APSC hosts first Paper Airplane Workshop and Challenge
April 1, 2019
Last Friday, APSC hosted its first Paper Airplane Workshop and Challenge — and it was a soaring success!
Attendees were first treated to four brief but fascinating talks: Dean James Olson on the history and properties of paper; Pete Ostafichuk on paper airplane — or, to be more precise, paper glider — aerodynamics; Rajeev Jaiman on bio-inspired flight; and Nicholas Hui, captain of the UBC AeroDesign team, on the key differences between designing full-sized wooden, and paper aircraft.
Then participants had 10 minutes to apply what they’d learned to the design and construction of their own aeronautical wonders. After much thinking, folding and testing (and rethinking, refolding and retesting) — a period during which several flights ended in tragic crashes involving people’s heads — participants faced off in three categories: distance, airtime and aerobatics.
What followed was an air show of the highest caliber, featuring some truly elegant flights and often-spectacular dives, rolls, swoops, spins and other maneuvers. The ultimate victors were:
- DISTANCE: Peter Englezos
- AIRTIME: Albert
- AEROBATICS: Olivia D.
Congratulations to Peter, Albert and Olivia, and many thanks to those who took the time to come out and help make our first Paper Airplane Workshop and Challenge the immensely entertaining (yet educational!) event it was.