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April 1, 2008

Build Your Very Own Google Airplane

Michael Arrington

82 comments »

If you create a new document in Google Docs, you’ll see a number of options in the “File” pull down menu. One of those options, which as far as I can tell wasn’t there yesterday, is “New airplane.” It’s right there after “New document.”

Choosing it opens a new file with folding instructions to build a paper airplane.

Why? Dunno. This is strange even for Google. Even on April Fools.

First reader to print it out, fold it properly, video it actually flying, upload the video on YouTube or any other video sharing service and post a link in the comments below gets a 2GB iPod Shuffle in the color of your choice. And we’ll give a second one to whoever can get the most distance from their plane (this is going to be somewhat subjective, I’ll make the final decision) (this is always entertaining). Thanks for the tip, Jonathan Chard. The pdf of the image is here.

More Google April Fools Craziness:

  • Sphere It

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 3:00 am and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Comments

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  1. Model bisnis

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:05 am

    He..he.. it’s cool gift… for April Mop… :)

  2. uberalex

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:10 am

    It’s part of Google’s vision of marshalling people to its own ends. The plan is that we build the paper airplanes, and they will supply us with a variety of payloads to launch at MSFT to keep them back from Yahoo! shareholders.

  3. drew olanoff

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:10 am

    BRILLIANT.

    Making one as soon as I get into the office.

  4. Rajavanya

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:12 am

    Well… Thank god they did not say they will ship a real plane of the same kind for the first 1 million users…

    I have to accept I got fooled by Toilet ISP last year, and even made a blog post :D

  5. Wirz

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:14 am

    It flies quite well!

  6. martin ollman

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:22 am

    define fly? do I win - youtube still processing it urgh! -

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_or2Drncy8

  7. Michael Arrington

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:23 am

    martin - that’s…horrible. are you sure you folded it correctly?

  8. Michael Arrington

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:26 am

    i just added a second shuffle above for whoever gets the most distance out of their plane, based on the video.

  9. Mickey

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:26 am

    It flies pitiful, but the video is up!

    http://qik.com/video/46582

  10. Michael Arrington

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:29 am

    so it looks like Martin and Mickey folded theirs differently. Neither really “fly.”

  11. Mickey

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:30 am

    My first one flew about 10 feet, but the rest didn’t do very well.

  12. add

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:33 am

    planes for Virgle to conquer Mars.

  13. Sunil

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:34 am

    I want to fly :D

  14. Brian

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:38 am

    Well, I don’t think I’m the first but I’ll post it for the hell of it:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOWDdIKIeY0

  15. Michael Arrington

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:39 am

    that’s awesome. three videos, three different fold patterns. none fly.

  16. Brian

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:44 am

    Just noticed the distance prize, seems worth trying again then:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu6R1NW72Ek

  17. kuldeep

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:53 am

    Beat this!!!!!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZmUaFBCoa0

  18. Nigel Cannings

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:57 am

    It’s based on a stunt plane design I used to use at school. But it seems to lack the basic requirements of a tail and fins. I’m not sure it can fly in its basic form, because the nose fold makes it nose heavy without the compensation of the tail etc… Dropping like a stone seems to be its forte.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRjjz6ihYN4

    That said, my modified version didn’t fly much better, but than that might have something to do with filming with one hand, and throwing with the other. It fell with style.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t49XinEejFs

  19. Brian

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:58 am

    Mike:

    This is it. This is the plane you’ve been looking for.

    http://video.google.com/videop.....&hl=en

  20. Michael Arrington

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:01 am

    Brian - nice narrative.

    I think we have a winner for the first to get this done. Everyone up to and including Brian gets a shuffle (martin, mickey, brian, brian). We’ll leave the distance race open.

    Google, if you’re reading this, i deserve an exclusive on a product launch for this promotion.

    Hint on the distance race (which i realized from the last Brian’s video): use gravity.

  21. Dor Dali

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:04 am

    i think that’s the one you wanted to see
    it flies very good and i think it could fly further if i had a bigger room and i could take a video outside
    http://www.youtube.com/v/gCKwPxNhWAQ

  22. Dor Dali

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:05 am

    i can’t belive that i posted right after you judged:(

  23. kuldeep

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:06 am

    hey! You forgot me!!!!!! This isnt fair!!!!

