Paper Pelican

Paper Pelican
Type:	Airplane
Location:	Backyard
Episode(s):	"De Plane! De Plane!"

"319 feet 11 inches is just over the length of a football field, and only one afternoon away from being broken." — Phineas

The Paper Pelican is an airplane built by Phineas and Ferb to beat the record set by Howard Hughes with his plane, the Spruce Goose.

History

Phineas and Ferb watch a documentary titled Wacky Millionaires Throughout History, through which they learn of Howard Hughes and his creation, the Spruce Goose, the largest plane ever built. Inspired, the boys decide to break that record by constructing a bigger air vehicle. As they are ready to begin, Isabella, Baljeet, Buford, and the Fireside Girls show up. Phineas then explains the plan, getting them all on board.

Now complete, the plane is confirmed by Baljeet to be one inch larger than the Spruce Goose. Satisfied, Phineas initiates the first flight, having Isabella and Baljeet guide the neighborhood kids to it. Before flying, the boys check their equipment, switching the plane on afterwards. In-flight service starts as the plane takes off, with the attendants continuing their work by offering food to the passengers.

A floor show is organized as entertainment, featuring Ferb singing a jazzy tune about dreaming high. Some time after, Phineas announces that they are descending into a body of water. Baljeet continues by clarifying that the seats function as floats, allowing the passengers to drift to the shore and disembark following the airplane's dissolution ("De Plane! De Plane!").

Design

The Paper Pelican is a papier-mâché airplane put together from newspaper pieces combined with glue. Having a wingspan of 320 feet, it has eight jet engines, a front window, and a compacted airstair. The pilot cabin is comprised of two green seats, a control panel with multiple valves, five colored buttons on the roof, two steering wheels, and a wall for miscellaneous objects. The passenger compartment contains five rows of four seats colored purple, pink, yellow, and red.

Activities

Services provided by the crew of the Paper Pelican include food in the form of peanut snacks and a deluxe peanut chicken, and a floor show starring the co-pilot and flight attendants.

Background Information

• In real life, the Spruce Goose was actually 320 feet 11 inches, so technically the record is not broken as the Paper Pelican is 11 inches too short. Also in real life, the plane was actually called Hughes H-4 Hercules and was only called the "Spruce Goose" by the media, a name that Hughes himself despised.
• According to Phineas, the name given to their airplane follows the same scheme used for the Spruce Goose, as both are named after a bird and their base materials, wood and newspapers, in an alliterative manner.
• The flight crew of the Paper Pelican is as follows:
  • Phineas - Pilot
  • Ferb - Co-pilot
  • Isabella and Baljeet - Flight attendants
  • Fireside Girls - Background dancers
• The uniform of the aircrew is a white shirt, a red jacket, white gloves, blue shorts/skirt, white socks, black sneakers/flat shoes, and a blue side cap with a red stamp.
• Despite being passengers, the Fireside Girls join Ferb in the floor show as background dancers.
• At the end of the flight, Baljeet thanks everyone for flying with them, imitating what flight attendants usually say.
• The Paper Pelican is seen in the montage of clips used by Irving in his video dedicated to Phineas ("Phineas' Birthday Clip-O-Rama!").
• A recreation of the plane is used to repel Doofenshmirtz-2's invasion of the Tri-State Area (Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension).
• The plane is mentioned by Candace on her rant about her brothers' antics, an image of it appearing as she speaks of it (Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe).
• The water landing of the Paper Pelican may be based on the Hudson River plane accident.

Appearances

• "De Plane! De Plane!" ^{(First appearance)}
• "Phineas' Birthday Clip-O-Rama!"
• Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension
• Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe ^{(mentioned and cameo)}

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