Have you ever thought of science fair experiments involving aerodynamics? How about doing a project that studies the things that make an aerodynamic design work by building your own paper glider? In this project, you will test your hypothesis by measuring the change in flight characteristics of gliders. You will do this by making changes in the design of the glider.  As far as difficulty levels for science fair experiments, this project is going to be about a bit more difficult than most. It can also take you from one week up to a few weeks, so be sure to give yourself plenty of time. It all depends on the number of gliders you choose to build and test. There are no safety issues and the materials should be readily available. All you need is your curiosity!  

Most people have built a paper airplane, or at least the kind that is quickly folded with a piece of paper. Well, in this project you will build something more intense. You will learn a completely different technique to construct a plane. Rather than using one sheet of paper, the glider you will build in this project will have several layers that are laminated and cut out of thicker paper. This method makes paper gliders much more realistic. You can even find kits available to help you with getting started, but you can build your own design following the steps on this web site.

Science fair experiments always require you to become acquainted with certain terms and concepts. Before you begin the project, you should know the following: vertical and horizontal stabilizers, elevators, rudders, dihedral, fuselage, center of lift as well as gravity, camber, airlift, and rudders.  

By the way, getting a free copy of Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects will help you through your own project.

What you will need for this experiment:

•    All you need for materials are glue and paper. But, the paper must be carefully chosen. You can’t just use ordinary copy paper or paper from a notebook because it’s not firm enough. You can purchase cardstock from a stationary store or office supply store. As far as the glue, you can use ordinary school or white glue. 

•    If you want to learn how to construct a laminated glider, then you can purchase and build a “Whitewings” kit. You can buy them for single or for multiple gliders and can be found in hobby shops. 

•    Each model will have to be trimmed or adjusted properly so it can perform the best possible flight. 

•    You will need to have stopwatch to time your flights. 

•    To measure the distance of each of your flights, you can just use tape measures to assemble your distance markers in an open area.   

Steps for the experimental procedure:

• Some measurements you can experiment with are the flight distance, the amount of time spent aloft, and flight maneuvers (flipping over, turning right, turning left, and so on).

• You will want to keep these things in mind when it comes to your experimental methods:

• To minimize the variability, you should make all your flight tests under the exact same weather conditions.

• Be sure that you only change one aspect of the experiment at a time. If you want to test more variables, you will need to craft some more planes.

• You should perform repeated test flights for the same glider. A good amount is at least five trials for each condition.

Great science fair experiments always have variations. Here are some possible variations for you to consider. As you make your glider, try leaving off the horizontal or vertical stabilizer. Then, fly your glider both without and with the stabilizers. How do the different stabilizers affect the glider’s flight?

To help you with your own project, take a look at some of the links next to this article. Good luck!