the world's largest paper airplane takes flight

‘the great paper airplane project’ by the PIMA air and space museum has launched the world’s largest paper airplane into the skies

hosted by the PIMA air and space museum in tucson, arizona (USA), the ‘great paper airplane project‘ has launched the world’s largest paper airplane into the skies about the desert. measuring 45 feet (13.7m) long with a wingspan of 24 feet (7.3m), the ‘desert eagle’ plane is composed of falcon board, a kind of corrugated cardboard and weighs 800 pounds (362.9kg). its design is based on the winning normal-sized paper airplane, created by 12-year-old arturo valdenegro, entered in the museum’s fly-off competition; and adapted by art thompson, one of the designers of the B-2 stealth bomber.

for the launch, the ‘desert eagle’ was towed into the air by a helicopter to a height of 2700 feet and released. the plane flew for about ten seconds, reaching speeds of up to 100mph (161 km/hr), before crash landing as a result of stress on its tail.

watch the complete flight of the ‘desert eagle’ supersized paper airplane

view of the ‘desert eagle’ in flight

preparing the airplane on launch day

the craft was first hoisted into the air by a helicopter before being cut loose to glide on its own; here, the helicopter is arriving for pick-up

ground view during a test flight of a 15 foot prototype

via popsci