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00:00Hong Kong, a breathtaking metropolis with more skyscrapers than anywhere else on Earth.
00:06It's a city literally reaching for the stars.
00:09Today is no exception as 40 teams of friends, family and workmates launch incredible homemade
00:15flying machines off this massive runway on the city's waterfront.
00:20Piloting an array of stupendous creations in front of a huge crowd, all are chasing
00:26the dream of human-powered flight.
00:29Who will soar over the bay like a Chinese dragon?
00:31And who will plummet into the harbour below?
00:34It's time to find out.
00:36This is Red Bull Vlog Time.
00:59Hello and welcome to magnificent Hong Kong, a city whose name literally translates as
01:05fragrant harbour.
01:06Which is fitting, because today the air will be filled with nothing but the sweet smell
01:10of glory as it plays host to the frankly inspirational festival of flight that is Red Bull Flugtag.
01:15Very soon, have a go heroes from across Hong Kong will be running along this gigantic flight
01:21deck in their homemade flying machines before leaping into the abyss and their mission to
01:26glide as far as possible across the Victoria Harbour behind us.
01:30Now HK, as it's known locally, has long been a global centre for technology and innovation.
01:36Kaz and I have been down, we've seen some of the aircrafts and I think we can safely say
01:39that that tradition has been well and truly upheld today.
01:42Well no doubt the builds have taken weeks, if not months of sacrifice, but every second
01:47will have been worth it for the ecstasy of tens of thousands of fans cheering your name
01:52before flying over the South China Sea.
01:56Right, I think the first team is just about ready to take their position on the deck.
01:59But before we get into the action, here's a handy guide to everything you need to know
02:03about Flugtag, just in case you're not familiar.
02:07In a day and age when the inventiveness and eccentricity of aviation's earliest pioneers
02:12is a sad distant memory, only one event seeks to turn back the clock and inject the fun
02:18back into the fundamental principles of flight.
02:21Red Bull Flugtag.
02:23German for flying day, Flugtag has been challenging amateur aviators for over 20 years as friends,
02:29family and workmates team up to create non-motorised flying machines from scratch before launching
02:36them off a custom built runway.
02:39From epic pugs to homemade hot dogs, everyone is here for one reason, fly as far as possible
02:45using only ingenuity and muscle power.
02:48Of course, distance isn't everything and to decide a winner, judges also score teams on
02:54two additional categories, the design of the craft and a 30 second pre-flight performance
02:59on the runway.
03:01The team with the highest combined score walks away as Red Bull Flugtag champion.
03:08Now that's cleared up, it's time to get down to the business of flight.
03:11So let's get to the runway for the first team.
03:14Thanks Vic, thanks Caroline.
03:15Hong Kong looking splendid today.
03:17The fans have come out in their droves for this event, which is located fittingly on the site
03:22of the old Hong Kong airport, the one where they used to fly between the buildings.
03:26They don't do that anymore, but these teams starting with Hasbro Toys hoping to fly as far
03:31as they possibly can in these impressive looking planes today.
03:37The first part of it is the performance.
03:39You'll see the scores from the judges a little bit later on.
03:42The plane's been made by a toy company here in Hong Kong.
03:45Lots of time and effort has gone in and we're about to find out whether it flies or not.
03:50The moment of truth is here for Hasbro Toys.
03:54There's the launch off the ramp and then straight down.
03:58And in actual fact, it looked a little bit heavy.
04:00There's the distance, 8.2 metres.
04:03I think we're expecting these planes to go a little bit further than that today.
04:07And as you can see, a bit too much weight at the back.
04:09Didn't really get the launch off, straight down into the water.
04:12And they would have hoped to have gone further than that.
04:15You can see there, look, it was always off balance the moment it left the ramp.
04:19And the performance score from earlier is 41.
04:23Okay then Caroline, so over to you. Who have you got with you?
04:26Thanks Darren, I'm at the foot of the flight deck with Team Blank Space.
04:30Guys, do you think you can win this?
04:36I think it's time we get to know the men behind the masks.
04:39Hey, I'm from Team Blank Space and my name is Tim.
04:42On the team we have Ron, our pilot, and Seamus is our art director.
04:47Jack is our structure builder and designer.
04:51I'm the team captain.
