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Flugtag a flying success

DUBAI — The Burj Al Arab, a giant Obelix, a Pink Panther, Darth Vadar all lined the runway at Dubai Creek Park yesterday one by one as they attempted to soar above the water for Dubai’s second Red Bull Flugtag.

To the crowd’s delight, most of the 30 flying machines participating made a spectacular plunge into the water, nose first, pilot first or even a plane back flip.

Some creations had the added benefit of serving as flotation devices but most smashed and disintegrated on entry with their crew bomb-diving in after.

In case you weren’t among the 52,458 lining the sides of Dubai Creek yesterday, the spectacle that could have been mistaken for a Looney Tunes show was in fact the Red Bull Flugtag — where aviation ingenuity, creativity and entertainment are combined by teams of five with their themed home-made, engine-less aircraft.

Soaring along the Dubai Creek for 24m, The Fantastic Five broke the Dubai distance record of 21m but were beaten on creativity by Snoopy vs Red Bull who took away first prize.

With an amusing show of competing characters Snoopy and Red Bull in their one-minute display for the crowd before take-off, the team got the judges, including Freej cartoonist Mohammad Saeed Hareb, Dubai Eye radio presenter Siobhan Leyden and Belgium’s Moto X World Champion George Robe, and the crowd on their side.

But it was also a Dubai record matching flight at 21m.

Judged by the three criteria, creativity, distance and pre-flight performance, Snoopy vs Red Bull took away first prize with a score of 168.5.

The team was made up of teachers from the Abu Dhabi Aviation College and put their win down to teamwork.

Meanwhile their students — comprising the team UAE Aviators — also put in a fine effort, and the pilot Mohammed Al Marzouqi even took one for the team, suffering a slight cut to his nose upon plunging into the creek.

But safety teams and boats were on hand at all times to ensure nobody was hurt and Al Marzouqi certainly wasn’t deterred.

“I’m very happy,” he said with a broad grin.

“We’ll go back to college very happy.”

But it was Airplix with their giant Obelix that got the crowd on their side with a creative flying craft and energy to match that saw them pick up the prize for most creative.

The crowd support was probably helped along after the team handed out 2000 bandanas according to self-described “slave” of the team Fabrice Laborie who also sported an impressive moustache and Viking helmet inspired by Obelix.

“Today was wonderful, unbelievable,” he said.

“We worked almost every weekend putting it together — about 300 hours.”

But the team clearly loved every minute as they bounced around the runway cheering their win.

“We’ve already submitted our design for next Flugtag,” he said.

“It’s a very big secret.”

The event, staged under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, saw the winners pick up a range of prizes including skydiving tours. The top prize was flying lessons.

Many of the teams professed they were already planning their designs to take part next year and no doubt a happy crowd are counting down until the third Red Bull Flugtag.