What's so serious about PaperPocketPlanes? Why are they any more SERIOUS than any other paper plane? Good question! The answer could be because I've been making this particular plane since 1983... 24 years now- but, that's doesn't mean they're serious. It could just mean I'm not! (But I really am-) What makes them serious is more than one thing. Here's why, in random order of relevance:

1. There's something different about how they fly. Aerodynamically, something's 'going on'. My simple explanation that comes with the instructions makes it clear and understandable- and, believe you me, it is simple. At least the basics are simple.

2. There's something special about the way they're made. The way they're folded. The way they're shaped- free from wrinkles, free from crunches, free from deviations from a specific formula for perfection- so they're perfect every time- every one.

3. There's something surprising about the way they've been designed to be stored- they fold flat- pop back together and fly again and again- thousands of times. Wow. A product that's designed to LAST! imagine that- and, it's paper!)

4. There's something serious about the way you'll actually learn something when you fly one. And read the material that comes with it. That you'll actually WANT to read. Maybe more than once! The head of a Pteranodon? Stealth Bomber? Space Shuttle? They're all pretty serious too. Sortof.

5. Somebody before me discovered the same thing, sortof. But he thinks of it differently than I do. He had the attention of the American public in 1968 with his plane- key Aerodynamicists tested it, studied it- and came up with why it was not the great thing everybody wanted it to be- (Now, think about it... let's say YOU were living as an aeronautical engineer- been working all your life to be the 'main man' for designing the future of aviation- and along comes some guy who just happens to discover this amazing aerodynamic principle on his kitchen table (where I happened to find it too, on my table, not his-) would YOU want to prove the thing works? or doesn't work? Especially if the guy with the paper airplane wants a big piece of the pie for the use of his design in real aircraft- the American dream- and... 1. America's key airfoil designer (Richard Whitcomb) has designed a wing shape very similar to this principle, for supersonic aircraft- that he's defined through many years of research- and 2. the guy with the paper plane says right in his patent that he doesn't know how or why it works?! Guess what happened? Nothing? Right. Nothing. What did you think would happen?? Long ago, I had a very satisfying, four hour long phone conversation with Richard Kline. His book 'The Ultimate Paper Airplane' has sold many copies. Again, Richard's belief of why it flies is very different from mine. Mine, of course, is right. lol. Seriously- if you really want to understand HOW this airfoil works, you really need to have the plane, and the instructions. You'll understand it right away. And not be surprised. No-one is, when i show them. They always 'get it'. It's part of understanding how things fly.

(By the way, I've had the surprising privilege of working with a NASA scientist and redefining the description of how lift is created on an airfoil. It's about time somebody did it. We've been misled long enough. The truth is simple. The old explanations are not. It's really alot easier than they want you to believe-) The AeroLP has it in it, and NASA uses it in their publications too.)

Back to the story... So, along comes Bill Maecker (William to some), the happy (but serious) artist who likes to have fun, and it just happens that his sculptures that are based on Hogarth's 'curves of Beauty', happen to fly? Enter 'The Original Mylar PocketPlane".

After several wanna-be backers backed out on backing the production of my planes, I decided I had to do it myself. So, I went out and raised some money. Fortunately, noted Art patron, Seymour Knox liked my planes, my Art, and liked me, and bought several of my sculptures and paintings. that got production started, twenty some years ago. It turned out to be the ONLY way to do it. Turning over my design to somebody else would have led to complete failure. A million things had to be changed. Maybe more than a million. All these years later, the paper versions fly very, very well. And everything else bout them too. But, if it'd been handed over to somebody else, well, let's not go there.

Anyway, here we are. Here the planes are. They are SERIOUSLY GOOD. Seriously done. And, fly SERIOUSLY WELL, when flown the right way. It does take a good pilot, you know- and, of course, YOU can be a good pilot if you want to be.

The aerodynamics you'll learn from the material with them is serious. Our partnership with NASA to develop educational CDs on Aerodynamics is serious. The CDs we made are great- enjoyable, informative and extensive- you'll learn what you want to learn from them. NASA is THE authoritative source for material about airplanes, engineering and how they fly. We've made a SERIOUS good program for learning while having fun doing it.

PaperPocketPlanes are SERIOUS. Serious fun. Seriously ;^)

Did you read all that? Wow. You must have ALOTTA extra time! Of course, well, I did write it-) Here's a picture of the 'Original Mylar PocketPlane'. If you're in your twenties or so, you might have played with one-). I guarantee you'll like the new paper planes too-

Seriously, Bill Maecker