Fold & roll · Illustrated guide
Ring-wing Glider
Fold a double-peaked sheet, turn a narrow rim, then curl and tuck it into a ring.
Preparation + 6 numbered steps
Materials
US Letter · 8.5 × 11 inches
One US Letter sheet, a ruler and a pencil for light guide marks. A small piece of transparent tape is optional. No cutting or glue is needed. Use flexible paper rather than stiff card; paper weight has not been tested here. A4 dimensions are not covered.
Complete illustrated guide
Blue and gold distinguish the two halves of one sheet on either side of the first diagonal. Dark gold marks the turned rim. Dashed orange lines are new creases; arrows show movement. Solid lines are paper edges. Curling and the tucked join are schematics, not simulated paper motion. Drawings are not full-size templates.
Read from preparation through the final check. All instructions and drawings work without JavaScript.
- 0. Prepare a Letter sheet
- 1. Fold along the diagonal
- 2. Mark a half-inch rim
- 3. Turn the rim over once
- 4. Curl with the rim inside
- 5. Tuck one end into the other
- 6. Check the completed ring
Preparation · Illustrated guide
Prepare a Letter sheet
Set the sheet upright, with the 8½-inch edges at top and bottom. Call the top-left corner A, top-right B, bottom-right C and bottom-left D. You may mark the letters lightly. Keep the sheet whole.
Layers: One flat sheet; no folds yet.
Check: The sheet is a rectangle, not a square. The A–C diagonal joins opposite corners.
Next illustrated step ↓Step 1 · Illustrated guide
Fold along the diagonal
Crease from A straight to C, bringing the triangle containing B over onto the triangle containing D. A and C stay in place. Do not force B to meet D: the two free corners must remain offset. Rotate the whole folded sheet so C is at the left and A at the right, with the long folded edge at the bottom. Do not turn it over.
Layers: Move the B half of the sheet; the D half stays beneath it.
Check: Two separate peaks remain. If you made the free corners coincide, open the sheet and crease along A–C instead.
Next illustrated step ↓Step 2 · Illustrated guide
Mark a half-inch rim
Lay the folded sheet flat with the long folded edge nearest you and both peaks pointing away. Measure ½ inch at right angles inward from that edge at several places. Join those marks lightly with a ruler: the new crease is parallel to the long edge, not parallel to either sloping side.
Layers: Keep both overlapping halves together. Do not unfold the first crease.
Check: You still see two peaks. The new line is ½ inch from the folded edge all along it.
Next illustrated step ↓Step 3 · Illustrated guide
Turn the rim over once
Fold the entire narrow strip upward on the line you just marked, toward the two peaks. Press along the new crease. Turn both layers together in one fold; do not roll the edge into several turns. The turned strip now rests against the face you are looking at.
Layers: Both sheet halves turn together; the rim contains the doubled paper.
Check: A narrow reinforced strip lies on the near face. Both peaks remain free above it.
Next illustrated step ↓Step 4 · Illustrated guide
Curl with the rim inside
Lift the sheet with the turned strip facing you. Curve the left and right ends toward you and toward each other, so that this face becomes the inside of a tube. Bend smoothly across the width; do not press new sharp creases. Keep the two peaks at the opposite, unreinforced edge.
Layers: Curve the entire folded sheet together. The turned strip must be on the concave, inside face.
Check: Looking through the opening, you can see the turned rim inside. If the strip is outside, uncurl and bend the other way.
Next illustrated step ↓Step 5 · Illustrated guide
Tuck one end into the other
At one end, gently lift the short end of the turned rim to find its pocket. Slide the other end under that folded lip, between the lip and the sheet behind it. Keep the two reinforced edges at the same level. Close the lip over the inserted end and let the rest of the sheet overlap naturally. Use only enough overlap to hold the join; a small tape piece across the seam is optional if it slips.
Layers: One end enters the other end’s rim pocket. It does not simply sit on top of the outside surface.
Check: The joined rim makes one continuous circle. The inserted end is trapped under a folded lip, not hanging loose in the opening.
Next illustrated step ↓Step 6 · Illustrated guide
Check the completed ring
Look through the reinforced opening. Ease the curve into a round shape without flattening it. At the opposite edge, find the two peaks and the V-shaped dip between them. Check that the folded rim is inside and the tucked seam is held. If it opens, repeat the tuck or add the optional small tape piece.
Layers: One continuous curled sheet, with overlapping ends secured at the inside rim.
Check: Two peaks, an open center, an inward-facing rim and a tucked join. This completes the making sequence.
Sources & notes ↓
Sources & notes
NASA/JPL Education, Make a Paper Glider (updated November 5, 2024), construction steps 2–3.
Official activity ↗ · Official template (PDF; Carlo Cayetano credit) ↗ · JPL image-use policy ↗ · NASA media guidelines ↗
Construction reference: the linked NASA/JPL activity and its template, credited to Carlo Cayetano based on NASA’s original Ring Wing Glider. Tutorial wording and SVG illustrations are newly authored with AI assistance by Paper Folding. No NASA/JPL photographs, template artwork or logos are reproduced. This guide is not authored, reviewed or endorsed by NASA, JPL or Caltech; those institutions are not responsible for its accuracy.
Adaptation: Uses the Letter rectangle’s corner-to-corner diagonal and the ½-inch rim from the official template/activity. Corner letters, separate preparation and checking steps, diagram viewpoints and colors are our teaching choices. The source gives no required overlap length: insert only enough to hold the join, keeping the rim circular. No flight experiments are included.
Validation notes
The official template and fold/ring photographs were inspected as references. Flat-fold dimensions were checked against the Letter diagonal and half-inch rim. Curling, layer contact and the tucked join are schematic. Real-paper follow-along, paper weight, join retention and real-device accessibility have not been tested. There is no flight-performance claim.