The world record for distance traveled by a paper airplane vanished into thin air last month, the Guinness World Records announced Thursday.
A trio broke the world record for the longest flight of a paper airplane in Daegu, South Korea, on April 16, flying 252 feet, 7 inches. The plane was designed by Chee Yie Jian of Malaysia, folded by Shin Moo-joon of South Korea, and thrown into the air by Kim Kyu-tae, also of South Korea.
"My design coupled with Shin's wing mods and adjustments and Kim's 'rocket arm' is a winning combination, so I wasn't worried," Jian told the reference book company.
BRAZILIAN MAN AT AGE 100 BREAKS WORLD RECORD FOR LONGEST TIME AT ONE COMPANY
The plane was thrown by Kim a total of eight times. Even Kim's shortest throw of 235 feet, 7 inches defeated the previous record of 226 feet, 10 inches, achieved by thrower Joe Ayoob, a quarterback, and paper airplane designer John Collins in February 2012.
The team was created by Jian and Shin after Jian failed to set the record by 20 feet on his own in 2019. When school and work commitments got in the way, Shin introduced Kim to Jian online with the intention of breaking the record together. Despite Jian's crucial role in the success of the plane, he has never met Shin or Kim in person, but he has been friends with Shin online for nearly a decade.
"The paper airplane community is small yet global in that everyone knows one another online," Jian said. "I have known Shin close to a decade now, and we've been constantly discussing new ways to fly higher, further, and longer via email and social media."
When Shin met Kim five years ago, he was impressed by his ability to throw the planes.
"Kim was one of the best paper-aircraft throwers in Korea. I highly evaluated his consistent and powerful throwing," Shin said.
Jian pointed to the ancient Japanese art of origami as inspiration for his design of the plane.
"Anything is possible, and there is always room to design something new from the same sheet of paper," Jian said. "Every throw is an experiment to learn from, and that’s incredibly important for any kid still trying to figure out how the world works."
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The three are now focused on beating their own record, with the current plan to achieve 80 meters, or roughly 263 feet, if they find a different venue.
Another record they may attempt is that of longest flight duration, which is currently held by Japan's Takuo Toda at 29.3 seconds. Shin said he has already thrown a plane for 26.7 seconds, just 2.5 seconds short of the record.