Smurfit Kappa has shown how its expertise and knowledge can span beyond the realm of packaging by sending a corrugated aeroplane in to the sky.

The company’s employees have a range of different backgrounds, from aeronautical engineers to video-gamers, who worked together to answer to a challenge from Dutch TV channel BNN; to create and fly an aeroplane made entirely of paper and cardboard.

Working from the Development Centre (DC), Smurfit Kappa’s hub for research and development, the company designed, built and finally flew a plane which was not only made out of cardboard, but was also sturdy enough to carry a real person.

The plane was initially designed by engineer Arnoud Dekker, who has a degree in aeronautical engineering. This was then translated in to a corrugated 3D model, and the physical plane was then built using the skills and experience of the wider team.

The entire process was carried out from start to finish in-house, demonstrating how the company can draw its design expertise and scientific understanding to create solutions to meet any challenge, (not to mention how much time it has on its hands)/ 

The finished product was approximately 9 m long by 8 m wide, at a height of over 2 m and weight of around 160 kg. The plane was made entirely from paper, cardboard and glue – comprising of 70 msq of paper, 240 msq of cardboard, and 25 kg of glue. Once constructed, it was put to the test and successfully sent in to the air with a dummy on board weighing the same as a real person, 60 kg, and achieved a height of over 25 m and a distance of over 300 m.

‘When we were initially approached to take on this challenge we were a bit sceptical, but this quickly turned in to excitement,’ said Dekker. ‘It was a great way for us to show the strength, versatility and durability of corrugated board, as well as the expertise and insight that goes in to creating any product, whether it’s a plane or a challenging packaging solution for one of our customers.’

See the flight and a quick glance at the build and design of the plane below.