04:52We all used to work together in one company.
04:55We came from a creative background.
04:57The flying machine is a spaceship and it's inspired by Tim Burton's movie, Mars Tech.
05:05The cool feature would be our claws that would actually move.
05:08We have a clear dome that's going to go on top of our spaceship and our costume is going to be
05:16breathtaking. I can't even tell you how cool it's going to be. I'm worried about the weight issue
05:22of our plane and also our costume because we're going to be bulky. You know, that's going to be a
05:27challenge running down the runway. I'm a little skeptical on that one. Can we fly? Let's just hope so.
05:34Well, that's the idea. They certainly look impressive, don't they? Look at those costumes
05:39and the creativity that's gone into those. The plane itself is also very, very impressive.
05:45It's the third time that they're participating this team in a Red Bull event and they've always
05:49finished in the top three before. So they're confident, but they've also got some targets
05:55here today and they're about to launch this plane off the ramp here in Hong Kong. Let's see how it
06:00flies. It looks the part and it flies pretty well as well. The water in the cockpit, look at the
06:06distance, 15 meters, almost double the first team that we saw. And the pilot, Ron, really happy with
06:12that. Off the ramp, they got a good release and you can see there the plane went away from the launch
06:18vehicle underneath it. Off the ramp, picked up a bit of air underneath the wings and went 15 meters.
06:25That's really good. It looked good on the ramp to start with. The performance was good. The costumes
06:29are good. And there you can see blank space gets 45. Tim, what was your aim coming here today? Did you
06:35just want to look incredible or were you really hoping to get quite far? We're hoping to get number
06:40one and plus to have fun. It got air. It got air, which was impressive. I think the design was beautiful
06:46to look at. Were you happy with your flight? Yeah, I'm very happy with it. I'm very happy with it.
06:51I'll tell you what, you look incredible. Thank you. He sounds different when he's got the mask off.
06:57Now we have team Burton. So the last one was on a Tim Burton character. This is team Burton. So
07:03there's a theme developing here in Hong Kong today. There's obviously a bit of a theme for the director.
07:09There's the performance, which seemed to go down well with the judges. We'll find out a little bit
07:12later on. Now this one hasn't got any wings. You will notice a plane without wings. There's a plane
07:17without wings. Fly. Not really. Not really. Oh dear me. Face first into the water at 9.5 meters.
07:27Now the judges were laughing. Now watch the pilot here. There's Cam, the pilot. Oh, face first into the
07:34water. You'll see it from this angle as well. Splash straight in. Wow. That's got to come keen, hasn't it?
07:40And then the onboard. It's almost like she knows, look. And before she knew it, she was in. 33 on the
07:46performance for team Burton. How did it feel? It looked like you face planted. I can't look this.
07:53Just one second. It's so scary. Did you think it would fly? No. Well, at least it wasn't a shock then. Yeah.
08:03She's got the giggles, hasn't she? Did you think it would fly? No. That's the idea today. Anyway,
08:11FWD passion team. It's a volcano, look, which is erupting. And we hope it's going to erupt off the
08:15ramp. This is the performance. Lots of work has gone into it. Again, it's a plane without wings. But
08:20we think there's a little trick to this one today. They're going to try and use a catapult system,
08:25which we've seen in the past, where instead of pushing it off the ramp, they jump off and then catapult it out.
08:31So there they are, look. They're going to drop off the ramp and then fire this thing off the ramp if
08:36they can. Down they go. No. Oh, it's still up there, look. Oh, there's Emily the pilot. I think what
08:45they're supposed to do is catapult Emily off the front. So she's dived in, so they won't get a distance
08:51because they've not had a distance. Here we go. That's supposed to catapult Emily the pilot off the
08:56front of the plane or the volcano, as you can see. But the hands slip and it doesn't work.
09:01And then she's got no choice but to dive into the water. So no distance, no point.
09:0933. I can see why he's shaking his head on the end. There she is, look, in one piece. But that's
09:15not what they were hoping to do today. Just push it off the ramp, lads. So who's next, Caroline?
