‘To Infinity and the Pond’ Wins Flugtag Event

July 29, 2011—“To infinity and beyond!” Buzz Lightyear spoke those infamous words in the movie Toy Story in 1995 But a full-size Buzz didn’t get that far at Leeds this last weekend. However, he did get far enough to win the Red Bull Flugtag 2011 competition there. Thanks to their Toy Story costumes, To Infinity and the Pond scored an impressive 39 out of 40 points for creativity, giving team members Jonny Heath, Keith Perigo, and Tim Heath, as well as captain Jonny Heath, the top score in the competition. “Come on Kes” scooped the glory for the furthest flight, and took second place overall. “My Whippy and His Team of Toppings” took third place. Red Bull Flugtag challenges the brave and brainy to design, build and pilot home-made flying machines off a 30-foot high flight deck in hopes of soaring into the wild blue yonder…or more often, plunging into the waters below. More than 15,000 people stood in the rain in Leeds’ Roundhay Park to watch the 34 teams launch their homemade flying machines into the lake to see how far they could fly. It was the first Flugtag competition in the UK since 2008. Flugtag, which means “flying day” in German, pushes the envelope of human-powered flight, but competitors need more than airtime to reach the podium. Teams are judged on three criteria: flight distance, creativity of the craft, and showmanship. Throughout the years, the criteria has inspired flying tacos, prehistoric pterodactyls, Winnebago’s with wings and even Snoopy and the gang to grace the Flugtag flight decks. Since the first Red Bull Flugtag took place in Vienna, Austria, in 1991, almost 100 Red Bull Flugtags have been held around the globe, attracting up to 300,000 spectators for a single event. The next Red Bull Flugtag competition will occur on October 8 in Tampa, Florida. The deadline to enter the competition is August 1, 2011. Click for more information on the USA competition here.

“To Infinity and the Pond” took top honors at the Flugtag 2011 competition in Leeds on Sunday, July 17, 2011. Photo credit: Red Bull Flugtag Taking second-place honors with the longest flight was “Come on Kes.” Photo credit: Red Bull Flugtag The winners stand on the podium. Photo credit: Red Bull Flugtag

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