The Flying Machines of Flugtag
Since 1992, Red Bull has been organizing Flugtag (“flying day”) events around the world, where participants build and pilot homemade flying machines off a 28-foot-high flight deck above a body of water. Entries are judged for distance, creativity, and showmanship. The aerodynamic qualities of many of the creatively built aircraft are questionable, and most do not so much fly as... plummet. In 2013, the team “The Chicken Whisperers” set a distance record of 258 feet (78.64 meters) in Long Beach, California. Gathered here are images of Flugtag events over the past several years.
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Read moreA participant operates a homemade human-powered flying machine during the Red Bull Flugtag event in the southern Indian city of Bangalore on September 28, 2014. #
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Read moreThe flying machine “How Iconic” takes off from the launch ramp into the water during the Flugtag competition on Sydney Harbour on April 6, 2008. #
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Read more“The True Anglian” flies off a ramp on Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park, London, during the Flugtag competition on June 7, 2008. #
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Read moreParticipants send their aircraft into the water during Flugtag at Hudson River Park in New York City on October 5, 2003. #
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Read moreFormer jockey and television personality Allan Robinson poses before a team briefing during the Red Bull Flugtag held at Mrs. Macquarie’s Point in Sydney, Australia, on April 6, 2008. #
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Read moreThe “Aliens” team competes during Red Bull Flugtag 2010 in Kiev on June 19, 2010. #
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Read moreThe “Ilikeitdirty” Flugtag team, dressed up as the Sasha Baron Cohen character Borat, competes in Stockholm on June 30, 2013. #
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Read moreA flying team falls into water after taking off during the Red Bull Flugtag 2013 in Kiev, Ukraine, on June 2, 2013. #
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Read moreA participant rides his craft during the Flugtag Russia 2013 competition on the outskirts of Moscow on July 28, 2013. #
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Read moreA participant rides in a homemade flying craft during the Red Bull Flugtag event at West Kowloon Heliport in Hong Kong on October 10, 2010. #
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Read moreTeam “Super Squirrel” flies off a ramp in a man-powered aircraft during the longest flight competition on the Serpentine in Hyde Park, London, on August 3, 2003. #
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Read moreCompetitors take part in the Flugtag event in Valparaiso, Chile, on February 8, 2014. #
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Read moreA makeshift aircraft is launched from a platform into the Moskva River during the Flugtag Moscow 2011 competition on August 7, 2011. #
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Read moreAn Israeli man fles towards the water after taking off during the Flugtag 2011 competition in Tel Aviv, Israel, on June 3, 2011. #
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Read moreMembers of the “Enterprise” team send their aircraft off the edge of a pier into the river during Flugtag at Hudson River Park in New York City on October 5, 2003. #
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Read moreA participant operates "Flappy Bird," a self-made flying machine, during the Red Bull Flugtag event near Hong Kong's financial Central district on May 11, 2014. #
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Read moreA participant from the Global Point team from St. Petersburg, during the Flugtag Russia 2013 competition on the outskirts of Moscow, on July 28, 2013. #
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Read moreA pilot falls during the Red Bull Flugtag Russia 2015 competition in Moscow, Russia, on July 26, 2015. #
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Read moreMembers of the team “The Great Red Wingadillo” fall from the launch ramp towards the water during Flugtag on Sydney Harbour on April 6, 2008. #
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Read moreThe “Tchoomak Airlines” team competes during Red Bull Flugtag 2010 in Kiev on June 19, 2010. #
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Read more“Bull-Run” team members launch their makeshift aircraft made in the shape of Buran, the Russian space shuttle, into the Moskva River during the Flugtag Moscow 2009 competition in Moscow on August 9, 2009. #
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Read moreA participant attempts to control a craft during the Flugtag Russia 2015 competition in Moscow, on July 26, 2015. #
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Read moreMembers of the "Flying Duff" send their aircraft off the edge of a pier during Flugtag in New York City on October 5, 2003. #
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Read moreA participant sits in his falling flying machine at the Red Bull Flugtag competition in Hong Kong on October 10, 2010. #
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Read moreThe “Chicken Whisperer” craft soars at National Red Bull Flugtag Long Beach in Long Beach, California, in 2013. It landed in the water 258 feet from the launch platform, breaking the world distance record. #
Carlo Cruz / Pr Newswire / AP
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