Paper Helicopters are kind of like the accessorized toy soldier. Everyone who responded to the comic book ad with the complete catalog of make-believe military equipment had to have owned at least one or two toy soldiers equipped with parachutes. Those soldiers jumped out of imaginary aircraft flying over the stairway railing more than once, and it wasn't long after that most amateur air commanders decided to upgrade their fleets.

Thus was born the paper helicopter, only really a helicopter in the most liberal sense of the word since spinning in a trajectory perpendicular to Earth isn't really helicoptering of any great consequence, but that wasn't the point. It's spinning. Paper airplanes and paper boats don't spin. The helicopter spins. Understand?

Some of the toy soldier collectors were lucky enough to get electric helicopter toys of one kind or another and were elated to learn those could not only spin but ascend as well. They haven't really figured out a way to do that with the paper versions yet, but definitely not for lack of trying.