Contest wings its way back to S.F.
A competitor plunges into McCovey Cove as the wacky human-powered flying competition Red Bull Flugtag returned to San Francisco on Saturday after a nine-year drought. Flugtag — “flying day” in German — does have a few rules. The “machines” have to be powered only by humans and be within certain dimensions and weight. Oh, and they’re supposed to fly.
When Nicolas Pittman saw the U.S. debut of the Red Bull Flugtag competition in San Francisco 10 years ago, he dreamed of taking part in possibly the weirdest humanpowered aircraft competition in the world.
His dream took shape in the form of a large black dragon with flapping wings. Dressed as the Smurfs’ evil wizard Gargamel,
“We know for a fact we will fly 30 feet because the deck is 30 feet high.”
Charlie Mann, of San Jose, describing himself and his team’s “Black and White Take Flight” craft, a giant penguin sitting on an ice cube
the 31-year-old Pittman, an industrial engineer from Fresno, prepared to launch himself and his craft off a 30foot ramp into San Francisco’s McCovey Cove Saturday afternoon.
Embodying the spirit of Flugtag, Pittman and his band of Smurfettes — Drachen Der Farfeg Fluggen — joined 33 other teams taking part in what looks to have happened when a science fair collided with a wacky street festival and then someone hopped up on Red Bull decided it was a good idea to see if the resulting creation can take flight.
Since the first Red Bull Flugtag competition took place in Vienna, Austria, in 1991, more than 100 Flugtags have taken place throughout the world. The event made its U.S. debut in San Francisco in 2002 and was held here the following year,
but finally returned Saturday after a nine-year drought.
While lawlessness appears to prevail, Flugtag — “flying day” in German — does have a few rules. The flying “machines” have to be human-powered with no external or stored energy sources, and they must be less than 30 feet wide and weigh no more than 450 pounds. Oh, and they’re supposed to fly.
But flying isn’t exactly the goal.
Charlie Mann, of San Jose, described himself and his team of penguins in “Black & White Take Flight” as “experienced in flying things that aren’t supposed to fly.”
Unflyable objects
The team’s craft, a giant penguin sitting on an ice cube, is a follow-up entry to the group’s Flugtag 2010 Long Beach entry of a rock accompanied by cave men. Whether this year’s idea will fly farther than the rock, Mann was unsure.
“We know for a fact we will fly 30 feet because the deck is 30 feet high,” he said.
Also in the category of unflyable objects, a Bay Area team inspired by the Winnebago accident of the group’s pilot entered “Hydro-Bago” — a “flying” Winnebago complete with a lawn-chair launching pad and a for-sale sign ($3 bills only).
The pilot, Andy De Mars, 39, of Santa Clara, happens to be a professional skydiver. He admitted that while he may not have a fear of flying, “I have a fear of crashing.”
Other creative crafts included a fairly realistic head of R. Kelley attached to a flying machine that was inspired by the singer’s hit “I Believe I Can Fly,” a haunted house created and piloted by real-life Ghostbusters from Southern California who run their own demon extermination service and a chicken-and-egg team named “The Age Old Question.”
Possibly the most heartwarming team, “Flying Fuego,” involved the father-daughter pair of Alina and Mario Martinez of San Francisco. They planned to launch into flight, with 23-year-old Alina at the helm, an aerodynamic version of their favorite condiment: hot sauce.
Decade of hope
For the Martinez family, Saturday’s event was the culmination of a decade of hope.
They wanted to enter since they first saw the competition in San Francisco 10 years ago, but their entry the following year didn’t make the cut. This may be why: “We came up with the concept of a flying toilet,” Alina Martinez said. “I was the crap.”
Amid all the glitz and homemade gizmotry, one entry did stand out.
Agroup of UC Santa Cruz students forming the team, “When Slugs Fly,” managed to cobble together a banana sluginspired craft built from a shopping cart they borrowed from a homeless man, a parachute they found in the trees and some PVC pipes. But can it fly? “Everyone knows no one can get as high as Santa Cruz,” quipped team member Alon Rogenstein, 22.