Check out these facts about paper planes and the challenges people have set themselves and their paper plane design and flight.
LONGEST TIME
The longest time flying a paper aircraft is currently 29.2 sec and was achieved by Takuo Toda (Japan), in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, Japan, on 19 December 2010.
LONGEST DISTANCE
The record distance for a paper plane to be thrown is currently held by Joe Ayoob using a plane designed by John Collins. The throw was made on 26 February 2012 at the McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento in the United States and the distance – 226 feet and 10 inches (69.14 meters).
HIGHEST ALTITUDE THROW
On 24 June 2015 David Green achieved the highest altitude paper plane launch recording an altitude of 35,043 metres (114,970.5 feet).
The plane was launched as part of a high school science club activity.
I don’t have a video of that launch but to give you an idea of what it might have been like, on 13 September 2014 a group of 12-18 year old Civil Air Patrol Cadets attempted a world record by launching a paper airplane on the edge of space. The Fox Valley Composite Squadron launched a helium weather balloon from the Kankakee Airport, Illinois, United States. At 29,424.5 metres (96,537 feet) the balloon burst and the airplane fell back to earth. The flight lasted just over 2 hours.
The mission was a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) project for the cadets.
LARGEST PAPER AIRPLANE
The largest paper aircraft was made on 28 September 2013 by students and employees at the Braunschweig Institute of Technology in Braunschweig, Germany. It was launched in an aircraft hangar from a platform 8.10 feet (2.47 m) high and flew just over 59 feet (18 meters).
The plane was made from paper and took 14 people 1,200 hours to build it. The plane had a span width of 59.7 feet (18.21 meters).
MOST CONSECUTIVE HITS
On 06 January 2010, Fumihiro Uno threw paper aircraft at a bucket from a distance of 3 metres (9 feet, 10 inches) away. He managed to hit the target 13 times in a row and thereby got the world record for the ‘most consecutive times to hit a target with a paper aircraft.
The record was achieved at the Castem Co. Ltd offices in Fukuyama, Japan.
PAPER PLANE THROWN IN SPACE
Ever wondered how a paper airplane thrown in space would fly? Here’s a video of Japanese Astronaut Takuya Onishi throwing a paper plane on board a space shuttle.
Takuya Onishi is a Japanese astronaut who was selected for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and spent four months onboard the International Space Station in 2016.
Onishi was given the opportunity to engage in scientific experiments at the Japanese Experiment Module space laboratory. The Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), nicknamed Kibo (きぼう Kibō, Hope), is a Japanese science module for the International Space Station (ISS) developed by JAXA.
PAPER PLANES LAUNCHED FROM SPACE
In 2008 Takuo Toda (current world record holder – longest flight of a paper plane – see above) and aeronautical engineer Shinji Suzuki developed a plan to launch paper planes from the International Space Station, some 250 miles (400 kilometres) above the earth.
The plan was eventually put aside but not before a prototype of a 7 centimetre (2.8 inch) long paper plane survived Mach 7 speeds and temperatures reported to be 200°C (almost 400°F) in a hypersonic wind tunnel at the University of Tokyo for 10 seconds.
The prototype used paper made from sugar cane fibres and coated with a special kind of glass coating that increased its heat resistance but still allowed it to be folded.
PAPER
People have been writing on various materials for over 2,000 years but paper as we know it was most likely not invented until around 100 A.D. At least that’s when the earliest record of its use dates from. The invention of paper is attributed to China.
The type of paper you use to create your plane will also impact its performance. Experiment with different weights and textures to see what works best for your style of throwing and the design you choose.