Paper Airplanes Have Outgrown Hangar At McClellan AFB

With so much pro football history, it's getting very hard to break a world record. That's also true for aviation pursuits. But a former pro quarterback has teamed up with an aviation enthusiast to set a new world record for distance  - for paper airplanes.

ESPN reports that John Collins, a producer at KRON-TV in San Francisco, has studied airplanes since his youth, but has also studied origami. He has his own website, www.thepaperairplaneguy.com, and says he's been serious about breaking the Guiness World Record for three or four years. His designs have won acclaim, but he needed one missing element to find success - the strength and precision of a quarterback's arm.

That's where Joe Ayoob enters the story. Ayoob took his high school team to two sectional championship games, compiled a 23-and 1 record as a starter at City College of San Francisco, then transferred to Cal to succeed Aaron Rogers, now of the Green Bay Packers. These days, Ayoob works as a sales rep for Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco.

But he still has that arm.

On Sunday, on the fourth of ten throws inside a hanger at McClellan Air Force Base, Ayoob threw a paper airplane designed by Collins 226 feet, 10 inches, bettering the previous record by nearly 20 feet.

The celebration which broke out after the winning throw had the intensity of the reaction to a game-winning touchdown. Ayoob told ESPN, "A lot of people could throw this plane and get some pretty crazy distance out of it. But in order to achieve the distances we were trying to reach, it took a pretty precise throw, and it took a lot of strength. There's a lot of finesse involved, so it's kind of blending power, balance and control while you're throwing this fragile, little paper airplane."

Collins says there's more potential, but they've outgrown the hangar at McClellan. He says Ayoob has reached 240 feet during practice. He tells ESPN, "If someone wants to drag us out to a great big venue...we'd probably go for it."

This story isn't over. Present in the hangar to witness Ayoob's achievement Sunday was Stephen Kreiger, the previous record holder. Collins predicts, "He's going to make a challenge, I'm sure. If he starts up in a serious way, Joe and I will have to make a comeback. Game on!"

FMI: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMMrlMKDH_c