Wingsuit Racing: Flying? Or Falling Really Fast?

Energy Drink maker Red Bull looks to get media attention by coming up with the most outrageous aviation-related events imaginable. If that's the goal, then this year's Red Bull Aces championship, a race among "pilots" wearing wing suits, was surely a success.

Photo by Balazs Gardi/Red Bull Content Pool

Held in the skies above Arizona last weekend, the race pitted wingsuit flyers against each other, with the racers speeding down a 4,300-foot "course" defined by balloon-style gates through which the competitors "slalom." (Yes, I'm wearing out the quotation mark key.)

The racers jump from a helicopter mothership, and then, according to Red Bull, reach speeds of up to 160 mph, as they fly/descend through the course, with the fastest finisher winning the crown.

Photo by Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool

This year's winner was Noah Bahnson, who edged out second-place finisher Will Kitto and third-place flyer Andy Farrington, all of the USA, giving the host country an unprecedented sweep.

After passing the finish-line gate, the racers deploy their parachutes to land under the canopy back at the race center.

Learn more about the Red Bull Aces contest.

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Isabel GoyerWriter

A commercial pilot, editor-in-Chief Isabel Goyer has been flying for more than 40 years, with hundreds of different aircraft in her logbook and thousands of hours. An award-winning aviation writer, photographer and editor, Ms. Goyer led teams at Sport Pilot, Air Progress and Flying before coming to Plane & Pilot in 2015.