09:21I'm backstage here at the Hangar Lane with ETV Buddies. Kevin, what do you make of your chances
09:25today? We are going to win. Full of confidence. But before we see these guys fly, let's get to know
09:32them a little bit better. We are from team ETV Buddies. On the team, we have Kenning, he is the
09:39engineer. Fiona, she is the decorator, and Thomas is the pilot, and I'm the designer. Our team name
09:46called ETV Buddies because E stands for educational. Educational TV is quite popular in Hong Kong.
09:54When we are a child, we have to watch it every day.
10:01Our, actually, this is like the third version of the aircraft design. So actually, we did like a few
10:09other versions, and then we test it. And then it's too heavy, and then we kind of like going back to the
10:14drawing board and we change it. Hopefully, it should be okay.
10:17I'm quite confident with Thomas as the pilot, because at least he looks a lot lighter than me.
10:24So ETV Buddies. Interesting that, isn't it? The children have to watch educational TV every day.
10:35We'll see whether this particular team learned how to build a plane while they were watching it
10:39as impressionable youngsters. Applause from the judges, which may bode well for the performance.
10:45And there's Thomas, strapping himself in. And we'll see how far this one goes. It's a more
10:51normal way of launching the plane off the ramp. Now, there are the three guys pushing at the back,
10:56and then off we go. And it seems to move forward quite well, and that's a good flight. That's a decent
11:01distance, I think. 16.7, the furthest we've seen today. Simple, basic design, simple, basic launch
11:08procedure, and a decent flight in terms of distance as well. That's a good run, that from ETV Buddies.
11:16Thomas, the pilot, steering it forward, holding his nerve, keeping it straight and keeping it smooth.
11:21And that led to a decent distance here in Hong Kong. And there's the performance score of 38 for ETV Buddies.
11:29Michael, that was such a neatly constructed craft. He had a little bit of side wind to contend with,
11:34but I would say, all in all, good flight. Are you happy?
11:37Yeah, I'm very happy. It seems, for me, it seems to be like instantly, you get to the water instantly,
11:42but then what I heard, like, we went quite fast, so I'm quite happy with it.
11:46How did it feel when you hit the water?
11:49It's quite a big impact, yeah. That is really surprising, yeah. But the weather is nice,
11:54it's good to have a swim, yeah. Yeah, especially like in the harbour of Hong Kong, no?
11:59After the break, we'll still be in Hong Kong for the Red Bull Flugtag,
12:03where groups of friends, family and colleagues will be battling it out for supremacy of the sky.
12:10You do not want to miss this.
12:25Welcome back to Red Bull Flugtag here in Hong Kong, where Have A Go Heroes are piloting
12:30homemade flying machines off a colossal runway into the city's Victoria Harbour. The next team are on
12:37the flight deck and ready to go. So, Darren, it's over to you in the commentary box.
12:41Thanks, Caroline. So, we have Eight Legs Rescue Team up next on the ramp here in the sunshine in Hong
12:48Kong. A team of college buddies. It's a craft inspired by the movie Over the Hedge. And we have
12:55another female pilot, which has been pretty common today. Mandy is the pilot of this latest plane. And we
13:02can see that big single wing above her as they prepare to launch Eight Legs Rescue Team off the
13:08ramp and into the air. And off we go. It's starting to go already. It's gone off the edge. Full 360 and
13:15straight down. While she was completely off balance, she's done remarkably well to get 1.5 metres.
13:21She started to lose balance of the plane there, look, before it even takes off. And there's no way back at
13:30that point. She comes off the side almost, look, and just catches the netting and then spins a complete
13:36360 in the air. So brave just to hang on to it and try and get it moving forward. Look at this. From that angle,
13:45you can see just how well Mandy did to actually get down into the water feet first. 33 for the performance.
13:53Mandy, you are so brave. You are clinging on. It was one of the most amazing ones that I've seen
13:59in Flugtag. Did you just think, I'm not letting go. I'm not letting go. Yeah, because all four of us put a
14:07lot of effort on it. Never mind. I think we can do better next time, maybe. So you're going to do it again?
14:13Yes. Yes.
14:16So now we have Red Barrow. Nothing to do with Will Barrow. It's actually inspired by the Red Arrows.
