Lock-Bottom

An easy paper airplane that flies farther that most other designs.

Lock-Bottom

An easy paper airplane that flies farther that most other designs.

It shoots straight through the air with a quick push and keeps going and going.

Easy difficulty Letter & A4 Paper Requires scissors Distance Time aloft Measurements

Your Rating:

Sign in to rate

Steps

Video Guide

Download & Print

Paper Airplane Folding Instructions

1. Fold the paper in half and open it back up.

2. Fold both corners in to the center line.

3. Fold the top point down, leaving it about 1 inch (2.5cm) from the bottom edge.

4. Fold both corners in to the center line.

5. Take the little triangle piece at the bottom and fold it up to lock down the two flaps.

6. Now, fold the paper plane in half away from you.

7. Fold one wing down, leaving about one inch (2.5cm) for the fuselage.

8. Repeat with the other wing.

9. Next, fold up the wingtips.

10. Finally, take a pair of scissors and cut two small slits at the tail end of each wing.

Final Paper Airplane Design

Once you have adjusted the elevons to get it to fly straight, this is a very reliable airplane that can go very far. Hold the belly towards the center and throw at a slight upwards angle. The Lock-Bottom flies best when thrown with medium force.

Watch a Video Tutorial

Download & Print This Design

Video Instructions

View Printed Instructions

Download & Print This Design

Printable Folding Instructions

These beautiful, easy to follow, paper airplane folding instructions can be downloaded and printed as many times as you want. Simply follow the printed instructions and fold along the indicated lines to make a perfect paper airplane, every time.

Sample Paper Airplane Printable Instructions

Sample Paper Airplane Printable Template

Download & Print

Number of Folds	9
Distance Flown Average Distance Thrown by a 10yr old	42.6 ft / 13.1 m
Time Aloft Average Time Aloft Thrown by a 10yr old	2.9 sec

Convert to Imperial	Letter Paper
Length The distance from nose to tail	15.5 cm
Wingspan The longest distance from wingtip to wingtip	13.4 cm
Wing Chord The average length of the wing, from front to back	9.7 cm
Wing Area The area of all wing surfaces	130.3 cm²
Wing Loading The averaged weight carried by the wings	353.1 g/m²

The Wing Loading is how much of the paper airplane's weight is being lifted by each unit area of the wing's surface. In general, an airplane with a lower wing loading will glider better. A standard piece of 75gsm printer paper is used for all of these measurements across the website.

References

• The Worlds Greatest Paper Airplane and Toy Book

Of Interest

• Fold'N Fly Paper Airplane Book

• Motorized Propeller for Paper Airplanes

• Paper Airplane Launchers

• Foam Airplanes

• Balsa Wood Airplanes

These are affiliate links. More info here

Get Your Pilot's License

Printable Folding Templates
Downloadable Games & Activities
Customizable Pilot's License ID Card
Quickly Access Your Favorite Designs
No Ads

Upgrade Now

Join OPAL

This paper airplane can be used to accomplish the challenging tasks in Level 1 of the Original Paper Airplane League. Progressively improve your paper airplane skills and climb the ranks of this online club.