  24. Ian

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:22 am

    A little hard to see in the dark, but watch near the door at the other end of the building… that went as far as it could. :) Google engineering for ya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neYoxnu1e0M

  25. Shafqat

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:28 am

    Here you go Mike… atleast 200 feet, in front of the Swiss Alps. Okay, so its horizontal, not vertical! (BTW, a few google planes were killed for this experiment)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AB5mmc67SA

  26. Rumble

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:31 am

    Stop the press! Here’s my entry…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

  27. Jez

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:39 am

    Surely some kind of record,

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzuzcBE88Jc

  28. Erik Ellison

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:45 am

    guess im late to the party on this one

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=KE-rU8z5Y18

  29. Crazyglues

    April 1st, 2008 at 5:27 am

    OMG! Michael Arrington, Surely Erik Ellison is the best by far… LoL, I was laughing all over the place on that one… definitely worthy of a shuffle..

    He deserves a runner up price..LoL :)

  30. Fernando

    April 1st, 2008 at 5:28 am

    Here’s mine:

    http://video.google.com/videop.....&hl=en

    Got in trouble with the neighbor over this (a prototype crashed into their balcony), so I’d better win :P

  31. Nigel Cannings

    April 1st, 2008 at 5:43 am

    Well, having missed out on the first, I went for distance. Not all went exactly to plan

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGXG_CuoDSw

  32. Jez

    April 1st, 2008 at 5:56 am

    Crazyglues, you’re cheering on the wrong video - it was mine you left the you tube comment on. Take note, judges!

  33. Alan Wilensky

    April 1st, 2008 at 6:00 am

    When it said, ‘new air, plain’, I thought it meant unflavored air? Or if they really meant, “Aeroplane”, New, I thought they might be drawing a raffle for a new Gulfstream or customized 767 party jet.

  34. Wes

    April 1st, 2008 at 6:21 am

    Here’s my video. Managed a nice bonus landing!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqGvPqi8YUI

  35. Sundar

    April 1st, 2008 at 7:06 am

    Watch for “Scratch n Sniff” on Google Books. Very funny.

    http://books.google.com/bkshp?hl=en&tab=gp

  36. Crazyglues

    April 1st, 2008 at 7:22 am

    Oh Jez , your right my bad, I was watching too many of these videos & it was too early in the morning over here, was still sleeping…. So dis-regard earlier comment.. Not that Michael is really going to go with what I think. :)

    But here goes -

    “So Correction!” - OMG! Michael Arrington, Surely Jez is the best by far… LoL, I was laughing all over the place on that one… definitely worthy of a shuffle..

    He deserves a runner up price..LoL :) -Best creative by far.

    and now just to be clear - here is the video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzuzcBE88Jc By Jez

    -anyway you made me laugh for what it’s worth.. (unfortunately since I don’t work at Tech crunch it’s not worth much.. sorry)

  37. DH

    April 1st, 2008 at 7:29 am

    Am I too late? I got mine to fly a good 30 ft — OUTDOORS

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_moia-oVI

  38. Jez

    April 1st, 2008 at 7:35 am

    Thanks, Crazyglues. :)

  39. Michael Arrington

    April 1st, 2008 at 8:08 am

    awesome.

    if you have any more submissions, shoot them in asap. We’ll stop at noon PST and pick the distance winner.

  40. Paul

    April 1st, 2008 at 8:17 am

    DH’s videos is the best so far. Great idea for a competition.

  41. Arthur Freydin

    April 1st, 2008 at 8:23 am

    Yea, definitely one of the best competition ideas I’ve seen in a while.

    Mike, check out Google’s other gag on the top right in Gmail. Google has finally conquered Time. Took them long enough.

  42. jc

    April 1st, 2008 at 8:35 am

    #17 It almost make a car crash.

  43. alex schultz

    April 1st, 2008 at 8:42 am

    that’s a terrible plane try some of these: http://www.paperairplanes.co.uk/

  44. Alex H.

    April 1st, 2008 at 9:36 am

    Ok so I know all ths google stuff is fake, and the TC acquisition of FCKD Company last year was a joke, but is this real or fake http://collegemogul.com/2008/0.....2-million/ ?? I wanna say fake, but you never know these days, wouldn’t put it past Arrington.

    Thoughts?

  45. Danny

    April 1st, 2008 at 9:51 am

    Ok, it’s much easier to see before the YouTube compression kicks in (I can provide the original upon request), but this should be a pretty solid contender:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EttLU_5du1A

    20th floor plus a windy Toronto day.

    Also, I went and picked up my litter, because I care.

  46. Foolish

    April 1st, 2008 at 9:52 am

    G & TC are making real money by fooling people :P

  47. Neil Fraser

    April 1st, 2008 at 9:59 am

    It has come to our attention that some users are folding the wings sharply downward, giving the plane a negative dihedral.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihedral
    Only fighter aircraft have downward sloping wings, and since Google does not have an ITAR waiver we are forbidden from exporting such a design internationally. Please ensure that the wings have an upward angle. Your assistance is appreciated in helping Google to keep it legal. Thank you.

