Tag: Flugtag history

Flugtag, Chicago, went down (literally) on Saturday, September 21 at Burnham Park on South Lakeshore Drive. Flugtag means “flight day.” The winner of the Chicago competition, Chicago Duck Hunt, flew only 39 feet, while, in Long Beach, California (one of 5 cities hosting simultaneous competitions) during their Flugtag competition today, the winning entry, the Chicken Whisperers, flew 258 feet, setting a new record.

I spoke with the captain of the Purdue team, Chris Yamamoto, who is not only a graduate student in aeronautical engineering at Purdue, but has taken part in the competition since 2010. Chris said it took the Purdue group about four months to build their plane, billed as the World’s Largest Flying Drum. He said this year he had invested $750 in the plane, but last year invested $1800.

Chris said that the Red Bull Flugtag teams are to be of five members. [His Purdue team has 8 members, but Red Bull, the sponsor of the competition, only recognizes 5.] Another Big Ten team was in the competition from Nebraska and teams from Omaha and Iowa were also on the list. On Yamamoto’s team were 2 female engineers (one with a job at Starbucks after she completes her senior year) and Purdue engineering graduate Ben Kuttesch. Yamamoto, in addition to being an aeronautical engineer, also holds a pilot’s license. He was to be the only team member actually going into the water with the craft. Among other groups, besides engineers, competing, there were planes built by firefighters and dentists.

“Flugtag,” Burnham Park, Chicago, IL, September 21, 2013.

The competition in Burnham Park on South Lakeshore Drive drew over 65,000 spectators, all attending for free and enjoying the sight of colorful planes dropping into the drink (i.e., Lake Michigan.) In Miami, over 85,000 were said to have attended the competition, but the record for attendance is 220,000 in Cape Town, South Africa in 2012. Yamamoto said the World Record for Flugtag, which traditionally has been held in various European cities, was a World Record flight distance of 290 feet and 209 feet in the U.S., flying off a thirty foot high launching platform.
The competition was held simultaneously in 5 U.S. cities this year: Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Miami, Florida; Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas; and Long Beach, California.

Winners of the Chicago competition, besides the Chicago Duck Hunt were (second place) The Bamzonies. The People’s Choice award, voted on online, went to a Chicago team, HellonWheels.

Selsey a seaside town in the south of England, created the competition, under the name “Birdman Ralley” in 1971. The first Red Bull Flugtag competition was held in 1992 in Vienna, Austria. It was such a success that it has been held in over 35 cities worldwide every year since.

To participate, each team must submit an application and their flying craft must meet the criteria set forth by the sponsor Red Bull, which varies by location. In the USA each flying machine must have a maximum wingspan of 30 feet (9.14 m) and a maximum weight (including pilot) of 450 lbs. (204 kg). Australian Flugtags are limited to a wingspan of 26.25 feet (8.0 m) and a weight (NOT including pilot) of 396.8 lb (180.0 kg).[3] The craft must be powered by muscle, gravity, and imagination.

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Another entry in Chicago’s “Flugtag” competition.

It may not have any loose parts and advertising space is limited to 1-square-foot (0.093 m2).