Apr. 27, 2015 (MANILA, Philippines) – Three young pilots conquered the skies at the Red Bull Paper Wings Philippine Qualifiers held from Mar. 6 to Apr. 7, 2015 at three of the country’s top universities. Come May 9, Neiman Sevilla and Bryan Jonas Sayas of De La Salle University, and John Panis of the University of the Philippines will set their sights on the iconic Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria for the Paper Wings World Finals.
Paper Wings, the world’s biggest paper plane competition, features three categories: longest airtime, longest distance, and best in aerobatics. At the local qualifiers, Sevilla dominated the first with an airtime of 7.62 seconds. Panis flew an impressive 18.62 meters with his A4-sized aircraft. Sayas, the last to qualify, garnered more than 500 online votes for his paper plane’s loop-and-dive display.
With advice from a friend, Sevilla came up with a gravity-defying design that bested hundreds of others’. “The logic was to have a wide wing span so that it would really carry the plane in the air, and have a nicely folded plane to have less resistance to the air – to let it flow, basically.”
For Sayas, a “fun childhood” served as inspiration for his winning design. “When I was about 6 or 7 years old, my friends and I would go to a plaza just to fly paper airplanes. We used to do this paper plane we called “bat-plane” because the tip of the plane looks like a bat’s head.”
Defending champion Elie Chemaly of Lebanon will have his airtime record of 10.68 seconds challenged by this newest batch of amateur pilots from 80 countries – including three of our own. Visit http://www.redbullpaperwings.com/ to find out how Sevilla, Panis, and Sayas navigate the challenges at this year’s Paper Wings World Finals.
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About Red Bull Philippines
The premium Energy Drink known all around the world – Red Bull (Blue & Silver can) – was launched in the Philippines last May 2012. Thanks to its unique formula, Red Bull Energy Drink gives you wings by vitalizing body and mind. For more information on Red Bull, visit our website at www.redbull.com and follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: facebook.com/redbull | twitter.com/redbullph | instagram.com/redbullph
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For more information, kindly contact:
E.Jay Miranda | Field Marketing Manager | Red Bull Philippines
ejay.miranda@ph.redbull.com | M: +63 917 820 6507
Will Hsu | Monsters Centaur Production Inc.
whsu@monstersproduction.com | M: +63 927 665 8669