How to Fold Three Long-Distance Paper Airplanes
Master folding three high-performance paper airplanes: the aerodynamic Dagger, the stable F-15 jet, and the long-glide Arrowhead.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Bone folder
- ✓ Clear plastic ruler
- ✓ Flat work mat
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ 3 sheets of standard 8.5x11 inch printer paper (20-24 lb)
- ✓ Small strip of clear tape
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Watch finger placement when running tools along paper edges to prevent paper cuts.
- • Ensure the throwing zone is clear of people and fragile items before test flights.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Establish the Center Crease for the Dagger
Place a single sheet of paper vertically in front of you. Fold the left edge over to perfectly align with the right edge, hold the corners firmly, and crease cleanly down the center with a bone folder. Unfold the sheet flat on the mat.
- • Paper lies flat with a sharp, vertical midline crease dividing two equal halves.
- • Misaligning the outer corners before pressing down the fold.
Fold Top Corners and Lock the Nose
Fold the top-left and top-right corners down to meet cleanly along the center crease line, forming a triangular top point. Then, fold the entire top triangle downward along its base so the point touches the center crease roughly 2 inches from the bottom edge.
- • Downward-pointing triangle resting centered on the lower half of the sheet with crisp diagonal seams.
- • Overlapping the corners across the center crease line.
Form the Dagger Body and Wings
Fold the new top corners inward toward the center crease once more, creating a narrow arrowhead. Fold the entire plane in half along the original center crease away from you, then fold each wing down so the top wing edge runs parallel to the bottom keel line.
- • Symmetrical fuselage with flat, wide wings angled slightly upward in a subtle 'Y' shape.
- • Folding wings at mismatched angles relative to the fuselage.
Fold the F-15 Jet Intake and Fuselage
Take a second sheet, fold the top corners down to the center line, then fold the triangular nose down. Repeat the corner fold over the folded nose, creating a small protruding tab underneath, and fold that tab upward over the folded edges to lock them tightly in place.
- • Trapezoidal locked nose with a small triangular tab securing the diagonal folds.
- • Failing to tightly crease the small locking tab over the seam.
Set F-15 Winglets and Test Balance
Fold the plane in half outward, crease the wings down about 1 inch from the belly, and then fold the outer 0.5 inches of each wingtip straight upward at a 90-degree angle to create vertical stabilizers. Check that both stabilizers stand vertically when viewed from the rear.
- • Parallel vertical winglets on both outer edges and a flat horizontal main wing surface.
- • Winglets folded inward instead of outward at 90 degrees.
Construct the Arrowhead Glider
With a third sheet, fold corners into the center, then fold those diagonal outer edges into the center a second time to create a very long, slender dart shape. Fold the plane in half along the spine, then fold wings down starting 0.5 inches from the pointed nose to the back corners.
- • Extremely sleek, sharp-nosed dart profile with tight, multi-layer folds along the keel.
- • Layers shifting out of alignment due to paper thickness near the tip.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Foldable Flight — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Bone folder? Smooth plastic ruler edge or the back of a spoon
- No Flat work mat? Smooth, hard tabletop or desk