Tue, Aug 19, 2014
The Red Bull Air Force heads to Flying Crown Ranch - home of Red Bull Air Race pilot Kirby Chambliss - for four days of intensive airborne training. While Miles Daisher, Jon Devore and the rest of the Red Bull Air Force take to the skies to push the limits of human flight, Kirby puts his Zivko Edge 540 aerobatic plane through its paces, piercing through the center of a 12-man wing-suit formation. Free flying, formations, wing-suit rodeos, aerobatics - this training camp has it all, and proves if you aren't falling, you aren't learning.
2014
Certain city's loom like forbidden invitations. Shadowy profiles that beckon like sirens. Silhouettes that demand a response. Case in point; NYC. Capital of the World. The Original Gotham. Its startling procession of iconic skyscrapers, Lady Liberty and the Freedom Tower are enough to make a hometown kid attempt the ludicrous. Which may explain why Red Bull Air Force's three native New Yorkers-Jeff Provenzano, Amy Chmelecki and Sean MacCormac-all seemed to feel that strapping on their wing-suits for a Sunday morning cruise along the New Your City skyline could somehow be a good idea.
2014
When Miles was looking for a place to call Home, Sweet Home, two factors weighed mightily; a 486-foot high sky-way over the Snake River Canyon called the Perrine Bridge and a 5'2" darling named Nikki. This undeniable double whammy landed Miles in Twin Falls, Idaho, the B.A.S.E. jumping Mecca of the U.S., where a life of daddy-hood, pygmy goats and pancake breakfasts merges seamlessly with days spent in reverse gainers off the Perrine Bridge. Now he's all set to Sherpa his old crony, world famous solo climber Mike Libecki through his first ever BASE jump. Ready, set - C-Ya.
2014
When you're zooming full tilt mere feet away from a solid stone face, speed is your only ally. Your one hope of escape. RBAF Proximity Flying ace Mike Swanson will tell you-the dumbest thing you can do in this situation is try to fly slow. But when you're hellbent on pushing the MtXRW envelope, that ruthlessly exacting fusion of wing-suit-canopy pilot formation flying, you're going to have to make a few compromises. You're going to have to figure out how to control your speed, all the way from the brow of Mount Eiger to the floor of the Lauterbrunnen Valley.
2014
Way back in '96, a 14-year old Andy Farrington asked his mother if he could get a motorcycle to ride to school. Something small, slow and super-safe. Her reply? "No way, son, you'll get yourself killed. Now strap on this parachute and let's get another jump in before the sun sets." You see, the Farringtons have always been a high flying family - ever since their fighter pilot Grandpa started one of the first skydiving clubs in the Pacific Northwest. These days, his grandsons Luke Aikins and Andy Farrington continue the tradition as two of the Red Bull Air Forces's top wing-suit and canopy pilots, proving that the family that dives together, thrives together.
2014
Lake Tahoe. The late 90's. Long before the idea of sponsoring a daredevil Air Force ever entered any Red Bull marketer's beverage-fueled brain, Alaska Jon Devore, Godfather Charles Bryan and a tiny core of reckless, like-minded visionaries retreated to the Nevada desert to reinvent skydiving. To get off their bellies and float vertical. To perfect the art of free-flying. In this scorching hell of a drop zone, they chanced upon a BASE jumper packing 'chutes to hustle up some jump money. Guess who? From these humble beginnings...we have Miles D and the Red Bull Air Force.
2014
There's only one in the entire universe; a woman rocking the sky in an official Red Bull Air Force helmet. As the first-and-only female member of the team, Amy Chlemecki brings a fresh perspective and an unparalleled flair for flying to every dimension of the sport. Equally adept at wing-suit flying or wind tunnel aerobatics, this three-time World Champion continues to push the edge of what's possible. Her utter commitment, confident humility and amazing flying prowess remind us that, even in this been-there, seen-that era, there are still some sky-blazing pioneers capable of lifting us all.
2014
Capricious winds. Shifting cloud ceilings. Supertight landing targets. Every Red Bull Air Force demo jump comes with its own unique set of challenges. It takes some seriously precise calculations to consistently create the illusion of a flying squirrel fire drill. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the meticulous planning and last-second decision-making that went into three separate RBAF demo jumps. Spoiler alert: Two out of three ain't bad.
2014
The sky-piercing spires of Fisher Towers near Moab, Utah provide the perfect final frontier for our last installment of Miles Above. Join our trio of ace air jockeys Miles, JT Holmes and Andy Lewis as they take BASE Jumping to the edge of the map, confronting swirling winds and mini-skull landing spots armed with nothing more than their 'chutes, rope and a ton of hope. Can these steeple-swooping mud tower marauders nail a landing atop that tiny sandstone sliver called Kingfisher? Watch and learn.