Congratulations. You have just passed the first part of the test by finding your way to the page that will help you build one of the coolest paper airplanes that you’ll ever see. In fact this Stealth, also referred to as the Nighthawk, is one of several unique paper airplane designs that can be found in Norman Schmidt’s book, Best Ever Paper Airplanes.
Enough about the book, let’s get on to the exciting part – building and flying the Stealth. If you have received our mailing, you already have the paper needed to start this project. Simply tear off the two sheets at the perforations and you’ll be set to go. A lot of the work in the construction process has been simplified for you because we have included guide lines on your copy that are not included in the book. But, you’ll still need a pair of scissors and some glue (we recommend using a glue stick) if you want to complete the construction. If you don’t have this specially marked paper, but you are really interested in tackling this project, call Engineering Admissions at (800) 468-6679 and ask for the "Stealth Brochure." We’ll be sure to send you the sheets that you need to construct the Stealth fighter plane.
Some paper plane building terminology
Before we can begin, we want to clarify some of the terminology that will be used in the building instructions. There are two important folds that you will be using during the construction process, and we refer to each of them several times. They’re really easy to understand, but to the untrained eye, the two can appear to be identical. The first of these folds is called a mountain fold. As the name indicates, the paper is folded in such a way that the resulting fold resembles a mountain. Figure A shows an edge view of a piece of paper (a) before and (b) after a mountain fold. The second important fold is a valley fold, and it looks just like an upside-down mountain fold as seen in the edge view given in Figure A(c). So, the only difference between the two folds is whether you fold the paper downward or upward, but it is essential that you make the folds as directed.
Figure A: Edge view of (a) an unfolded piece of paper, (b) a mountain fold, and (c) a valley fold.
These instructions contain figures with colors that will NOT match your colors. This is intentionally done to make the directions easier to understand. You should also be aware that the figures used in this instruction set are NOT to scale.
Starting The Project
As you work your way through this project, you’ll be constructing four separate components of the plane that will need to be glued together to form the Stealth. A quick glance at Figure B will show you the four different paper pieces that will be used. If you tear your two sheets at the perforations, you’ll actually end up with five pieces of paper. You won’t need the piece that has the text about "Flying paper airplanes used to…"
Figure B: Construction pieces to be used for the (A) fuselage, (B) canopy, (C) vertical tails, and (D) wings.
You’ll begin construction with piece A, the fuselage, or central part of the airplane. This piece will require a large number of folds with some gluing in between. Be sure to use enough glue to make sure that the paper sticks, but don’t be too generous. Because there are so many folds, the fuselage will get thick quickly. Any extra glue could cause the plane to become too heavy or could make future folds very difficult.
Now, one final warning before you’re on your way. Unless otherwise indicated, all pictures in the Figures are a top view (i.e. looking down at the paper which is lying on top of a table). Be sure that you know which side should be on top and which is on the bottom! So, Figure B shows a TOP view of each piece of paper, indicating which side to have facing up when you begin your construction of the airplane. To further assist you in your building process, the figure numbers correspond directly to steps. For example, Figure 3(c) relates to STEP #3(c).
STEP #1
a) Fold piece A in half VERTICALLY using a valley fold (Figure 1(a)), then unfold.
b) Valley fold HORIZONTALLY as shown in Figure 1(b), then unfold.
c) Valley fold so that the upper edge meets the horizontal crease of the previous step (do NOT unfold).
d) Re-fold the original horizontal crease.
e) Valley fold the top diagonals as shown in Figure 1(e).
Figure 1: Fuselage construction.
STEP #2
a) Valley fold each side in half so that the sides align with the center vertical crease.
b) Once again, fold each side in half vertically, this time using a mountain fold (i.e. the side edges should align with the center crease on the bottom of the fuselage).
c) For clarity, an enlarged back-edge view of a slightly "unfolded" fuselage is shown in Figure 2(c).
Figure 2: Additional vertical folds for the fuselage.
STEP #3
a) Unfold the fuselage completely. You will now apply glue to the appropriate sections and then re-fold the fuselage as described below.
b) Apply glue to the section indicated in Figure 3(b) and valley fold.
c) Apply glue to the section indicated in Figure 3(c) and valley fold.
d) Apply glue to the section indicated in Figure 3(d) and valley fold the diagonals.
e) Apply glue to the two sections indicated in Figure 3(e) and valley fold.
Figure 3: Application of glue to the fuselage.
