Thirty seven of the Midwest’s best hand made aircraft took flight this Saturday at Red Bull’s Flugtag, and St. Paul knows how to go down in the history books. Team Major Trouble and The Dirty Dixies set not just a national record, but a world record distance of 207 ft.
You would think that an event like this could get boring really fast. I mean really a bunch of people run off a big dock, but Red Bull knows how to throw a party and they made the fun last long after the event was over. They reported that more than 90,000 people showed up for their flying day, and to keep them entertained each of the competing groups had to put on a little skit before they pushed their hard work into the Mississippi.
Team Griswald
All of the groups were incredibly creative down to what they were attempting to fly, the names they chose and the show they put on for the crowd. Some of my personal favorites that stand out in my head were The Acme Rockets, with their road runner and coyote outfits, Team Griswold, who got their National Lampoons Vacation station wagon detailed down to the luggage and the Platypi Pushers, who’s platypus fell apart before it even had a chance to try and fly, but they were determined to send it off into the water no matter what.
The day was a total success and it was a load of fun. I’m looking forward to catching it next year, no matter what city it is being held in.
And the winning team is from Inver Grove Heights!