Instructions to Build a Batplane

Photo of the bat plane
  • Take the top-right corner of the page in your hand and fold it diagonally down and align it on the left edge of the page.
  • The crease should go from the top-left corner to the right edge of the page.
  • Open the page out again
  • Take the top-left corner of the page and fold it diagonally down and align it on the right edge of the page.
  • This make a diagonal crease going the opposite way to the one in the first step.
  • Leave the page folded.
  • You have a triangular shaped flap that was folded over in the previous step.
  • Take the bottom-right corner of the triangular flap and fold it over onto the bottom-left corner of the triagular flap.
  • Crease the paper vertically from the point where the two creases from the first two steps intersect.
  • The page will be three-dimensional now. After the next step it will lie flat again.
  • Take what was originally the top-right corner of the page and fold it down to where the right edge of the page comes diagonally inwards.
  • Make a vertical crease in this new flap similar to the crease you made in the last step. This new crease must be next to the previous crease
  • Take the bottom-left corner of the triangular section at the top of the page. Fold it up to the apex of the triangle.
  • Take the bottom-right corner of teh triangular section and fold it up to the apex, too.
  • The triangular section should now be diamond shaped.
  • Take the left corner of the diamond and fold it to the centre line of the diamond. The lower-left edge of the diamond should line up on the centre line.
  • Unfold the left corner so that a crease remains.
  • Take the right corner of the diamond and fold it to the centre line of the diamond. The lower-right edge of the diamond should line up on the centre line.
  • Unfold the right corner so that a crease remains.
  • Take the left corner of the diamond and fold it to the centre line of the diamond. This time the upper-left edge of the diamond should line up on the centre line.
  • Unfold the left corner so that a crease remains.
  • Take the right corner of the diamond and fold it to the centre line of the diamond. This time the upper-left edge of the diamond should line up on the centre line.
  • Unfold the right corner so that a crease remains.
  • Take the left corner of teh diamond, for the third time.
  • Raise the corner away from the page and as you do so pinch it above and below so that a crease forms from the corner to the centre of the diamond.
  • This crease and the two creases you made before will bring the corner to a point directly over the centre of the diamond. The figure shows this point marked with an A.
  • Do the same with the right corner of the diamond.
  • Take the apex of the page and fold it backwards.
  • The crease you make runs horizontally and the points marked A in the previous figure point up.
  • Fold the page in half lengthwise.
  • The side of the page with the extra width-wise flap of paper must be on the outside of the fold.
  • Fold down the wings.
  • Make the fold parallel to the bottom of the fuselage.
  • Open the wings out and push them up so that they tilt up (as viewed from the nose).
  • Fold up some 10 mm flaps at the outside edges of the wings.
  • Open the flaps out so that they are at right angles to the wings.

The batplane is complete but for it to fly properly it will almost certainly need some small adjustments. In fact, the secret to a good paper plane is the adjustments that you make. Read the Secret Plane Adjustments Page to find out what adjustments to make.


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Last modified: Thu May 14 09:00:16 1998
©  Malcolm Goris   <mgoris@nfra.nl>