Buzzy+B

Buzzy B. 2011-2012
 * DETERMINING WHICH PAPER AIRPLANE FLIES FOR THE LONGEST AMOUNT OF TIME **


 * ABSTRACT **

 The purpose of the experiment was to determine which design of paper airplane flies for the longest amount of time. The different paper airplane designs used in the experiment were the Classic Dart, the Barracuda, the Sea Gull, the Monsoon, and the Hickory. The hypothesis was that the Classic Dart paper airplane design would fly for the longest amount of time because it was the most popular design of paper airplane. First 2 planes of each paper airplane design were crafted. Next, each design of plane was flown 10 times. Then, the time that it took the plane to finish its flight and land was recorded. After, the results were averaged. Next, the duration of each planes flight was compared. The Hickory paper airplane flew for the longest amount of time. The average flight time for the Hickory was 1.51 seconds. The Monsoon averaged 1.38 seconds, the Sea Gull averaged 1.22 seconds, and after the Sea Gull was the Barracuda with only 1.14 seconds per flight. The Classic Dart flew for only 1.08 seconds. It was also found that both room temperature and cold paper airplanes average 1.12 seconds per flight, while the hot airplane averaged 1.17 seconds per flight. The wet Classic Dart flew for .85 seconds per flight while the dry Classic Dart flew for 1.32 seconds per flight. When flown into wind the Classic Dart flew for .71 seconds, the Barracuda flew for 1.52 seconds, and the Hickory flew for 1.45 seconds per flight. =Experimental Improvements, and Future Experiments = Often times during the experiment the paper airplanes would crash into the walls often. Next time maybe there could be a larger hallway so the walls would not interfere with the plane’s flight. Also next time a machine could throw the planes. This would prevent any differences in the throws so the test would be fair. Future experiments that could be performed could be the same thing, except measuring the distance of the flight, not the duration of the flight. Additionally experiments could test other designs of the airplanes not just the Hickory, Monsoon, Sea Gull, Barracuda, and Classic Dart. 