CINCINNATI — On Saturday, nearly 40 teams will be jumping into the Ohio River with homemade “flying machines,” hoping to get just a little air time.
The Red Bull Flugtag is returning to Yateman’s Cove for a second time, the first being in 2023.
One of the teams is a group of engineering students, the "Flugcats," from the University of Cincinnati. Their goal is to go the distance and win the competition this weekend.
We spoke to the five students participating — Zak McNaughton, Airiana DeLuca, David Dubiel, Tyler Hudson and Eli Okuley. They said the whole idea started as a joke, a text from DeLuca saying, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we did this?”
“All of us responded and were like, ‘Yeah, that would be funny,” said Dubiel, the team’s lead mechanical designer. “And now we’re here.”
WATCH: How Team Flugcats is preparing for the competition, and what they are looking forward to
The team came up with their design back in May, which they affectionately named “The Cat’s Contraption.” Then, in early July, they started construction with the help of the UC 1819 Innovation Hub, the sponsor of the team.
“Our general concept was to make an airplane-shaped thing, so on the inside, we have a long PVC pipe that acts as our main runner, and then those two vertical pipes connect to the wing,” said Dubiel.
A 22-foot-high platform for their contraption to fly off of is already being built on the Ohio River. During the competition, one person from each team will jump off the platform and try to get as much air as they can. For the flugcats, that person will be Ariana.
“I’m looking forward to hopefully going as far as possible,” said DeLuca. “I don’t feel nervous, um, honestly, what’s the worst that can happen?”
The Flugcats will continue building their plane throughout the week in preparation for Saturday’s takeoff.
Before the competition, Cincinnatians can vote for their favorite “flying machine” design. To vote and see the Flugcats and other designs, click here.
