Other teams weren't in it for the learning experience; they were there to have a good time. Almost Heaven, a group of whitewater rafting guides from Morgantown, West Virginia, decided to enter their craft, appropriately called the Firkin Flyer, after a night of drinking. Their craft was designed to look like a firkin barrel used to make mead. "To come up with the design, it only took us a night's worth of drinking," revealed pilot Jake Powers. "To build it took us about a week's worth of drinking. We come up with some good ideas when we're drunk."
Another team, Retro References, came up with a design that was uniquely Baltimore. Their craft, the Beehive Bomber, resembled a beehive hairdo with retro glasses in honor of legendary Baltimore filmmaker John Waters. "Basically, we are all native Baltimorons. We just love John Waters," said team member Erica Meadows, a drag queen who performs at the Hippo on Charles Street. "We're inspired by big hair, beehives." Meadows agreed to enter the competition after a friend forwarded a message team pilot Amy Barrett posted on Craigslist looking for teammates. Meadows signed on because "I love doing unique and different things." Before launching off the flight deck, the Retro References declared their craft "the biggest hair in Baltimore, hun." The Beehive Bomber, while perhaps the most stylish craft, wasn't the most aerodynamic. It traveled just 42 feet before landing in the water. Big hair does not get big air. Other teams crafts didn't even make it that far. The members of Have Feather, Will Fly met with tragedy when their Dumbo craft got caught on the edge of the ramp and ending up hanging above the water. However, since the distance the pilot travels, not the distance of the craft itself, is what is officially recorded, the team was credited with traveling six feet. It was pretty much impossible to guess which teams or which crafts would be successful. Teams like Comeback Kids and Bulgarian team Bugging the Competition were derailed by wind. Others, like the New Freedom, Pennsylvania's Chicks Dig The Long Ball and the Fredericksburg, Virgina Funky Family's Intergalactic Funk Brigade UFO unraveled before even making it off the flight deck. Some crafts exceeded expectations, like the fire department from Flushing, New York's craft, F-10-75, which was shaped like a giant fireman's helmet. The helmet, perhaps fueled by the patriotism from the crowd, traveled an impressive 75 feet, just three feet shy of the distance record set in Cleveland. In the end, the team that made it the farthest was Petersburg, New York team, Better Than a Poke in the Eye, and their craft Victims of Soi-cumstance. The team, which was paying tribute to The Three Stooges, actually received loud boos from the audience while doing their less-than-impressive pre-flight shtick. But, they quickly turned the tide when their craft traveled 81 feet, setting a new U.S. distance record and helping the team to finish first overall in the competition. "I knew it was going to fly well," said team member Dave "The Rookie" Gauthier as the team celebrated after the event. "I just didn't know how far." The Wright brothers could have said the same thing on that fateful December day back in 1903.
Written by Joel Murphy, October 2006. Photos by Brian Murphy. For more information on Red Bull Flugtag, visit their official site.
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