Making a real airplane takes a long time, but a toy version is easy enough to do. If you want to know how to build a plane but don’t know where to start, here’s how.
Required Tools and Materials
Wood glue
Sandpaper
Utility knife
Pencil
Balsa wood 1/4 inch
Get the balsa wood. Draw a rectangular shape on the balsa wood 2 inches wide and 12 inches long.
Step 2
Draw a curve on the rectangle’s two corners. This will give you the wing’s shape. Make a second rectangle, 2 inches wide and 3 inches long. Curve two of the corners similar to what you did with the wings. This is the airplane’s tail.
Step 3
Make a two inch square on the wood. Round off 2 corners so you end up with a curve. This is the tail’s upright part. Next, draw the airplane’s body. To build a plane’s body, draw a 10 x 1 inch body profile.
Step 4
Use your knife to cut the shapes you drew up. After cutting the wood, sand the straight edge on the wing. Keep sanding the wing so the thickness goes down to 1/8 inch by the straight edge.
Step 5
Hold the plane’s body. Set the spine up. Put the wings on the body. Set it around four inches from the nose. Put some glue on the middle of the wings. Glue this on the top of the body. Give the pieces time to dry.
Step 6
Put some more glue on the joint corners. Put the glue between the body and the wing. Apply enough glue so it is about 1/8 inch thick. Give it time to dry.
Step 7
Put the tail piece on the center. Apply glue on it and set on the spine. Put the tail upright part in the middle of the tail piece. Set it vertically. Place the rounded edges up. Glue it.
Step 8
Give the whole piece an hour to dry.
Step 9
Hold the body of the plane and throw it. Do not aim the plane at any person or animal.
Tips and Warnings
The wing tips are susceptible to breaking. You can avoid this by applying glue on the wing tips. If the plane feels heavy on the rear, sand it. If the airplane is too light in some places, put more glue on it.
After you build a plane, you can design others like it. You just need to get a few more pieces of balsa wood and draw different shapes.
