Red Dragon Card Stock Micro Glider

This design captures some of the interesting curves of a dragon while retaining flight capability, and I'm quite proud of it. Your fine motor skills better be on point if you plan to make it. And you'll need patience and precision to get it to fly well. However, even if you don't use it as a glider, it's kind of a fun toy and has the benefit of not contributing plastic to a landfill.

Digital files are at the bottom of this step. Other things you will need...

-sheet of medium card stock (80 lb. / 215 gsm) ... or ... beige file folder, cut to a standard size (8.5" x 11")

-liquid white glue and glue stick

-large steel paper clip (just under 2" / 5 cm long)

-pliers or wire cutters

-ruler

-scissors and hobby knife

To increase visual interest, I used two sheets that had slightly different tones and interchanged some of the pieces. I will end up with two dragons.

If you are using the PDF, print at 100% scale. If you're printer doesn't handle card stock, you'll need to find one that does. Cut out the shapes using scissors. Cut slowly and precisely. You may want to use a hobby knife and ruler to cut certain tight corners. Be careful with the knife store it safely when finished.

Use the vector file for an automated cutter. Note that Cricut Design Space makes the image much larger than its original size. You will need to attach the layers (control+click or a right click on the top layer for pop-up menu, then select 'attach') and set the height to 4.25 inches.

Like most gliders, this one needs some nose ballast in order to fly correctly. If you do not know about an aircraft's center of gravity, and why it is critical to flight, try reading this article by Flite Test. A piece of paper clip will provide that weight.

Prep the two pieces that form the body of the dragon. Use a ruler to make creases on the dotted lines, and work them until they can make nice 90-degree angles.

Cut a piece of paper clip that is 32 mm long. Add a slight kink at the center. This wire will run like a spine between the two card stock pieces, starting at the nose and going along the top of the head and neck. Apply liquid glue and then put the paper clip in place. Set it aside.

Using a glue stick, attach the main brace, the head, and the tail brace.

Use liquid glue to attach the two sides of the body. It is okay to use a liberal amount of glue in the area of the nose ballast, but use the glue sparingly elsewhere. Make sure the pieces are perfectly lined up, then pinch the tail and allow a minute for the glue to hold before working your way to the nose. Use liquid glue again to attack the body to the main piece, and make sure it is centered.

Using a glue stick, attach the braces to the sides of the head.

Before attaching the fin, define the elevators (on the horizontal stabilizers) and rudder (on the fin). Using a small amount of liquid glue, attach the fin to the tail area, such that it overhangs the tail brace slightly. Make sure it doesn't lean to the left or right, and allow the glue to cure for a few minutes.

Give the wing some contour by establishing creases on the dotted lines. The trailing edge should be deflected down about 12 degrees at the wing roots, and fade to just a few degrees at the tips. The leading edges should have only about five degrees of deflection at the roots, and fade to zero.

Pinch the tip of each wing and twist the wing tips forward a tiny bit to reduce the angle of attack and reduce tip stalls. (If that sentence made no sense, read about washout on Wikipedia.)

To give the gliders a bit of inherent stability, make the wing dihedral. In other words, raise the wing tips slightly while making a mile crease at the wing roots.

Check the glider from front and back, and try to get the left and right wings to look identical. Make sure the fuselage is straight, that the rudder is neutral, and that the elevators are deflected up a few degrees.

A smooth, consistent throw—the glider being released at the same angle every time—is required to effectively trim it (that is, adjust the control surfaces). Do this indoors so no breeze will affect the flight.

After several throws, some tendencies should become apparent. If the glider is going left, try adjusting the rudder to the right by a few degrees. If that doesn't work, check the wings to see if one is twisted relative to the other, and try to fix that. Lastly, you can try to increase the lift of the left wing by deflecting the trailing edge down slightly (doing this at about the middle of the trailing edge). If the glider is going to the right, do the opposite of all this.

The elevators control the pitch of the glider. If it is pulling up too hard (which will cause an aerodynamic stall, and a bad crash), decrease the deflection of the elevators gradually.

Good luck.

As usual, I include the best flights and just a few crashes. Don't be fooled! This is a touchy little glider and it takes practice to get it to fly well. Nevertheless, I love it.