Flying fish

Flying fish are easy to make and great fun to watch falling through the air.

Take a long thin strip of paper and fold it in half longways.

Form the tail of the fish by making two cuts halfway through and near the ends which can fit into one another and make the shape of the fish as in this picture.

Try lots of different lengths and widths of paper and try making the tails long or short then gather a ‘shoal’ together and drop them through the air all at once. They spin and flutter furiously! Why don’t they simply drop in a straight line?

Spinners and helicopters.

There are all sorts of designs for paper spinners or helicopters.

Here a long strip has been cut half way along to make two wings or ‘blades’. The remainder has been folded up and taped or stapled to make a ‘weight’ in the centre.

When dropped it spins quickly but slowly descends.

Here is a really brilliant helicopter.

The long strip is folded in the centre but at an angle to make a ‘v’ shape.

Then a paper rectangle about 10cm x 5cm is rolled and taped to make a tube 10cm long.

Two scissor cuts are made in the tube so that the ‘v’ can be pushed in. Some tape can be added to secure it if it keeps falling out.

Now experiment with bending and folding the wings so that they resist the air as they fall.

When it is allowed to freefall through the air it spins very quickly and this slows the descent.

See how long you can get it to stay in the air.

Try longer or wider wings

Try a longer or wider or thiner tube.

What else could you try?

Would any other shapes work?

Do you think this is how Orville and Wilbur Wright started?

This one is pictured after a freefall and it is just touching the ground and about to fall over.