FreeFlying: skydive the free Flying
Freefly is a skydiving discipline which began circa 1986 by a group of skydivers who wanted to experiment with non-traditional forms of flight. This group, called "The Freefly Clowns" was founded by Olav Zipser (the ultimate Clown), along with Mike Vail (FFC#2), Charles Bryan (FFC#3), Omar Alhegelan (FFC#4) and Stefania Martinengo (FFC#5). Freeflying is now the fastest growing discipline in parachuting.
Freeflying is an expansion of skydiving which includes the traditional belly-to-earth positions, but extends into vertical flight where the flyer is in an upright position (falling feet first) or in an inverted position (falling head first). These positions increase freefall speeds and make new types of formations and routines possible. Freeflying is truly a three-dimensional art form that is constantly evolving and improving with its growth.
A freeflyer, in order to fully understand the aerodynamic power of his/her body in freefall, needs to first learn to control the all skydiving forms: box position (belly-to-earth, traditional skydiving position), back flying (back-to-earth), head-up flying, head-down flying, side flying. These positions are not held for the duration of a skydive. Freeflying can, and usually does, involve constant movements and changes in position and speeds, either with vertically speeds and/or horizontally. This can involve constantly flowing skydives with all positions explored, or more static skydives where flyers are concentrating on building a large formation while flying in one of these freefly positions. Due to the increases in speed and movement, freeflying is also more dangerous than what people imagine a "normal" skydive would be.
While freeflying is a younger, more extreme addition to skydiving, it is rapidly becoming the premier event in competitions and world records. Most new skydivers aspire to freefly and many skydivers who spent most of their time in traditional disciplines are showing interest.
... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeflying ...
