Paper airplane distance record for Boeing engineers

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Two Boeing engineers designed a paper airplane that flew nearly the entire length of a football field, winning the Guinness World Record for “furthest flight of a paper airplane.” With a range of 88.31 meters, they surpassed the previous record holders by more than ten meters.

Aerospace engineers Dillon Ruble and Garrett Jensen say they were inspired by hypersonic aircraft for their paper plane. “Our design is a bit different from the traditional center fold, where the two corners in the center are folded to the center line. It’s quite unique in that regard. It’s definitely an unusual design,” said Ruble.

According to a statement from Boeing, the engineers invested about four months of training and some 400 to 500 hours of work in the construction and testing of the prototype, as well as immersing themselves in the study of aerodynamics and the fine art of origami. “It’s a good connection to aerospace and thinking in terms of design and prototyping,” Ruble explains.

For their world record plane, called “Mach 5”, which takes about 20 minutes to fold, they finally chose a sheet of A4 paper and went “to the maximum” when it came to weight, which is 100 grams per square meter, as Jensen explained, “The heavier the paper, the greater the impact force when you want to throw it.”

Optimal throwing angle at 40 degrees
In addition to the actual paper construction, the correct throwing technique was also crucial to their success: “We discovered that the optimum angle is around 40 degrees above the ground. When you aim that high, you throw as hard as you can. This is how we get the best distance,” added Jensen.

Surpassed the previous record by more than ten metres
The two Boeing hobbyists tested their final design with Nathan Erickson in Crown Point, Indiana, in early December, as has just become known, and broke the world record on the third throw. The previous record for the farthest flight of a paper airplane was 77 meters, set by a trio from Malaysia and South Korea in April 2022.

Source: Krone

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