The Guinness World Record for the longest-flying paper aircraft was set 15 years ago by experienced Japanese paper plane builder Tahuo Toda, but it is expected to fall as soon as the attempt of a group of Chinese teenagers is validated by Guinness. Interestingly, these same youths also broke the world record for the longest distance flown by a paper plane under two months ago.
Liu Liwen and his teammates Tang Shuai, Yang Shi’an, Huang Yizhou, Qiao Yuchen, and Wang Chenghao don’t mess around when it comes to building paper planes, and they showed it by breaking not one, but two world records in under 60 days.
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On the afternoon of February 11th, a group of Chinese paper plane enthusiasts gathered at the Kunshan Sports Center in Jiangsu Province to attempt a record that not been broken in 15 years. They brought their 10 best plane designs and launched them repeatedly to achieve the longest flight time.
To be certified as a world record, evidence must be submitted according to the requirements. The flight must be indoors, witnessed by professional judges and media, the paper airplane cannot be larger than A4 size, it can be cut but not spliced, and the amount of tape used cannot exceed 2.5*3 square centimeters.
The previously certified Guinness World Record was 29.2 seconds, set in December 2010 by Japanese athlete Takuo Toda. On February 11th, the Chinese teens broke it not once, but several times. 16-year-old Rao Chongyi from Jiangxi achieved flight times of 29.70 seconds and 31.15 seconds, respectively, and Liu Liwen’s plane flew 31.19 seconds and 31.25 seconds.
Interestingly, Liu Liwen and his team had previously attempted to break the record for the longest paper plane flight. In August of last year, they achieved flight times of up to 29 seconds, just under the world record. But they didn’t let that failure deter them from achieving their dream.
“We were just 0.2 seconds short, and we were very disappointed,” Liu Liwen told The Paper. “Breaking the hang time record is a dream for many of us. Everyone was especially excited this time, hoping that Chinese paper airplanes could once again be seen by the world and prove their strength.”
The teens’ achievement is even more impressive considering that just a month and a half ago, they had broken another world record. On December 28, 2025, this same team, with an average age of 17.5 years, flew a paper airplane 98.43 meters, nearly 10 meters more than the 2022 world record.
