Babylon Freefly is a French skydiving team that was formed in 1998 by Stephane Fardel in Empuriabrava, and has grown into one of the oldest and most successful freeflying teams in the history of skydiving.
Babylon Freefly is a French skydiving team that was formed in 1998 by Stephane Fardel in Empuriabrava, and has grown into one of the oldest and most successful freeflying teams in the history of skydiving.
Stephane Fardel founded Babylon Freefly in 1996 with Sylvain Turina. Two years later the Babylon Freefly School became an official company. "Airplanes and skydiving have always been part of my life, my parents being skydivers", explained Fardel when asked how it all began. [1]
Babylon Freefly is the longest running and most successful team in the history of freeflying. Memorable events include Sylvain's invention of the flying tube, and winning the very first official FAI Freefly World Cup in Eloy in 2000 with team-mates Nicolas Arnaud and Loic Jean-Albert.
Babylon FreeFly is mainly characterized by incorporating tubes into flight and, above all, flying vertically and upside down.
Two decades reveals a vast list of firsts, from an unbroken run of gold medals from 2004 to 2009 with the call sheet including the youngest gold medalist in a then 21-year-old Vince Reffet and the first female freefly world champion in Cathy Bouette. For years Babylon were at the forefront of technical group flying, forming and formulating the way freefly jumps happened at a time when knowledge was being established through trial and error, answering questions like, how do you launch an eight-way vertical formation into the wind? Or how do we continue to evolve and move forward while maintaining an acceptable level of safety in freeflying, as plans get more ambitious and groups get larger?
Babylon can attribute part of its success to a strong symbiotic relationship with that of its home at Skydive Empuriabrava (Costa Brava, Girona, Spain). The dropzone has become one of a select few around the world that has carved a position beyond merely being a place to skydive. "Babylon and Skydive Empuriabrava have always worked closely together since the creation of the Freefly School," explains Fardel. "It’s the biggest dropzone in Europe and having a Pilatus Porter, a Beechcraft 99, and a Twin Otter is a great asset. Not to mention the weather, the amazing landscape, the marina town and all the side activities that the area offers."
It is easier to think of Babylon Freefly as a school or, better yet, as a ‘platform’ from which to launch competitive teams, progress students, organise events and work toward the goal of pushing the sport forward.
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Babylon Freefly team has won six gold medals in Freefly Skydiving competitions at the World Class Level: World Cup discipline in 2005, 2007, and 2009, and the World Air Games in 2006, 2008, and 2010. The highly qualified team consists of professional skydivers, coaches, photographers, and directors.
The Babylon team has been involved in many airshows as the Red Bull Air Races attracts more than a million spectators and millions of viewers online and on television.
Babylon FreeFly has been involved in projects including television commercials for Peugeot and Nintendo, appearing in the annual air show of the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and action films like Secret Agents , Largo Winch 2 , and the Bollywood Movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara .
The school is headquartered at Skydive Empuriabrava in Girona, Costa Brava, Spain, and consists of instructors from France, Switzerland, Australia, Belgium, South Africa and Venezuela that have more than 80,000 jumps.
Freeflying is a skydiving discipline which began in the late 1980s, involving freefalling in various vertical orientations, as opposed to the traditional "belly-to-earth" orientation. The discipline is known to have originated when Olav Zipser began experimenting with non-traditional forms of bodyflight. Zipser founded the FreeFly Clowns as a two-person competitive team with Mike Vail in 1992. He was joined by Omar Alhegelan, Charles Bryan, and Stefania Martinengo in 1994. The FreeFly Clowns are also credited with opening the first school to teach freeflying, The First School of Modern SkyFlying.
Formation skydiving is a skydiving event where multiple skydivers attach themselves to one another by grabbing each other's limbs or by the use of "grippers" on their jumpsuit while free falling through the sky. The goal of this skydiving program is to build a formation of multiple divers arranged in a geometric pattern.
Wingsuit flying is the sport of skydiving using a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit called a wingsuit to add webbed area to the diver's body and generate increased lift, which allows extended air time by gliding flight rather than just free falling. The modern wingsuit, first developed in the late 1990s, uses a pair of fabric membranes stretched flat between the arms and flanks/thighs to imitate an airfoil, and often also between the legs to function as a tail and allow some aerial steering.
