For Many, Highlight Was The Paper Airplane Competition

The 2nd Annual "Go Fly Zone" at the museum May 30th featured radio controlled aircraft and full-scale flight simulators, but the contest to see who could fly a paper airplane with the most accuracy, seemed to be the hit of the day.

Shelley Ragsdale, director of marketing for the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, said "We had probably more adults than teenagers who participated. It was a lot of fun,"

The Pensacola News Journal reports Ken Blackburn, the holder of the Guinness World Record for time aloft with a paper airplane, gave personal folding instructions to the contestants, who then launched their creations at a blow-up Blue Angel toy. The object of the game was to get as close to the target as possible.

The Naval Air Museum holds a variety of events throughout the year, including weekly opportunities to watch the Blue Angels practice from the stands near the Museum when they are at their home base at Pensacola Naval Air Station.

The National Naval Aviation Museum, recognized as one of the premiere air and space museums in the world, features more than 150 aircraft located throughout the facility's 300,000 square-foot exhibit space and outlaying 37 wooded acres. These aircraft include record-setting models like the NC-4 flying boat, the first plane to cross the Atlantic, as well as combat veterans such as an SBD Dauntless that flew at the Battle of Midway and an A-7 Corsair II that logged missions over Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. Though the planes are the largest of the Museum's relics, they are just one dimension of the collection. More than 4,000 uniforms, flight gear, weaponry, medals and decorations add a personal touch to the story of Naval Aviation, in addition to the Emil Buehler Naval Aviation Library, which houses official papers of prominent Naval Aviators, squadron records and a photograph collection numbering more 350,000 images.

FMI: http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/NewsAndEvents.aspx