The Best & Worst Flight Conditions for Paper Airplanes

Best Outdoors

• Dry weather with light wind will provide the best flight conditions for paper airplanes outdoors. Moderate to strong wind often casts paper airplanes to the ground or changes their direction, possibly throwing them over a fence or into a stream. If pleasant conditions prove unattainable outdoors, you may prefer to fly paper airplanes inside a building.

Best Indoors

• Well-made paper airplanes fly well indoors with no wind, although you may use an electric fan to simulate windy flight conditions (for experimentation). They usually fly the straightest and travel the longest distance with little or no wind. Dry air will improve the performance of paper airplanes; don't boil a pot of water or take a shower before flying them inside your house or apartment. Dry winter days often provide the lowest humidity levels. A sign of low humidity is when wet towels and clothing dry faster.

Worst Outdoors

• A very windy, rainy or snowy day will yield the worst flight conditions for paper airplanes. A misty or humid day will also significantly affect performance. Individual paper airplanes "wear out" more quickly under humid conditions, according to PaperPlane.org. Numerous flying insects in the air may impede the airplane's flight, especially when large groups of small flies create cloud-like clusters. For safety reasons, don't fly paper airplanes in fields or clearings when thunder remains audible.

Worst Indoors

• The indoors protect paper airplanes from most of the worst conditions, but indoor and outdoor sources of humidity can still add weight to the paper and harm its flight performance. The air in basements and on the bottom floors of buildings often contains more humidity than that of upper floors. Consider using a humidity meter to check the current percentage. It's not the worst thing to have a moderately high humidity level indoors, but you might have to make more airplanes to achieve the same distances.