Kentucky's Rocky Top Rocket set a new North American record today by flying 155 feet at Nashville's Riverfront Park in front of the largest Red Bull Flugtag crowd ever in the U.S. - over 80,000!  Despite the sweltering temperatures and impending showers, droves came out to witness not only the 30-foot victorious flying banjo soar above the Cumberland River, but an Army tank, a sombrero and even a Rubik's Cube take to the skies.
 
"The event was unbelievable," said Rocky Top Rocket pilot Brandon Vincent. He and brothers
Brody, Blake and Ben - known as the"Greasy Brothers", along with teammate Brad Moore, were surprised at how far their craft flew: "We never would've thought we'd break the North American record."
 
Second place went to Baltimore's Red Bull Flugtag veterans, No. 1 Lucky Flier, and Nashville's own Lightning 100/Team Green "Yellow Submarine" secured third place with their "Go Green and Stay Clean" attitude. But it was the Galapagos Flight Club who won over the crowd and took home the Peopleís Choice Award - perhaps having the entire team in spandex turtle costumes helped?
 
"People's Choice?  That's ridiculous!" exclaimed Captain Matt Croner, "We tried to put something together with high energy and that the crowd would like...it was such a rush!"

Twenty-seven teams from across the U.S. gathered to launch their homemade human-powered flying machines off the end of a 30-foot high ramp at Red Bull Flugtag Nashville.  "Flugtag", which means "Flying Day" in German, often sees its share of nosedives, but today a majority of the crafts truly got air and kept the crowd cheering until the very end.
 
The theme of flight continued throughout the day with two jumps from the Red Bull Air Force, an elite skydiving team who have cumulatively jumped from the sky over 10,000 times!

The first Red Bull Flugtag took place in Vienna, Austria, in 1991. Since then, more than 35 Red Bull Flugtags have been held around the world ñ from Ireland to San Francisco ñ attracting nearly 300,000 spectators. The record for the farthest flight to date currently stands at 195 feet set in 2000 at Red Bull Flugtag Austria.  The previous U.S. record was 81 feet, set in Baltimore in 2006.  
 
While there has never been a limit on creativity, there are a few rules and regulations.  First off, all flying machines must be entirely human-powered (no external energy sources or stored power).  Secondly, all crafts must be less than 30 feet wide.  And finally, no matter what they say, size does matter - all crafts must weigh no more than 450 lbs. (including the pilot).