Experiencing Snakebite

RED BULL gives you wings! I know this to be true because I can speak from experience. However, in my case, it wasn’t the famous caffeine-heavy drink that gave me that uplifting sensation, but the combat helicopter Bell 209 AH-1F Huey Cobra of the Flying Bulls, who invited me to take a flight in the Cobra. The slogan has always been part of the Red Bull marketing strategy, even before the collection of rare and unusual planes began to take shape in Hangar-7 and Hangar-8 at Salzburg airport. 

The result of this marketing strategy is a now world-famous flight relay, and deservedly so. In the late 1980s, Dietrich Matteschitz, manufacturer of the wonder drink, met Siggi Angerer, who then owned a former US marine fighter Vought F4 Corsair, and is now the chief pilot of the Flying Bulls. Angerer taught Matteschitz to fly, and then agreed to paint the plane blue with a red bull motif, in return for a substantial annual retainer. Since then, Angerer has been sweeping low over air shows across Europe, and the “Flying Bull” has become a regular guest at aviation events, and a sight for sore eyes indeed.

The rare and unusual collection became a great success, and it soon included a number of rare aircraft...