Paper planes have become more and more sophisticated. Gone are the days when you and your friends had perhaps 2 or 3 different variations to choose from. Nowadays, engineers, designers and amateur enthusiasts compete to create beautiful, functional, and fierce paper aeroplanes which employ not only the latest concepts in aerodynamics, but also gorgeously exacting origami-like paper folding techniques.

We’ve pulled together a veritable treasure trove of paper plane models you can make with your kids. These have been created by engineers and designed to be aerodynamically efficient. 

Fun Paper Aeroplanes

At this website, you will find 15 paper plane templates with fold and cut lines clearly drawn, ready for you to download, print and use. Categorised by degree of difficulty, from beginner to advanced, this is one good site to start your flying adventures from. Remember to click on the links on principles of flight. These have been clearly and simply explained.

How Things Fly

This website is rather awesome. You have to click in to check it out for yourself. It doesn’t just have a selection of printable templates for you to choose from, it also allows you to customise your plane template!

Don’t forget to read the tabs provided, for an introduction to the elements of flight: Forces of Flight, Gravity and air, Aerodynamics, Propulsion, Structure and materials, Flight dynamics and a whole lot more.