PAPER AIRPLANES

History Not much is know of the origin of paper airplanes, and still to this day it remains a mystery as to where they originally started. There are however, two popular theories, one cites Leonardo da Vinci as the sole creator, and one even stems back to over 2,000 years ago. The latter refers to China, the place where modern paper was created, and also where paper kites were popular. During the early 1900s Aero magazines published several articles using paper airplane models to demonstrate aerodynamic principles. The Wright brothers reportedly use paper planes, wings and airfoils in wind tunnels as part of their quest to build the first powered human carrying airplane. In the 1930s an English business man named Wallis Rigby brought his paper modeling company to the United States. His models were famous internationally for their “tab in slot” construction. The models were published in books, boxed sets and even in the Sunday morning comic strips. During the 1930s Jack Northrop of the Lockheed Corporation used several paper models of planes and wings as test subjects for larger production aircraft.

During World War II governments around the world restricted the use of many materials necessary for the war effort. Wood, plastic, metal and other materials could no longer be spared for toys. Paper on the other hand was available and became a popular material for toy making. Consequently paper modeling became popular. In 1944, General Mills would reportedly send you 2 model paper airplanes for two Wheaties box tops and 5 cents. The models were of current World War II fighter airplanes like the Curtis P-40 "Flying Tiger", the Japanese "Zero", the British "Spitfire" and the German "Focke-Wulf". There were 14 models in all. After the war ended the popularity of paper models declined as the restrictions on materials was eased. In many Eastern block countries the popularity of paper planes continued because of the difficulty of getting affordable models in those countries. Today, Paper airplanes are still popular in schoolyards, parks and gymnasiums across the world.

Folders with a competitive streak have attempted to set various records for paper airplane flying. In March 2012, Joe Ayoob, a former college quarterback, flew a paper airplane 226 feet, 10 inches to break the previous Guinness World Records flight by Stephen Kreiger in Krieger flew his paper airplane 207 feet, 4 inches. However, Ayoob's record setting was the result of a partnership between him and John Collins, a producer at KRON- TV in San Francisco. Collins designed the airplane that Ayoob used, but told members of the press that he did not have the necessary arm strength to challenge the world record. The record for the longest paper airplane flight belongs to Ken Blackburn. He set the record in 1983 at seconds, but was not happy to let this achievement stand. He reset the record in 1987 at 17.2 seconds and again at 1994 with 18.8 seconds. He lost the record briefly, but reclaimed the honor in 1998 with a 27.6 second flight done at the Georgia Dome. Blackburn currently works as an aeronautical engineer at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and has written several books on folding paper airplanes.

In addition to experimenting with how far and how long they can throw a paper airplane, various people have set records for the size of their paper aircraft. Christian Thorp Frederiksen, a 12-year-old from Denmark, built a paper airplane measuring 2.5 mm x 1 mm (1 inch X 3/8 inch) on March 16, On May 16, 1995, students from the Technology University of Delft built a plane with a wingspan of 40 feet, 10 inches. There are a lot of books that talk about how to make paper airplanes. Each book gives you an idea of how many paper airplanes are made. They even have a calendar with 365 tiny paper airplanes. Who would of known there were that many ways of building paper airplanes. Who would of known that there are many people out there who still make paper airplanes