BASE jumping is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs). Participants jump from a fixed object such as a cliff and after an optional freefall delay deploy a parachute to slow their descent and land. A popular form of BASE jumping is wingsuit BASE jumping.
Free flying is a skydiving discipline that began in the late 1980s, involving falling free 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 Body flight. Zipser founded the Free Fly 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 Free Fly Clowns are also credited with opening the first school to teach free flying, The First School of Modern Skydiving.
A drop zone (DZ) is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers and airborne forces, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes. In the latter case, it is often beside a small airport, frequently sharing the facility with other general aviation.
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.
Goulburn Airport is a general aviation airport located 7 km (4.3 mi) south of Goulburn, New South Wales. Throughout the 1990s, suggestions were put forward to have Goulburn airport as a secondary international airport to service Sydney.
British Skydiving is the national governing body for skydiving in the United Kingdom.
The death of Stephen Hilder, aged 20, occurred on 4 July 2003 at Hibaldstow Airfield, England, in an incident in which Hilder fell 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) to his death when, during a 3-person team skydive, both his main and reserve parachutes failed. The investigation into the death, "unique in British crime history", revealed expert-level tampering with both canopies, but failed to determine whether the incident was murder or suicide.
Menzelinsk is an airport in Russia located 3 km west of Menzelinsk, in the Kama river valley. It is a civilian airfield with small tarmac.
The North West Parachute Centre is a BPA affiliated parachuting centre and skydiving drop zone at Cark, Cumbria.
The Parachute Association of South Africa (PASA) manages the sports of parachuting and skydiving in South Africa on behalf of the South African Civil Aviation Authority.
Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending 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 multiple parachutes.
Royal Air Force Hibaldstow or more simply RAF Hibaldstow is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located south of Hibaldstow in Lincolnshire and 8.3 miles (13.4 km) south east of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England.
Jump for the Cause is a non-profit group of women who perform mass skydiving formations to raise money. A new world's record was set on Saturday, September 26, 2009; when 181 women from 31 countries jumped in formation. This event also raised more than $900,000 for a cancer-care center based in California.
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.
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".
World Parachuting Championships is the main competitive parachuting championships in the World, and is organised by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
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.
H. Truesdell Smith—known variously as "H. T. Smith", "Henry Truesdell Smith", "Harold Truesdell Smith", or "Daredevil Smitty" but best known as "Smitty the Jumper"—was an American exhibition parachutist and skydiver of the 1920s and 1930s. He made periodic returns to skydiving starting in the late 1950s, jumping in every subsequent decade until his death, becoming widely known as "the oldest living skydiver", a title he claimed until his death in 1995 at the age of 96.
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.
