Suburban teams to fly high in Saturday’s “Flugtag”

They call themselves the “Chicago Muppets” or the “Shuffling Staches” and have devoted every free minute of the past few weeks preparing for a flying competition that doesn’t necessarily call flying its first priority.

Of the 29 teams participating Saturday in the “Red Bull Flugtag” in Chicago, seven come from the Northwest suburbs.

And they are more than ready to fly — and crash — their carefully constructed aircraft into Lake Michigan.

“I wanted to do this since the last event in 2008,” said Batavia resident Andy Ottenweller.

On Saturday, he is going to be the “pilot” of a huge baseball bat attached to a home plate, a tribute to Chicago’s baseball teams.

For the “Flugtag”, meaning “flying day” in German, teams will come from all over the Midwest. But suburban teams are confident that they can make it far in the competition that is as much about creativity as it is about aircraft quality.

The “planes” can be made of any material, but must be completely human-powered. Suburban teams saying they’re working with wood, plastic, nails, rope, duct tape and polystyrene foam, among other materials.

There is no limit on the shape of what the pilots will fly. Palatine resident Jimmy O’Brien, for example, will be “flying” a huge — yes, you’re reading it right — mustache.

The Red Bull Flugtag will take place on Saturday, Sept. 8, at North Avenue Beach, West LaSalle Drive, Chicago, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. You can find more info on the Red Bull website, redbullusa.com.