Andy Farrington has a depth in the sport that belies his young age. He comes from a flying family of skydivers and pilots, and grew up on a dropzone that was founded by his grandfather in Washington state, USA. A member of the RedBull Air Force, Andy’s history in skydiving has seen him at the highest levels of swooping and freeflying, but he is currently standing at the top of the worldwide wingsuit scene.
##So… boring stuff first. Number of years in the sport, number of jumps?
20 years, 20,000 jumps.
##Who are your sponsors?
RedBull, Squirrel, 5.10, Smith, Velocity, L&B, Akando Gloves, Kapowsin Air Sports.
##Age of first jump?
- My 1st tandem was age 12 in Austria.
##Your grandfather started a DZ, is that true?
Yep.
##What was he like?
He was like a little kid.
##How do you mean? Give an example?
One time dogs were chasing him on his bike, so he rigged up M80s to scare them away. On the first attempt it blew the spokes off of his bicycle… and that was at age 70.
##Ok, so that was your mother’s father. And your mom has a long history in the sport as well, right?
She started at age 15 and became one of the first female tandem instructors in the world. I think she has 12,000 jumps now. About 1,000 of those were on Para-Commanders. She still does 150 jumps a year, approximately, and is an active AFF instructor and Load Organizer. My dad and sister both have around the same number of skydives, 12,000ish.
##Does everyone fly airplanes too?
My mom has her commercial pilot license. My dad has just about every rating you can think of, and a lot of time in planes. My sister [Keri Bell] has her private pilot license [she soloed at age 16], and is a tandem and AFF examiner. Kasha [his wife] also has her pilot license.
##When did you start flying wingsuits, and were you hooked from the beginning?
I think I started with a Birdman GTI sometime around 2001. I did a couple hundred jumps, but flocking etcetera didn’t exist yet, so we were kind of just flying around by ourselves. We were using the Xaos 69 with the Birdmen suits then, which was pretty funny. I was more into swooping and freeflying so after those few jumps right at the beginning I stopped and basically did nothing with a wingsuit until we filmed the Human Flight 3D thing in I guess 2009.
##Do you see wingsuit flying going the way of skysurfing? Are there similarities?
In Skysurfing, the board is more like a prop, and you jump out with just you and a cameraman. I think wingsuits are here to stay, because you can jump out and fly around with your buddies.
##Matt told us that the C2 wingsuit project for the first ACES race was heavily motivated by you. How many wingsuit competitions have you entered and how does Aces compare?
I’ve done three wingsuit comps; 2 ACES events and then one in China. Aces is my favorite for sure, because it’s a real race. China had one fun jump for the qualifier we did that year [2014] because it had a cool turn in it. But as sad as it sounds, BASE jumping and just flying a straight line is kind of boring. In the Aces comp, the turns, the head-to-head format, the 4-way exit… that takes the cake!
In the Aces comp, the turns, the head-to-head format, the 4-way exit… that takes the cake!
##What were your expectations going in to the first event in 2014?
I would have been happy if I was in the top 10, obviously there was a lot of good competitors. Once it started rolling and we did some practice jumps I felt like as long as I could see the gates I had a chance.
##You won both ACES events so far. How was 2015 different from the first year?
This year, we knew we had the fastest suit going into the event. In 2014 we knew we had a good suit but maybe not the fastest. Everybody in 2015 knew what to expect, and whether they trained before the event or not they at least knew how they should be training for the race. A handful of people maybe thought I was the favorite this year, but not everyone. Noah, Julian, Espen, Swanson, were all considered contenders for first place.
##Do you see this event continuing, and do you think it is sustainable? It seems like it needs a lot of money behind it to keep going – can you think of any previous events in the skydiving world that were similar to ACES?
There’s no precedent. The closest model would be like the RedBull Air Race – if we piggybacked on their event it could work. Some of the early swoop comps like RedBull wings over Chicago and Wings over Cleveland were successful… so I’d say yes Aces could keep going.
##How do you train for an event like this, do you have helicopters hanging gates at your home DZ?!
I wish I did. Fly around, go fast, follow each other. If you’re not with the group, catch up.
##What would you tell people that want to fly wingsuits at this level, or in competition; any advice?
Walk before you run. Make sure you are good at flying in different surroundings so you’re not stuck with tunnel vision and can be aware of everything around you – when it’s an event this high profile you have to remember that it’s a show first, so you have to think about safety before competition.
##Was your victory barrel roll after crossing the finish line spontaneous or planned? (or instability?!!)
Instability [he laughs]. I’d say just having fun. Not planned. We were going through the last gate at 3500’ so we still had plenty of altitude to play with.
##How are you going to follow up for 2016, will it be three in a row?
Of course I’m trying for the hat-trick but everybody’s gonna come a’gunnin.
##Do you use an RSL or MARD device when wingsuit flying? Any strong opinions on that, either way?
RSLs etcetara can be helpful for lots of jumpers, especially who are maybe less current, maybe not doing a bunch of random types of skydiving all the time. I do have a rig with a MARD device on it that I am checking out [Velocity Sports prototype]. In general I am not strongly for, or against. People should talk to whoever they look up to in the sport and come up with a game plan for themselves. As long as you maintain proper opening altitudes for your ability then you should be good to go, and handle whatever happens.
##Who are your mentors, or people who inspire you?
My parents are pretty cool. Craig Girard, he’s been jumping since the 80s, early member of the Golden Knights, AZ Airspeed, etc. He probably has around 40k jumps by now. And, anybody that’s better than me at the current time.
##Kapowsin has a great reputation. Are there any secrets to running a successful DZ?
Make sure the people involved with it like jumping.
##Why choose wingsuiting as your specialist area?
It’s always fun learning to master something new. I’m still improving and learning about it for sure. Definitely jumping with different people who have different styles makes it challenging – like following Scotty Bob diving at planet Earth is pretty challenging.
##What are your pet peeves about the sport?
The person with 201 jumps who thinks they need to go wingsuiting right away. There is still a lot of skydiving to do without a wingsuit that will make it a lot easier. Don’t be in a rush.
##How could we improve safety?
Constant training. Experienced jumpers at the DZ shouldn’t be scared to help out the new guy. But that doesn’t mean yell at him. Lead by example. But, also do as I say not as I do!
Images by Joerg Mitter and Balazs Gardi for Red Bull Content Pool
Read about the development of Andy’s winning suit, the C-Race
