TOKYO (AP) — It lasted a tick more than 26 seconds but it still goes down as a world flight record -- for paper airplanes.
Japanese paper airplane virtuoso Takuo Toda had hoped to reach the holy grail of paper-only flight -- 30 seconds -- but fell just short at 26.1 seconds, his best of 10 attempts. Toda flew a roughly 4-inch-long craft of his own design following Origami rules -- no paste and no cutting.
His best ever flight was 27.9 seconds with an asterisk. That plane had some tape on it.
In the world of competitive paper airplane throwing, Toda is the only man who has ever come close to the 30 second barrier. He says it's just a matter of time.
His actual best throw today was ruled a foul -- because it hit a jet parked in the Tokyo hangar where the event took place.
Toda says he'd like to launch a paper airplane from space and thinks he has a design that could survive re-entry.
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<<APPHOTO KSX101 (12/27/09)>>
: Japanese paper airplane virtuoso Takuo Toda prepares to release a 10-centimeter-long craft during his paper airplane fly-off in attempt to break his own record of 27.9 seconds set earlier this year, at a Japan Airlines hangar near Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009. In the world of competitive paper airplane throwing, a 20-second flight is exceptional, 25 or better is world class. Thirty is the stuff that dreams are made of. 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.
<<APPHOTO KSX102 (12/27/09)>>
: Japanese paper airplane virtuoso Takuo Toda prepares to release a 10-centimeter-long craft during his paper airplane fly-off in attempt to break his own record of 27.9 seconds set earlier this year, at a Japan Airlines hangar near Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009. In the world of competitive paper airplane throwing, a 20-second flight is exceptional, 25 or better is world class. Thirty is the stuff that dreams are made of. 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.
