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This is a fun design to experiment with! You can give the plane bigger wings to float more, or fold over the front edge to make the nose heavier. Make a few adjustments and see which modifications work the best.

You will need

• A4 paper

What to do

1. Rotate your paper so it’s tall, not wide.
2. Fold it in half down the middle, and then unfold.
3. Fold the top corners down, so the top left and right edges of the paper meet the crease down the middle.
4. Your paper should look a bit like a house, with a triangle ‘roof’ folded on top of a rectangle. Put a fold between the triangle and rectangle sections, so the triangle is on top of the rectangle.
5. From the point of the triangle, go up about three centimetres, on the centre fold. You might want to mark this spot. Take the top left corner of the plane and bring it to the spot and then flatten the fold.
6. Take the top right corner and bring it to the spot too, to make the plane symmetrical. Flatten the folds.
7. Time for the lock! Take the point of the triangle, and fold it upwards to lock the last two folds in place.
8. Fold the plane in half along the centre line, with all the folded paper on the outside of the plane.
9. Fold the wings down then out. In the plane we photographed, the wings are folded with the creases about two centimetres from the centre line on each side.

Did you know?

This paper plane is named after Eiji Nakamura, who is famous for his paper plane creations.

More paper planes!

• A plane with canards
• A stunt plane ready to do loops!
• Tips and tricks to improve your designs

If you’re after more science activities for kids, subscribe to Double Helix magazine!