Foam Board Airplanes
Learn how to use foam-core boards to make simple airplanes that are larger and more durable than regular paper airplanes.
Paper is an excellent building material for airplanes because it is cheap, readily available, recyclable, and easy to work with. You don't need any tools to turn a piece of paper into a flying airplane. However, one of paper's shortcomings is that it isn't very stiff. This is one of the reasons why paper airplane wings are typically folded into multiple layers. Those extra layers give the wings the necessary stiffness to maintain their shape during flight. Stiffness is an important characteristic for materials to have when building airplanes. This is why you should consider using foam board.
Foam board (also called foam-core) is a material that is made by sandwiching a layer of low-density polystyrene foam between two layers of paper. This combination creates a material that is much stiffer than paper, but still fairly lightweight. The high strength-to-weight ratio of foam board allows you to construct wings that are much larger and stiffer than those that you could construct with paper.
Foam board is easy to cut and bend, although it does require the use of a hobby knife, so it may not be a suitable material for young children. Foam board absorbs impacts better than paper, so airplanes built from it are more durable. It is also readily available from your local hobby shop or convenience store; a 20x30" sheet is very affordable and can be used to make several airplanes, so it is a great material for making flying airplanes.
Foam board has a thickness of 5mm and a density of 0.14g/cm3. Paper has a thickness of 0.1mm and a density of 0.75g/cm3. This means that foam board is about 50x thicker but 5x lighter than paper. In other words, a stack of paper that was the same thickness as a single piece of foam board would weigh 5 times as much. This makes foam board an excellent building material to use where you want something lightweight and structural where thickness is not a primary concern.
There are a number of foam board airplane kits available for purchase on the internet. Here are a couple to get you started, including one of our own designs that you can download and make at home.
PowerUp Toys
PowerUp Toys is a company that produces a range of products that can turn paper airplanes into electric-powered aircraft that you can pilot through the air. We wrote an entire article about electrified paper airplanes that you should check out. PowerUp's products aren't limited to just paper airplanes. They also work with foam board airplanes!
The advantage of the PowerUP 4.0 toy is that it is a super simple way to create a remote controlled airplane. You just download the app, turn on the PowerUp 4.0 and it automatically connects and works. Normally, making an RC airplane requires that you get a transmitter, a receiver, batteries and servos. Then you need to wire them all up correctly and connect the servos to the wings and tail surfaces with complicated linkages. PowerUP takes all of this pain away from that process and makes it a fun plug-and-play activity. And best of all, it's cheaper and lighter than buying all of the pieces separately, so it's easier on your wallet and makes for a better performing aircraft in less time.
Here are three expertly designed foam board airplane kits, sold by PowerUP, that work perfectly with their device. They also work as stand alone gliders that you can hand toss for a long flight. We have tested each one to give you our review. In addition to the kits mentioned, you will also need some hot-glue, tape and modeling clay. Clay is a great way to adjust the center of mass of the airplanes to get them to balance correctly. You can use as little or as much as you need, and you an use your fingers to stick it on and smooth it out.
F22 Raptor
There are no written instructions for this kit, but there is a build video that you can watch that will walk you through the entire process. This airplane is the more complicated of the three available designs, but it is still pretty easy to assemble. The first step is to pop out all of the pieces. You may need to use a hobby knife to cut through some of the tabs keeping the pieces in the board. Once all of the pieces have been removed, you carefully remove the paper backing from both sides of every piece, so you are left with just the foam. Now, you can connect all the pieces together using hot-glue and tape. Use the included angle gauges to accurately set the dihedral and fin angles.
The F22 Raptor works great as a hand tossed glider. You just need to add a little bit of weight (about 3g) to the nose to get the center of gravity (CG) in the right place. For this airplane, aim for a CG about 20cm back from the tip of the nose. To find the CG, balance the airplane on your fingertips, one on either side of the fuselage. Wherever it balances without tipping forwards or backwards is the location of the CG. Use hand tossing to get this glider to fly straight. Make small adjustments to the CG, fins and elevator to get level flight. Once you have tuned it well, make a small mark to indicate where the final location of the CG.
Now you can attach the PowerUP 4.0 module to the bottom of the foam airplane. You will need to use the vertical connector from the Add-On Installation Kit. Move it forwards or backwards to get the CG in the marked spot. Give it some hand tosses to make sure it still flies straight and level. You can use a piece of tape to lock it down once you get it into the correct position. Now turn on the motor and have fun!
This model is the heaviest of the three and has the smallest wings, so it required the most thrust to keep aloft. It was also quite sensitive to steering, so make small corrections and practice to improve your skills. If you find that it's flying nose up too much (like ours did), you can either move the CG forward or bend the elevators down a little bit.
| Measurements | |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 27.5cm |
| Mean Chord | 11cm |
| Wing area | 300cm2 |
| Aspect Ratio | 2.5 |
| Dihedral | 8° |
| Stabilizer Area | 80cm2 |
| Stabilizer Aspect Ratio | ~4 |
| Fin Area | 90cm2 |
| CG | 20cm from nose |
EZ Bug
You can follow along with the build video that clearly explains each step. This airplane is the easiest of the three to assemble, having only three parts that go together quickly. Similar to the other designs, you first pop out the pieces using a hobby knife and then use hot-glue and tape to assemble the pieces.
