Look, up in the sky. It’s a bird, it’s a plane. . .it’s a giant, manmade stork!
That’s the reaction Delaware’s Stork Dorks hope to hear from the crowd at next Saturday’s Red Bull Flugtag when the team launches its stork-shaped glider from 30 feet above the Camden Waterfront.
One of 35 teams competing in the human-powered flying machine contest, the five Delawareans are hopeful their bird’s 29-foot wingspan will help carry them to victory, or at least help them avoid injury.
Teams are judged based on the distance of their flight, creativity and showmanship and prizes include a real flying experience with Red Bull Pilot Kirby Chambliss for first place, a skydiviing experience for second place and a paragliding experience for third place.
The team has put in 300 man-hours building their stork, the brainchild of team captain and pilot Chris Barton, of Newark, who based the bird on a character in a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon.
They’ve spent every weekend since early July carefully crafting their bird from ultra-light electrical metallic tubing, Barton said, and the entire glider weighs only 150 pounds.
All their hard work could come to pieces when the glider crashes into the water after its flight, but the team has an inexplicable drive to complete their admittedly-ridiculous project, said team member Earl Carter, of Elsmere.
“We’re men,” he said. “Building things that work, it’s an animalistic, manly thing.”
Plus, it’s a good excuse to goof off.
For their flight, four of the team members, clad in tights with feathered-wings strapped to their arms, will push the glider off the pier while Barton, wearing a baby outfit complete with diaper and bonnet, will perch atop the stork and pilot it for its brief voyage.
“This is the one time we can actually be our ridiculous selves – and it’s allowed,” Barton said.
With the bird sitting firmly on solid ground, Barton said he’s not nervous about piloting it, but when he’s careening toward the surface of the Delaware River, he may be singing a different tune.
While their costumes – and the dance routine the team is still working to perfect – are designed to get a laugh from the audience, the Stork Dorks are taking their task seriously.
They’ve built their stork to fly, Carter said, and are confident its careful engineering, its calculated physics and the force of four burly guys pushing will be enough to claim victory.
With a little luck, and some prevailing winds, the Stork Dorks are hoping for more than just 15 seconds of fame.
