Long Beach has been the venue for some astonishing gravity-defying acts, such as the only flight of Howard Hughes’ HK-1 “Spruce Goose” and Travis Pastrana’s New Year’s Eve flight across the harbour in a Subaru rally car. On Saturday it was the turn of 34 teams as they attempted to fly their homemade, human-powered aircraft off a nine metre (30ft) flight deck and over Rainbow Harbour.
The event literally brought the city to a standstill as more than 105,000 spectators descended on the city to cheer on the teams. The crowd was so enormous that the exit ramp off the freeway had to be closed, all parking garages were at capacity and downtown traffic was gridlocked. But the thousands of fans were rewarded by the spectacle of human flight.
Girl power ruled the day as team Peepin’ it Real floated into first place with a flight distance of 98 feet. The all-female team from Newport Beach, who are students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UCLA, beat teams comprised of mechanical and aerospace engineers, U.S. Navy rescue divers and The Coast Guard.
Team pilot Corinne Schnieders admitted: “This was probably the most fun I’ve ever had. My flight was much smoother than I’d imagined. I just floated down and landed like a marshmallow."
“It was peeptastic!” added team-mate Suzy Strutner. For claiming first place, the women will be heading to Arizona for a flight with Red Bull Air Race World Champion Kirby Chambliss at his Flying Crown Ranch.
In second place was eco-friendly team Green Machine from Las Vegas, and in third was team Airforce One, who sailed into the harbour on an eight-foot tall paper maché head modelled after President Barack Obama. The coveted People’s Choice Award went to Green Army Men, who, despite the heat, stayed in their eye-catching head-to-toe green army men costumes the entire day.
'This was amazing! We got a ton of people to show up and there were some really great crashes' – Ryan Sheckler
Red Bull Flugtag, which means “flying day” in German, is a competition that dares both the brave and the brainy to design, build and pilot homemade flying machines off a 30-foot high ramp in hopes of achieving human-powered flight. While the teams let their imaginations soar, there were still a few rules in the sky. First off, all flying machines had to be entirely human-powered (no external energy sources or stored power). And, no matter what they say, size does matter, as all crafts had to weigh no more than 450 lbs (including the pilot).
While distance was definitely important, the crafts were also judged on two other criteria –creativity and showmanship – by a panel of celebrity judges including actor Cheech Marin, Dave “The King of Mexico” Sanchez from KROQ’s The Kevin and Bean Show, actress Nicole Sullivan, professional skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and “The Bachelor Pad” reality star Tenley Molzahn.
Sheckler, who opened the event by launching himself off the flight deck on his skateboard, said: “This was amazing! We got a ton of people to show up and there were some really great crashes.” Cheech Marin said simply: “Red Bull Flugtag. Is. Good.”
The first Red Bull Flugtag was held in Vienna in 1991. Since then, more than 80 Red Bull Flugtags have been held around the world – from London to San Francisco – attracting up to 300,000 spectators at one event! The international flight distance record now stands at 207 feet and was just set in Minneapolis/St. Paul on July 24, 2010, after having stood for eight years!
Red Bull Flugtag is making its final US stop of the year in Philadelphia on September 4.
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