PORTLAND, Ore. – The only Flugtag event in North America this year took over Portland's Willamette River Saturday.
Red Bull's Flugtag, with means "flying day" in German, is an event where homemade flying machines try to launch themselves as high as possible into the air before plummeting into the water below.
The flying machines will took off from a 28-foot-high flight deck. They were judged on distance, creativity and showmanship.
Wondering what kind of machines are went off a three-story-high platform into the Willamette? According to the Flugtag website, projects consisted of a Rip City-themed airplane with wheels, a machine inspired by the Left Shark made famous during this year's Super Bowl, and a Seahawks-themed creation from a team called – what else – "Put a bird on it."
The judges included local celebrities such as Departure chef Gregory Gourdet, Ashley from the Trail Blazers Stunt Team and Olympic snowboarder Ben Ferguson.
Flugtag events can draw up to 300,000 spectators, organizers said.
The event was so popular Saturday, that it was forced to end early after the U.S. Coast Guard revoked the event's permit for not keeping an open path for commercial traffic to navigate through.
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