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OMG! That’s a 45-foot paper airplane soaring over the desert
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Unplugged
Everyone likes a good paper airplane. But how much do you love a 45-foot paper airplane?
The answer is clear: A lot.
And your love doesn't have to be unrequited because the good folks at the Pima Air & Space in Museum in Tucson, Ariz. have not only built, but flown (see video below), a 45-footer, achieving the feat earlier this week.
"It's not every day that a giant paper airplane is released high over the Arizona desert. In fact, it's never been done. But that's exactly what the Pima Air & Space Museum did," the museum wrote on its wonderfully named Web site, GreatPaperAirplane.org. "A couple months ago, hundreds of kids came to the museum to show us what paper airplane flying was all about. And now, inspired by their enthusiasm, we built a 45-foot paper airplane (quite possibly the largest ever constructed) and flew it."
Indeed, while the giant flyer had a few problems--it buckled under its own weight just hours before it finally got airborne--the folks at Pima eventually took it to the sky (with a little help from a friendly helicopter).
"Then it flew," Pima's live blog reported. "The Eagle flew!
"After it was lifted off the ground by its nose, our giant paper airplane rose and rose until it began swaying pretty heavily in the wind (a product of our having to delay the launch until the evening instead the calmer morning). Aaron, our helicopter pilot then gave the order to cut the plane loose from the cable when it began to pull the chopper itself in a strong gust. But after it was released, for several shining moments, our huge, beautiful, silly, hubristic 45-foot paper airplane soared."
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