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Homemade Gliders Plunge Into the Mississippi River at Red Bull Flugtag

The winning team soared 50 feet.

2:24 PM CDT on September 28, 2026

A Lord-of-the-Rings-themed glider falls into the Mississippi.
All photos by Casey Marble

Saturday, September 26 was gray and rainy, but one bright spot was the Red Bull Flugtag. Around 6,000 spectators showed up to Bohemian Flats Park in Minneapolis to watch 35 teams send homemade gliders off a platform in hopes of flying the furthest before plunging in into the Mississippi River.

The homemade, 400-pound contraptions included tributes to Spam (the meat, not the email), OSHA, Lord of the Rings, and the Edmund Fitzgerald. Team Dunwoody Daredevils, from Dunwoody College, built the winning glider, which soared over 50 feet.

Enjoy these photos of the flying/falling action!

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