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Last updated 30/5/2025

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By 'paper planes' on this site I mean designs for gliding objects resembling winged aircraft that are folded from one (or occasionally more) sheet(s) of paper.

The phrase 'paper planes' is sometimes used elsewhere to describe model aircraft made of paper in other ways, for instance from multiple parts cut (and sometimes folded) from paper and glued together. I prefer to use the description 'cut-out-and-glue-together model aircraft', or similar, for these designs in order to distinguish them from paper planes per se..

Paper planes are also called paper darts, paper aeroplanes, paper airplanes and paper aircraft, but have also been known historically as paper birds.

The vast majority of historical designs for paper planes are variations of just a few designs folded from oblongs:

The Paper Dart / The Arrow

The Flying Wing

The Wide-Wing Paper Dart

The Cut and Fold Model Aeroplane

The Swallow

The Dove

The Short Paper Dart

The Short Wide-Wing Paper Dart

The Landscape Paper Dart

There are also a few designs folded from squares.

Each of these designs will eventually have its own Individual Designs page.

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It is commonly stated that paper planes originated in China over 2000 years ago. I can, however, find no evidence whatsoever to back up this assertion. It probably arises due to a confusion between paper planes and paper kites.

It is also commonly asserted that Leonardo da Vinci invented the first paper plane, or, at least experimented with them. A discussion of the evidence (or rather lack of evidence) in relation to this assertion is set out on my page 'Was Leonardo da Vinci a Paperfolder?'

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In China (and in publications by Chinese authors)

The Carrier Pigeon - 1914 onwards

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In Japan (and in pubications by Japanese authors)

1931

A version of the Paper Dart, but folded from a square, appears in 'Origami (Part 1)' by Isao Honda, which was published in Japan in 1931.

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The Japanese Dove - 1944 onwards

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1951

Two designs for paper planes folded from rectangles appear in 'Origami to Kirinuki' by Saburo Ueda, which was published by Kokkado in Tokyo, most probably in 1951.

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1957

A paper plane folded from a square appears in 'Origami Dokuhon' by Akira Yoshizawa, which was published by Ryokuchi-Sha in 1957.

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The Missile - 1959 onwards

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A design for a 'Jet Plane' appears in 'Origami: Book Three' by Florence Sakade, which was published by the Charles E Tuttle Company in Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo in 1959.

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1962

The same design that appeared in Yoshizawa's 'Origami Dokuhon' in 1957 also appears in his Origami Tehon' , which was published by the International Origami Research Society in 1962.

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1966

Children folding and flying paper planes similar to the Missile were featured in the film 'Origami: The Folding Papers of Japan' made by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1966.

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In Europe and the Americas

The Paper Dart / The Arrow - 1786 onwards

The Paper Dart is nowadays considered to be a paper plane, but, as its early names suggest, it was not viewed as a paper plane when it was first designed.

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1886

The April 1886 issue of the American children's magazine St Nicholas contains an article titled 'About Flying Machines' which includes details of a 'Paper Aeroplane'.

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1894

'Progress in Flying Machines' by O Chanute, published in New York by M N Forney, the Foreword to which is dated January 1894, contains other mentions of paper darts and experimental paper aeroplanes.

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An article about 'Paper Birds', which were really bird shaped paper gliders, weighted with pins, was published in the Scientific American Supplement vol 37 on pages 15184/5. It was reprinted from an article in the New York Sun. It reports on the discovery of a new kind of paper aeroplane / bird by Mr William A Eddy of New York City and the development of other similar designs by his friends and acquaintances. Holes in the designs are said to add stability.

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1898

The issue of 'Home Study for Machinists, Steam Enginers, etc,' for October 1898 contained an article about Paper Birds (ie what we would now refer to as paper planes).

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1910

'Handicraft in the School', which was issued in four volumes by Gresham Publishing in London in 1910, contains a design for 'An Aeroplane'.

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1912

An article containing a cut-out-and-glue-together paper plane (airship) was published in The Delineator for September 1912.

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The Cut and Fold Model Aeroplane - 1917 onwards

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The Swallow - 1917 onwards

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1919

An unidentified paper plane is mentioned in 'Teaching the Sick: A Manual of Occupational Therapy and Reeducation' by George Edward Barton, which was published by W B Saunders Company in Philadelphia and London in 1919.

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1924

According to Wikipedia, p38 of the book The Wind and Beyond written by Theodore von Kármán with Lee Edson, published in 1967 by Little, Brown and Company contained the following description of the folding of a paper plane by Ludwig Prandtl at the 1924 banquet of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. 'Prandtl was also somewhat impulsive. I recall that on one occasion at a rather dignified dinner meeting following a conference in Delft, Holland, my sister, who sat next to him at the table, asked him a question on the mechanics of flight. He started to explain; in the course of it he picked up a paper menu and fashioned a small model airplane, without thinking where he was. It landed on the shirtfront of the French Minister of Education, much to the embarrassment of my sister and others at the banquet.' I have not been able to locate this source to check the reference. It is not clear from the context what design this paper plane was.

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The Dove - 1929 onwards

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1931

Paper Aeroplanes by H G G Herklots, 1931, which was published by W Haffer and Sons in Cambridge in 1931, is a book of essays of which 'Paper Aeroplanes' is the first, and which gives information about the author's own fascination with paper flight.

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The Flying Fly - 1933 onwards

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1933

'Jeux de pliages' by Ferdinand Krch, which was published by Flammarion in Paris in 1933 contains diagrams for a cut 'Avion-Libellule' (Dragonfly Plane).

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1934

This paper plane was distributed by the Gulf Refining Co in 1934 as an advertising novelty. The instructions printed on the plane include the words 'Fasten clip on front end - use two if necessary to fly plane properly.'

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1938

An illustration of Another 2-part Paper Plane appears in 'Spielzeug - Eine bunte Fibel' by Hans-Friedrich Geist and Alfred Mahlau, which was published by L Staadman Verlag in Leipzig in 1938. Illustration only.

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1940

'At Home Tonight' by Herbert McKay, which was published by Oxford University Press in London, New York and Toronto in 1940, contains a chapter on 'Parlour Science' which includes a discussion of the effect of air pressure on falling objects, particularly paper and cardboard sheets, and 'A very elegant glider'.

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1944

'Ideas Practicas para Juegos y Entretenimientos' by Jorge A Duclout, the second edition of which was published in Buenos Aires in 1944 contains information about the stability of paper planes.

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1951

A second variation of the Cut and fold Model Aeroplane design, the front of which is weighted in a different way, appears as 'El Avion Supersonico' in the extended version of 'El Mundo de Papel' by Dr Nemesio Montero, which was published by G Miranda in Edicions Infancia in Valladolid in 1951.

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1952

A design for a rubber band launched plane, attributed to Gershon Legman, was published in an article by Martin Gardner in 'Parents' magazine for September 1952.

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1956

Harbin's Aeroplane appears in 'Paper Magic' by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne in London in 1956. The text does not give any instruction for launching this plane and it may have been intended to be a static model.

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1961

The July-August 1961 issue of 'Print' (Vol 15 Iss 4) contained an advert for the Peninsular Paper Company featuring a paper plane. This is the earliest advert featuring a paper plane that I know of at present.

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1962

The 1962 Rupert Annual contains folding instructions for 'Rupert's Paper Glider', which is a heavily cut version of The Dove.

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The Flying Fish - 1963 onwards

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1963

Two designs for paper planes appear in 'Folding Paper Toys' by Shari Lewis and Lillian Oppenheimer, which was first published by Stein and Day, Inc in the USA in 1963.

'Glider' is characterised by the removal of two small squares in the way shown in the first picture below.

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Boomerang

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1966

Several designs for paper planes appeared in 'The Executive Manual on the Construction of Paper Projectiles' by Rik Olson, which was published by The Pisani Press in San Francisco in 1966. As far as I know this work was the first to present a wide variety of paper planes with side stabilisers and ailerons.

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1966/7

In December 1966 an advertising agency acting for the journal 'Scientific American' placed advertisements in three American newspapers / magazines, 'The New York Times, 'The New Yorker', and 'Travel Weekly', announcing The 1st International Airplane Competition.

The initial advert included drawings of three paper planes, The Paper Dart (called 'the classic paper plane), another version of the Paper Dart with the keel inverted to form a tail, which is said to have been 'First developed among paper airplane designers in the 1930's' (sic) (the text says 'Note hooked nose' but the design does not possess this feature) and a third plane with a blunt nose and upturned side stabilisers.

Final Fly-offs were held at the New York Hall of Science on 21 Feb 1967. There were four categories of competition, for duration aloft, distance flown, aerobatics and origami. Each category was subdivided into entries submitted by air travel professionals (including subscribers to 'Scientific American') and non-professionals. The winners were to be awarded a trophy known as 'The Leonardo'.

Details of the winning entries were subsequently included in 'The Great International Paper Airplane Book' by Jerry Mander, George Dippel and Howard Gossage which was published by Simon and Schuster in New York in 1967.

The winner of the Origami-Non-professional category was James M Sakoda's 'SST', which was subsequently also published in his book 'Modern Origami' in 1969.

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1968

Publication of 'Jet Age Jamboree' by Yasuaki Ninomiya by Japan Publicatiuons Inc, fundamentally a book of designs for cut-out-and-glue-together model aircraft which does however contain several designs for Paper Planes per se'

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1969

Publication of 'Airborne All-Stars' by Yasuaki Ninomiya by Japan Publicatiuons Inc, a book of designs for cut-out-and-glue-together model aircraft.

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1970

The September 1970 issue of 'Boy's Life' contained an article giving several designs for paper planes including this two piece design:

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1970

A paper plane titled 'Concorde' appeared in 'Origami Compendium No 1' by Robert Harbin, which was published c1970. The design of this plane was attributed to the author.

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