Red Bull Flugtag Goes to Record Heights

Over 90,000 people witnessed team Major Trouble and the Dirty Dixies soar into victory and the record books when they flew 207 feet at Red Bull Flugtag Twin Cities, Saturday. This historic flight smashed the previous Red Bull Flugtag world record of 195 feet, which had held strong for more than 10 years.

“Minnesota is known for setting records so we just added another one to the already long list,” stated Major Trouble and the Dirty Dixies’ Jason Franke. “It took a lot of effort and hard work to get the job done, but we had a lot of fun. This was a solid event and the experience was even better than we expected.”

For achieving this feat, the team will receive an excursion aboard an exclusive amphibious plane…the Red Bull Albatross, informs Red Bull.

While Major Trouble and the Dirty Dixies took home the first place prize, they were not the only ones who earned a pair of wings this weekend. The Spooners and Team Griswold won the judges over with their one-of-a-kind flying machines and impressive moves on the flight deck.

However, Red Bull believes, the hearts of the crowd went to Zorbaz Flying Food Zquadron who took home the People’s Choice Award with the most text votes.

Red Bull Flugtag, which means “flying day” in German, is a competition that dares both the brave and the brainy to design, build and pilot homemade flying machines off a 30-foot high ramp in hopes of achieving human-powered flight.

This is no ordinary flying competition. Distance is important, of course, but teams need both creativity and showmanship to impress the judges. These criteria inspired such teams as Favre’s Wingmen, The Peanuts Gang, Chicks-on-a-Stick and The Bathroom Five who also took to the skies along with a 20-foot mosquito, a tower of bacon, and even an oversized narwhal.

This show is just the second stop for Red Bull Flugtag in the U.S. this year. Next up… Long Beach, California, on August 21 followed by Philadelphia on September 4.

Red Bull Flugtag Twin Cities will also be featured in a reality series called “On the Wings of Glory” airing Sundays after baseball starting September 5th on FOX Sports Networks.

Since the first Red Bull Flugtag took place in Vienna, Austria, in 1991, more than 80 Flugtags have been held around the globe, attracting up to 300,000 spectators for a single event.

Before the Saturday event, the record for the farthest flight stood at 195 feet and was set at Red Bull Flugtag Austria in 2000, but now the U.S. holds the record, all because of a team named Major Trouble and the Dirty Dixies from a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota who proved flight truly can be human-powered.

While the sky may be the limit on creativity, there are still a few flight regulations. First off, all flying machines must be entirely human-powered (no external energy sources or stored power).

Second, all crafts must be less than 30 feet wide and must weigh no more than 450lbs (including the pilot).