Design: Students will fold paper airplanes to compete in three different events: Distance, Accuracy and Mystery Stunt. Teams will compete against each other in double-elimination tournaments. Scores will be based on the results of the tournaments. Different planes may be used for each category. The events will happen indoors, but ventilation currents cannot be eliminated.
Planes: Paper planes must only be constructed out of one piece of paper: Standard letter size (8.5” x 11”). The sheet must be modified by folding only. The entire sheet of paper must be used. No pieces can be removed and nothing can be added. The judges reserve the right to veto any design that they deem counter to the spirit of the rules. Check in advance if you are unsure.
- Paper planes must be built on site on event day with the provided official Kwantlen Science Challenge paper. Time limit for building: 10 minutes. (Minor adjustments may be made later “on the fly”.)
- Ten sheets of paper will be provided to each team and as many as ten airplanes may be built. However, as the rules below imply, a maximum of four planes may be flown in competition.
Distance Event: The plane must be launched by one person throwing the aircraft unaided from behind a straight launch line marked on the floor from a reasonably static position. The distance is measured from the starting line to the furthermost part of the plane after it has come to rest. Planes may strike inanimate objects (wall, ceiling, fixtures, floor, …) along the way. We measure the North-South component of the horizontal displacement (e.g. if a plane gets hung up on the ceiling or flies into a corner, we will not measure a diagonal distance). The event will be held in the KPU-Richmond Main Atrium. Paper planes will be launched toward the north. The far wall is approximately 40.0 metres away. If both teams reach the far wall, the winner will be the plane that strikes the wall at a greater height from the floor.
Accuracy Event: Paper planes will be launched from the floor 2 lounge at a target marked on floor 1 (roughly 4.2 m vertical distance and 8.0 m horizontal distance). The aircraft must be launched by one person throwing the aircraft unaided from a reasonably static position. The participant needs to have both feet firm on the ground during the attempt. For safety reasons, all team members including the person throwing the plane must stay behind a line on the floor 1.0 m from the railing. A run-up or fast walk as part of the launch is not permitted, nor the use of ramps or like devices. The winner is the closest plane to the center of the target.
Mystery Stunt Event: ???