Yasuaki Ninomiya is a Japanese aircraft designer. He is the creator of the "WhiteWings" line of paperboard aircraft,[1] described as "the Ferraris of paper airplanes" by a curator of the National Air and Space Museum.[2] He created paper airplanes since childhood and on Christmas Eve, 1966 learned that he could enter his designs in the First Great International Paper Airplane Contest. Pan American Airways offered to fly designs of paper airplanes that originated in Japan to the contest. He entered and, out of 12,000 entries from 28 countries, won in two categories: duration and distance.[3]

His designs have sold millions throughout Japan and the world. He is the author of a multi-volume work on high-performance paper aircraft.[4][5]

He has a number of patents on aircraft design.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ Subtle, Susan (February 15, 1987). "PLEASE MR. POSTMAN". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 3. ProQuest 302090024.
  2. ^ Owen, Thomas (November 2, 1996). "The Paper Ace". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 16. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 291235258.
  3. ^ Thomas, Owen (16 March 1990). "Japanese Retiree Gets High on Flying Paper Airplanes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  4. ^ Chun, Rene (29 January 2007). "In-Flight Entertainment: A How-To Manual For Paper Tigers, Mustangs, and P-38's - Paper planes aren't as juvenile as you might think". Esquire. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  5. ^ Owen, Thomas (September 23, 1988). "LIGHT FLIGHT". The Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 1034592633.
  6. ^ "Google Patents list of Dr. Yasuaki Ninomiya's Patents". Google Patents. Retrieved 2023-02-20.