Table of Contents
Three aerospace engineers have broken the world record for the farthest flight by a paper airplane.
Their paper airplane flew a total of 88 meters (about 289 ft), which is almost the length of an American football field. The previous record of 77 meters (about 252 ft) was achieved in April 2022 by three people in South Korea.
Dillon Ruble, Garrett Jensen, and Nathaniel Erickson are the team that now holds the record. The three men studied aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering together at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
In total, they worked on this project for more than 500 hours, studying aerodynamics and creating and testing multiple prototypes.
Ruble and Jensen used some of their childhood origami skills, too.
The team broke the world record for the farthest flight by a paper airplane on December 2, 2022, in Crown Point, Indiana.
Their winning paper plane design, named “Mach 5,” was inspired by hypersonic aircraft. The design focused on speed and a smooth shape.
The team found that the best angle for throwing the paper airplane was about 40 degrees from the ground.
The “Mach 5” only flew for about six seconds. The current Guinness record for flight duration is 29.2 seconds. Although they broke the record for distance, a very different paper airplane design is needed to break the record for flight duration.
Vocabulary
- Aerospace engineer – A person who designs and builds things that fly, like airplanes and spacecraft
- Break a record – better or more extreme than anything that has come before
- Length – How long something is, from one end to the other
- Previous – coming or occurring before something else; existing before in time or order; preceding
- Record – the most or least ever; the highest level ever; achieved for the first time
- Achieve – To successfully complete or accomplish something
- Hold a record – To have the best or highest achievement in an activity and keep it for a period of time
- Aerodynamics – The way objects move through the air and how they are affected by air resistance and “wind”
- Prototype – example; the first version; the original which will be copied later;
- Origami – The Japanese art of folding paper into different shapes and figures
- Inspired by – To get an idea or motivation from something or someone else
- Hypersonic – Extremely fast; usually refers to speeds faster than the speed of sound
- Find – realize; learn; discover;
- Angle – The direction or position from which something is viewed or measured; walls are usually a 90-degree angle from the floor
- Duration – The length of time that something lasts or continues; how long or how much time something goes for
- Although – even though; despite the fact; however; but
- Distance – The amount of space between two points, usually measured in units like meters, kilometers, and feet
Quiz
Discussion Questions
- What do you think are the key factors in creating a paper airplane that can achieve a long-distance flight?
- What challenges do you think the team faced in creating and testing multiple prototypes for their paper airplane design?
- Do you think the team’s experience in aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering contributed to the success of breaking the world record for the farthest flight by a paper airplane?
- What’s your experience with paper airplanes? Can you make a decent one? Have you ever entered a contest?
Original Story
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