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After just three short days of planning and design, our amateur aeronautical engineers piloted their paper creations in the Inaugural “Darden Architects Paper Airplane Challenge”. It was a crisp sunny day with minimal wind: the perfect day for flying. We enjoyed pizza beforehand and looked over the various planes that would compete.

There were three events and competition was fierce. There were 20 entrants in total and our own Martin Ilic providing color commentary throughout. Ivette and Leslie were objective impartial referees, and ensured that all results were fair and true. Below is the rules and results for the three events.

the Distance competition came down to the wire with the second to last thrower Tony Avila hurling his plane “A-1” 82 feet!

First runner up was Alfredo’s plane “P101” which flew 72 feet 3 inches. 

Luis won the Design competition with his planes “Harpoon” and “Skyrocket”.  

Additional awards went to Julie with “The Darden Express” for most creative

and Richard’s “the Stingray” for best name.

The Accuracy competition was won by Phil [right] piloting “The Greased Beast” for a bullseye in both the initial round and subsequent throw-off with Milton [left] and his plane “The Moth”.

The winners received Halos mandarins and bragging rights for the next year. Although there were plenty of moments of triumph, it should be noted that a number of planes struggled to do very well at all. Some hilariously flew loops, other crashed into cars or zipped backwards. Regardless of the outcome, this event was all good fun and a chance to enjoy some time together in this work week between Christmas and the New Year.

For more photos from the event check out our Facebook page

Special thanks to the unofficial sponsor Halos mandarins! They made a terrific prizes for the winners.