Red Bull Flugtag
These are the top 5 Red Bull Flugtag flights of all time
From record distances to ridiculous design concepts, Red Bull Flugtag has brought us a lot of entertainment over the years. Here are five flights that really caught our attention.
When daredevil moxie, imaginative engineering, and sensational theatrics collide, the pilots of Red Bull Flugtag glide!
At the end of September, Ontario will be host to a rowdy roster of gravity deniers set to catapult into the great lake as they battle for the Flugtag crown. To give you a sense of what’s to come, we’ve rounded up five teams from all over the globe — each with their own miraculous combination of brains, wit, creativity, and camaraderie—whose flights (or lack thereof) we just can’t get out of our heads.
01
Flying Rhino - Vienna, Austria (2021)
In 2021, after nine long years apart, Red Bull Flugtag returned to the place where it all began in 1992: Vienna, Austria. This momentous day was elevated by the efforts of 40 resourceful and daring teams; but it’s the winners of the sustainability award we particularly can’t get out of our heads. The apprentices of Zellstoff Pöls began their Flugtag journey as a glorified team-building exercise, and ended with team-leader Thomas Schaffer piloting a rainbow-painted rhinoceros made entirely of elemental chlorine-free bleached softwood sulfate pulp and kraft paper — of which they’re the leading manufacturer in Europe — to the roaring hoots and hollers of thousands. You know what they say, when 100% recyclable rhinos fly, anything can happen.
02
Air Pug - Portland, Oregon (2015)
Absurdity can get you pretty far in this competition. Teams are judged on creativity and showmanship equally to distance traveled, so it’s not uncommon for those who didn’t technically fly the farthest to still achieve substantial glory. This team from Portland, Oregon is our star example: putting absolutely zero eggs in the engineering basket, yet here we are seven years later esteeming their Red Bull Flugtag success. Why? Well, watching a giant pug mounted by a human dive off a pier into the ocean is one of those things that lives in your brain rent-free. The absence of wings, or any attempt at all to keep the pup from instantly plummeting, was, in hindsight, the key to this team’s icon status.
03
iii - Zurich, Switzerland (2016)
Though it’s important not to underestimate the creative and performance elements of Red Bull Flugtag, that’s not to say the many feats of pure ingenious engineering this competition has been host to over the years have flown under our radar. Taking the polar opposite approach to Air Pug, team iii of Baar, Switzerland wowed the crowd gathered at Lake Zurich in 2016 with a flight so straightforward and seamless we almost checked for wires. Their unambiguous aircraft (rather unique in the context of this competition) soared an impressive 55.5 meters across the lake after being catapulted from a giant wheel hurtled to the edge of the pier by the mighty members of the team. Watching it in action, one could only hope the pilot had their passport on them (and a hankering for schnitzel) in case a surprise gust of wind propelled them just a tad further than they hoped.
04
Blank Space - Hong Kong, China (2016)
Returning to Red Bull Flugtag after placing in the top three twice before, our expectations for Blank Space were pretty astronomical. Fortunately, they did not disappoint. Inspired by the 1996 movie “Mars Attacks!,” this intergalactic team constructed a UFO and coordinating get-ups that paid praiseworthy homage to the Tim Burton cult-classic. It was so visually sensational they easily might have fallen in Air Pug’s footsteps; except they also actually managed to fly. Whilst the audience was still trying to take in every incredible detail of their extraterrestrial ensembles, they launched their appointed pilot and spacecraft a dignified 15 meters off the pier. Talk about high achievers!
05
The Chicken Whisperers - California, USA (2013)
Relive the historic flight
Of course, this list couldn’t be complete without mentioning the impressive peep of poultry who smashed the Red Bull Flugtag world record back in 2013; and who have managed to keep it in their claws ever since. Hailing from Palo Alto, California, these five aerospace and mechanical engineers got together in Long Beach to flap their wings, wiggle their tail feathers, and sweep the sky — little did they know, they would also make history. Piloted by Laura Shane, the team’s aircraft soared a whopping 78.64 meters (compared to the previous record of 69.8 meters) with an effortlessness an eagle would envy. Touching down on the Pacific Ocean under the California sun in front of 110, 000 onlookers, The Chicken Whisperers proved once and for all that no chick is too small, and no dream too big, to take flight.