Flugtag, September 15, 2012
On Saturday, September 15, Jane and I attended Red Bull Flugtag Philadelphia. Flugtag is the event in which teams construct “craft” (you can’t really call them flying machines) which are pushed off a deck in hopes that they’ll glide to a water landing rather than crash. It’s actually a contest, with teams judged on distance, creativity and showmanship. From what we saw, distance must be the least important as there didn’t seem to be any!
Although the event was billed as Flugtag Philadelphia, it actually took place at the Camden, NJ waterfront, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.
The web site advised that parking was limited and spectators should take the ferry or the train. After looking at the stops, we decided the Aquarium Stop on the River Line was only about a third of a mile from the event and it would be a feasible walk for Jane with her walker. So we drove to Trenton and took the River Line train from Trenton to Camden. Much to our surprise (and everyone else on the train) we had to get off two stops before the Aquarium. The statement was that due to heavy foot traffic it was unsafe to run the trains any closer. There was no advanced notice. Had there been, we probably would have elected to drive and take our chances on parking. In any event, we were left with well over a mile walk which took quite a while at Jane’s speed.
Although we arrived a little late, it was a nice day and we enjoyed the event. It’s interesting that the only drinks one could buy were beer, water, and Red Bull. Are you surprised?