My name is Tyler. I have been a science museum volunteer in Denver since 2010. One day I noticed that many guests would discard their print-outs from the exhibit in to the waste bin. Later I experimented with several paper airplane designs as a way to recycle some of the discarded printouts.

I found a design that worked remarkably well with the paper, a Ring Airplane. See the plans here: http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Flying-Ring-Paper-Plane/

After making several of these for museum guests, I stuffed one of the ring airplanes in my pocket, flattening it. I wasn’t sure what to do with the flattened plane. But then I had an interesting idea… The plane doesn’t need to be a circle, does it? I began experimenting.

I made square planes, heart-shaped planes, triangle planes, but each required the device to spin during flight, and the angled sides would slow the rotation and cause the shapes to change direction as the rotation slowed.

Then I had a really great idea. I angled the folds to create a vortex. The device would now spin even if thrown without any initial rotation. Six design iterations later, a new technique changed the typical square shape to a pentagon, and the device flew better than anything I’ve ever seen! And not only that, it flew in a nearly perfect straight line!

Visit my Multimedia Page to see the Vortex Star in flight!

Contact me about advertising, custom printing, and event options at Tyler@Vortex-Star.com