A family is thinking of smashed avocados as it prepares to launch one Maiden Gully mother into Sydney Harbour.
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The family plans to send Kay Henthorn off from a six metre-high flight deck and is about to start work on a custom “splashed avo” flight craft.
It is part of the Red Bull Flugtag, an event in which 40 teams will compete on November 10, Kay’s son Josh Henthorn said.
“Mum’s going to be sitting in the avocado and myself, my Dad and my little sister are going to be running and pushing her off this platform,” he said.
So, what would make the Henthorns decide to push their mother into the ocean?
“To be honest, I was bored one day and I saw this competition on Facebook. I did a bit of a sketch,” Josh said.
“I said to Mum I was going to put in for this competition and she said ‘oh, it would be funny if you got in. I would volunteer to be the pilot’.”
Much to everyone’s surprise, Josh’s entry became the only one from Victoria to be nominated.
Kay has not wavered from her commitment to pilot the Splashed Avo and Josh hopes the soon-to-be-built craft will allow his beloved mother to land softly.
Josh said his dad had been hard at work turning sketches into proper design drawings.
They also hope their craft will prove to be at least a little aerodynamic when it is launched over the harbour.
“We’ll see how that goes, though. Who knows if it is going to fly?” Josh said.
For the Henthorns, the goal will be to celebrate being active.
“The whole reason behind choosing an avocado design is that they are such a big thing right now, and they are pretty healthy as well,” Josh said.
“My family and I have always liked to be fit and healthy and we eat a lot of avocados.”
The event will also be a chance to have some fun.
“We are a pretty close-knit family but this is the first event of this level we have done together,” Josh said.
“Everyone’s pretty excited. We are just looking forward to spending that time together and enjoying it all.”
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