Human-scale cardboard aircraft came surprisingly close to real flight

At first glance, a flyable airplane made of cardboard sounds almost like a joke – the sort of thing that collapses long before it ever leaves the ground. But YouTuber and serial tinkerer Peter Sripol built one that you could sit in, roll down a runway, and attempt to fly.

Sripol isn’t new to engineering feats that attempt the "impossible." New Atlas readers may remember some of his wild, and sometimes dangerous experiments, including an electric air sled, the time he gave a robot vacuum the ability to fly, or his DIY hydro scooter pistol. This latest project takes that same adventurous spirit and pushes it further, scaling lightweight, DIY construction toward actual human flight.

The question at the heart of his project was simple: can humble, cheap, fragile cardboard really lift a person into the air?

Sripol started putting the cardboard airplane together across a series of videos, starting with a full-size fuselage built from little more than flat sheets of cardboard and meticulous planning. He then built the wings, skinned in cardboard, but reinforced with a few plywood plates and doublers to connect the wings to the fuselage more securely.

Cardboard was the maker’s material of choice for a few reasons: it’s cheap, widely available, remarkably light – and it didn’t hurt that the project made for great content. Preparing it for human flight exposed its weaknesses pretty quickly, though.

Using a methodical approach common in RC aircraft, Sripol iterated constantly, reinforcing areas where flex became an issue, and trimming weight wherever he could. The result was a serious materials feat: one that treated cardboard as a serious engineering constraint.

Testing brought the cardboard aircraft out of the workshop and onto the runway. Sripol climbed into the cockpit for a series of taxi and acceleration tests, pushing the aircraft a little faster each time to see how it behaved under load.

He controlled the aircraft using a radio controller, with a footpedal to release the undercarriage (the landing gear). His visibility out of the fuselage was limited – by design, since the intended flight would be short, straight, and low.

The early test runs turned into a process of fine-tuning and yet more iteration, much like the building process. On his first attempt, Sripol noticed that tall grass was adding more rolling resistance than he expected. So he shed a little weight, literally, by taking off his jacket: every ounce mattered.

He also repositioned the aircraft onto a more closely trimmed section of the field. This worked: the plane’s nose lifted briefly off the ground a few times on the next run, offering the first real glimpse that liftoff may be possible.

For the final attempt, he added a small assist, towing the aircraft’s sled, or undercarriage, with a car to help it reach flying speed before detaching the sled. This was rewarded with success, if only momentarily. The cardboard plane took flight, staying airborne for a few seconds before gently crashing back into the field. A short-lived flight, but a flight nonetheless.

Despite the brief flight, Sripol has high hopes for his cardboard aircraft. He believes it can fly high next time. He pushed everyday materials to their limit, and learned exactly where physics drew the line.

For now, he’ll go back to the drawing board with the data from his test runs, iterate, and make improvements for his next attempt.

Check out some of the footage from his cardboard aircraft’s test flight attempts in the video below. On the off chance you get the urge to try this at home, we feel it’s important to mention that you probably shouldn’t.

Source: Peter Sripol