Flights of fanciful fun - PICS

Published Dec 10, 2012

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The V&A Waterfront was packed with revellers who came to watch teams channel their inner Wright Brothers at the Redbull Flugtag.

The fun event in Cape Town on Sunday was a chance for self-accredited pilots who had spent months building their fantastic flying machines to show off how far they could fly.

Forty-two teams launched themselves off a short runway in front of thousands of spectators.

Each team had dreams of breaking the world record and predicted that their craft would soar over 100m.

As it turned out, some glided, others soared, and some quickly belly-flopped into the cold water.

A pink fixed wing craft with puckered lips attached to its front was slowly dragged down the runway. Creeping off the edge, it landed with a bang in the water, setting the record for the shortest launch of the day, managing only 3.5m.

A red bird-like creation, built by the Red Flamingoes, soared off the end of the runway for some distance before its beak dipped into the water and it crashed with a splash. The crowd loved every second of it, cheering and shouting encouragement.

Even a Mexican wave was seen crashing through the audience.

Radio personalities Elana Afrika and Sias du Plessis were the hosts, while the judges included radio personality Ryan O’Connor, Olympians Khotso Mokoena and Bridget Hartley and founder of 2oceansvibe Media Seth Rotherham.

Cape Argus

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