Flights of fancy

For Rajendra Grewal, making and flying paper airplanes is more than just a hobby — it’s a passion. When one enters his house, one can view colourful planes in different patterns displayed in every corner and box full of precision planes, including his masterpiece — the biplane.

“I decided to share my knowledge of making paper planes with youngsters when I saw the children in my building making futile attempts to fly a paper plane,” reasons Grewal for conducting workshops on making paper planes. “I teach two simple things to the students — why does a plane fly and how to make it fly,” he said.

Grewal learnt the basics of aero-modelling from his cousins, nearly 40 years back. He also learnt about paper planes and balsa wood planes at the now defunct Indian Hobby Centre in Marine Drive.

He feels that making paper planes is an art and needs a lot of patience and a basic knowledge of Physics. Apart from holding weekend workshops, he has also given demonstrations at a couple of schools till date.

“The paper needs to be folded in a particular manner, the ends touching each other perfectly. One should start off with plain paper and when one becomes proficient, one should try one’s skill with the origami paper,” advises Grewal. His success rate of making a plane fly appropriately is 80 per cent and that of his students is around 50 per cent.

Over the past five months, Grewal has improved his plane making skills by using materials such as cardboard, paper clips and tape apart from paper to make the flight easier. He teaches three types of planes — fold and fly, cut-fold-fly and cut-fold-assemble. The classes start with an introduction to the four forces of flight and basic aviation vocabulary and advances to the plane making and its flying.

“The remote controlled planes and vehicles make the children nothing but a couch potato. The art of paper plane making needs 4Ps — practice, precision, patience and proficiency,” he states.

The art of making paper plane, called aerogami, has two types of styles — classical and contemporary. The patterns include the traditional schoolboy, dart and duck planes which kids make in school to the more complicated frisbee, windmill and chopper.

“It is a misunderstanding that jazzier planes fly longer distances. Simple and accurately made planes also travel long distances,” clears Grewal. He’s designed paper planes which can fly upto 30-40 feet approximately. 

He further adds that symmetry is important and paper planes should be thrown in a particular manner to make their flight and landing effective. One can also manipulate the folds of the plane to make it fly in different directions.

He shows his masterpiece — the biplane — which took him over a day to make and says, “Good quality paper ensures the longevity of the plane’s life.” He has ordered White Wings trainer kit — a ready-to-make plane kit, with materials including high quality paper and balsa wood. Paper planes made from these cost Rs400 per plane. “I am building these planes for proof of concept. It will make it easier to demonstrate,” he states.

Grewal feels, the future of making paper plane is bright since there is a growing demand for educational toys. Hence, one can hone their talent and make inroads in this industry.
To contact Rajendra Grewal, log on to www.paperplane.co.in