Long Beach college students design human-powered flying machine

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Long Beach City College students put the finishing touches on their aircraft Monday in preparation for this weekend's annual Red Bull Flugtag competition.

The Portland, Oregon competition requires participants to attempt to fly a human-powered flying machine. Among the 500 who entered, only 43 teams were selected.

The 12 members of Team SMEagle, which stands for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the eagle they are building, are counting on their academic prowess to help their creation soar.

"We designed this thing to fly. We want this thing to fly... We were pushing to break the world record," said Richard Ball with Team SMEagle.

Reporter Leanne Suter has the full report in the video above.