1. Fold the paper in half, with the crease longwise down the middle. For a balanced plane, take your time, carefully matching up the opposing edges. Then unfold it as if you are opening a book. 2.

Some are pat­terned like the Yuzen Assorted Bright Origami Paper ($14 for 12 sheets, papersource.com), others are solid, but each sheet is a perfect square of thin, easy-to-fold paper.

Every paper plane has adjustable control surfaces that can, if minutely tweaked, affect how smoothly it flies. Tweaking the rudder on your plane—by folding it slightly to the left or right ...