In practice though, Flugtag is usually an excuse to build wacky flying machines with little aerodynamics and hope of flying, and launching them off into their doom.

They’re cool at first, but after a while, the novelty wears out. Flugtag’s been running for over 20 years, and you can only watch so many goofy-looking contraptions plummet off of a cliff before it gets old.

But if Flugtag doesn’t cut it for you, then Japan’s got you covered. There’s a Japanese human-powered flight competition every makes Flugtag look like child’s play.

It’s called the Birdman Rally (or 鳥人間コンテスト) and it’s held every year in Lake Biwa (琵琶湖), a massive and culturally significant lake close to Kyoto.

Unlike Flugtag, teams for the Birdman Rally usually come from universities and they push the limits of human-powered flight. The current Birdman Rally record is 23 km, or about 14 miles. Impressive!

Probably the most dramatic moment in Birdman Rally history was just last year. The Wingnauts team, from the devastated Tohoku region, decided to really go for broke to show that while the earthquake and tsunami had destroyed much of their region, it hadn’t broken their spirit.

Even though the team didn’t set any records, their run was incredibly inspirational. You can see the pilot pushing himself to the limit with his teammates cheering him from the sidelines. It’s an incredibly emotional and dramatic moment, and even the hosts tear up at the end of his run.

Check out the full, 13-minute long subtitled video of the Wingnauts’ 2011 run here:

For more info, check the Birdman Rally’s official site here.

(Header image courtesy of the Kyushu University Birdman Team.)

People say that nothing in life is free, that everything has a price. But you know what? Those people are wrong. Every once in a while, life gives you a break and presents you with an awesome opportunity. How does a free trip to Japan sound?

In an effort to combat the slump in tourism that followed the 3/11 disaster, Japan’s Tourism Ministry is planning to give away 10,000 plane tickets to foreigners to come to Japan with a program called Fly to Japan. That’s right, 10,000 lucky foreigners will ride to Japan in style courtesy of the Japanese government. Think of it like Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket times a thousand.

Of course, the Japanese government won’t be giving these plane tickets to just anybody. To get a ticket, you’ll have to fill out an online application asking why you want to visit Japan, where you want to go, and what you think about Japan since 3/11. And after your trip, you’ll be asked to write a report about your visit that will be published online.

In a nutshell, this is a big PR campaign for Japan to convince people that post-3/11 Japan is still a safe place, and the government hopes that the people who win the tickets will spread a word-of-mouth message that Japan’s an awesome place to visit.

Not all of the details have been finalized yet, so the application isn’t available online at the moment. But by all reports, Japan’s Tourism Ministry is dead serious about Fly to Japan and plans to give away the tickets sometime in 2012. Look for updates on the Japan National Tourism Organization’s website here.

Now to be clear, this will just cover airfare to Japan. Once you get off of the plane, you’re completely on your own. Still, this is a huge opportunity. Getting a free flight to Japan? That’s pretty amazing. This is seriously a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so if you’ve ever had an interest in visiting Japan, do yourself a favor and keep an eye on Fly to Japan. This could be life-changing.

P.S. Where would you go in Japan? Tell me on Twitter!
P.S.S. What would you want to do there? Let me know on Facebook!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLWKOWcl2Yc']

Right now, flying to Japan is expensive. Pretty much no matter where you look, you’ll see that flying to Japan (at least from the West Coast of the US) costs around $900. That’s a lot of money, but that’s also just how it is. I got a round trip ticket for $750, and here’s how I did it (you can use this “trick” for flying anywhere, really).

Step 1: Go To Kayak.com

There are a lot of sites that do something similar to what Kayak does, but for some reason Kayak is my preference. I’m thinking I like them best because of “step 2″ (a very important step if you want to get the cheapest tickets possible). Kayak basically takes your search (where do you want to go? When? etc) and searches a bajillion other travel sites and airline sites for you, so you don’t have to. It then lays out the best prices for you so you can get the best deal. Okay, great, a lot of sites can do this. If you’re looking to get a quick ticket, this is good… if you’re looking to get the cheapest ticket, there’s one more step. First, create a Kayak account (otherwise you won’t be able to move on).

Step 2: Find “Price Alerts“

Now, look in the “More” then “Even More” sections.

Click on “Price Alerts.”

When you’re there, you’re ready to create a Price Alert.

Step 3: Create A Price Alert

“Price Alerts” are where the money saving magic happens. You can set your price alert up by putting in your home city / airport, then putting in the place you want to go (for me it was Portland → Narita). Then, you just wait. Every night (if you set it for daily) you’ll get an e-mail from Kayak with a list of all the best prices and dates to travel to whatever location you chose. As long as you’re patient, you’ll eventually get a dirt cheap seat on an airplane. The cool thing about this is that you don’t have to keep searching every day until you see something… the search results come to you in a nice little digest, with everything filtered out nicely. As long as you have time, and you’re patient, this is a great way to get on a cheap flight somewhere. For me, I had a price alert going for about two months, then all of a sudden a set of dates lined up with a really cheap flight, and I pounced. I just had to wait for it and the low priced ticket to Japan came to me :)

[hr]

Anyways, nothing super fancy here, but this is a neat little way to find cheap tickets. The thing about airplane tickets is that almost no matter where you look, prices are going to be about the same, give or take just a little bit. There are moments, however, where prices go down just for a few hours… and you want to get notified of those times as quickly as possible. Basically, this is a pretty good alternative to spamming the refresh button on Kayak’s website all day long.

So there you have it. That’s how I got a “cheap” airplane ticket to Japan (when are scientists going to get on that tube technology?). Maybe I could have done better, but I doubt by much. As long as you have the patience, time, and flexibility, this is the best way I’ve figured out, anyways.

Do you have any tips on finding cheap airplane tickets, especially to Japan?