This model is a little difficult to hand toss because there is no convenient place to grip it, but it can be done if you are careful. About 7g of nose weight will get the CG in the correct spot for hand tossing. There are two little circles pre-cut in the foam to indicate where it should balance on your fingers. This airplane floats nice and slow through the air.
The EZ Bug attaches to the PowerUP 4.0 device using the horizontal connectors from the Add-On Installation Kit. After attaching the motors, adjust the CG so it is still in the correct spot. Our model needed 5g of nose weight with the motors attached.
This model is the lightest of the three so it is most sensitive to wind. Fly it on a very calm day. We had to bend the elevators up an extra 5mm for best performance, so you may want to do this too if yours tends to dive. You can easily make this adjustment by hand with a little tape. It flies very nicely at half throttle and is pretty easy to steer left and right. We got a 1 minute flight without much difficulty.
| Measurements | |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 28cm |
| Mean Chord | 12.5cm |
| Wing area | 350cm2 |
| Aspect Ratio | 2.2 |
| Dihedral | 8° |
| Fin Area | 50cm2 |
| CG | 7cm from nose |
EZ Streak
Like the other two designs, the build video walks you through the entire process. In terms of difficulty, this airplane falls in between the other two and it is unique because it uses a wooden rod to connect the wing with the tail. It also has a V-tail which is different from the usual tail configuration with a horizontal stabilizer and vertical tail. With the V-tail, the two angled surfaces function as both stabilizer and fin. This airplane goes together with hot-glue and tape just like the other two airplanes.
For hand tossed test flights, you'll need to add about 13g of modeling clay to the nose to get the CG in the correct spot. There are two small circles cut into the foam to indicate the correct position. Adjust the CG and tail to get straight and level flight.
It attaches to the PowerUP 4.0 device in a similar way to the F22 Raptor using the vertical connector from the Add-On Installation Kit. After attaching the motor, make sure the CG is still in the correct spot.
This model has the most wing area, so it flies very nice and stable. We did have to add a little up elevator to get it to fly straight. This was an easy field adjustment with a little tape and finger pressure. It made easy turns left and right and we were able to steer it back for a hand caught landing. If you cut the throttle it will glide nice and slowly back to earth.
| Measurements | |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 40.5cm |
| Mean Chord | 10cm |
| Wing area | 405cm2 |
| Aspect Ratio | 4 |
| Dihedral | 10° |
| V-Tail Span | 15cm |
| V-Tail Mean Chord | 6cm |
| V-Tail Area | 90cm2 |
| V-Tail Aspect Ratio | 2.5 |
| V-Tail Placement | 5cm behind wing |
| CG | 4.5cm from nose |
To Purchase
EZ Streak BundleIncluded in bundle:
EZ Streak AirplanePowerUp 4.0
Add-On Installation Kit
Basic Foam Board Glider Design
You may also want to try our own BFG "Basic Foam Glider". This simple foam board airplane works perfectly with the PowerUp 4.0 propeller. It also works as a hand tossed airplane and it even has a hook on it, so you can launch it with a rubber band. It's very versatile!
For those of you with a Pilot's License, you can download and print the plans for the BFG at home. Glue or tape the plans to a piece of foam board and then use a hobby knife to carefully cut out the pieces. It goes together very quickly with hot-melt glue and then you can give it a hand toss to test it out.
You will need to add about 1g to the nose to get the CG in the correct spot, about 12cm back from the nose. This is the weight of a single paperclip which you can unbend and then poke into the foam. Use our trimming your airplane guide to help you adjust it for straight and level flight. Then make a rubber band launcher and give it a stronger launch. It should fly pretty far!
Now, attach your PowerUp 4.0 module to the underside of the airplane and you can easily pilot the BFG around the park. You will need to use the vertical connectors from the Add-On Installation Kit to attach the module just below the hook. Move it slightly forwards or backwards as necessary to get the center of mass (CG) in the right spot.
| Measurements | |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 31.5cm |
| Mean Chord | 7cm |
| Wing area | 220cm2 |
| Aspect Ratio | 4.5 |
| Dihedral | 8° |
| Stabilizer Area | 39cm2 |
| Stabilizer Aspect Ratio | 2.5 |
| Fin Area | 11cm2 |
| Tail Placement | 10cm behind wing |
| CG | 12cm from nose |
The detailed building instructions are included in the downloadable plans, so click the button and get your own copy.
Flite Test
Flite Test is another popular website for foam board airplanes. Most of their designs require full-sized remote control electronic components, however they do have a few airplane kits designed for hand tossing. Here are a few of their motor-less designs.
Jets
This series of foam board airplanes includes three designs that look like realistic military jets. They go together nicely with the instructional video and fly straight and fast once you get the center of mass (CG) in the correct spot. These designs have more intricate pieces than the others, so this is a more advanced kit than the others.
Space Flyers
If you are a Star Trek fan, or just a fan of science fiction and space travel, check out these three designs from the Space Flyers series. You'll get three alien space ships to build and fly. One is modeled after the USS Voyager, one is a Klingon Bird-of-prey and the third is a Vulcan Starship. These designs are a little more difficult to build than the other designs on this page, but they aren't too bad. All three require quite a bit of nose weight to get the CG in the correct spot, but once you get it tuned up, they should fly nicely.
Other Foam Planes
As you have seen, foam board is a great material to use for making airplanes. It is cheap, strong and easy to work with. For more foam flying fun, check out these toys which are all made from lightweight foam.
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