https://lifehacker.com/181548/build-the-worlds-best-paper-ai...
The first comment is particularly interesting. I have a very clear recollection of seeing the followup to the 60 Minutes episode he talks about. Back then, they would read snippets of letters they received from viewers at the end of the show. After the paper airplane episode (which I did not see, but wish I could find a video of) someone wrote, "You dummies! Show us how to fold the damn thing!" Which they then proceeded to do. Very, very quickly. Following the procedure in real time was hopeless, and this was back in the days when VCRs were still exotic new technology. We did not have one. But the memory of hearing Harry Reasoner (I'm pretty sure it was him) reading that snippet has stuck in my brain all these years.
If anyone can lay their hands on a copy of either one of these episodes that would be really awesome.
it's super cool to see his semi physical approach between momentum/lift etc. Makes me wonder how much you could get by adding a few bits of metal/rubber in the design (even minuscule but functional bits)
Also youtube has a lot of paper plane competitions in Japan. Fun to watch, less explanations(npi) but some involved fluid dynamics ground effect.
I used to add a small paper clip to the nose of my planes. I also used to have these cheap styrofoam planes where you punched the parts out of a sheet and slotted them together. Those had plastic push on noses.
I never thought much about my designs but thinking back the behaviour makes so much sense now.
- we could iterate hundreds of time with joy - it seems like a stupid kid thing but it's quite subtle and technical, if approached so
Kids have this pseudo researcher mindset that only lacks a few symbolic notions to really leap across toying to understanding.
