How to Make the Super Hornet Paper Airplane

Designed as a successor to the Stinger, the Super Hornet is a high wing "fighter-drone" paper airplane. With a wingspan of just 2 inches and a length of 3.25 inches, the Super Hornet is very detailed for its small size, featuring landing gear and winglets.

The Super Hornet was the result of an effort to produce a fast, high wing fighter drone paper airplane with landing gear to replace the Stinger. The new aircraft would retain the delta wing shape, albeit larger with a modernized empennage. The Super Hornet fulfilled the needs to succeed the Stinger and is a faster, more versatile and overall more capable aircraft than the latter. The two aircraft do look fairly similar though.

Although I designed the Super Hornet around the time the Skybolt was published, I chose not to publish it until December 2011 due to a lack of demand for a large, fast high wing paper drone at the time of design. The Skybolt was itself not without shortcomings though, most notably its lack of landing gear and/or skids. The Super Hornet was always equipped with landing gear and is likely to have more airframe and design longevity for that reason.

TAA USAF Designation: D174-1

Required:
1 Piece of 8 by 10.5 inch graph paper (4 boxes per inch)
Tape
Stapler
Pencil
Scissors
Ruler

Start construction of your Super Hornet by sketching out the design featured in the first picture. The graph paper this is made on should have one set of boxes folded in half at its crease. The fuselage is 13 boxes in length and has a counterweight of 3 by 2 boxes. One box from the rear of the fuselage, make a mark that stretches 3 boxes forward. Then 2.5 boxes inwards from the rear of the fuselage, make a dotted vertical line.

Once this is done, begin making the wings and horizontal stabilizer. The construction of the wings should be started by sketching a line with a slope (sweep) of 1:1. The chord should be 5 boxes long at its center and the wingspan should be 10 boxes total. To make the horizontal stabilizer, mark out 3 boxes that have at least 1 box of clearance behind them. The slope of the leading edge should be 1:1 and the trailing edge 1:3. You will later cut the outer row of boxes off.

Solid lines indicate places to cut. Dotted lines indicate fold lines.

Note: 1 box = 0.25 inches

To start real work of your Super Hornet, cut it out. Then cut one of the two rudders off. Continue to fold along the dotted lines (minus the one going up the rudder) until the aircraft is like it is in the fifth photograph.

Fold the back section of the fuselage in forward along the dotted vertical line that runs vertically along the rudder. Once you've folded it, make a cut along the bold line half a box from the bottom of the fuselage. Once you've made this cut, unfold the rudder. Then tape the aircraft at its front, spars, counterweight and opposite the rudder.

Cut out your horizontal stabilizers and thread them through the fuselage beneath the rudder. Fold them up once through and tape them to the fuselage. Then fold their rear edges up along the dotted line.

Unfold your wing and flip your airframe inverted. Tape the wing to the fuselage by applying tape to the spars, with the overhang grabbing the wing. Once finished, fold up the outer tips along the dotted lines and apply one staple to the counterweight area. Your Super Hornet is now ready for flight.

The Super Hornet can be operated and flown with relative ease. Launches at moderate speed give the fastest, longest range flights. Horizontal stabilizer deflection should be determined and trimmed as necessary. Ground operations and storage are easy with the aircraft's simple landing gear. Additional surfaces applicable to the Super Hornet include flaps, ailerons, flaperons, slats, and air brakes. Enjoy!