14:22It's a nicely choreographed performance at the top. They're all workmates and they're all engineers as
14:27well. So you'd expect something decent from them today. Anything like the Red Arrows would be
14:33remarkable, wouldn't it? So there is the plane. It's quite a high launch pad. So you can add the
14:41additional height to the ramp itself. And if they can get some speed here, this one looks like it might be
14:48relatively well designed. No excuses here for this team. Let's see how Red Barrow does. Looking to get
14:55some speed towards the end of the ramp. There we go. And it's flying and flying and flying. And it was nice
15:02and smooth. It looked a good one. Let's have a look at the distance. Well, it's the furthest we've seen
15:09today. 17 metres, 0.3 metres further than the previous best. And that was really nicely done by Red Barrow.
15:18Look the part. Very smooth. Very well balanced. It never started to wobble. And it did exactly what it
15:25was supposed to do. The pilot there, Kevin, in complete control all the way through the flight.
15:30And 33 for the performance as well. Caroline, who have you got with you? Thanks, Darren. I'm backstage
15:37at the hangar lane with the Flying Sweetcorn. And Angie, you're the pilot. Are you feeling nervous?
15:42Definitely not. I'm very confident now. Well, before we see you fly, let's get to know the Flying Sweetcorn
15:50a little bit better. I'm from the team Flying Sweetcorn. My name is Angie. On the team, we have
15:57Emily, who is in charge of performing. Billy is in charge of aircraft making. Alex is in charge of
16:03our administrative work. And me is the pilot. My aircraft is actually a sweetcorn. Our physiology is
16:12made out of many balloons, which is yellow colour. It just represents our corn. And each balloon represents a
16:19dream of our Hong Kong people. Sweetcorn is a very common food. It represents Hong Kong. Actually,
16:27we are so dynamic. I like to eat it raw. The weakness of my aircraft probably is the materials that we use
16:39because we do not have any tests beforehand. So it is really the first time that we fly it. It may break
16:47or it can really fly.
16:51So let's see whether Flying Sweetcorn can really fly. Alex the pilot is actually an air hostess
16:59in a professional life. So she's used to being in the air. But she's used to being in the air a lot
17:04longer than she's going to be in the air today. There's the performance with plenty of Sweetcorn.
17:10Seems to have gone down well. Don't forget that is one of the elements that each team is scored upon.
17:15The performance on the ramp, the creativity and design of the plane itself, and then the distance
17:20as well. So you haven't got to fly miles to win the event. You can factor it all in. So let's see
17:26how Flying Sweetcorn does. Look at all of those balloons. Is that going to help them? Are they filled
17:32with helium, I wonder? The judges haven't tested them. Anyway, here we go towards the end of the ramp
17:37and off we go and straight down. Oh, straight down. There's certainly no helium in those balloons.
17:44Seven metres.
17:44She seems OK. Just look at it here. She goes face first into the wings and then into the water. And then
17:54the back of the plane actually comes down on top of her. Very brave to hang on again, but
17:58not a lot she could do. Straight down, too heavy. There's the performance though, 41. That's a good
18:04score. And that will give Flying Sweetcorn a lift. Angie, you hit the water so hard. How did that feel?
18:13It was a bit painful to me, but I wasn't afraid just now. So brave. Not afraid at all. Not afraid,
18:21because I thought I could fly. Did you feel like your flight attendant background was useful? Did you
18:28have anything you could offer to it that you knew to make it for a better flight? Positive attitude.
18:32Yeah. Cheerful and make our audience laugh. That's right, actually. It was a spectacle. The audience
18:40enjoyed it. So thank you. Well done. Thank you so much. Thank you. Back to you, Darren. Who's up next?
18:46Thanks, Vic. Next up, we have NASA. Not the NASA. They're not going to space,
18:50but it's No Abuse Save Animals. And it's based on kind of a space version of Noah's Ark, bizarrely.
