Red Bull Paperwings
Red Bull (the energy drink) is organizing a world wide paper plane competition in about 48 countries (including Lebanon). When I saw the poster ad for the first time, I though it was a joke too, but no… It’s all real. Flying paper planes is a passion shared by many, Paper planes associations even exist and that’s no joke either. Back to the competition: each country holds national qualifiers, opened to university students, and winners fly to Salzburg, Austria on the 5th and 6th of May 2006 to compete in the world wide Red Bull Paperwings event.
Three categories to compete for:
- Largest distance: awarded to plane that flies the largest distance between lift-off and landing point. World record is currently 58.82 m and held by American Toni Fletch.
- Longest airtime: awarded to plane that manages to stay in the air the longest. World record is currently 27.6 sec and held by American Ken Blackburn.
- Aerobatics: awarded to plane that achieves the most creative flight performance. A jury is responsible of grading the performance.
Taking part in the Lebanese qualifiers was fun: 50 participants, 3 hours of non-stop flying planes, 3 lucky winners (one in each category) and a certainly a good mood. Red Bull does indeed Give You Wings…
Nice Paper Planes Sites:
Worksman Fliers Club
Ken Blackburn’s Paper Airplanes