The author, Felix Rosenthal, was a family friend. He had an incredible life, like something out of "The Third Man":

Born on January 12, 1917 in Munich, Felix emigrated from Germany in 1933, shortly after Hitler came to power, and settled with part of his family in his mother's native Florence; after obtaining his Italian high-school degree ("licenza liceale") he went on to study engineering at the Istituto Politecnico in Milan, but when the Fascists' anti-semitic laws of 1938 prohibited Jews from enrolling in public schools and universities, he settled in Paris, again with part of his family. At the outbreak of WWII in September 1939, Felix was in Switzerland and a return to France was impossible; in 1940 he emigrated to Chile before finally settling in Berkeley to join his brother Bernard in 1941, and enrolling in the engineering school of the University of California. From 1943 to 1946 he served in the US Army and became one of "The Ritchie Boys" - GIs of German origin who spoke German natively and were trained in Military Intelligence at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. He was discharged with the rank of Master Sergeant and returned to the University of California to study architecture; after having obtained his MA he became assistant to Eric Mendelsohn, the renowned architect who had recently joined Berkeley's Architecture Department.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/felix-r...

We had the original book when I was a kid. My wife gave me a copy (off of AbeBooks or somewhere) a few years ago and I was a bit overcome with emotion at seeing it again.

In first grade, visible from my assigned lunch seat in the cafeteria, was a yellowing paper airplane on top of an exposed ventilation duct. It was there for a few years, too.

I have a similar story. I opened a drawer at my grandma's place and found an old copy of "The World Record Paper Airplane Book" that had been there for years. I folded airplanes for years and years. Even as a grown-up, I impressed some people by throwing a long-flighted plane into a stadium field while waiting for a concert.

I have a copy of this!! It is one of my favorite books on paper airplanes. Great designs, great layout… I’ve occasionally tried modifying some of them to be made out of balsa with various levels of success.

I'd advise donating to a library if you could fine one. It is difficult to find someone with the aptitude.

"The Ultimate Paper Airplane: With Step-by Step Instructions for Seven Different Models" by Richard Kline and Floyd Fogleman are my goto book to show people.

Unfortunately needs a bit of tape usually for most of the models. But great book.

A friend of mine his uncle bought him a copy. We proceeded to make all of them. Came across a funny thing if you clip a clothspin on the tip of the one the cover it goes wildly further than it should. Even without it goes pretty far.

I was reminded of this book immediately! A savior for a boring afternoon. It was like knowing how to tie elaborate knots. You learned some killer designs that made you king of the paper airplane at school.

Wow! As a kid I borrowed this book from my local library again and again over a couple years. So many good planes in there.

Thanks for reminding me of it