Paper Airplane Reaches Record Altitude

At that altitude, the helium weather balloon burst and the airplane started a very long glide. The record flight lasted nearly 2 hours and 7 minutes and the paper airplane eventually ended up in Rochester, Indiana.

The mission was a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) project for the CAP cadets, aged between 12 and 18 years, who constructed the traditionally shaped paper airplane, which is 30 inches long, has a 14.5-inch wingspan and weighs one pound. The CAP cadets now have a lot of data to analyze as the paper airplane was equipped with a GPS tracking system, temperature sensors, a barometric pressure sensor, a computer, batteries, a solar panel and an HD video camera.

While the record is unofficial until the required documentation has been submitted to Guinness, the flight shattered the previous Highest Paper Airplane Flight from a High Altitude Balloon record by nearly 7,000 feet.

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