Tiny Pterosaur Glider

Someone sent me a message about the oldest design I have posted on Instructables. This person and their students were having trouble figuring out how to make it. I looked it over. Dang, it was complicated! But that's how my old designs were: one-offs, not really meant to be reproduced. At any rate, I was motivated to make a simpler pterosaur glider.

This one is fiddly. If you are inexperienced with paper crafting and/or gliders, there are simpler designs I recommend, such as the this micro jet. But if you're determined to make a pterosaur, you could try increasing the size of the plans by 50% to make it easier to cut out the shapes. If you do that, you'll probably need to add more weight to the head, such as a BB-sized ball of polymer clay or some card stock reinforcing pieces, for proper flight.

The plans are in a PDF file. You will need access to a printer that can handle card stock. In addition...

1. sheet of 80 lb. / 215 gsm card stock*
2. glue stick and liquid glue
3. scissors
4. hobby knife or razor blade
5. ruler
6. large steel paper clip (approx. 2" / 5 cm)
7. pliers or dikes

*If printing on A4, you may need to scale the image slightly to accommodate margins

The plans are in the file below. You'll notice that I like to print on two colors so I can have mix the pieces and have a more visually dynamic glider.

Rough cut the pieces. I like this part. It's relaxing and low-stakes.

Now cut out the pieces precisely. This part is not fun.

Use a glue stick to attach the neck and wing brace to the top of the main piece. Next, attach the tiny head piece.

Use a ruler to define the creases on the four tabs of the body pieces. Bend the angles to 90 degrees. Spread a thin, consistent layer of liquid glue over the area where the two pieces will be pressed together to form one. Press together, starting from the back and working up the neck. Do not press the head together.

Cut a piece of paper clip, 2 cm in length. Add some more liquid glue to the head area. Place the paper clip between the two layers of card stock. Press together and hold until the glue starts to set up.

Apply glue to the four tabs, and attach the ventral body to the main piece.

Use a ruler to define the line of the rudder. Apply liquid glue to the base of the fin (aka vertical stabilizer) and set it in place.

Use a ruler to define elevators on the two canards. Bend these down about 10 degrees.

Use a ruler to make creases at the wing roots and raise the wingtips by about 7 degrees to make a dihedral wing.

Use your thumb and finger to gently curl the leading edges of the wings down slightly. This will help the wing function as an airfoil. To further enhance the wing's function, pinch along the trailing edges to bend them up slightly, but not across the whole length of the wings. Near the middle of the wings, the trailing edge should become flat or even slightly curled downward (and by slightly, I mean a degree or two). The upward deflection will assist the elevators of the canard in pitching the nose up.

Look the glider over very closely, and from different angles. The left-right symmetry must be as close to perfect as you can manage. Make sure the wings aren't twisted or warped in any way. Set the rudder to its neutral position, if not done already.

Test the glider indoors, if possible. If testing outdoors, it must be dead calm, as even the slightest breeze will prevent you from correctly diagnosing the flight tendencies of your pterosaur.

Throw the glider gently and level. If it consistently pitches down, increase the deflection of the elevators (in other words, bend them down). Always make tiny adjustments between throws. If the elevators get to about 20 degrees of downward deflection without inducing level flight, raise the two elevators at the trailing edges of the main wing a bit.

As you might imagine, the opposite adjustments can be made if the glider is pitching up.

If the glider tends to drift to the left or right, use the rudder to correct that tendency. Again, only small adjustments should be made between each throw. Bending the rudder to the left will make the glider want to go left, and bending it to the right will make it want to go right.

Good luck!

Some people think the giant flyers of myth—the thunderbirds and rocs and whatnot—might have been based on pterosaurs that somehow survived into the age of humans. I do not believe this to be the case, but it sure is fun to look up at the sky and imagine one of these creature gliding under the clouds!