Wacky machines will take flight in Red Bull competition

Sharon Kennedy Wynne, Tampa Bay Times on Nov 5, 2024

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TAMPA, Fla. -- One of the weirdest spectacles in aviation history returns to Tampa for the first time in more than a decade Saturday when the Red Bull Flugtag competition sets loose the imaginations of wacky inventors who dare to create outlandish feats of flight.

The competition is expected to draw more than 100,000 spectators to the Hillsborough River shoreline. There, thrill-seekers will launch one-of-a-kind airships off a 27-foot flight deck constructed at the Tampa Convention Center.

Flugtag (German for flying day) brings out crafts that are powered solely by human strength and launched from the raised platform. They compete to see who can fly the farthest before splash-landing in the water below.

This is the first return of Red Bull Flugtag since 2011. Spectators get in free. Activities start at noon, and the first craft will take flight at 1 p.m. at the convention center, 333 S. Franklin St., Tampa.

“We can’t wait to watch these daring pilots take flight, or maybe more accurately, take a plunge, right outside the Tampa Convention Center,” said Mayor Jane Castor at the event’s announcement.

At the last competition in Tampa, a giant chicken landed face first in the water. A fire truck also took a nose dive, and a red and white mushroom got some air but didn’t make it far. The day was won by Willy Wonka’s Amazing Flying Flugtag Adventure.

A panel of judges will score participants based on distance traveled, creativity of their craft and the showmanship of their 30-second skit before takeoff.