Paper Airplane Slingshot

Paper airplanes have always been such a fun toy to play with, flying far distances and being able to design them however you want with just a sheet of paper. I have been thinking, if we have been designing paper airplanes to fly for distance why not design something to optimize speed? I wanted to design something to make a paper airplane fly fast while still maintaining decent flight distance. In this instructable you will learn how to make a paper airplane slingshot using basic household items to give your paper airplane speed!

1. Paper
2. Wooden dowels (2)
3. Elastic string or rubberband
4. Tape
5. Hot glue
6. Scissors
7. Paperclip
8. Needle nose pliers (helpful)

1. Start by gathering your two dowels.
2. Next put a dot of hot glue on one of the dowels near the bottom of it, about 2–2.5 inches up.
3. Once the glue dries, wrap string around the joint to secure it in place, do as many wraps as you would like, so it stays in place.
4. Finally grab your elastic band or rubber band and tie it around either side of the slingshot.
5. I used an elastic band which is the same material as a hair tie.

1. I tested out many different airplane designs to find the one that worked best, some more durable, some flew further, and one way prettier than the others, but overall this design was the best, and worked nicely in the slingshot.
2. When making an airplane try out a few designs, YouTube is a great place to go and some may surprise you with their capabilities.
3. How to make the airplane design I used:
4. Start by folding a printer size sheet of paper in half, hot dog style.
5. Fold the top two corners in to make them line up together along the center line.
6. Do that step again, bringing in the same area where the corners are folded to the center line.
7. Fold the airplane in half along the center line keeping all the folds inside.
8. Bring the top of each side to the bottom of the plane to create the wings and repeat on each side.
9. Almost done! I like to put tape on the spots where the folds come together to give the plane more stability, but this step is up to you.

On my first couple tries using the slingshot I had made a cut in the back of the plane (red circle) to put the elastic string in when launching it, similar to how an arrow is used in a bow. This kind of worked, but something was off, the plane was only flying far about 25% of the time, and it was difficult to position it to fly straight. Then I remembered when throwing a paper airplane you don't throw it from the back but instead from the middle or close to the rear, so I started testing the optimal place to launch an airplane by marking where my fingers were each throw. I found the middle or back a little bit is the optimal launching spot (green circle) test it out a few times on your paper airplane before continuing onto the next step. Finally, I put together a mechanism used when launching the plane from the slingshot. A modified paperclip worked best, keeping it simple while still maintaining strength, and not putting stress on the plane.

1. Using your pliers or hands bend the paperclip as shown in the first four pictures.
2. Make a cut into your paper airplane wherever the best point to throw from was.
3. Insert one end of the bent paperclip into the hole of your airplane making sure it is oriented in the correct direction. The part closest to the plane should be oriented, so the curve is facing the tip of the plane.
4. Tape it onto the plane like shown in picture seven, you can also hot glue it on which works quite well.
5. Now you have a usable paper airplane slingshot!! Use as shown in the last picture.

I hope this slingshot improves the speed of your paper airplane and you had fun making it!! :) It took a bit of work, but I am happy with the outcome of the slingshot and I had a good time desiging it!