Red Bull Flug II.mov

105,000 SPECTATORS CROWD INTO LONG BEACH FOR RED BULL FLUGTAG
Girl Power Reigns as Peepin' it Real floats into First Place with a flight of 98 feet


Los Angeles, CA -- August 21, 2010 -- Red Bull Flugtag brought many things to Long Beach today: the Spruce Goose, the Jetsons, the Flintstones and more than 105,000 spectators. The crowd was so enormous that the 710 freeway's exit ramp to the area was closed, all parking garages were at capacity and traffic was gridlocked throughout the downtown area. The hundreds of thousands that secured a spot were rewarded with the spectacle of human flight as 34 teams launched their crafts off a 30-foot flight deck in an attempt to defy gravity.

Girl power ruled the day as team Peepin' it Real floated into first place with a flight distance of 98 feet. The all-female team from Newport Beach, who are students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UCLA, beat out teams comprised of mechanical and aerospace engineers, U.S. Navy rescue divers and The Coast Guard. Team pilot Corinne Schnieders admitted that "This was probably the most fun I've ever had. My flight was much smoother than I'd imagined. I just floated down and landed like a marshmallow." "It was peeptastic!" added teammate Suzy Strutner. For claiming first place, team Peepin' it Real will be headed to Arizona for a flight with Red Bull Air Race World Champion, Kirby Chambliss, at his "Flying Crown Ranch." In second place was eco-friendly team Green Machine from Las Vegas, and in third was team Airforce One, who sailed into the harbor on an 8-foot tall paper mache head modeled after President Obama. The coveted People's Choice Award went to Green Army Men, who, despite the heat, stayed in their eye-catching head-to-toe green army men costumes the entire day.

Red Bull Flugtag, which means "flying day" in German, is a competition that dares both the brave and the brainy to design, build and pilot homemade flying machines off a 30-foot high ramp in hopes of achieving human-powered flight. While distance was definitely important, the crafts were also judged on two other criteria --creativity and showmanship -- by a panel of celebrity judges including actor Cheech Marin, Dave "The King of Mexico" Sanchez from KROQ's The Kevin and Bean Show, actress Nicole Sullivan, professional skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and "The Bachelor Pad" reality star Tenley Molzahn. Sheckler, who opened the event by launching himself off the flight deck on his skateboard, said, "This was amazing! We got a ton of people to show up and there were some really great crashes." Cheech Marin said simply, "Red Bull Flugtag. Is. Good."

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