Paper Airplane Contest Takes Flight

BOWLING GREEN, KY—Aviation Heritage Park has announced the winners of its inaugural Paper Airplane Contest (PAC).  Aviation Heritage Park successfully hosted its inaugural Paper Airplane Contest this past Saturday, November 22, at Bowling Green Junior High School. The competition was open to all local elementary and junior high schools.

The rules were simple; the planes had to be made from a single piece of typing paper, and were hand launched over an indoor measured course for distance and accuracy. Over the weeks prior to the championship, each participating school held preliminary competitions, with the winners meeting at the regional event hosted by AHP. Over 450 students participated at the school level.

“Our goal for this event was for students to use their own initiative with the support of their parents and teachers to have a learning opportunity beyond their classroom that was fun and challenging,” said AHP Board Member Eric Gregory. “By working together with the local educators, we were able to host an event for students to compete and grow in the vital area of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education.”

The top competitors in each grade category won a scholarship to attend Aviation Summer Camp at the Bowling Green/Warren County Regional Airport next June.

This year’s winners were Prince Patel a student from Jody Richards Elementary with a launch of 23 feet and Tanner Cosby a student from South Warren Middle School with a launch of 81 feet.

“We had a great time with the students, and were impressed with their designs,” said Gregory. “Next year we are hoping to promote this event to surrounding counties as well.”

Aviation Heritage Park is open daily and free to the public.