That Australia’s fauna is different from the rest of the world is well known. But the population of Sydney was also in the dark about flying flounders and man-sized butterflies – something they experienced at Red Bull Flugtag for the first time.
Australian engineering bestowed us with the freezer (developed in 1852 by James Harrison) as well as paper made from kangaroo dung (yet to completely catch on). But the craftspeople Down Under are capable of very different flights of fancy – literally – when it comes to competency in problem solving. They proved this at Australia’s first ever Red Bull Flugtag on April 6.Pizzas and a WWII bomber
Thirty-five participating teams got closer to realizing the age-old human dream of flying at Sydney’s Mrs Macquarie’s Point with highly different concepts – and with as much varying success. In front of the eyes of 60,000 spectators, a gigantic slice of pizza (with extra cheese), a papier-mâché fighter plane, a Lego double decker, and a time machine took to the air. A six meter high platform erected opposite the Botanical Garden provided the necessary launch pad for these more or less successful sailing flights.
Fully fledged from the start
The longest distance was flown by a construction made by the team Sam Becomes a Man with an elongated glide of 18.2 meters. But the overall victory awarded by the panel – which included Australia’s Tourism minister Hon. Matthew Brown, Big Wave legend Ross Clarke-Jones and ‘Last Man Standing’ TV star Travis McMahon – went to Roland Kenway’s flying flounder. The fish was so eager to perform that it almost took to the air on the way to the event while being transported in an open truck. Kenway explains: “It wanted to take off while we were on the road and we ended up driving at 35 km/h for four hours!”
Team 'The Great Red Wingadillo'
Red Bull Flugtag Australia
Team 'How Iconic!'