Winged entrants no match for the birds

Stu Thompson takes to the air, winning top prize for the most creative craft in the Birdman contest. Pictures / Alan Gibson

The creativity did them proud, but the aerodynamics were a bit of a flop.

Maybe the entrants in this year's Mt Maunganui Birdman competition needed more wind beneath their wings when they assembled an array of ingenious craft and leaped off Salisbury Wharf.

Some of the flying machines disintegrated mid-air but others managed a few metres, to the applause of the large crowd at Pilot Bay.

The tall and stately Hairy Poppins, aka Liam Wright, was badly let down when his umbrella turned inside out while he was fleetingly airborne. His hoop-wired skirt, revealing a glimpse of frilled pantaloons, did not seem to help.

Skyte The Clown - a regular entrant and past prize-winner in the annual event - took top marks (and $1000) for the most creative craft.

His "wipe-out house", built from pallets, was a sight to behold, even if it did not fly.

Last year, Skyte, otherwise known as Stu Thompson, a 40-year-old father of five, managed a couch potato micro-flight.

A professional part-time clown, Mr Thompson also teaches swimming - a useful skill for would-be birdmen or women.

He says that as "a bit of an eccentric" he finds it easy to come up with whacky ideas.

"I'm a creative person."

Nurse Ros Wright and her two "carers", Wendy and Lisa, took second prize of $500 for the "Flying Granny", which they thought up on Saturday night. It involved Ms Wright being tipped out of a wheelchair into the sea.

In fact, after a slow lead-up, she jumped - leaving the chair and her companions high and dry on the wharf.

Becky Rowse, convincingly disguised as cartoon character Spongebob Squarepants and with musical accompaniment, parted company with her carton soon after leaping into space. But she took third place and $250 for her efforts.

"Baron Bon Burnt-his-schnitzel" Phil Rowse had high hopes of flying around the mountain in his "Spotted Roughy" plane.

Although he failed to get much further than half a dozen metres, his was the longest flight.

A special commendation went to the youngest competitor, 12-year-old Braden Coates.