CRANBERRY TWP — Look up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a giant stack of pancakes?

Who would have ever thought pancakes could fly?

Well, two women who work for a beverage distributor in the township and three of their friends believe that, and are taking their flying invention — Mount Jamima — on the road to Baltimore, Md., to compete in this year's Red Bull Flugtag.

"Flugtag," which means "flying day" in German, first took place in Vienna, Austria, in 1991. It is being held this year in Baltimore's Inner Harbor on Oct. 21.

More than 35 Flugtags, produced by Red Bull energy drink, have been staged around the world from Ireland to San Francisco, Calif., attracting nearly 300,000 spectators.

The Mount Jamima building team, who dubbed themselves "The Breakfast Club," includes: Stacy "Chicky" Cicchitello and Cristy Laudadio, who work for Keystone Distributing at 210 Commerce Park Drive in Cranberry; and their teammates, Richard Danforth, Nicolena DiFlavio and "Uncle" Bill McClintic, all from the Ligonier area.

The age of the team ranges from 24 to 45 years old.

"It looked like so much fun, we wanted to be a part of it (the Red Bull Flugtag)," said Cicchitello.

They will compete against 22 other teams and their human-powered flying machines, which will travel down a 30-foot ramp in hopes of achieving flight and winning the event by flying the farthest.

There will also be a People's Choice Award for the most well-received design.

Teams from all over the United States, including Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia, and from countries as far away as Bulgaria will attempt to get the human-powered flying machines off the ground.

Some of the original designs have unique and amusing names such as the Deuce Goose, Dumbo, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Toro Rosso, Intergalactic Funk Brigade, and don't forget the One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater.

First prize is a pilot's training course valued at $7,500. The second place award is skydiving lessons valued at $3,000; and the third place winner can learn to paraglide — a $1,500 value.

Special prizes are awarded for the most creative crafts and the people's choice awards.

Cicchitello explained the team got together through their mutual taste in music.

The team members are fans of the local musical group the Grinning Mob, which has been compared to Cream, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Cicchitello and Laudadio were longtime friends and met up with the other teammates by attending the band's gigs.

The idea for the mountain of pancakes came about in the early morning after a Grinning Mob show.

"A few of us were sitting around being goofy in the wee hours of the morning when a plate of pancakes accidentally got knocked to the floor," said Cicchitello, the team's captain and pilot. "From that point on, our competitive side started to show when each of us strived for the farthest-flying pancakes."

Cicchitello and Laudadio knew about the event through their job, and the entry was submitted from there.

Mount Jamima is under construction in a warehouse of Aeolian Enterprises in Loyalhanna, Westmoreland County.

The team is maintaining a blog to give an update on its progress and results of its adventures at www.mountjamima.blogspot.com.

McClintic is the mastermind of the team, but everyone involved is developing a skit about pancakes that will be set to the Grinning Mob's tune "Chopper," for their flight.

Laudadio explained as the flying craft comes off the ramp, the table, plate and pancakes will fall into the water.

The bacon hang glider will then break free and fly across Baltimore's Inner Harbor —- at least in theory.

Cicchitello will be piloting Mount Jamima's glider, while the rest of the team will be riding on top of the pancakes and serve as the "pushers" to get the stack off the ground.

Team members traveled to Virginia the weekend of Oct. 7 to take hang-gliding lessons in preparation for the event.

Although they have simulated the flight in the construction warehouse to success, Mount Jamima won't be tested under real conditions until the event.

"We will not sleep until it flies, although working so hard is getting us awfully hot..." said Danforth.

The record for the furthest flight in a Flugtag stands at 195 feet in the 2000 Flugtag in Austria. The U.S. record stands at 78 feet, set in Cleveland in 2004.

Although team members are not sure if they will win the event, Cicchitello also hopes to garner the people's award for the most popular design with the fans in attendance.

"I think that if everything goes as planned, we will win," said Laudadio.