Red Bull's Wacky Flugtag Events Have Begun

In 1991, Dietrich Mateschitz the owner of energy drink maker Red Bull, came up with the rather wacky idea of holding a competition where competitors would attempt to fly a homemade, human-powered flying machine.

The first Flugtag (flight day in German) competition was held in Vienna, Austria in 1991, and was such a roaring success that it has now expanded to 35 countries, ranging from Dubai to Kiev in the Ukraine, which held its first Flugtag on June 19th.

The rules are fairly simple. Anyone can enter the race as long as they can build a 'flying' machine with a maximum wingspan of 30ft. and weight of 450lbs. While the airplane can be of any shape, it has to be powered by muscle, gravity and pure imagination only and, since it does launch off a pier and inevitably ends up in water, it must be unsinkable, made entirely from recycled materials and have not loose parts.

Teams are judged on three criteria - distance, creativity and showmanship. However, since most of these machines are not really equipped to fly, it is the latter two that are the most important. The longest Flugtag flight record set in Austria ten years ago, was a mere 195 ft., or about half of what the Wright brothers were able to do with their first prototype.

As the years have gone by, the contraptions have become wackier and more elaborate. The Kiev competition attracted 39 teams, who used their imaginations to the fullest with their flying machines that ranged from a turtle, to cows dragging a flying cart, a sandal with wings and even a Cuban cigar! To find out if there is a Flugtag event coming to your city, go to redbullflugtagusa.com,

source:wikipedia.org, dailymail.co.uk