Day 90: Powered paper aeroplanes

For Christnukah someone gave me a paper plane propeller. It looks like a propeller on a long stick with a nodule on the end. You hold the nodule against a battery pack for a few seconds and then the propeller starts spinning. The nodule attaches to the nose of your own paper plane, the stick forms a strong spine, and the propeller spins away at the back, driving the plane forward in the air. At least in theory.

We’re talking paper planes here, after all.

You know how paper planes only fly right if they’re perfectly symmetrical, the weight evenly distributed, the folds crisp and the paper dry. That.

It also probably wasn’t a great day to choose to fly paper planes. It wasn’t raining, but it had, and the grass in the meadow that I’d picked for being large enough to accommodate the promise of self-propelled flight was wet. Almost the moment the unbalanced plane dove straight into the soil its nose was wet and lost all shape.

Despite my attempts to perform surgery, that was pretty much it. One failed flight in and the plane crumpled.

I felt joy and excitement, and I’ll try again. On a dry day.

When the weight of the paper equals the weight of the airplane, only then you can go flying – Donald Wills Douglas

Ease of play: 3/10

Resemblance to play: 8/10 

Aggression: Low

Speed: Medium-to-Fast

Enjoyability: Medium

Potential frequency of play: Medium