Paper planes flew higher, faster and longer at Red Bull Paper Wings National Final

    Louis-René Lafond (Sherbrooke, QC), Addison Asuchak (Calgary, AB) and
    Jamal Jamali (London, ON) earned their spot for the World Final in
    Salzburg, Austria on May 1-2, 2009.

    TORONTO, March 14 /CNW/ - Canadians combined their creative spirit in
crafting paper planes with sporting ambition today at MX Aerospace Services in
Mississauga, Ontario as paper plane pilots competed at Red Bull Paper Wings
National Final. Among all the competitors from across the country, three
pilots proved themselves against the best flyers of the country in their
respective categories and will be competing at Red Bull Paper Wings World
Final in Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria on May 1-2, 2009 with competitors from
more than 80 countries, all vying for a place in aviation history.
    Louis-René Lafond from the University of Sherbrooke made his plane fly
the longest distance and recorded a new Canadian record of 36.63 meters
between the lift-off and the landing point within the official Air Space. At
the qualifier held at the University of Sherbrooke, Louis-René said he was
lucky as he had a limited time to build his plane. "When I knew I was coming
to the National Final, I did my research on how to hold, throw and build my
plane. I went to the gym every single day to practice my throws." Louis-René
will be heading to Salzburg, Austria on May 1 to showcase his skills at the
World Final. "I don't know what to expect in Austria but so far this entire
experience has been unreal."
    Addison Asuchak from Calgary, AB threw the plane that managed to stay in
the air the longest (13.87 seconds). With just a sheet of paper, plenty of
ideas, strong or skilful upper arms and a healthy portion of idealism, the
engineering student at Mount Royal College has been on a sixteen year venture
in building and flying paper planes. "I expect to beat my timing in Austria. I
have been researching the air pressure in Austria and of course practice makes
perfect! Who knew skipping an English class would land me a spot in Austria!"
    Jamal Jamali from University of Western Ontario (London, ON) is the
champion of the category aerobatics as he used creativity and style in making
the paper plane fly artistically through the air, based on the construction of
the paper plan, flight performance and creativity. With twenty-four points
awarded from the jury, Jamal will represent Canada in the aerobatics category
in Salzburg, Austria. "I'm ecstatic with the opportunity of going to Austria!"

    International Qualifying Rules

    Challenging the existing world records needs to be done according to the
international rules developed by the Paper Aircraft Association (PAA) and the
Guinness World Record regulations. Assuring world wide comparability of the
results requires following the official Red Bull Paper Wings rules. To reflect
the different directions in the world of paper planes, Red Bull Paper Wings
has three distinctive categories: longest distance, longest airtime and
aerobatics.
    For detailed contest rules please go to www.redbullpaperwings.com.

    About the Red Bull Paper Wings

    Red Bull Paper Wings is a contest event format incorporating two of the
most vital assets of Red Bull, flying and creativity and has been developed as
a world wide paper plane contest, giving many paper airplane pilots the
chance, to actively participate in an airplane contest combining their spirit
and sportive ambition in flying! Ten qualifier rounds took place across Canada
in February and over 250 participants competed to be part of the National
Final.
    For detailed information on Red Bull Paper Wings World Final, please go
to www.redbullpaperwings.com.
    Visit www.hangar-7.com for more information on Hangar-7.

    For photos, please go to:
    ftp://media-canada.info
    Username: media
    Password: red00bull
    Folder: Red Bull Paper Wings


    /NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available on
    the CNW Photo Network and archived at http://photos.newswire.ca.
    Additional archived images are also available on the CNW Photo Archive
    website at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited
    members of the media/

For further information: For all media inquiries, please contact: Sonia
Klinger/Josée Laperrière, Red Bull Communications, (416) 542-7493/(416)
542-7485, sonia.klinger@ca.redbull.com/josee.laperriere@ca.redbull.com