Wingsuit Flying
Pure adrenaline: Watch the world's highest obstacle course!
The world’s best aerial athletes joined forces to create an epic flight challenge – featuring jaw-dropping feats like launching into the sky with human catapults.
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Where do we even begin to describe the Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course? Wingsuit pilot Dani Román, who was part of this incredible project, says it best: “It looks like a Mission Impossible movie, it’s crazy!” The Spaniard is confident: "Even if you don’t know the sport, you’re going to love this video.” The newly released sequence is part action movie, part art piece and 100 percent epic. But don’t just take our word for it, watch it for yourself:
Created by the world’s best aerial athletes over the past two years, the Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course video shows a surreal 15-stage flight line looping across open skies, mountain ranges and city skylines. It took cross-discipline coordination between wingsuiters, skydivers, paramotor pilots, jet aircraft and drone engineers to create the airborne playground unlike anything seen before. Overall, 34 athletes were involved.
“It’s the most fun project I’ve ever been involved in,” says Marco Waltenspiel, BASE jumper and member of the Red Bull Skydive Team. “Really it’s 15 projects in one, and something we’ll remember for a while!”
Turning impossible dreams into sky-high reality
Every obstacle started as a wild idea from the athletes’ own imaginations. “With the crew we have, it was easy to brainstorm, as there are loads of creative people on the team,” says Román, who flew in formation for the hot air balloon target, among other obstacles. “Somebody brings an idea, then somebody else adds something.”
Dani Román was one of the masterminds behind the project
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
“It’s absurd, it’s ambitious, it’s beautiful – everything we love about flying!", says Luke Aikins. “You can’t help but smile when you see it," says the veteran skydiver and Red Bull Air Force member, who was one of the sporting directors consulting on the project. “The only reason we could pull it off is because these athletes are so good at what they do. What looks impossible to others is just another day for them.”
A jet ski leaving the plane during the Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course
© Predrag Vučković/Red Bull Content Pool
Each of the 15 obstacles combined precision flying, engineering wizardry, and pure spectacle in true never-before-seen fashion. Jet skis were dropped out of planes, landing intact on open water under parachute control.
It was one of the best flights of my life
Wingsuiters Andy Farrington, Mike Swanson and Sebastián Álvarez chased the smoke trails of Alpha Jets through a “painted sky tunnel” at speeds over 200kph, before threading through airborne rings held in position by paramotor pilots in a carefully coordinated flight that required millisecond precision. “It was one of the best flights of my life,” said Álvarez afterward.
The human catapult
In one of the sequence’s wildest moments, three human catapults hurled wingsuiters into open sky, giving them more speed and clearance than any mountain jump could. “The catapult was insane,” laughs Román, who was part of testing. “Putting three catapults on top of a mountain is a lot of work. You pull them all at once and suddenly you’re flying. It’s crazy and definitely one of my favourites.”
Why not include a human catapult?
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
From the catapult launch, the sequence transitioned to a high-altitude slalom through the Swiss Alps. For legendary wingsuit pilot Frédéric Fugen, tackling the obstacle alongside Amber Forte and Álvarez, it was pure wish-fulfilment. “It’s something we all dream of doing: having big pylons in the middle of the mountains and being able to do a slalom with your friends,” says Fugen.
One highlight: A mega Red Bull can created by drones
Marco Fürst and Max Manow soar through Dubai's skyline
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
Across Dubai’s beautiful Marina skyline, athletes raced through a slalom of skyscrapers, dived through a drone formation in the shape of a giant Red Bull can hovering over 300m above the skyline, before performing a tight-formation fly-by over the iconic Atlantis The Royal.
A Red Bull can hovers over Dubai
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
“The Drone Can is one-of-a-kind. It was like a video game,” says Max Manow, one of the wingsuiters who flew through Dubai’s skyline alongside Waltenspiel and Marco Fürst. “Now you have drones to fly through and aim at and play with. I think it’s the future of airshows, and I can’t wait!”
Where was the Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course filmed?
The Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course was filmed across Croatia, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, United States, Bahamas and the UAE. You can watch it now on Red Bull's YouTube channel.
Who are the athletes behind the Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course?
Crew love: Wingsuit pilots celebrate a successful attempt
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
This once-in-a-generation collaboration brought together 34 athletes from across the globe to piece together an airborne playground unlike anything seen before. Here are some of them:
- Dani Román
- Luke Aikins
- Frédéric Fugen
- Marco Waltenspiel
- Marco Fürst
- Amber Forte
- Mike Swanson
- Sebastián Álvarez
- Max Manow
- Jon Devore
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