Motley assortment will take off at Red Bull Flugtag on Saturday …
Free event in Long Beach
Excerpt found on www.presstelegram.com
LONG BEACH – What do a giant marshmallow Peep, a huge sombrero and a model of Chuck Norris’ head have in common? They will all be piloted in hopes of taking flight at the Red Bull Flugtag in Rainbow Harbor Saturday.
The whimsical event challenges 35 teams to fly themed homemade gliders off a 30-foot ramp and soar as far as possible before plunging into the water below. Organizers expect up to 70,000 spectators at the flugtag – German for "flying day" – the first of its kind in Long Beach.
Bellflower resident Bill Bald will pilot a giant President Obama head with the ears as wings. Bald said that when the Red Bull Flugtag came to Santa Monica in 2003, he was enthralled. So when he found out the West Coast Flugtag would be in Long Beach this year, he and his friends became Team Air Force One.
Their craft cost nearly $1,700 and took three months to build. Bald said they worked down to the wire – until 4 a.m. Friday – to get the Obama-mobile prepped for flight.
"I’m not actually too nervous about flying it," said Bald, a train-loading supervisor. "I am a little nervous about wearing a dress all day in front of thousands of people, but I’ll have a mask on, so I think that will help."
Since its inception in Vienna, Austria, in 1991, the Red Bull Flugtag has drawn up to 300,000 spectators to 35 wacky events worldwide. The Long Beach event is second in a series of four this summer; Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Miami are the other host cities.
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 2:21 AM
Motley assortment will take off at Red Bull Flugtag on Saturday ……
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