Watch-out now for homemade dragon

It’s possible the dragon is the homemade flying contraption designed and powered by Abu Dhabi team Sleepy Dragon, including UAE and Palestinian nationals, in the lead up to the second Dubai Red Bull Flugtag on November 23 at Dubai Creek Park.

The 40 teams selected from 150 applications to compete were announced at an event at The Aviation Club on Monday night.

It will be the second time the event has been run, with its debut in 2005, when the Dubai record was set at 26 metres.

The Flugtag, or “flying day”, began in Austria in 1991 and more than 35 events have since been held around the world with the record for the farthest flight-to-date, set in Austria in 2000, standing at 59.4 metres.

Each country only holds the event every two years because of the lengthy preparation involved.

Breaker from Dubai, a Dubai team of UAE nationals, was one of the 40 teams selected on Monday night.

Mohammed Al Hashami, of the Breaker from Dubai said the team included two pilots and an aviation technician, but he doubted pilot skills were likely to help their bid to break the record.

“There is no machine power, there is no auto pilot, you need a lot of luck,” he said.

But he hoped their serious flying design would help them beat the Dubai record, which stands at 26 metres or the Austrian record of 59.4 metres.

“Crazy designs make you crash crazy,” he said.

The teams chosen include seven teams of UAE nationals and other teams with a mix of Dubai residents with nationalities from German to Indian and American. There are also entries from Egypt and Oman.

The teams are judged on distance, creativity and showmanship and previous designs have included a blue camel, a genie lamp, a dragon fly, a flying Palm Island and a dinosaur.