In September we had a chance to hang out at The 2013 National Red Bull Flügtag, and we gotta tell you, if you didn’t get a chance to make it, you definitely missed out on watching some spectacular feats of flight and failure. Mostly failure.
If you didn’t know already, the Red Bull Flügtag (German for Flying Day) is a worldwide homemade flying craft competition that started in Vienna, Austria back in 1991. Hundreds of five-person teams submit their ideas, and the most unique and creative crafts are chosen to test their creations. They build homemade, human-powered flying aircraft that they launch off a 30-foot-high flight deck above the water in hopes of achieving air-bound awesomeness. Winners are graded by their flight length, creativity and showmanship.
This year, however, Red Bull made history by taking place in five major US cities in one day. Red Bull has never put on this many shows in one day, which truly made the 2013 National Red Bull Flügtag a national day for the events, with more than 366,000 spectators, who packed the shores of five of America’s most iconic cities which included Chicago, IL, Long Beach, CA, Miami, FL, Washington, DC and Dallas/Fort Worth, TX.
Out of all the teams that um — flew?, the most impressive were The Chicken Whisperers, a team of aerospace and mechanical engineers from Palo Alto, CA. They set a new world record by soaring an incredible 258 feet, which destroyed the old world record by 29 feet.
Here are the winners for each city:
CHICAGO
1st Place – Chicago Duck Hunt (Chicago) 39 feet
2nd Place – The Bamzoniacs (Rochelle, IL.) 57 feet
3rd Place – My Favorite Team (Highland Park, IL.) 48 feet
People’s Choice – Hell on Heels (Chicago) 42 feet
LONG BEACH
1st Place – The Chicken Whisperers (Palo Alto, CA.) 258 feet *NEW WORLD RECORD*
2nd Place – Legendary Flying Machine (Long Beach, CA.) 108 feet
3rd Place – Oakley Factory Pilots (Foothill Ranch, CA.) 60 feet
People’s Choice – Red, White and Brew (Reedley, CA.) 48 feet
MIAMI
1st Place – The Flugtag Flying Dead (Tampa, FL.) 120 feet
2nd Place – Hard Rock Flying Legendary Burger (Orlando, FL.) 57 feet
3rd Place – Team O’Daly’s Mustache Ride (Mobile, Ala.) 69 feet
People’s Choice – Gator Aviators (Gainesville, FL.) 69 feet
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1st Place – Harvest Bureau (New Holland, Penn.) 54 feet
2nd Place – Viking Army (New Jersey) 51 feet
3rd Place – Duck Hunt (Richmond, Va.) 51 feet
People’s Choice – Made in ‘Murica (McGaheysville, Va.) 36 feet
DALLAS
1st Place – Texas Tomcats (Hallsville, Tex.) 72 feet
2nd Place – Ducktape Dynasty (Denton, Tex.) 42 feet
3rd Place – Texas Bull Fighters (Ft. Worth, TX) 36 feet
People’s Choice – Gas Monkey Garage (Dallas, TX) 9 feet
We absolutely CANNOT wait until next year. Hope to see you there!
Photos courtesy Red Bull Content Pool