STEP #4
a) Carefully glue the section indicated in Figure 4(a). You want to be sure to leave about one and a half inches of the nose unglued so that you can insert the canopy later on. You also need to leave one inch of the tail unglued so that you can later insert the vertical tails.
b) Valley fold the center vertical crease and mountain fold the two side vertical creases so that they form a 90 degree angle as shown in Figure 4(b). The image shown is not a direct overhead view, rather it is from the top and off to the side
Figure 4: Completion of the fuselage.
Take a deep breath, as you have just completed the fuselage section, the most difficult and time-consuming piece of the plane. Put it aside for now and find piece C so that you can begin the construction of the twin vertical tails.
STEP #5
a) Fold piece C in half horizontally using a valley fold, then glue the sides together.
b) Fold in half vertically with a valley fold and then mountain fold on the guide lines to the left and right of the center crease. Figure 5(b) shows an angled overhead view of the resulting folds.
c) Use your scissors to cut on the heavy white lines shown in Figure 5(b) . After cutting, glue the center section as shown in Figure 5(c).
d) Valley fold the glued section together, then push up on the tail wings so that your piece matches the rear view image of Figure 5(d) .
e) Cut the white rudder lines shown in Figure 5(e). Later you will fold on the black rudder lines and adjust the rudder positions for optimal flight performance.
Figure 5: Construction for the twin vertical tails.
You’ve finished your second piece, so put this aside and find piece B so that you can begin construction of the canopy. We have already placed lines on this piece so that construction should be very quick. You’ll need the scissors again to make the appropriate cuts.
STEP #6
a) Fold piece B in half vertically using a mountain fold, then unfold.
b) Cut on the heavy white lines shown in Figure 6(a), then mountain fold and unfold each horizontal and diagonal white line shown in Figure 6(b). Cut an inch long slit at the bottom of the center vertical line (i.e. cut along the red line shown in Figure 6(b)).
c) Now comes a unique fold, because it involves both a mountain fold and a valley fold on the same line. Start by mountain folding again on the original center crease, but this time valley fold on the top part of this line (indicated in green in Figure 6(c)). You can accomplish this by pushing downward on the green line only. Once you have successfully completed the fold, unfold and apply glue to the section shown in the Figure, then refold. From underneath the canopy, pinch together the glued section and gently push outward on the rest remaining panels.
d) A side view of the canopy is shown in Figure 6(d).
Figure 6: Canopy construction.
You have completed three of the four components of the Stealth jet. Put the canopy aside for now and find piece D so that you can begin to make the final piece of the airplane.
STEP #7
a) Fold piece D in half vertically using a mountain fold, then unfold.
b) Valley fold on the red diagonals of Figure 7(a) so that the top edge meets the center crease as shown in
Figure 7(b) , then unfold.
c) Valley fold on the green diagonals of Figure 7(a) so that the outer edges meet the red diagonals as shown in Figure 7(c).
d) Valley fold again along the red diagonals so that your piece resembles Figure 7(d) .
Figure 7: Wing construction
STEP #8
a) Flip the wings over so that the NU is now on top.
b) Cut along the red lines shown in Figure 8(a).
c) Cut a one inch long slit at the top and bottom of the vertical center line (shown in red in Figure 8(c) ). Also, cut along the green lines in Figure 8(c) to start the formation of the ailerons and the elevators. Later you will fold on the black lines and adjust the aileron and elevator positions for optimal flight performance.
Figure 8: Completion of the wing construction.
You have finally completed all of the folding and cutting for the plane. The only thing left for you to do is to glue the four pieces together and adjust the ailerons, elevators, and rudders. These instructions are simple enough that figures are not included.
STEP #9
a) Glue the wings of Figure 8(c) to the fuselage of Figure 4(b), aligning the back edges of the two. Make sure that the wings are centered on the fuselage.
b) Apply glue to both sides of the bottom front tab of the canopy, shown in blue in Figure 6(d). Also apply glue to the bottom side of the back of the canopy, up to the end of the slit. Slide the front tab into the front of the fuselage (the part that you left unglued from step 4(a)), aligning the diagonal of the tab with the front diagonal of the fuselage. Make sure that the slit on the back of the canopy is aligned with the center of the fuselage.
c) Apply glue to both sides of the bottom tab on the twin vertical tails and slide it into the back of the fuselage that you left unglued in step 4(a).
d) Adjust the positions of the rudders, ailerons, and elevators by folding them upward or downward as necessary.
Congratulations! You have just completed your Stealth fighter jet and it should look similar to the plane in Figure 9
Figure 9: A completed Stealth paper airplane.
Used with permission of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc, from Best Ever Paper Airplanes, ©1994 by Norman Schmidt, a Sterling/Tamos book.
