I was obsessed with the White Wings paper airplanes [1] as a kid; this was in the '80s when it was basically impossible to get high quality Japanese paper where I lived. Oh, the time spent tracing and cutting and screwing up and gluing, and then like a 12 yr old, racing outside to test my laboriously constructed gliders in muggy, hot Virginia summers.
Interesting stuff, reminds me of the analog circuit optimizer a few weeks back. Compared with (say) the evolution of a flying squirrel, are there aspects to this method that might be called 'genetic'?
Also, is the design method extensible to control surfaces? Say, self-adjusting flaps that can handle a sudden cross-draft?