Red Bull Paper Wings Qualiflyer – Swansea University

Thursday 29th March saw Swansea University host a qualifier for Red Bull Paper Wings. The university’s main cafeteria was transformed into a 40 meter paper plane air space with students from all departments joining in, looking to grab a spot at the world finals in Salzburg, Austria.

First up on the day was engineering student Giannis Polykratis looking to kick things off with a bang after spending extra attention to detail on his build. Unfortunately it wasn't to be his day with an average 12.8m throw beginning proceedings. The quality slowly increased when Taaran Suri threw a respectable 22m, keeping the lead for the best part of 45 minutes. However, in the end it was law student Joe Bulpin who took the win with a gliding 24.4 meter throw, straight down the middle of the V-formation air space.

With the sun shining through the windows of the cafe and DJ Dubman laying down some summer vibes, the event had a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Contestants carefully constructed their planes, risking new designs to see if they could break the days top scores all whilst enjoying  cold can of Red Bull. Three engineering students took a great competitive edge in the airtime category, each trying to out do one and other in whatever way possible. In the end there could only be one winner, Rafal Gierut, letting his plane soar through the air for a staggering 6.93 seconds.

With distance and airtime looking already won, the attention turned to aerobatics as competitors attempted to impress the panel of judges. Some great designs were brought through, some earning up to 9 points for construction, however the flight performance was less thrilling with only a small amount of planes managing to loop and turn through the air.

All round the event was a great success with 60 students leaving the sun to take part in a thrilling, compelling and all round exciting day for Swansea University.