The Public Paperfolding History Project

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Last updated 29/2/2024

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The Swallow
 
This page is being used to collect information about the history of the two sheet paper plane design, often known as the Swallow, in which one sheet forms the wings and another the tail. Please contact me if you know any of this information is incorrect or if you have any other information that should be added. Thank you.

There is a separate page for the Hybrid Cut and Fold Swallow - a one piece design combining elements of the Swallow with elements of the Cut and Fold Model Aeroplane.

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1917

As far as I know this design first appeared in the November 1917 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine.

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1920

Will Blyth's 'Paper Magic', published by C Arthur Pearson, London in 1920, contains diagrams for an essentially similar design.

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1923

Diagrams for 'Schwalbe' (Swallow) appear in 'Falten und Formen mit Papier' by Richard Rothe which was published by Deutscher Verlag für Jugend und Volk in Vienna and Leipzig in 1923.

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The same book also contains instructions for folding a variant 'Taube' (Pigeon).

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1928

The design also appears, as 'The Airplane', in Murray and Rigney's 'Fun with Paper Folding', published by the Fleming H Revell Company, New York in 1928. This version uses a tiny cut to create ailerons at the end of the tail.

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1932

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A version of the Swallow also appears:

1932

In 'Winter Nights Entertainments' by R M Abraham, which was first published by Constable and Constable in London in 1932

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As 'L'Avion', in Booklet 5 of 'Images a Plier', a series of 6 booklets published by Librairie Larousse in Paris in 1932.

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1933

As 'Hirondelle' in 'Jeux de pliages' by Ferdinand Krch, which was published by Flammarion in Paris in 1933.

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1936

As 'Flieger' in 'Allerlei Papierarbeiten' by Hilde Wulff and Carola Babick, which was published in Leipzig and Berlin in 1936.

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1937

In 'Paper Toy Making' by Margaret Campbell, which was first published by Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons Ltd in London, probably in 1937, although both the Foreword and Preface are dated 1936, which argues that the book was complete at that date contains diagrams for a version in which the tail is shaped by curving cuts rather than straight line folds and the nose is formed / weighted by the use of a cut.

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1940

As 'Aeroplano' in 'El Plegado y Cartonaje en la Escuela Primaria' by Antonio M Luchia and Corina Luciani de Luchia, which was published by Editorial Kapelusz in Buenos Aires in 1940.

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1950

In the 1950 Rupert Annual under the heading 'How To Make A Paper Plane'.

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1956

As 'Gliders' in 'Paper Magic' by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne in London in 1956.

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1963

As the 'Swallow' in the second edition of 'Het Grote Vouwboek' by Aart van Breda, which was published by Uitgeverij van Breda in 1963.

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