Student Name: ____________________

Date: ____________________

Activity Sheet 1
Paper Airplane Competition Rules
There are two parts to this competition: length of flight (distance) and length of
flight (time). The time competition will follow the rules established by the
Guinness Book of World Records for Paper Airplane Duration.
Should you beat the current world record for airplane time in flight of 20.9
seconds, you will be the new WORLD CHAMPION!
1. The Record
The record is for the duration of a flight of a paper airplane flown indoors,
in a closed, still-air environment. Outdoor flights are not acceptable.
2. Construction
The airplane must be constructed from one sheet of paper only.
Use 8.5 by 11 inch paper only.
The weight of the paper must be no more than 100 g. The paper
can be cut, but any piece of paper cut off may not be rejoined to the
airplane.
The use of standard light duty 25mm wide clear cellulose tape
(Scotch) is permitted, but no longer than 30 mm in total on any one
aircraft may be used. The tape may be cut up into smaller pieces,
but only be used to hold down folds, not layered, not joined
together, not used as a weight, not used to laminate a surface, or
used as a control device (eg: a trim tab or flap).
3. Throwing
The aircraft should be thrown by one person, from a reasonably static
position. Thus a run-up or fast walk as part of the launch is not permitted.
This rules out the use of ramps or other devices. When launching the
aircraft, the throwers feet should not intentionally lift off the ground to gain
advantage. The duration is to be from the exact point that the aircraft
leaves the hand to the point where it first hits the ground (unless #4 below
applies).
4. Foreign Objects
If the aircraft hits any object such as a wire, lighting, etc, during the flight,
the time should only be recorded until that point.
Paper Airplanes
-1

Student Name: ____________________

Date: ____________________

Activity Sheet 2
Diagram

Paper Airplanes
-2

Student Name: ____________________

Date: ____________________

Activity Sheet 3
Airplane Flight
Record the time and distance your airplane traveled according to the rules on
Activity Sheet 1 in the table below.
Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Average

Time in Flight (s)

Distance of Flight (m)

1. What design choices do you think improved your design, why? Make sure
to relate your answer to Bernoullis Principle and consider aerodynamics.

2. What design choices hampered your design? How could you improve
these issues in the future?

Paper Airplanes
-3