GAME of Air

Maja and Luke perform a spectacular version of the classic SKATE game format

Polish indoor skydiving star Maja Kuczyńska and race pilot Łukasz Czepiela put their own unique spin on a skateboarding classic

Maja, who jumped from a Pilatus PC-6, and Lucasz, who was flying right next to her in his Extra 300 plane, simultaneously performed aerobatic manoeuvres in a bid to out-do each other

The competition format was based on the rules of Game of SKATE, where the participants set tricks to complete for each other. Each mistake results in gaining one letter from the word SKATE. The first one to get all the letters loses. Maja and Luke created their own version called Game of AIR

The idea for this world-first competition occurred to the athletes last year: “When I was thinking about what I could do mid-air to resemble a plane flight, I came up with frontflips, backflips and similar figures. Luke immediately thought of flatspins. And when we met, we were only talking about how to do it and whether it would really work out,” Maja recalls.

The Game of AIR took place in Bovec, Slovenia, where skydiving conditions were perfect. The mountain landscape created an amazing backdrop.

From a sporting point of view, it was a great challenge for the athletes: “ The most difficult part was flying around Maja,” says Luke. “My plane was flying almost vertically down. I was in a very deep spiral. Considering the increasing G-force, it was really hard physical work.

A skilled team was needed behind the scenes. The helicopter was piloted by Siegfried Schwarz, who also flew the helicopter used for filming during the Red Bull Air Race events. Marco Waltenspiel, who jumped with Maja, provided incredible shots and lovely video. The ground photos were taken by Slovenian photographer Samo Vidic.

This project was a dream come true

Łukasz Czepiela

Who wins?

Game of AIR

Results

• Front Flip – Maja and Luke both passed
• Knife Edge Turn – again, both pass
• Breaker – Maja passed, Luke failed, he picks up the letter A
• Low Flyby – Maja fails and collects an A, Luke passes – though clearly this challenge is unfair 😉

Photos, video and text by Red Bull Content Pool