Damned. I found out about the paper plane work shop too late. I would have like to join the workshop, but it was already full.
Flying paper plane has been a late, new found interest of mine.
It all started 2 years or so, back when I entered a contest to win a car. The criteria to get into the final few contestants was to fly a self folded paper plane from a certain distance of about 3-4 m? into one of the front windows of the car.
I did not have any experience of folding a paper air plane. It was not one of the stuff I did during my childhood.
The paper plane I folded that day failed miserably. It flew a very short distance before it nosedived into the ground, far far away from the car.
It was embarrassing, not to mention humiliating cos there were about 20-30 or more other people watching at that time. And out of about a few hundred people, I think only about a dozen people managed to fly their paper planes into the car window that day. Only one walked away with the car as prize.
And back home, plagued by embarrassment, I did a search online and found some great ways to fold paper planes, so that they can fly more accurately and longer.
---------------------------
New Paper
30 Aug 2008
His paper plane can fly for 30 minutes
Defence agency brings US expert here for workshop
By Andre Yeo
ALL he needs is a piece of cardboard to create his own wind to keep his paper plane flying for up to half an hour. Another works like a boomerang and flies back to him.
Mr John Collins, 47, has been designing and making paper planes for 35 years. He has written two books on the subject, been featured on CNN and the Discovery Channel, and held numerous workshops in the US.
Now, even military people take notice.
DSO National Laboratories, Singapore's defence research and development agency, which is organising a flying machine competition with the Science Centre, felt he was the right person to pique the public's interest in aerodynamics.
And so, Mr Collins has been conducting paper plane workshops for the public - all fully booked - at the Science Centre since 23 Aug. He is returning to the US tomorrow after one last workshop.
Mr Collins, a producer at an independent TV station in California, told The New Paper that he developed an interest in paper planes when he was 6, and in origami when he was10.
He said he was amazed at what could be done with a rectangular piece of paper. 'It's an economy of resource,' he said. 'That you can use a piece of paper and make something so complex and beautiful.'
He said a crowd favourite was usually the Follow Foil, where a plane made out of phone book paper is kept flying, with him walking behind and holding a piece of cardboard beneath it. Air travelling over the cardboard helps keep the plane flying.
He has managed to keep one flying for half an hour.
Another favourite is the Tumbling Wing, which he invented. A piece of tissue paper, used in wrapping gifts, is folded in such a way that, as it descends to the ground, he can push air towards it with his hands and keep it flying.
His mind is constantly thinking of new designs and it's not uncommon to have 20 planes scattered all over his California home.
Ironically, his wife, Suzanne, 58, is a freelance organiser who helps people get rid of clutter. Luckily for him, she understands his passion for paper planes.
He said: 'It drives her crazy sometimes. Once, I had to take 1,600 planes with me to an exhibition and they were all over the house. 'It drove her nuts. She is the organiser and I am the disorganiser.'
They have a 23-year-old son, Sean.
Mr Cheong Siew Ann, 39, assistant professor at the Nanyang Technological University's school of physical and mathematical sciences, was at the workshop with his 31/2-year-old son, Ernest.
Amazed
Mr Cheong seemed to be enjoying himself as he joined Ernest and at least 60 other children in watching Mr Collins' planes take flight. He said he and Ernest had looked up paper planes on YouTube when they learnt of the workshop through the Science Centre, where they are members.
He said he was amazed at what Mr Collins was able to do with a piece of paper.
'I found the Follow Foil the most interesting,' Said Mr Cheong. 'Usually, when people make paper planes, they don't need any tools (to make them fly). 'He used a piece of cardboard to make it fly for a long time.'
Marjorie Lee, 11, who was there with her father and brother, was also intrigued by the Follow Foil. She said: 'I had never thought it was possible to do something like that.'
Flying paper plane has been a late, new found interest of mine.
It all started 2 years or so, back when I entered a contest to win a car. The criteria to get into the final few contestants was to fly a self folded paper plane from a certain distance of about 3-4 m? into one of the front windows of the car.
I did not have any experience of folding a paper air plane. It was not one of the stuff I did during my childhood.
The paper plane I folded that day failed miserably. It flew a very short distance before it nosedived into the ground, far far away from the car.
It was embarrassing, not to mention humiliating cos there were about 20-30 or more other people watching at that time. And out of about a few hundred people, I think only about a dozen people managed to fly their paper planes into the car window that day. Only one walked away with the car as prize.
And back home, plagued by embarrassment, I did a search online and found some great ways to fold paper planes, so that they can fly more accurately and longer.
---------------------------
New Paper
30 Aug 2008
His paper plane can fly for 30 minutes
Defence agency brings US expert here for workshop
By Andre Yeo
ALL he needs is a piece of cardboard to create his own wind to keep his paper plane flying for up to half an hour. Another works like a boomerang and flies back to him.
Mr John Collins, 47, has been designing and making paper planes for 35 years. He has written two books on the subject, been featured on CNN and the Discovery Channel, and held numerous workshops in the US.
Now, even military people take notice.
DSO National Laboratories, Singapore's defence research and development agency, which is organising a flying machine competition with the Science Centre, felt he was the right person to pique the public's interest in aerodynamics.
And so, Mr Collins has been conducting paper plane workshops for the public - all fully booked - at the Science Centre since 23 Aug. He is returning to the US tomorrow after one last workshop.
Mr Collins, a producer at an independent TV station in California, told The New Paper that he developed an interest in paper planes when he was 6, and in origami when he was10.
He said he was amazed at what could be done with a rectangular piece of paper. 'It's an economy of resource,' he said. 'That you can use a piece of paper and make something so complex and beautiful.'
He said a crowd favourite was usually the Follow Foil, where a plane made out of phone book paper is kept flying, with him walking behind and holding a piece of cardboard beneath it. Air travelling over the cardboard helps keep the plane flying.
He has managed to keep one flying for half an hour.
Another favourite is the Tumbling Wing, which he invented. A piece of tissue paper, used in wrapping gifts, is folded in such a way that, as it descends to the ground, he can push air towards it with his hands and keep it flying.
His mind is constantly thinking of new designs and it's not uncommon to have 20 planes scattered all over his California home.
Ironically, his wife, Suzanne, 58, is a freelance organiser who helps people get rid of clutter. Luckily for him, she understands his passion for paper planes.
He said: 'It drives her crazy sometimes. Once, I had to take 1,600 planes with me to an exhibition and they were all over the house. 'It drove her nuts. She is the organiser and I am the disorganiser.'
They have a 23-year-old son, Sean.
Mr Cheong Siew Ann, 39, assistant professor at the Nanyang Technological University's school of physical and mathematical sciences, was at the workshop with his 31/2-year-old son, Ernest.
Amazed
Mr Cheong seemed to be enjoying himself as he joined Ernest and at least 60 other children in watching Mr Collins' planes take flight. He said he and Ernest had looked up paper planes on YouTube when they learnt of the workshop through the Science Centre, where they are members.
He said he was amazed at what Mr Collins was able to do with a piece of paper.
'I found the Follow Foil the most interesting,' Said Mr Cheong. 'Usually, when people make paper planes, they don't need any tools (to make them fly). 'He used a piece of cardboard to make it fly for a long time.'
Marjorie Lee, 11, who was there with her father and brother, was also intrigued by the Follow Foil. She said: 'I had never thought it was possible to do something like that.'
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment