Flugtag entries function a lot like hang gliders. Pilots can control their aircraft’s speed, distance, and direction the same way hang glider pilots do: by shifting the position of their body. Paul Henkel’s team felt that this was the key to a successful flight when designing their Flugtag entry. Henkel competed as a member of a team called May We Help, which represented a nonprofit organization of the same name that designs devices to help people with disabilities.
Even the longest Flugtag flight lasts just a few moments. That includes the distance record set in 2013. That team flew 79 m (258 ft)—about the length of three basketball courts—but their craft was in the air for only about 10 seconds!
May We Help knew that once their craft launched, the pilot would have “only one chance to adjust the flight path, by moving his body weight in relation to the aircraft’s center of gravity,” explains Henkel. The pilot needed to shift his weight back, changing the point around which the aircraft’s weight was distributed. That way it would nudge upward instead of nose-diving.
Team May We Help designed a fairly traditional-looking aircraft with one long wing across its top. Like an airplane’s wings, this one was curved on top, tapering toward the back edge. This curve makes flight possible, says Henkel. Air moves faster over the curved top of the wing than it does underneath. This creates an area of lower pressure, or force pushing against a surface, above the wing and higher pressure below. That difference in pressure generates the upward force of lift that keeps the aircraft aloft.
Flugtag craft are designed for one-time use. That’s because they usually don’t survive the water landing. So May We Help didn’t know how their design would fare until it was pushed from the platform during the competition. The result: It soared 9 m (30 ft) before smashing spectacularly into the river!