Thousands defied a suffocating heatwave to witness the launch of home-made, often quirky aircraft over Lyon's rivers, as Redbull's flagship competition Flugtag took place in the French city on Sunday.
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Thousands defied a suffocating heatwave to witness the launch of home-made, often quirky aircraft over Lyon's rivers, as Redbull's flagship competition Flugtag took place in the French city on Sunday.
"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," the energy drink company explains on its website.
Criteria include flight distance, creativity of the craft, and showmanship, Red Bull says.
"This criteria has inspired flying tacos, prehistoric pterodactyls and even a giant hamburger to grace the Red Bull Flugtag flight decks!"
Team #2.0, which modelled its aircraft on a smartphone (see picture below) came number 1 in the Lyon contest.
It was followed by Steamy Boogie, which won the second spot with its vintage aircraft and assorted costumes.
36 teams in total took part in the competition, which took place in the neighbourhood of Confluences -- where Euronews is based -- at the junction of the Saone and Rhone rivers.
Since the first Red Bull Flugtag took place in Vienna, Austria, in 1992, more than 150 Red Bull Flugtags competitions took place in 50 countries, attracting up to 300,000 spectators for a single event.