Southwest Captain Scott Fitzgerald shares a “moment of discovery” with his two children, a school district, the town mayor, and the Guinness Book of World Records through Adopt-A-Pilot.
When I began volunteering with Adopt-A-Pilot in 2009, breaking a Guinness World Record was not on my radar. However, it has quite literally been the flight of my life. In my six years doing Adopt-A-Pilot, the students and I have accomplished many hands-on projects. This year I, along with Southwest First Officer Marvin Meng, led a project that launched a paper airplane from 107,811 feet above the Earth. That’s more than three times the cruising altitude of a Southwest 737 and an unofficial world record!
Between breath-holding contests while swimming, and races during recess, children are always competing and goal-setting. So you can imagine the ecstatic joy that erupted during a student assembly when an attempt to break the world record for “Highest-Altitude Paper Plane Launch” was announced at Albert Cassens Elementary in Glen Carbon, IL.
With seven classrooms on board, students began designing paper airplanes. The best design was chosen through a competitive drop test contest. This fifth grader’s paper airplane design, crafted from cardboard, would soon soar more than 20 miles above Earth’s surface, while an entire community watched.
The day of launch could not have been better. Skies were clear and winds were light as students, faculty, parents, the Glen Carbon Town Mayor, and local media piled on to the field where our design would take-off. The plane, equipped with GPS trackers and video cameras, was released into the air with the help of a weather balloon purchased on the internet.
While the plane climbed out-of-sight, most students moved back into their classrooms to track the progress via the Internet. A caravan of fourteen vehicles filled with parents, students and official witnesses acted as a chase and recovery team in the field.
In Pierron, IL, the paper airplane landed in a farmer’s backyard, who graciously allowed us to retrieve our project, video and tracking devices still intact. As the students arrived on the scene, they were amazed at what they had accomplished. We set out to break the world record for “Highest-Altitude Paper Plane Launch,” and we unofficially broke it by 10,000 feet (Guinness World Records are reviewing the record now)!
Adopt-A-Pilot has been an outstanding tool to light a fire within our school district. The curriculum combines aviation science, geography, math and most importantly, goal-setting. There is a significant potential for learning when students are engaged and setting goals.
When asked why I am so involved in Southwest’s Adopt-A-Pilot program, I think back to my own moment of discovery while listening to my son’s words during an interview. He told local press after our project, he learned that you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. With that idea, the sky is always the limit.
This year 775 pilots participated in Adopt-A-Pilot, reaching nearly 38,000 students nationwide. Southwest would like to thank everyone who makes this unique way of learning possible.
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