Engineers break record for farthest paper airplane flight — nearly spanning length of a football field

Sarah Gambles
Updated ·2 min read
“Paper Airplane,” an art installation made of 11 airplanes that appear to be gliding over Olive Court in downtown Los Angeles’ Grand Park on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. “Paper Airplane” was the result of The Music Center’s design competition that also serves as a canopy to provide shade and UV protection for the park.
“Paper Airplane,” an art installation made of 11 airplanes that appear to be gliding over Olive Court in downtown Los Angeles’ Grand Park on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. “Paper Airplane” was the result of The Music Center’s design competition that also serves as a canopy to provide shade and UV protection for the park. | Richard Vogel, Associated Press

Three Boeing aerospace engineers proved that a paper airplane can fly for nearly the entire length of a football field. They broke the world record by flying a paper plane 289 feet and 9 inches.

Dillon Ruble and Garrett Jensen, with the support of fellow engineer Nathan Erickson, broke the record in Crown Point, Indiana, on Dec. 2, 2022, per a release.

How did the Boeing engineers prepare to break paper airplane record?

Ruble and Jensen both had a parent who worked at Boeing, and they would attend Family Day events when they were young.

“We would fold paper airplanes back then as a fun childhood activity,” Ruble said. “Origami, or the art of folding paper, became a long-term passion.”

The trio invested almost 500 hours dedicated to “studying origami and aerodynamics to create and test multiple prototypes,” CNN reported.

What’s the best way to throw a paper airplane?

After running multiple simulations and tests, they discovered the best way to craft the paper aircraft, as well as how to throw it.

“We found the optimal angle is about 40 degrees off the ground. Once you’re aiming that high, you throw as hard as possible. That gives us our best distance,” Jensen said in the statement, per CNN. “It took simulations to figure that out. I didn’t think we could get useful data from a simulation on a paper airplane. Turns out, we could.”

The previous record was broken in South Korea by Kim Kyu Tae, supported by Shin Moo Joon and Chee Yie Jian — throwing a paper airplane 252 feet and 7 inches, USA Today reported.