Most paper airplanes are judged on one thing: how far they go. This one is different. It is not the fastest or the longest-flying design you will ever fold, but its wings beat up and down the whole way across the room, and that never stops being delightful to watch.

Folding it is the easy part; learning to launch it is where the fun is. The plane needs to sit in a V shape, nose tilted slightly up, and it wants a firm throw rather than a gentle push. Your first few attempts will probably nosedive, which is normal. Adjust the wings a little, throw again, and suddenly it will take off with its wings flapping like a bird.

This is a paper airplane that flaps its wings in flight. It may not fly the farthest, the longest or the fastest, but it is certainly the most distinctive one, because its wings keep flapping all the way through the flight, as you can see in the animation below. Folding it is not very difficult, but besides keeping it in a V shape when you launch it, you will need to test fly it again and again to build up your own feel for it. Let us get started.

STEP 1. Start with a regular rectangular piece of A4 paper. Fold the left edge over so that it meets the right edge.

STEP 2. Fold the right edge of the upper layer over so that it meets the left edge. Then turn the paper over.

STEP 3. Repeat step 2, then rotate the paper 90 degrees counterclockwise.

STEP 4. Fold the bottom left corner of the upper layer up along the dotted line. Then turn the paper over.

STEP 5. Fold the bottom right corner of the upper layer up along the dotted line.

STEP 6. Fold the left edge of the upper layer over so that it meets the bottom edge. Then turn the paper over.

STEP 7. Fold the right edge of the upper layer over so that it meets the bottom edge.

STEP 8. Open the upper layer downwards along the bottom edge, then rotate the paper 90 degrees counterclockwise.

STEP 9. Fold the top corner down to the center point of the bottom edge.

STEP 10. Fold the two top corners down to the top two corners of the triangle you can see.

STEP 11. Fold the triangle you can see upwards along the dotted line. Then turn the model over.

STEP 12. Fold the top corner down along the dotted line.

STEP 13. Fold the right part over to the left along the center line.

STEP 14. Now make the wings. Fold the left corner of the top layer over to the right along the dotted line, then turn the model over.

STEP 15. Repeat step 14 to make the other wing.

STEP 16. Tidy up the model so that it looks like the picture below.

STEP 17. Now you need to learn how to fly this flapping paper airplane. Before launching it, shape it into a V. Hold the nose of the plane up slightly and throw it out as hard as you can.