2008 Redbull Flugtag: One team's story told in pictures

Read previous dispatches The Perfect Getaway  and the 2008 Flugtag.

All photos by Justin Goh.

In the end, The Perfect Getaway and their mob-themed flying machine, The Moberati, made its debut flight in front of an estimated 70,000 onlookers, plunging down into Lake Michigan off the edge of Redbull's 30-foot platform.  The team put hundreds of hours of planning into the event and managed to escape with their lives and dignity intact.  The event itself went off without a hitch, as well, with the weather cooperating. Below we will tell their story in pictures.

Pre-flight team sentiments were mostly of excitement and perhaps anxiety. David just wanted everyone to come out alive. While participants gathered in the so-called hangar seemed to be busy running around meeting friends or taking photographs, most seemed quietly nervous about the 300 yards of flight deck and 30 foot drop that awaited them.

Later, post-flight, the mood was a little more sedate, "I'm a little sore but we had a good time," David remarks. He hurt his tail bone and he and Lindsey both got a little scratched up from falling onto the car as they went into the water.

The Pefect Getaway didn't win any awards but seemed thrilled just to have taken part. The winning team flew over a hundred and twenty feet. A distance no other team came close to matching. The People's Choice went to The USHE whose theme was based on the popular arcade game, Mario Brothers. I guess in this town Mario Brothers trumps Al Capone.

The Perfect Getaway's 2008 Flugtag told in pictures:

The Team poses for a photo prior to liftoff.

Kris takes up the rear as David lifts the front of the Moberati to move
it forward in the line. Just like in actual airports, there's a line of
'planes' waiting for takeoff. 

The 70,000+ crowd looks on from North Beach.

Interviewed by the Red Bull film crew before launch.

The team has one final pep talk before flight.

On the flight deck, about to launch into their skit, a required element at Flugtag.

The team's cops and robbers skit in progress. Note how high they are in relation to the waterline...

Their skit completed, The Perfect Getaway begins their approach to the edge of the platform.

Trailed by a Red Bull film crew, the Moberati gets closer and closer to its first (and only) flight.

And into the drink they all go.  As you can see.  It wasn't the most graceful affair.

Minutes later, the Moberati, which one teammeber estimates took hundreds of hours to fabricate, floats lifelessly on Lake Michigan, having served its purpose.

A happy member of Team Getaway emerges from the lake into a waiting towel.

The team post-drenching.

David was held back by medics for a few minutes after his leap to have minor injuries attended to.

Two more members proudly show off their battle wounds.

Read previous dispatches The Perfect Getaway  and the 2008 Flugtag.