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By Kip Tabb | Outer Banks Voice on October 26, 2025

Few questions have plagued humanity as much as the one that asks, “If humans can fly, why can’t kegs of beer?”

Sponsored by Kitty Hawk Kites, the 9th Annual OBX Brewtag has been able to demonstrate conclusively that the answer is as elusive as ever.

The rules for the competition are pretty simple. Gliders, according to the rules, must be “a design that is in the true spirit of the Flexible Wing and something in the lineage of Francis and Gertrude Rogallo’s invention.” And each glider must have an “empty keg…5.16-gallon, stainless steel” attached to it.

The overall winning team this year, the Dare County Radio Control Flyers, created a glider that flew with grace and beauty for 118.1 feet. Conversely, the Wrong Brothers aircraft, built by a combination of First Flight High School students, teachers among others, snapped a wing off in the updraft created by the launch platform.

With the wing reattached, the students launched the glider only to have it tumble to earth as the wing again separated.

With a steady northeast wind at 15-20 miles per hour, conditions for launch were somewhat difficult. That updraft caught quite a number of gliders as they were being launched—some immediately went nose up, stalled and then dropped ingloriously to the ground. Others went back to the launch pad, forcing a mad scramble from the launch team.

The range of glider designs was a wonder to behold. The Bruce Goose, a scaled down version of a Wright Brother glider, has flown every year since the first Brewtag in 2015. (The event was on hiatus for two years because of COVID). The name of the aircraft is a tribute to Bruce Weaver, a Kitty Hawk Kites employee who was instrumental in growing the company’s hang gliding and recreation programs. Weaver was on hand to launch the inaugural 2015 flight of the glider.