Keaton Wheeler, a junior communication major, is one of 15 college students from across the nation who will represent the US in the Red Bull Paper Wings world finals, to be held May 5 at Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria.
This will be Wheeler’s second time competing in the world finals since 2009, after he finished first in the US and made it in the top 25 in the world for distance. He is currently ranked fourth in the world in aerobatics through qualifiers.
Red Bull Paper Wings is an international paper airplane competition for college students hosted by the Austrian-based energy drink company every three years. The competition is governed by Paper Airplane Association rules and consists of three categories: distance, hang time and aerobatics. Representatives from Guinness World Records proctor the events, in case new records are set. Approximately 90 nations were represented in the 2009 world finals.
In order to return to Salzburg in 2012 Wheeler had to place in the top three at a Southeast Conference qualifier and submit a video entry for voting. Wheeler earned a perfect score of 30 from judges during his qualifying run at Columbus State University, and then received 126 votes for his entry video to top out the conference.
Wheeler said he decided against reprising his top spot in distance and instead focused on qualifying in aerobatics.
“I trained my roommate how to do the distance plane and he threw further than me. He is actually getting to go to Salzburg too. It’s pretty exciting,” Wheeler said.
Each aerobatics pilot has one minute to complete as many stunt throws for scoring as they can. Judges score each pilot based on the technical construction of the plane, creativity and flight performance.
Wheeler will utilize two particular planes in his world final runs, a “boomerang,” that makes wide sweeping loops as it returns to the pilot, and a “bat,” that flaps its wings during flight.
Wheeler has a background in engineering from his time at Southern Polytechnic State University, but said he learned his techniques from workshops and teamwork while attending the 2009 world finals.
“Most of the science and all of the designs I learned through competition. They are all designs that were traded or shown to me,” said Wheeler.
Wheeler said he can spend 30 minutes to an hour folding each plane for competition, and he then completes visual checks of the folds and lines prior to flight. He said precision is essential.
“There is an enormous amount of tweaking that can go on with a paper airplane… that people don’t realize. They sometimes laugh at me when I tweak an airplane for five minutes before I throw. But it’s going to do what I want it to,” Wheeler said.
Gracie Munson, a senior marketing major, suggested Wheeler should compete in the Red Bull Paper Wings competition when they first met. The qualifier was being held at SPSU at the time and Munson said she felt Wheeler and his fraternity brothers would be interested.
“It is really cool to see Keaton and everyone get so involved with Red Bull,” Munson said.
Munson is a brand representative for Red Bull’s Wiiings Team and has been since she graduated high school. Munson is responsible for promoting future company events and brand awareness.
Wheeler went on to compete in other Red Bull challenges including the Red Bull Soapbox Race in Atlanta. His team, “The Tekes,” placed third in the 2009 race and is preparing to compete again this year. Atlanta’s 2012 Red Bull Soapbox Race will be held June 9 at Piedmont Park on 10th street.
For those who would like to see Wheeler in action, a video demonstration of his paper airplanes can be found on YouTube at http://youtu.be/qv3eSZBSFyY.
