When Dylan Parker and James Norton made their first paper plane as young boys, little did they know that one day they would be making a career out of it. The Paper Pilots talk to Jigyasu Joshi about holding workshops in city schools
“let it go and make a shushh for the sound effect,” says Dylan as we hold on to a light paper plane between our fingers. It is a particularly windy afternoon. James Norton and Dylan Parker — paper plane professionals from Australia — are at the Australian High Commission’s garden area with a cardboard box full of bright pink, yellow and orange paper planes waiting to be set free. Parker leaves his Stingray first; it gracefully descends and settles on a faraway twig; Norton’s Circular Glider vanishes, probably goes out of the premises.
Both of them were wearing blue suits which they say were gifted to them by the Australian Air Force. “They’re seriously cool and the same as the ones worn by real Australian Air Force pilots. They’re designed to give us maximum maneuverability and are fitted with specialised pockets to store our folding tools, rulers and some snacks in case we get hungry while we’re folding,” says Norton. The duo, who is on a five-city (Mumbai, Chennai, Jaipur, Delhi and Kolkata) tour in India — an initiative of the Australian High Commission — are in Delhi for holding workshops for paper plane-making and restoring the lost art of creativity among students trapped in a digital world. “Teaching the science of flight is predominantly our bread and butter,” he continues, casually flicking a helicopter-like origami piece into the air.
Parker and Norton met almost a decade ago at the Paper Plane Competition at a university in Canberra in 2008 and decided to acquire a new professional identity — The Paper Pilots. “like any other kid in the world, we also flew our first paper plane when we were young and it was a simple regular design taught by our parents. We professionally started only after the world championship in which we participated,” says Dylan, who also won third place in the distance category at the championship.
Things, however, haven’t changed much when it comes to how people react to their profession — it’s mostly befuddlement and disbelief that a career could be made out of a childhood time-pass. “At get-togethers, when we introduce ourselves, they nod and find it weird,” says Norton, smiling.
It doesn’t matter though, for their passion has flown them far. Today, they travel around the world, organising workshops in schools, business incubation hubs, corporate fund-raisers and nursing homes to teach the elderly how to be more social; have inspired the blockbuster movie Paper Planes by Robert Connolly; and are two of the most sought-after motivational speakers in Australia.
On their maiden visit to India, Norton and Dylan are enjoying every moment of it. “It is not just the children who are excited for the workshops here but also the adults. It takes them back to the good old days. That’s why we say that these workshops are for the young ones and also for the ones young at heart,” Dylan says. On the other hand, Norton seems to enjoy Indian food the most. “My stomach has come out in the last two days. The food is so delicious that I can’t stop my hands. And I love jalebi the most. It’s one evil sweet dish,” laughs Norton.
For explaining how the paper plane transforms into an educative tool, Dylan spreads a yellow A4 sheet. He demonstrates how to fold The Nakamura lock Paper Airplane, a gentle glider, even as he lets us in on the four forces of flight (gravity, lift, drag and thrust) and the possibility of different outcomes based on the wing shapes. All of what they teach complies with the Math, Science, Technology and Engineering curriculum. “Besides academic lessons, paper planes tell you that it’s okay to make mistakes. There is much pressure on kids to get things right. But with something like a paper plane, you fold it in multiple ways till you get it right. It’s much like our journey, which has been filled with hard work and testing times,” says Dylan. “Nothing was planned but we have never declined an opportunity. Probably, that’s why we have come this far; and that’s also why we do not know where the future will take us,” he adds. Just like our paper plane, which when set free, makes a wide arc and swivels in the air before vanishing behind a tree.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar