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Ken Blackburn is an aerospace engineer and four-time Guinness World Record holder for paper airplane time aloft (last record 27.60 seconds). He works for the Air Force doing aeronautical research in Florida.
Jeff Lammers is an engineer and entrepreneur based in Colorado. He flies small planes in his spare time.
I knew it would take at least six months of daily preparation to have a chance of resetting the record. My plan was to construct and test between five and ten planes a week. Initially, I tried radical changes to my design, progressively narrowing in on the best paper airplane design for a record attempt. I also started working with a professional athletic trainer, Dorri Buckholtz, focusing on strengthening my arm. She was extremely helpful, giving me detailed instructions for exercises designed to improve my throwing speed.
Despite my new designs, I had the most luck with the original model I’d invented as a kid (the one that’s included in this book). But I did find a few ways to make the plane fly better and more consistently. First, it’s important to keep the folds as flat as possible, which I did by pressing each fold with the side of a pen as I constructed the plane. Second, I experimented with making the folds both a little wider and a little narrower until I found just the right width. Third, I added crease marks on the wings which, like the dimples on a golf ball, reduced drag.
I started by practicing indoors in order to get consistent flying times. My primary flying site was a large assembly area at Boeing—where I’d also practiced for my 1994 and 1996 records—but I quickly ran into problems. It was being used for the final assembly of the navy’s newest fighter, the F/A-18E/F, which meant there wasn’t enough space, and the 60-foot ceilings were also proving to be too low. My best flights often hit the ceiling, and I lost some of my best planes forever when they lodged on top of beams or ventilation ducts. So I began practicing outside, but weather and air currents made it difficult to determine the exact flight performance of each plane. I knew my best planes were flying just over 20 seconds, but by how much?
Finding a facility for attempting the record was another challenge. Through the help of a family friend, I eventually secured the Georgia Dome (home of the Atlanta Falcons), and a date of October 8th, 1998, was set. Not only did I have a facility of my dreams, but the staff also agreed to give me an extra day in the dome to practice before I attempted the record!
Atlanta
Guinness requires media coverage, videotape, and photographs, as well as the record corroborated by two designated officials known as “Scrutineers.” Organizing all this at a location 500 miles from home was quite a challenge, but with the help of my sister, Jackie Tyson, and the publisher of this book, everything came together—now all I had to do was go ahead and set the record!
Wednesday, October 7th, was my practice day.Words can’t describe how overwhelming it was to have one of the largest rooms in the world silent and still, just for me! But there was one problem. It was raining, and with the dome’s ventilation turned off, the humidity had filtered indoors as well. It wasn’t a complete showstopper, but it was affecting my planes. After an hour of testing, only two planes had flown beyond the existing record, and both by less than a second! By the end of the day, I was somewhat satisfied I could break the record, but only if the humidity didn’t increase further.
Thursday, October 8th, started out cloudy and very humid. I grabbed my Rubbermaid containers (Rubbermaid makes a great waterproof, crushproof paper airplane hangar) and headed down to the Georgia Dome.
As I approached the dome, the clouds appeared to be lifting, so I hoped the humidity wouldn’t be a problem.When I walked indoors, both CNN and the local news crews were there to greet me. I made some practice throws to warm up my arm and to allow the media some close-up views of my launch. While I waited for everyone else to arrive, I met the Scrutineers, went over the rules, and showed them my planes. Then it was show time.
The Final Attempt
The rules allow just ten official throws, so first I took out my best plane from the day before and fine-tuned it until it flew just right and the practice times exceeded 20 seconds. I made sure the Scrutineers were ready, and I took the field for my first official flight. I gave it my best throw— it flew erratically, but still it looked good. I waited nervously for the official time from the Scrutineers. 21.3 seconds—a new record! What a relief. Nonetheless I decided I would use all my available throws to make sure to get the best time possible. The second throw went straight up—and straight down. After a small adjustment, another good flight, 23.1 seconds! Throw number four was another dud, but number five had a great launch and was 24.2 seconds! Just think, only five minutes earlier I thought I might not be able to beat the record! Throw number six was a dud, and throws seven and eight were both a little short, and throw nine was another dud. This was my last throw— I gave it all I had. This time it was a great throw, and it had a great transition to slow flight. When it landed I knew it was a long flight, but longer than 24.2 seconds? I heard the time as I walked over to retrieve my plane: 27.6 seconds! YES! Better than I had ever hoped or dreamed. With luck, help, and hard work, the summit had been reached!
I submitted the necessary materials to Guinness, and I received notification from them on April 30th, 1999, that my record had become official. I may now be retired from setting records—but who knows what the future might hold.
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