18:58An astronaut is going to save the animals. Let's see whether it flies, shall we? The pilot here is low,
19:05and they want to be high. And they're a little bit wobbly going towards the end of the ramp. They're
19:08not really in control of that, but he gets a decent release and travels a distance of 10 meters,
19:15which is not too bad. He's now battling to get out from underneath the wings. Hold your breath,
19:18mate. There you go. Pop out the other side. They did well there, because when they were pushing from
19:23the back to the front of the ramp, it was just starting to snake around a bit. But then they got a decent
19:28launch off there. They've got a decent flight forward and a relatively okay distance. Probably
19:34about par for the course today. There's the pilot low, and there's the performance score of 38,
19:38which is not bad either. So straight away, we see shoot, whims, eat, rot. The Asian record holders
19:45in the Flugtag of 18 meters. Nobody's ever gone further than that. They're all engineers and designers,
19:51and the pilot, Mokit, has actually lost 10 pounds in weight for the event. He's like a jockey in the Grand
19:57National. You've got to be light enough. They're not cutting any corners at all. They are confident,
20:02they tell us, they can fly further than 18 meters today. There is the plane itself, which is basically
20:11a set of wings strapped to Mokit, the light pilot. There they go towards the end of the ramp,
20:18and off they go. Can they break the Asian record? Well, I'm not quite sure they made it.
20:2418 meters was the target. 17 the furthest today. 13.5 meters, which is good, but it won't be good
20:31enough. And look at him there, trying to pump his legs to get that little bit more distance out of
20:35the flight. And it didn't make an awful lot of difference, did it? There he is, trying to urge
20:40a little bit more out. But the performance, very, very good. 49, that's a good all-round display.
20:45Guys, I've got to talk about those legs. In the air, when you were floating, it was like you were
20:52trying to keep it going, like go, go, go, and if you just run, you might go faster. I just try to jump,
20:57but I don't have energy to hold my legs like that. So I just shake my feet like a chicken.
21:04You were shaking your feet like a chicken? Yeah, yeah, is it? You were going for that Asian record
21:12that you set last time. Yes. How are you feeling? Is it disappointment? Is it pride? Yeah. Even we
21:19didn't break our record, I'm happy. We did a great job, yeah? Yes. Yeah, yeah. High five.
21:23Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So no record for shoot, Whimsy Rocks. And the final team of the day,
21:31three, four, five, three, four, fly. And NoHo is the pilot. And they're all snowboarders,
21:37these guys. They're all friends through sport. The performance is nice and sedate. We'll see
21:43whether the judges like that. Might just lack a little bit in terms of the creativity of the design.
21:49Let's see whether it flies well. Now the furthest we've seen today is 17 meters. The final team set
21:58off towards the end of the ramp here in Hong Kong and off they go. And it's flying. It's flying. It's
22:03really good. Let's have a look at the distance. 22.5. It's a brand new Asian record. Shoot,
22:13Whimsy Rock wanted to break it. Well, the team straight after them. 3-4-5, 3-4 fly has done just
22:21that. Smooth and far and away. And just look at the launch and look at the flight. The performance
22:27as well. 47. The only thing that might have let them down is the creativity. So over to Caroline to
22:34find out who's victorious in Victoria Harbour. In third place, it's flying Sweetcorn who wowed the judges
22:42and banked some big points with their amazing creativity. Congratulations guys. Taking second
22:49place and sitting pretty in pink, Shoot, Whimsy Rock proved they weren't clowning around with an
22:55awesome glider and brilliant performance. But taking home the trophy, it's Alien Invaders Blank Space,
23:02whose incredible creation and Hollywood levels of costume design gave the judges no choice but to crown
23:08them champions. The winners of Red Bull Float Tag Hong Kong Black Space. Guys, how are you feeling?
23:17Good. Breath. I can't even say anything right now. I'm breathless. Did you think you could win?
23:25No, totally not what I expected today. So all that hard work is totally worth it?
23:30Oh yeah, for sure. We'll do it again. Again. Oh, we'll do it again. We'll see you next year then.
23:36One more time though, give it up for the winners of Red Bull Float Tag Hong Kong,
23:40Blank Space. It's been an incredible day here in Hong Kong. Vic,
23:59what was your standout moment? Oh, too many. I've got to say my favourite team were team
24:04free for fly because they had everything. They had all the components. It was a slick construction.
24:10They had the speed, a little bit of agility, the height as well, and that lift at the end,
24:14which was so beautiful to see. A great flight. What about you?
24:17It has to be Blank Space. I know they're the winners, but the creativity was out of this world.
24:22The aliens were so intricate with the details. Each one was completely different with the eyes. One even
24:27had a moustache. Who doesn't love an alien? Exactly. Well, with that, we've only got time
24:32to say thanks for watching and see you next time. See ya.
25:02We'll see you next time.
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