Oakland University student Jake Michels could see his team’s creation soar through the air, or, just as likely, fall straight into a pond on Sept. 8.

Michels, a sophomore majoring in physical therapy, has joined four students from Michigan State University to participate in the Red Bull Flugtag in Chicago.

The team has been together for two months and has been working on the design of their glider since late July.

“It’s a bunch of self-taught pilots and we build a flying machine and we throw them off a 30 foot ledge into a body of water,” Michels said. “Whoever goes the farthest wins.”

In addition to distance, teams are also judged on their theme’s creativity. Michels’s team  dubbed itself “Team Drachenflieger,” or “dragonfly” in German. Their glider is stylized to look like the double-winged creature.

Michels was asked to participate by his friend David Gaunt. The pair has known each other since Boy Scouts. Both Michels and Gaunt are Eagle Scouts.

“We live in the same neighborhood and attended the same high school,” Gaunt said. “Jake has helped a lot with publicity, fundraising, and has also been able to help in the construction.”

Gaunt’s description of the glider’s design makes it sound like something that would make their scoutmaster proud.

“Our glider is constructed of 1X1 inch square aluminum tubing,” he said. “We also used a Clark-Y airfoil profile (common in aviation) for the wing design.  The craft is equipped with adjustable elevators on the tai, which will help to control the pitch of the craft.  This will be crucial in pulling the nose of the craft upward when making its initial dive.”

If the design is complicated, the materials used in the glider’s construction are anything but.

“We made it out of square aluminum tubing and light weight balsa wood,” Michels said. “We’re wrapping the wings in a high density saran wrap.”

Because the gliders used in the competition are designed for one time use, Michels does not really know what the craft will do on competition day.

“Just hope for the best,” Michels said. “There’s no real testing that goes into this.”