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A group of UTampa students and some UTampa alums are hoping to soar Saturday on the Red Bull Flugtag stage.

The event, to take place on the Hillsborough River side of the Tampa Convention Center, challenges teams of competitors to fulfill their dream of flying by engineering and constructing their own flying machines. Pilots will take a leap of faith —or a plunge into the water below the platform.

Logan Hayward ’27, a marketing major at UTampa, will pilot an entry called the “Flying Spartans.”

“Some people didn't want to draw the short stick of flying, but that's kind of my thing. I like skydiving stuff like that,” Hayward said.

Hayward first recruited the his Flying Spartans team, composed of expected 2027 graduates David Ghetie, Mitch McCullar, Ben Owenby and Jackson Bean, after they watched last year’s Flugtag together in Brevard Hall.

Then, Hayward saw an Instagram post from Red Bull stating that the event would be in Tampa this year.

“I was, like, ‘That's my chance,’” he said.

Because they were selected just last month to be participants, the group is still constructing their flying machine.

“It's more like a fancy falling in the best way possible,” Hayward said of their strategy. ”You kind of glide as far as possible. And since we have limited space and budget, we’re kind of just hoping for the best and for me not to get hurt out there,” Hayward said.

He added that there’s always going to be a little bit of nerves, considering he’s jumping off a 22-foot platform in front of an anticipated 100,000 people and a national live stream. “But I’m more excited than anything else,” he said.

The Flying Spartans will have competition from at least one other team with a UTampa connection, and UTampa alum Phil Michaels ’10, MBA ’15 is confident his team, the Coconut Pirates, will take home the W on the Flugtag stage.

“We want to fly on the world-renowned Flugtag stage because it’s the ultimate platform to represent my alma mater, UT, and showcase our creativity, teamwork and passion for innovation,” Michaels said.

The Coconut Pirates have been working on their flying machine for nearly three months.

The team members, including Joe Glackin ’14 and Miguel Garcia ’10, come from a variety of backgrounds, including business, medicine and law.

Michaels, who will serve as the pilot, said he feels confident.

“We’ve been working hard putting in the long hours and burning the midnight oil to win in all three categories we are judged, which I call the Triple Ds: design, dance and distance.”

For more information, or to cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award, the public’s favorite flying machine, visit: redbull.com/us-en/events/red-bull-flugtag-tampa/peoples-choice-award.