Paper Airplane Speed Record

While the initial speed is often more than 60 MPH, it's less important than time aloft for a paper airplane record

In the world of competitive paper airplane throwing, a 20-second flight is exceptional, 25 or better is world class. Thirty is the stuff dreams are made of.

Only one man - Japanese paper airplane virtuoso Takuo Toda - has ever come close to breaking the 30-second barrier. On Sunday, he set a world record for a hand-launched plane made with only paper, but fell just short of the 30-second mark at 27.9 seconds.

Toda said that the secret to throwing a paper airplane is to aim upward - not straight - so that it has time to gain altitude and slowly circle back to the ground. Toda appeared to be on his way to a record Sunday, but his second and best throw was ruled a foul because it hit a passenger jetliner parked nearby.

AP

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