Marine team designs and flies homemade, muscle-powered plane

[thedrifter]

Marine team designs and flies homemade, muscle-powered plane

By Linda McIntosh
COMMUNITY NEWS WRITER

October 25, 2003

CAMP PENDLETON ? Gunnery Sgt. Clark Howard had never piloted a plane. He was afraid of heights.

But that did not stop him from entering a flying contest.

Last month, Howard and several comrades competed in Flugtag, a one-day flying contest in Santa Monica that pitted 32 teams against each other in homemade flying machines powered only by muscle.

The moments before takeoff were intense.

The Marine Team from Camp Pendleton did a prelaunch routine of marching, push-ups, moon walk and monkey rolls.

Howard climbed into the cockpit of his 100-pound flying machine made of chicken wire, papier-m?ch? and wood.

His three teammates sprinted and pushed the craft off the Santa Monica Pier in front of 50,000 spectators.

"We kept running until we ran out of runway," Sgt. Manuel Tello said.

The craft soared 42 feet and dropped 30 feet into the ocean.

"Marines are amphibious," Howard said. "We don't sink; we float."

The team placed third in competition against Department of Defense contractors, car designers, engineers, repair personnel from the Naval Air Weapon Station, high school students and other fun-loving contestants.

Their prize: $1,500 for sky-diving lessons.

It took the team two months to build their craft and practice dry runs on base.

They made a wooden Red Bull with a papier-m?ch? head and horns and wooden torso resembling a Marine wearing Dress Blues. The arms formed wings.

"We got some strange looks when we rolled it over to the basketball courts to practice," team member Cpl. John Cruz said.

It was designed like a bi-plane with the controls of a hang glider.

According to the rules, the flying machine had to be propelled entirely by human muscle power.

Judges were looking for something outrageous, something that defied the laws of physics.

The team submitted a blueprint of their flying machine and were among 32 candidates chosen out of 400 applicants.

During the event, they were judged on creativity, the distance they flew and their two-minute pre-launch skit. The skit got the crowds going.

"Everyone was cheering," Tello said. "We were celebrities for the day."

For information about the contest, sponsored by Red Bull energy drink, visit www.redbullflugtagusa.com.


Do you have a story idea for Camp Pendleton? Contact Linda McIntosh at (760) 476-8214 or linda.mcintosh@uniontrib.com. For special events, please alert us at least four weeks in advance. We work ahead!

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Sempers,

Roger