Excerpt from 'The Dangerous Book for Boys'
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Chapter One

Essential Gear


1. Swiss Army Knife.



2. Compass.


3. Handkerchief.


4. Box of Matches.


5. A Shooter.

Your favorite big marble.

6. Needle and Thread.


7. Pencil and Paper.


8. Small Flashlight


9. Magnifying Glass.


10. Band-Aids.


11. Fishhooks.


The Greatest Paper Airplane in the World



The Bulldog Dart

1. Fold a letter-size sheet of paper lengthways to get a center line.

2. Fold two corners into the center line, as in the picture.

3. Turn the paper over and fold those corners in half, as shown.

4. Fold the pointy nose back on itself to form the snub nose. You might try folding the nose underneath, but both ways work well.

5. Fold the whole plane lengthways, as shown.

6. Finally, fold the wings in half to complete the Bulldog Dart.

Good—now you know a design that really works. You may have noticed the insectlike plane in the middle of the first picture. It does have complicated "floats" and inverse folds. However, it just doesn't fly very well and neither do most of the overcomplicated designs. We think that matters. Yes, it looks like a locust, but if it nose-dives, what exactly is the point?

Here, then, is the gold standard. It flies.

The Harrier

1. Begin in the same way as the Bulldog Dart. Fold in half lengthways to find your center line and then fold two corners into that line, as shown.

2. Fold that top triangle down, as you see in the picture. It should look like an envelope.

3. Fold in the second set of corners. You should be able to leave a triangular point sticking out.

4. Fold the triangle over the corners to hold them down.

5. Fold in half along the spine, leaving the triangle on the outside, as shown.

6. Finally, fold the wings back on themselves, finding your halfway line carefully. The more care you take to be accurate with these folds, the better the plane will fly.

This plane does well at slower launch speeds. It can stall at high speed, but if you lift one of the flaps slightly at the back, it will swoop and return to your hand or fly in a great spiral. Fiddle with your plane until you are happy with it. Each one will be slightly different and have a character of its own.


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