The Paper Airplane —
The half-time festivities included flying a paper airplane into the bull ’ s- eye of a target set up on the court . She and Melanie , her childhood friend , decided to joint venture on this task . Kalisa would design the craft and Melanie would fly it .
My husband , Don , has always made paper airplanes . He learned the art from a childhood friend who made model airplanes as his hobby .
When our girls were in grade school , their father flew one of his paper airplanes around our family room , aiming it straight for our golden retriever , who couldn ’ t wait to play . The kids then jumped up , intercepted the little craft , and frustrated the dog , causing loud , resonant barks . Later , throughout our daughters ’ high school years , the airplane had long been put to rest .
One night , the telephone rang with our excited , now-college daughter , Kalisa , on the other end .
“ Melanie and I won a trip to the NCAA championship volleyball matches in Long Beach , California ,” she screamed . Don , holding the phone at arm ’ s length , didn ’ t need to hand it to me , as I could hear her clear across the room .
“ We won the half-time contest at the University of Washington versus Arizona volleyball match last night ,” she said breathlessly .
Carefully folding the paper symmetrically , flattening all of the creases and forming a blunt nose for greater distance , the little , but sturdy plane was ready for take-off . Melanie did the honors . The mighty airplane soared through the air and landed closer to the bull ’ s-eye than any other contestant ’ s plane .
After the winner was announced , the exuberant twosome telephoned everyone in the city of Seattle , heralding their good fortune . The prize included entrance into the volleyball tournament , three free nights at a Hilton Hotel and free round-trip flights from Seattle to California … a college kid ’ s dream !
Curious , later that evening , Don telephoned Kalisa and asked , “ Did you use my airplane design ?”
“ Of course !” said Kalisa , who was happy to have paid attention , years ago , to the engineering of the family room flying aircraft .
A proud papa congratulated the twosome on their successful win .
54 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS