Life in the Fast Lane

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Leonardo da Vinci, The Wright Brothers, and Charles Lindbergh — all famous figures in Aerodynamics that share nearly nothing in common with Red Bull Flugtag — an event where today’s creative geniuses dressed in whacky costumes strap themselves to equally outrageous home-made, human-powered flying machines and take a running launch off a 30-foot pier. Question is, do any of these crazy contraptions ever actually fly?

Snoopy’s Revenge. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

German for “flying day,” Flugtag will hit the Canadian skies, and its waters, on August 3rd 2008 over Ottawa-Gatineau’s historic Rideau Canal — only the second time Flugtag will be splashing Canada — and they’re looking for applicants!

Past crafts have included a pimped-out Cadillac, steaming Poutine from Montreal, a flying lobster from the Maritimes, a freshly rolled Sushi Gone Wild, and even a hatching Egg Man.

Red Bull Baron. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

. Pirates of Lost Creek. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Man’s Historical Achievements in Flight

1480’s — Leonardo da Vinci Studies of Manned Flight – making the first real studies of flight, accumulating more than 100 drawings that illustrated his theories of flight.
Notable Craft — The Ornithopter

1799 to 1850’s — George Cayley’s Early Gliders – in his work to discover a way for man to take to the air, designs various gliders.
Notable Achievement — Shaping Wings to Allow Air Correct Air Flow

19th Century Efforts – German Engineer Otto Lilienthal continues to evolve glider theories and the first person to design one that could fly a person for long distances. His book on Aerodynamics published in 1889 was the text used by the Wright Brothers as the basis for their flying machines.
Notable Achievement — Surviving more than 2,500 flights before succumbing to gravity.

1903 — The Wright Brothers 1st Flight – After years of study and learning about the early discoveries in flight, the Wright Brothers regularly took to the air in gliders, much like Cayley. Their work with gliders focused on control for their powered experiments.
Notable Achievement — The first heavier-than-air flight of 120 feet (36.5 meters) at Kitty Hawk.

1991 — The First Flugtag — The first Red Bull Flugtag event took place in Vienna, Austria, in 1991. Since then, over 35 Flugtag events have been held across the planet — from Ireland to Dubai — attracting up to 250,000 spectators. The record for the furthest flight to date currently stands at 195 feet (59.4 meters) set in 2000 at Flugtag Austria. In 2006, Vancouver’s Big Shooter flying machine won the first ever Canadian Flugtag held in False Creek setting the North American record at the time of 86 feet (26.2 meters).

The concept of Red Bull Flugtag was the brainchild of Dietrich Mateschitz, the owner of Red Bull.

Butterfly. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Hatching Egg Man. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Hatching Egg Man. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Suicide Blond. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Suicide Blond. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Air Guitar. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Air Hockey. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Big Shooter. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Chariots of Flyer. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Poutine Wagon. Photo Red Bull Flugtag

Poutine Wagon

Poutine Wagon

Poutine Wagon

Poutine Wagon

Red Bull Flugtag 2008

Red Bull Flugtag 2006 Locarno Elipoma 3

Red Bull Flugtag Best of 2006

Red Bull Vancouver Flugtag 2006

Prizes:

1st Prize – A pilot’s training course, or cash equivalent ($7500) to get you flying for real.
2nd Prize – A skydiving adventure, or cash equivalent. ($3000)
3rd Prize – A paragliding adventure, or cash equivalent. ($1500)
People’s Choice – This prize will be evolving and growing up to the event. When the prize is ready to be awarded it will emerge from its cocoon to spread wings and soar over the crowd.

Flugtag Flying Pig machine

Flugtag Flying Pig machine

Flugtag Flying Pig machine

Flugtag Flying Pig machine

Enter the Competition
Think you have what it takes to secure a spot in the Flugtag history books? Apply to fly today by downloading the application and send Red Bull Flugtag your sketch postmarked by May 30, 2008 to:

Flugtag Ground Control
Red Bull Canada
381 Queen Street West, Suite 200
Toronto, ON M5V 2A5

For more information, contact them at groundcontrol@redbullflugtag.ca or call 1-877-FLUGTAG (3584824).

The Rub on Rules
• Teams are judged on 3 criteria — distance, creativity and showmanship. What constitutes a craft is purely up to the imagination of the participating teams.

• Bribes will not be considered or returned, but the more creative, wild, shocking and unique the better.

• All crafts must be entirely human-powered and self-constructed — no catapults, slingshots, or stored energy — stick to push, pull, and pedal. Competitors will be judged on creativity, imagination and of course, flying potential. As a wise man once said, “It’s not whether they love you or hate you, it’s whether they remember your name.”

• Your contraption must be less than 29.55 feet (9 meters) wide and 440 pounds (200 kilos) — flying machine and the pilot combined. The recovery crew tends to drown if you make these things too gigantic or heavy.

• No loose parts are allowed on the flying machine and all components must float. Because the aircraft will ultimately end up in the water, it must be unsinkable and constructed entirely of environmentally friendly materials.

• You must also be masters of the water, being able to swim unassisted to a distance of 328 feet (100 meters). Safety first — all team members must wear a life jacket and helmet provided by Red Bull.

• A total of up to 5 people can be on a team — 1 pilot and 4 ground crew (pushers). Only the pilot may be in the craft at time of launch and must be 18 years of age or older. Those younger may still participate as a ground crew member.

Judging Criteria

Distance – obviously, the further the better. This is, after all, a flying contest. Yes, it’s funny when you drop like a stone into the water, and judges may laugh and cheer, but they won’t even give you a half point for that.

Creativity – the art of flying is very important, specifically the art part. Wanted are outrageous, crazy, ingenius flying machines.

Showmanship – think Don Cherry’s suits and hockey commentary, or Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction — or perhaps not. There’s no fine print, but whatever you think of, make sure judges can’t forget your launch routine.

Spaces are limited, so register early. If you’ve been accepted to compete, you’ll receive confirmation by June 13, 2008. If not, they’ll let you know shortly afterwards.

The Red Bull Flugtag USA events have been scheduled for 2008 — Saturday, July 19, 2008, Flugtag will be held in Tampa Bay, Florida. On Saturday, August 2, 2008, Flugtag will return to Portland, Oregon. On Saturday, September 6, 2008, Flugtag competitors will take to the skies in Chicago, Illinois.

Haven’t had enough of Flutag Flying Contraptions?

Red Bull Flugtag Nashville 2007

Red Bull Flugtag Cleveland

Red Bull Flugtag San Francisco

Red Bull Flugtag Los Angelos

Red Bull Flugtag Chicago

Red Bull Flugtag Miami

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Daredevil Paragliding Chihuahua Survives Crash

Tags:bizarre Canada contraptions flying human powered humor Machines odd Red Bull Flugtag unusual

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