Flugtag! Red Bull gives you wings?

S u n d a y , A u g u s t 3, 2 0 0 8

Flugtag (floog-tag) German, noun 1. Flying Day 2. A human powered attempt at flight



August 2nd, 2008 marked the return of Redbull's Flugtag to Portland's Tom McCall Waterfront park, where 80,000+ spectators experienced this "flying day." The B.O.P. team was in attendance to see the 31 different "Flying Crafts" with everything from planes, to grenades, to take out Chinese food boxes. The rules were simple: it must be human powered, weigh less than 450 lbs including the pilot, and be less than 30 ft. wide.



You gotta love the Boy Scout's giant Big Wheel which turned out to be the longest flight of the day @ 62 ft. However, it was no where close to the overall record of 195 ft. set in Austria or the US record of 155 ft. set in Nashville. My favorite of the event were the Lego's as they invoked past memories of countless days of childhood.





The best part was watching to see if the crafts actually flew or just crashed recklessly into the mucky waters of the Willamette. Anybody with a decent understanding of aeronautics could find it hilarious to see what some people thought would fly!

And some just went for fun with no actual effort at flight!



The longest flight of the day at 62 ft.



The 2nd longest flight of the day.



The crashes really were the best part . . . check out this roller derby pilot's nose dive . . . hilarious, Ouch!



Worst crash of the day . . .Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200, go directly to the medical tent, after getting a face full of the dash board and Willamette.





Lego's Rule!


-Cam