How to make a paper jet: fighter design
Paper Jet Instructions (Fighter Jet): try all 11 steps in the 3D player. Turn and replay every move. Print the complete diagram sheet or save it as PDF.
An Origami Tutor paper jet shaped like a fighter: a sharp nose, swept wings and a small tailplane on each side, cut apart by a notch in the back of each side. It flies fast and straight.
- You need
- One sheet of letter paper (A4 works too) and scissors.
- Start
- Lay a sheet of letter paper in front of you, short edge at the top. You will also need scissors.
- Tips
- Match the two notches carefully: a plane with uneven tailplanes turns to one side.
- If the jet dives, bend the back edges of both tailplanes up a little.
Your model is ready
Hold the body near the front and throw the jet firmly and level.
Step-by-step diagrams
Steps 1–6
- 1
Cut the left notch
Start in the bottom edge an inch and a half left of the middle. Cut up and outward to a point an inch and a half above the edge and three and a half inches from the middle, then back down to the edge two and a quarter inches from the middle. Throw the sliver away.
- 2
Cut the right notch
Cut the same notch on the right, the mirror image of the first.
- 3
Crease the middle
Fold the paper in half from left to right, crease it sharply, and open it again.
- 4
Fold the left corner in
Fold the top left corner down so the top edge lies along the center crease.
- 5
Fold the right corner in
Fold the top right corner the same way, so the two meet at the center crease.
- 6
Fold the left edge in
Fold the new slanted left edge to the center crease, making the nose sharper.
Steps 7–11
- 7
Fold the right edge in
Fold the slanted right edge to the center crease the same way.
- 8
Fold in half
Fold the plane in half along the center crease, with the folds you made on the outside.
- 9
Fold the first wing down
Fold the top wing down along a line about half an inch from the body's fold and parallel to it, all the way from the nose to the back.
- 10
Fold the second wing behind
Fold the other wing back along the same line, so it matches the first.
- 11
Spread both wings
Open both swept wings away from the keel, spreading the small tailplanes with them, and turn the jet upright so the keel hangs below. Leave a shallow V, with both sides even and the tips a little above the roots.
- ✓
Finish
Hold the body near the front and throw the jet firmly and level.
Fold next
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