The 45-Foot Paper Airplane

Editorial Staff

Friday, March 23, 2012 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson built and "flew" a 45-foot-long paper airplane.
The project team was led by engineer Art Thompson (known for B2 Stealth Bomber and Red Bull Stratos) and included insights from a 12-year-old contest winner.
The giant paper airplane was pulled aloft by a Sikorsky S-58DT helicopter via a tether before being released.
After release, the aircraft briefly experienced a condition similar to dutch roll before banking sharply down and left.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Don’t see a video screen?
Try disabling ad blockers and refreshing this page.
If that doesn’t work, click here to download the video directly.

The Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, has built and Wednesday flew (sort of) a 45-foot-long paper airplane. The team included Art Thompson as lead engineer. Thompson’s previous projects include work on the B2 Stealth Bomber, and he currently serves as technical director of the Red Bull Stratos Program. But the project also included insights from the 12-year-old winner of a “Great Paper Airplane Fly-Off” that took place in January, hosted by the museum. A first video of the flight, which followed tests of smaller versions, shows the aircraft pulled aloft tethered by a cable to a Sikorsky S-58DT. Once released, the aircraft appears to briefly fly in a condition similar to dutch roll before banking off sharply down and left.