Tracking is a technique used by skydivers during freefall to increase their horizontal speed. Tracking is considered a fundamental skill in the sport because it allows multiple skydivers to gain separation from each other prior to deploying their parachutes. Nearly all licensing organizations mandate a student show proficiency at tracking in order to obtain their skydiving license.
A vertical wind tunnel (VWT) is a wind tunnel that moves air up in a vertical column. Unlike standard wind tunnels, which have test sections that are oriented horizontally, as experienced in level flight, a vertical orientation enables gravity to be countered by drag instead of lift, as experienced in an aircraft spin or by a skydiver at terminal velocity.
Empuriabrava is a community in the municipality of Castelló d'Empúries, in the Alt Empordà. It is located in the Gulf of Roses, surrounded by the Natural Park of the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà, and is the largest residential marina in Europe, with some 24 km of navigable waterways.
Roger Warren Nelson was a skydiver, convicted drug smuggler, and founder of Skydive Chicago, one of the largest skydiving centers in the United States.
Skydive Hibaldstow is a parachuting and skydiving drop zone centre in Hibaldstow, North Lincolnshire, England. Skydive Hibaldstow is affiliated with the skydiving company British Skydiving.
Banzai skydiving is a rumored form of skydiving in which the skydiver throws their parachute out the airplane door, waits, and then jumps after it. To be successful, the skydiver must catch the parachute, secure it, and glide to the projected landing zone. There is no known, credible evidence that a banzai skydive has ever really occurred according to its definition.
Parachuting and skydiving is a method of transiting from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes.
The Bad Lieutenants are a United Kingdom skydiving team started in 2006. They began as a freeflying team and competed at both national and international level until in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 they took a break due to Matthew O'Riordan's ACL injury, and in 2009 reformed with two new members as a vertical formation skydiving team. Based on their performance in the World Cup in 2009, coming third, they have received considerable support from the British Parachute Association and skydiving manufacturers.
Roberta Mancino is an Italian skydiver, BASE jumper, wingsuit flyer and international model. She has participated in more than 12,500 skydives and won several awards and world records. She has gone on four skydives while completely naked, and on five occasions her parachute did not open in mid-jump. In 2010, Mancino was named the World's Sexiest Female Athlete by the magazine Men's Fitness.
Olav Zipser is a German professional skydiver.
The Space Games is a freefly skydiving competition event created by 'Father of ' FreeFly' Olav Zipser.
Chris "Douggs" McDougall is an Australian skydiver, BASE jumper and wingsuit pilot. He is also founder of a BASE jump school "Learn to BASE jump".
Skydive Empuriabrava is the brand that has been commercially operating Empuriabrava Aerodrome since 1985. Since it began operating, its main activity has been skydiving although it also offers photo flights, aerial and tourist advertising, and runs a school of aviation for private pilots.
Marc Hauser is a professional Swiss skydiver, artist and entrepreneur. He is the founder of speed tracking and holds the world record for the fastest horizontal free fall. Hauser is also the founder of Erfolgswelle AG, a communications agency.
Wind Games are an annual tournament for indoor skydiving, sponsored by Windoor, a manufacturer of vertical wind tunnels. The event first took place in 2014 and as of 2017 has always been held at Windoor's facility in Empuriabrava, Spain.
Jeff "Jeffro" Provenzano is an American professional skydiver, wingsuit flyer, BASE jumper, HALO jumper and stuntman. He is a member of the Red Bull Air Force, and is considered to be a pioneer of the skydiving discipline of swooping.
The Skydive Chicago Airport is a skydiving resort and camping ground in Ottawa, Illinois in the United States. It operates a private airport, Skydive Chicago Airport and offers outdoor skydiving and is spectator-friendly. There is an on-site cafe and gift/pro shop for all guests. For skydiving customers, it offers camping, RV parking, and an auditorium. The airport is located on the Fox River. The resort claims to operate the largest fleet of skydiving aircraft in the midwestern United States.