Red Bull.com

Born in 1979, Andy Farrington is the youngest member of the Red Bull Air Force, but in a sense he has the longest flying history. Andy’s mom, Jessie, made about 100 jumps while he was in utero – riding tandem, so to speak. Maybe that explains why he’s such a natural in the sky.

Andy is one of the most versatile members of the ridiculously well-rounded Red Bull Air Force crew: Expert in multiple disciplines, he has won the Pro Swooping Tour, captured the Red Bull Championship in 2003 (the year when he was also runner-up at the Drag Boat Racing World Championships), and earned first place in accuracy and second place overall at the canopy piloting World Championships. He’s rated to fly single- and multi-engine planes, is a licensed parachute rigger, set a freefall world record, co-founded the Red Bull Blade Raid competition, and teaches skydiving at Kapowsin Air Sports in Shelton, Washington, a family business founded by his grandfather. In the warmer months, Andy jumps out of planes “practically 24/7.”

Although an envelope-buster in the air, on the ground Andy is as laid back as they come. Perhaps the athlete’s easy nature derives from the knowledge that he’s already beaten one of the worst hands life can deal: Andy was diagnosed with cancer at age two, and after doctors removed a kidney, they forbade his participation in mainstream sports. “Fortunately, my skydiving family didn’t see any problem with jumping out of a plane!” Andy laughs. He made his first tandem jump in Europe at age 12, went solo at 16, and in the decade and a half since he’s accumulated over 16,000 skydives, about 1,000 BASE jumps, and 3,000 hours as a pilot. In his spare time, he likes shooting clay pigeons, flying his Maule plane, and learning airplane aerobatics.

Andy is in demand as an aerial videographer and photographer – one of his projects involves precision canopy flying behind world-class skiers to capture perspectives never before seen. But recently he’s been spending time in front of the camera as well. He was one of five elite stunt fliers chosen for “Transformers 3,” featuring the first-ever BASE jump from Chicago’s Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, and he’s one of the stars of the new “Human Flight 3D” feature film, which establishes new benchmarks in wingsuit flight. “We were flying wingsuits right next to mountains that are 15,000 feet tall, going forward at 100 miles per hour and down at about 60,” Andy recounts. “It’s a whole new realm, and audiences can see it in three dimensions.”