Paper Airplane Lab
America aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright invented the first successful
self-propelled airplane. In the 1880’s and 1890’s the two brothers published a newspaper and
later formed the Wright Cycle company to build and sell bicycles in Dayton, Ohio.
The brothers’ interest in aviation started in 1896, when the learned of early European
experiments in sustained flight. They began a program for building an airplane by first
conducting tests with kites and then gliders. Before attempting powered flight, they solved
the essential problems of controlling the plan’s motion in rising, descending and turning. An
isolated beach near Kitty Hawk, NC, was selected for flight tests based on the advice of the
U.S. Weather Bureau. After making more than 700 successful glider flights at Kitty Hawk in
1902, the Wright brothers faced the problem of finding an engine light enough and powerful
enough together their plane off the ground. No automobile manufacturer would accept the
assignment, so the Wright brothers along with Charles Taylor, designed and built their own
12- to 16- horsepower engine and propeller for their plane, which was originally name “Flyer
I”, but commonly referred to as the “Kitty-Hawk.”. On December 17, 1903, Orville achieved
the first successful flight ever made in a self-propelled heavier-than-air-craft.
In order for their plane to get off the ground the Wright brothers needed to do many
experiments using what we know as the scientific method. The scientific method is the way
that scientists gather information and test ideas. In this lab you will examine the scientific
method and run some of you own tests using something you probably know a great deal
about, paper airplanes. You will created your own paper airplanes, measure them for time of
flight, and distance traveled, just as Orville and Wilbur must have done when they started in
the field of aviation using the scientific method.
OBJECTIVE:
 Demonstrate the principles of the scientific method using paper airplanes.
 Measure the time of flight and distance traveled.
 Calculate the average velocity of your plane.
MATERIALS:
 A piece of plain paper
 Ruler
 Stopwatch
PROCEDURE:
Part I. Observation:
1. Construct an airplane out of paper. This will be the fist test plane or the Control.
2. Once in the hall, behind the line, throw your airplane.
 Someone will be keeping time from the time you let go until it touches the
ground.
 The Distance will also be measured from where your plane landed.
3. Record your measurements in the data table.
4. Record your observations of how your plane performed in flight.
5. Calculate the velocity_______________________.
Part II: Form a Hypothesis:
6. Make a hypothesis of what you could change on your plane to make it travel further
and faster. (add weight, change a fold, add tape)
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
Part III: The Experiment
7. Make one change to your plane to test your hypothesis.
8. Repeat 2-5.
Part IV: Make Observations and Revise Your Hypothesis.
9. Was your hypothesis correct? ___________ Did your velocity improve?______
10. Record your observations of how your plane performed in flight.
11. Revise your hypothesis. Make a hypothesis of what you could change on your plane
to make it travel further and faster. (add weight, change a fold, add tape)
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
12. Repeat Part III.
Conclusions:
1. What relationship did the size for your plane’s wings have on the distance it flew?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. List what changes you made to your planes and how each change affected their flight.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Could you have had differences in the angle the plane was thrown and/or did more than one
person throw the plane?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. How did you or how could you account for the differences mentions in the previous questions?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. In which step did you have a control test?___________________________________
6. Why is it the procedure said to change only on aspect of your plane each time?
7. What were the independent and dependent variables?________________________________
8. Name the steps of the scientific method you used and give an example of how you used them.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Flight #
1
2
3
Distance Traveled
Time of Flight
Average Velocity
Observations