Prepare for takeoff (maybe).
Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
South Florida’s most gloriously questionable aircraft are cleared for takeoff.
Red Bull Flugtag will return to Miami on Saturday, Oct. 31, marking the city’s first time hosting the airborne spectacle in over a decade. The free event will send 30 homemade flying machines sailing, sputtering and almost certainly splashing into Biscayne Bay from a 30-foot flight deck at Bayfront Park.
“Flugtag” means “flying day” in German, though these creations tend to spend considerably more time falling than flying. Teams of everyday daredevils design and build human-powered aircraft with no engines, motors or external power sources. Each craft gets a running launch before gravity delivers its highly entertaining verdict.
Organizers are accepting applications through Friday, Aug. 21, and Broward builders are absolutely eligible to take their shot. Teams may include up to five people, including one pilot who must be at least 18. Crafts cannot exceed 22 feet in width or weigh over 400 pounds with the pilot aboard. Prefabricated creations will not fly with the rulebook, either.
Competitors will be judged by local and national celebrity judges on craft design, flight distance and showmanship, including costumes and a preflight skit. With the event landing on Halloween, expect ambitious costumes, ridiculous themes and many contraptions whose aerodynamic credentials are highly suspect.
Red Bull held its first Flugtag in Vienna in 1992 and has since staged over 100 editions around the world. The U.S. debut occurred in San Francisco in 2002, while the world distance record was set in Long Beach in 2013 with a 258-foot flight.
The Bayfront Park show site opens on Halloween at 11 a.m., opening ceremonies begin at noon and the final flight is expected around 3:30 p.m., followed by awards. Admission is free.
To apply or garner additional event details, visit re
