IN PICTURE. Paper airplane throwing championship at the University of Antwerp: “The best edition so far” | Antwerp
AntwerpA special match in the agora of the University of Antwerp today. About two hundred candidates will perform in the ‘Qualiflyers’, a preliminary round of the Red Bull Paper Wings’ paper airplane throwing championship. The six toppers thus achieve a place in the final, and this time prevent the women from falling behind.
The concept of Red Bull Paper Wings is simple. You fold an airplane with a sheet of A4 paper and you can participate in two disciplines: ‘Longest Distance’ and ‘Longest Airtime’. “It was a fantastic edition, the best so far”, says co-organizer Joppe Mortier. “Till the end, candidates still presented themselves. In total, about two hundred people took part. Mainly students, but also employees made an attempt.”
Alexander Van den Broeke was able to keep his plane in the air for 8.08 seconds. Shows themselves clearly Stef Bertels and Thomas Schippers firmly behind them, with 5.48 and 4.6 seconds followed. The latter may well crown himself king of the ‘Longest Distance’. Skippers are paper airplane no less than 29.3 meters away. Ibe Verelst 28.7 meters and Laurens Van Leuven 22.9 meters: “Thomas’s score is really good”, says Mortier. “Only Dries Feremans did better in the preliminary round in Louvain-La-Neuve: he reached 50 meters with his plane.”
practice
It is Red Bull itself that provides the paper for the planes: “So that they certainly cannot fool around with the weight”, Mortier laughs. The six men now progress to the national final. Whoever takes the first place there will cash in on a spot at the world championship in Austria, near Salzburg.
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