Inside the University of Louisville鈥檚 Speed Engineering Garage, a team of six students is preparing to take to the skies.
The group is participating in the Red Bull Flugtag, an event inviting local barnstormers to show off their homemade flying machines. Teams build single-pilot gliders and run their creations off the end of a ramp, hoping they’ll glide聽for a few moments before splashing down into the Ohio River.
UofL鈥檚 entry, dubbed 鈥淎ngry Louie鈥 by designer and pilot Brittany Jarrell, is a PVC-and-plastic effigy of the school鈥檚 mascot. Weighing 75 pounds and measuring 25 feet long, the craft is about the weight of a standard hang glider but boasts a greater wing area.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have a lot of fun, that鈥檚 what I think is going to happen,鈥 said team member Joshua Scudder. 鈥淎s far as [the craft鈥檚] performance, it鈥檚 hard to say.鈥
Angry Louie may have an edge on the competing gliders, most of which were聽designed for aesthetics rather than aerodynamics. His designers pooled the years of mechanical know-how that they鈥檇 accumulated in their classes and took cues from nature, using PVC pipe to mimic the hollow bones of birds.
鈥淚t took a while to really finalize the design,鈥 said team member Russell Whittaker. 鈥淧robably what took the longest was trying to decide what would be the most aerodynamic and make the most sense out of all the ideas.鈥
But the build represents more than just an opportunity to test their engineering prowess; it鈥檚 a chance to come together as friends and classmates to have a good time.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been going to school together for three years now, so mostly we know each other,鈥 said team member David Campbell. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been fun working with them, and I think that鈥檚 been the best part.鈥
Angry Louie makes his maiden voyage at the Flugtag on Aug. 27 at Waterfront Park. Gates open at 11 a.m. and admission is free to the general public.
Watch Speed students describe the design process for “Angry Louie” in the video below:聽
