Ken Blackburn, World's Paper Airplane Record-Holder, To Host Free ...

For more information: Yvonne Morris,
Office: 520-54-0462 or Email: ymorris@pimaair.org
Great Paper Airplane Fly Off: Last Week to Fold, Fly & Sign Up
Ken Blackburn, World’s Paper Airplane Record-Holder,
To Host Free Competition at Pima Air & Space
TUCSON (January 10, 2011) – The clock is ticking for kids to perfect their paper airplane folding
and flying skills in time for the Pima Air & Space Museum’s Great Paper Airplane Fly Off. There
is no charge to enter the free competition will begin at 11 a.m., Saturday, January 14, at the
Museum, 6000 E. Valencia Rd. The entrant and four family members are all admitted free to
the museum that day.
The inspirational science project is part of a greater campaign to interest kids in aviation and
engineering, explained Yvonne C. Morris, Executive Director of the Arizona Aerospace
Foundation and Pima Air & Space Museum. “Museums today are not just repositories of our
past,” she said. “They must inspire the future. Having kids help us create aviation history is
what this project is all about.”
Children, ages 6 through 14, can sign up for the competition at www.GreatPaperAirplane.org.
A special guest at the event will be Ken Blackburn, the current Guinness World Record holder of
the longest flight at 27.6 seconds. Ken will be offering folding and flying support from 10 to 11
a.m., before the competition begins. (For Blackburn’s tips before the competition, check out
http://www.paperplane.org/.)
“We’re encouraging young people to pre-register at www.GreatPaperAirplane.org,” said Morris. “We
don’t want anyone to miss out on this opportunity and so we’re also extending pre-registration until
noon on Friday, January 13.”

The young flier whose paper plane flies the furthest in the Great Paper Airplane Fly Off will win
a spot as Guest Engineer on the team led by Art Thompson challenging the Guinness Book of
World Record’s largest paper airplane honors. This massive paper airplane – with the young
Guest Engineer’s name on the tail or nose -- will eventually soar from a height of 5,000 feet
over the Arizona desert. It may fly for miles or crash and burn, but that’s all part of the fun of
scientific experimentation.
“We know that an early interest in science can lead to a lifetime of discovery, Morris said. “We
want to help inspire the next great scientific minds in our country and this contest will be a fun
way to engage students and get them thinking about the science of flight.”
A short film is being made about the entire project and will become part of a permanent exhibit
along with the large paper airplane and other historical artifacts from The Great Paper Airplane
Fly Off. More details related to the construction of the large paper plane and how and where
the launch will take place in the upcoming weeks on www.GreatPaperAirplane.org.
The Great Paper Airplane Project was created by BBDO SF and is sponsored by Mars, Inc., one
of the world’s largest makers of confectionary and food products, including Milky Way, M&M's,
Twix, Skittles, Snickers, and the Mars bar.
The Pima Air & Space Museum is one of the largest aviation Museums in the world, and the
largest non-government funded aviation Museum in the United States. The Museum, which
opened in 1976, maintains a collection of more than 300 aircraft and spacecraft from around
the globe, including many rare and one-of-a-kind, and more than 125,000 artifacts. Exhibits at
the Museum include some of the world’s greatest aviation heritage, including military,
commercial, and civil aviation. Among them are a B-29 Superfortress, the SR-71 Blackbird, and a
rare World War II German V-1 "buzz bomb." The Museum has five large hangars totaling more
than 177,000 indoor feet of exhibit space. In addition, the 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
Memorial Museum is located on the Museum grounds. Pima Air & Space maintains its own
aircraft restoration center, and also offers exclusive tours of the Aerospace Maintenance and
Regeneration Group (AMARG), also known as the "Boneyard," located across the street at
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Located at 6000 E. Valencia Rd. in Tucson, more information
about the Museum can be found at www.pimaair.org, on Facebook, or contact them at 520-
574-0462.
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