This is the Lightning Eagle, a paper airplane designed by Kyle, a 7 year old boy. The design is based on the classic dart and makes an awesome distance paper airplane. After completing this tutorial, why not grab some color pencils and give it additional flare?
Difficulty Level: Simple. It’s an easy bird paper airplane to make.
Time: 1-2 minutes.
Step 1: The tutorial uses A4 80g printing paper. A 8.5×11 inch printing paper will work as well.
Step 2: Fold the paper in half lengthwise creating a center line.
Step 3: Fold two corners of the paper to the center line.
Step 4: Fold the same corners up again making sure it aligns with the center line. So far, the steps of making the Lightning Eagle is the same as folding a classic dart paper airplane.
Step 5: Fold the pointed tip of the paper airplane towards where the folds in step 4 meet and end. See the instructional pictures for more details.
Step 6: Now, fold the pointed tip of the paper airplane back toward the front of the paper airplane. Undo this fold. This fold is intended to create a middle line between the pointed tip and the front of the paper airplane.
Step 7: Bring the middle line you created in step 6 to the front of the paper airplane, align the two lines precisely and make the fold.
Step 8: Wrap the tip of the paper airplane to the back of the piece of paper. At this time, make sure your paper airplane looks like the “Step 8” instructional picture below.
Step 9: Flip the paper over. Only the tip of the paper airplane or the beak of the Lightning Eagle is showing. Keep in there, you’re almost there!
Step 10: Fold the paper in half as we did in step 1. Make sure the beak is facing outwards.
Step 11: Fold the wings downward toward the body. The edge of the wings should be aligned with the body of the paper airplane.
Step 12: Fold the other side of the wings. It is very important to make sure both wings are perfectly aligned. This will make sure your paper airplane flies straight. This will also help your airplane fly far!
Step 13: Open the wings up. The last and final step is to pull the beak out. Congrats, you’ve made the Lightning Eagle! Isn’t it beautiful?
Step 14: This step is not mandatory but it’s highly recommended. Tape the head and wings of your paper airplane together as per the instructional pictures below. This keeps your paper airplane together so it flies well for longer periods. It’s a definite must if you want your paper airplane to fly for distance.
Flying Tip #1: Before launching the Lightning Eagle and letting it soar through the blue sky, roll the end of the wings slightly upwards. The beak causes this paper airplane to be front heavy. A slight tilt upward will help keep the nose of the paper airplane up.
Flying Tip #2: As with all paper planes you make, it’s always a good idea to tilt both wings upwards at a slight angle. This is called a dihedral angle and it helps with balancing your paper airplane in the air.
I hope the Lightning Eagle is flying well for you! If it’s not, don’t worry, it’s time you learned how to tune a paper airplane.
