High-tech paper airplane sets record with 82-mile flight

Equipped with a GPS tracker, an HD video camera, and temperature and barometric pressure sensors to take measurements, an airplane made of paper board was launched from a helium weather balloon at an altitude of 96,563 feet, which is just over 18 miles high. Made in the traditional design that every child would recognize, the plane had a 14-inch wingspan and weighed just about one pound.

A member of the US Fox Valley Composite Squadron, Illinois Wing, Civil Air Patrol with the high-tech paper airplane. Image via Gizmag.

Built by members of the U.S. Fox Valley Composite Squadron, the local unit of the Illinois Wing, Civil Air patrol, the airplane soared 81-miles and 5,179 feet, starting from Kankakee, Illinois, and ending its trip in Rochester, Indiana. The flight took just under two hours and seven minutes.

A view of Earth from the paper airplane at 96,563 feet (Photo: 1st Lt Gary Brown).

To keep the devices that were attached to the plane powered, a small solar panel was also featured, along with an on-flight computer to manage the gadgets. Because it wasn’t your ordinary paper airplane, the world record will be filed under “Highest Paper Airplane Flight from a High Altitude Balloon” and won’t be officially declared until proper documentation and evidence is submitted.

If you’re curious to know, the official Guinness world record for a hand-tossed paper airplane is 226 feet, 10 inches. 

Story via Gizmag.