Amanda Mandrafino always knew she wanted to do freestyle, right from the beginning of skydiving. A trained ballerina, it wasn’t long before she started her own team, going to Nationals, and soon winning medals. Bronze in 2009 led to silver medals in 2010 and 2011, and gold this year, making Animare US Champions and the

I’ve Got No Chance Hello Roy I am a skydiver in Belgium and I admire Hayabusa and I am proud to see you guys waving the flag for Flanders. But I find it is a bit demoralizing to me. I really like to do 4-way but I feel there is no future in it. You

Lack of knowledge can be fatal, as I mentioned before, in Preventing Death. It follows that education can be a route to preventing deaths. In another article, Keep it Simple-y SOPHISTICATED, I suggested that the way to improve safety lies in education, not legislation. Yet we must teach in a way that people want to

The Velocity is no doubt the best canopy I’ve ever flown. It’s like a birthday present every time I fly! But before I review the actual canopy I want to explain to you my progression… Canopy Progression I have followed what most people call the normal progression to a high performance canopy. I started out

An inspirational talk by Al Macartney, starting with a Base first. Alastair is invited to jump from the 217 feet high Liberty Memorial World War One Museum in Kansas City. Impossible Leaps by Alastair Macartney at TEDxKC. An inspirational talk by Al Macartney, starting with a Base first. Alastair is invited to jump

In discussions about reserve rides with wingsuits, many times I was asked for a relationship or common factors. Let me try to answer that question this way – prevention is better than cure! Pull High, and Stable It is always a risk to talk about incidents that I have not personally observed. But generally I

Proximity flying around Europe: beautiful lines, classy edit, quality music, a joy! Proximity flying around Europe: beautiful lines, classy edit, quality music, a joy!

PD’s Project Orange Event, with every type of canopy flying you can imagine. Raft accuracy, canopy piloting, Thread the Needle CF stunt, and jump a reserve into a small backyard… PD’s Project Orange Event, with every type of canopy flying you can imagine. Raft accuracy, canopy piloting, Thread the Needle CF stunt, and jump a

“Fais comme l’oiseau” Wonderful satire from the crazily wonderful French Soul Flyers – Make Like a Bird … hilarious “Fais comme l’oiseau” Wonderful satire from the crazily wonderful French Soul Flyers – Make Like a Bird … hilarious