates how to trap a spider with glass and cardboard, plus courage and a kind heart. Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Fluid Dynamics and Paper Airplane Design “Aerodynamics Explained by a World Record Paper Airplane Designer” with an Introduction to the Coandă Effect

<i>Fluid Dynamics and Paper Airplane Design “Aerodynamics Explained by a World Record Paper Airplane Designer” with an Introduction to the Coandă Effect</i>

Creativity and Cognition in Extreme Environments: The Space Arts as a Case Study.

Humans, like all organisms, have evolved to survive in specific environments, while some elect or are forced to live and work in extreme environments. Understanding cognition as it relates to environmental conditions, we use 4E cognition as a framework to explore creativity in extreme environments. Our paper examines space arts as a case study through the history, present practices, and future possible arts in the context of humans beyond the Kármán boundary of the Earth’s atmosphere. We develop a proposed taxonomy of space arts, based on prior taxonomies, and provide specific exemplars of space art developed by artists in space or for use by astronauts in space. Using examples of space art since the birth of the space age, we discuss (1) how human survival in extreme environments requires investment in the space arts, driven by consideration of various biopsychosocial factors and (2) how new scientific and engineering discoveries; such as the detection of air current patterns with paper airplanes in zero gravity, could be consequences or examples of creative thinking driven by artists in the various types of space art. We conclude by discussing possible benefits of space art, future research applications, and advocate that all space actors, government or private, involve artists in all projects beyond the Kármán Boundary of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Integrating Smartphone-Controlled Paper Airplane Into Gamified Science Inquiry for Junior High School Students

Integrating science learning with game experience and physical manipulatives not only overcomes the rigidity of traditional teaching, but also makes the learning experience pleasant for students and improves their science inquiry ability. Today, with the popularization of mobile devices and technology, both the value and feasibility of gamified science learning have increased significantly. However, several studies showed that students might get lost or feel bored during science inquiry. To let students enjoy the science inquiry process and improve their science process skills, the researchers combined mobile technology, game design elements, and science inquiry and designed the gamified science inquiry activity “we are aircraft designers”. Here, students designed and manipulated a smartphone-controlled paper airplane by mobile devices connected via Bluetooth. To investigate the effects of the gamified science inquiry activity, the flow state and science process skills of 71 students of a junior high school in China were explored. The proposed gamified science inquiry activity enhanced flow and science process skills of students with high and middle level flow. No differences were found on flow and science process skills between males and females. Based on these results, the guidelines for the design of a gamified science inquiry activity are discussed.