About the Author
----------------
JOHN M. COLLINS, also known as “The Paper Airplane Guy,” is the
author of The Gliding Flight and Fantastic Flight and has taught
hundreds of thousands of people how to make better paper
airplanes. Collins is a television producer and on-camera talent
and has his own production company. Visit
www.ThePaperAirplaneGuy.com
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
--------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
On February 26, 2012, my paper airplane design, Suzanne, flying
226 feet and 10 inches, broke the old paper airplane world record
for distance by 19 feet and 6 inches. It’s fair to say that Joe
Ayoob, my thrower, and I shattered it. The old mark had stood for
nine years. Joe and I had made better distances in the six prior
practices, but then, that’s what makes record breaking so
interesting. A record during practice isn’t a record. It’s not
official until declared so under the specific guidelines during a
sanctioned attempt.
Records are made to be broken. It’s the whole reason for having
them. The goal, the chase, the falling short, and the trying
again are all required components of a record attempt. This
record was no different. I tried many models over a three-year
period when I was “officially” working on breaking the record. Of
course, the truth is, every great distance plane I ever made was
step toward this goal. My hope is that your world-record journey
starts, or continues, here. Helping someone else break this
record is another of my goals. Perhaps it will be you.
Believing you can do it is the first step. Making something as
sophisticated as a flying machine from the most modest of
resources is the beginning of an adventure. Where does it lead?
Using less to make more is where we have to go as a planet.
Eventually we’ll find a way to use less energy to light a room,
less fuel to move from home to job, and make less from
powering the world. Viewed from this perspective, the answers
seem obvious: conservation—yes, creating new products and
technologies—yes, doing less—no, doing more with less—yes. And
we’re back to paper airplanes.
I’m frequently asked what advice I have for budding paper
pilots. Oddly, I’m usually at a loss. Folding comes so naturally
for me, I can’t imagine not making paper airplanes. It’s taken me
years to figure out that not everyone is like this. It’s true
that some people might actually need encouragement. After giving
this due consideration, I’ve come up with the following
suggestion.
If you’ve never been to a Maker Faire, find one and go. It’s a
celebration of making things—all kinds of things—from tiny robots
to clothes to giant sculptures of steel and stone, and yes,
sometimes paper airplanes. Making things is part of who we are as
Americans and who we are as humans. From the biological
imperative to make more people to the need to know who made that
cake, we’re hardwired to like the whole idea.
As a kid, I liked making toys. My brothers and I would make
spinning tops from wooden spools, rubber-band s using
spring-loaded clothes pins as the triggers, parachutes from
napkins and string, rubber-band powered boats, kites, balsa-wood
planes, and yes, paper airplanes.
Sadly, making things has been largely lost as part of our
culture. Toys now need to “do something” so that even playing
with the thing is optional. In my view, this is a huge mistake.
We are robbing ourselves of a very important experience:
experimenting, exploring, creating—in short, making things.
Paper airplanes embody the scientific method. Every throw is an
experiment. It’s a hobby that begs the paper pilot to understand
ever more in order to excel. Hypothesis, experiment design,
trial, and results—it’s all built into every plane and every
throw. To play with a paper airplane is to dabble in science,
whether you know it or not.
We have a number of global issues confronting us. Global energy
shortages, food shortages, water shortages, and something people
are calling global warming are all worrisome. These problems will
have answers that only science can provide. We have no spare
brains on the planet. We need everyone thinking about these
challenges in a rigorous way.
Imagine this: a world of people playing with science, who get up
every morning, focus on what’s good, and imagine how to make more
of that. You can call me a dreamer. I don’t mind. You don’t have
to believe a word of what I say. Just make a paper airplane and
experience how exhilarating that feels. We’re born makers. When
you make something, anything from a pie to a pencil drawing, it’s
like waking a dormant part of you. The world shifts slightly. You
can feel it, and it feels good.
Suzanne, the world-record paper airplane, boasts a series of
firsts: the first glider to hold the distance record, the first
paper airplane to use changing airspeed to enhance performance,
the first plane to use a thrower/designer team, and the first
plane to break the record after the run-up-to-throw distance was
shortened from 30 to 10 feet. It is a truly amazing aircraft. I
believe Suzanne changes the way distance records will be broken
in the future. The days of brute-force darts are gone, replaced
by the age of true gliders.
A little free advice: take nothing for granted. Suzanne is a
great aircraft. I didn’t find the design hiding in someone else’s
work. I created it by working hard, listening closely, and
observing keenly. You probably possess these skills too. This
plane is only one of many possible solutions to the challenge.
You may discover others.
Fold an extra plane for me, and perhaps I’ll meet you in the
winner’s circle.