  48. Scott

    April 1st, 2008 at 11:19 am

    Check out google calendar. They’ve added an “I’m feeling lucky” button to the event entry balloon. It sets you up with a celebrity date. Kind of a cheap gag, but I like the shotgun approach they’re taking this year–spraying little jokes all over their services.

  49. Christine Huang

    April 1st, 2008 at 11:21 am

    PSFK.com’s official entry in the TechCrunch/Google Airplane Subjective Distance competition. As the flyer of said plane, I can say with total confidence that the PSFK team really went out on a limb to win this competition!!!!!

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=9yeBR6stpRY

    And yes, I’m still alive.

  50. Karen

    April 1st, 2008 at 11:49 am

    That has got to be the worst flying airplane ever. Wow. At least I know for sure it is not just my airplane making skills.

  51. CptOatmeal

    April 1st, 2008 at 11:59 am

    My entry:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr4dtvIJEwg

    It’s still processing.

  52. CptOatmeal

    April 1st, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    I wanted to post the above before the deadline. I ask that the judge(s) wait until the video is done processing before rendering a final verdict.

    Cheers!

  53. AJ Arora

    April 1st, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    Wow, I gotta vote for that last second entry…

  54. Ian

    April 1st, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    Alright, so to prove that my night video was actually real, here is a daytime version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ysTRGzoN8 It goes about 30 feet less in the video, but it’s just to show that my original post wasn’t fake my original post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related

    I’m pretty sure that’s the farthest horizontal distance any of the planes went on their own (and by on their own I mean without balloons and things, though that was creative!).

    An occasionally starving student appreciates your vote. ;)

  55. Hinano

    April 1st, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    These are funny too

    http://www.thinkgeek.com/

  56. Richard

    April 1st, 2008 at 1:53 pm

    Microsoft Publisher used to have this feature.

  57. frisky?

    April 1st, 2008 at 4:00 pm

    http://youraprilfoolsjokesucks.com/

  58. Carlton Northern

    April 1st, 2008 at 6:11 pm

    I love Google.

  59. EH

    April 1st, 2008 at 6:18 pm

    Smrt thinking, will read again!! A+++

  60. Teena

    April 1st, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    Hahah ah ah ah ah ahahah ah a Thank you everyone!! I haven’t laughed this much for yonks! hah hah aah ah ah - ut I’m a work so I’m laughing silently, and they all think I’m having a seizure!

    Thanks Michael, still wiping the tears out of my eyes from the last one by CptOatmeal

    :D

    hahah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah a

  61. Jim

    April 1st, 2008 at 7:09 pm

    I think the april fools joke here was not that they had a paper airplane in google docs, but that their paper airplane that they put in google docs SUCKS. So google is sitting back laughing at all of you for putting this thing together and attempting to make it fly…

    Try not to throw them so hard, throw them slow and gently let go of them.

  62. Sarat

    April 1st, 2008 at 10:55 pm

    they invest a lot for April fool! anyways eNjoy :)

  63. dave

    April 2nd, 2008 at 12:04 am

    I can’t believe all of them fell for this gag

  64. CptOatmeal

    April 2nd, 2008 at 10:59 am

    Hmph. I was under the impression that, while the plane was a Google joke, the contest was a fun derivative that was actually real.

  65. Brian

    April 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 am

    Seriously? Not that funny an April Fools joke Arrington…

  66. Nigel

    April 2nd, 2008 at 12:44 pm

    Fair to say, I think, that the competition was legitimate, even though we could all work out for ourselves that the plane was a joke. Trust me, once assembled, only dropping it from a great height was going to make it “fly” - It rather took the Buzz Lightyear approach of falling with style. (thanks Brian for that hint!)

    That said, with a tail and folded wings, it performs rather well as a stunt plane, which is what the design is based on (mis-spent school days).

    Now, I think, we’re all waiting to hear the judge’s verdict on whose went the furthest…

  67. Mickey

    April 3rd, 2008 at 3:24 am

    Arrington simply needs to come on here and let us know the deal — was it a real contest or not?

  68. Mark Hendrickson

    April 3rd, 2008 at 5:24 pm

    Thanks everyone for participating in our contest. Your submissions were all excellent demonstrations of the airplane-making prowess of our readership.

    But in the end, there can only be one distance winner. And that winner is Danny, whose plane gracefully fell from a tall Toronto building during windy weather.

    Congrats to Danny and the others who were first to record their creations in flight.

  69. Robin

    April 6th, 2008 at 6:55 am

    this is so cool

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