Spring Break
Student competitors fly high in 'Red Bull Paper Wings' contest
Betsy Cohen
Issue date: 3/11/09 Section: News
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Hosted by fraternity Zeta Beta Tau, students were invited to participate in the "Red Bull Paper Wings" paper plane-flying competition and receive free Red Bull.
"It's a good way to bring everyone together," Mike Lonardo, president of ZBT, said. "We're hoping to make it an annual event."
The 43 entrants were allowed to create a paper airplane made out of standard printer size paper for each of the three categories: longest distance, longest airtime and aerobatics.
Cleared of its usual dining area, the floor of the Ram's Den was flooded with students. A live DJ played as a projection screen showed clips from last year's world championship.
For the distance competition, contestants stood behind taped boundaries and were allowed to throw twice. Planes flown during the aerobatics competition were allowed to be thrown from anywhere inside a roped off circle. In the longest airtime competition and in the aerobatics competition, timing was measured precisely, to the 10th of a second.
"This is the first competition to be held on ... the East Coast," said Max Moss, a junior majoring in marine affairs. As the student brand manager for Red Bull, Moss has the opportunity to promote the caffeinated goods at many URI events, such as the URI Rail Jam, hosted by the campus snowboarding club.
The paper airplane competition is held in 85 countries with more than 1,500 "qualiflyers" involved. Winners from each country will receive a free trip to Austria in mid-April. The final showdown will take place in Austria's Hangar-7, one of the largest aviator museums in the world.
Competitor Noel Slater, a junior, had nothing but the gold medal on his mind. Slater's strategy was to throw his plane upwards.
"I have a good feeling about this," the political science major said.
Unfortunately for Slater, sophomore Brian Caccioppoli and junior Zachary Aprea were the contest winners. Caccioppoli won the aerobatics category and the category of longest air-time at 4.97 seconds. Aprea won the distance category with a 55-foot-9-inch flight.
Caccioppoli and Aprea's results will be compared to the scores of the winners of similar competitions at Boston University, Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Those competitions will be held later this month and at the beginning of April.
The final winner of each category will be flown to Austria for the final tournament.
Slater first learned to make a paper airplane in the first grade.
"It's taken years of practice to make an airplane this good," Slater joked.
Competitor freshman Shane Libow said he came to represent the URI fraternity Delta Chi and show his support for Greek life.
Freshman Josh Einhorn, a communication studies major, enjoyed the event and came to show his support.
"It's a great event and it's a unique experience," Einhorn said.
