Red Bull Flugtag event takes over Ohio River, as Ohio team wins first place

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - 39 homemade aircraft took flight on the Ohio River Saturday afternoon for the Red Bull Flugtag event.

Crowds were gathered across Sawyer Point Park & Yeatman's Cove, as well as the Purple People Bridge and Taylor Southgate Bridge. Thousands of people came to watch amateur pilots fly, albeit rather briefly.

The 39 teams came from all over the country, ranging from Cincinnati to Arizona and California.

Judges ranked the teams based on three separate factors:

• Creativity and design of their craft
• Showmanship of their skit
• Distant traveled, after taking off from a 27-foot-high platform

The final team to fly, 'Flite Test' from Minerva, Ohio, were declared the champions after they flew 39 feet and were given 10s from the judges on showmanship.

“There’s a lot of hard work that went into this craft, a lot of long nights,” said Stefan Ostergren. “We’re built for this kind of competition, and we have a great community that supports us.”

The winning teams were:

• First place: Flite Test (Minerva, Ohio)
• Second Place: Living Lost Land and Waters (East Moline, IL)
  
• Third Place: The Neanderthals (Phoenix, AZ)
  
• People’s Choice, presented by T-Mobile: Thunderdome (Cincinnati, Ohio)
  
• Longest Flight, presented by CVG International Airport: The Smoke Eaters (Ripon, WI), flying a distance of 54 feet

The judges included former Bengals receiver Chad Johnson and Olympic skier Nick Goepper from Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

“I enjoyed judging the creativity, wish I had my own craft to jump off,” said Johnson. “You know when you go to a football game, and they say standing room only? Bridges were filled up, people as far as the eye could see. Red Bull should have Flugtag in Cincinnati every year.”

This was only the second Red Bull Flugtag ever held in Ohio. The event came to Cleveland in 2004.