These students built the largest paper plane EVER – it’s 6 stories long and it flies!
Do you know how to make a paper plane?
A group of talented aerospace engineering students in Bologna, Italy have claimed an incredible Guinness World Records title for the largest paper aircraft in the world!
With a wingspan of 65.75 feet (20.04 metres), and a length of over 23 feet (7 metres), this massive plane was made entirely out of paper and glue – and it can fly just like a real plane!
Well, a real paper plane.
After a simulation, 2 prototypes, and months of hard work, the 7 students along with 16 helpers finally unveiled the plane, named Icarus, at the EU’s We Make Future event in Bologna, where it flew over the heads of an excited crowd!
But how did it all start?
“It all started with a few paper planes between lectures,” said the group. “We were students convinced that, with the right approach, even a piece of paper could become real engineering.
“Months of study, simulations, mistakes and fresh starts, and in the end, this giant piece of paper took a record […] that had stood since 2013.”
WOW!
Before building the giant paper airplane, the team ran a series of simulations online that could predict how it would actually look, and work, in real life.
They then assembled their first plane – nicknamed Prometheus, after the Greek titan who gifted fire and technology to humanity.
Their next version was named Daedalus, a model made entirely from paper and glue, as the record requires. It wasn’t perfect, but they learned from their mistakes, and improved their techniques until they finally created....
Icarus – the mythological son of Daedalus, who flew too close to the sun!
Cool name, right?
So on the day of the attempt, the plane gently floated for a few dozen feet before gracefully sliding down towards the ground. It floated exactly like the paper planes that the students used to make in school – only 10 times bigger!
“Big achievements always have a lot of hard work behind them, and this one was no different,” said our official Guinness World Records Adjudicator, after handing the students their record certificate.
We couldn’t agree more!
So congratulations to the entire team: Jakidale, Filippo De Paoli, Lorenzo Cioli, Emanuele Campinoti, Manuel Santoro, Giovanni Chiarelli, Luca Moni, Andrea Cipriano, Martina Cacciotti, Greta Ferrante, Gianmaria Ferrante, Jacopo Sardi, Dario Nista, Daniele Rusconi Braga, Dario Del Carlo, and Gabriele Frediani.
You guys are all Officially Amazing!
Now it’s YOUR turn!
What if we told you you could break a paper plane record too?
If you’re under 16 and know how to make a plane just by folding a single piece of paper, then one of these record titles could become yours:
- Most times to hit a target with a paper aircraft in three minutes
- Most paper planes made and caught in three minutes (team of two)
- Fastest time to make three origami planes
Good luck!