Latest news with #paragliding
Arab News
6 days ago
- Sport
- Arab News
Is it a bird, is it a plane? No — it's a Saudi aviation athlete
RIYADH: Most people live their lives on the ground, but Faisal Al-Olayan chose the sky. The Saudi aviation athlete, this week's guest on The Mayman Show, is an aerospace engineer, pilot, skydiver and a member of the Kingdom's national paragliding team. Most of us travel, but he chases storms, soars above mountains and dives into clouds in ways most of us only dream about. From experiencing rain that 'almost stops the heart' mid-flight to emotional moments when he completed his wingsuit training in Russia, Al-Olayan lives life one adrenaline rush at a time. His story is not so much about escaping gravity, as about finding freedom within it. 'I started having fun in flying because my mom, when I was young, she was telling me (I was) half bird. And when I started with this mentality, I started to do all of my activities in the sky. I started from graduating with sports until I am here with the national team,' said Al-Olayan. He began paramotoring in 2019, a form of ultralight aviation using a paraglider wing and a motor worn as a backpack. 'I started to train (in) paramotoring here in Riyadh,' he recalled. 'A paramotor is basically a parachute, but you have an engine (on) your back and you can foot-launch from anywhere.' He then planned to do his pilot training in the US, but the global pandemic and resulting lockdowns put paid to that. Al-Olayan loves to travel and has visited 67 countries to date. 'I started to take my paraglider with me to fly from mountains, I was getting more experience with this sport as a paraglider. And this is what makes me continue in all of those aerial sports,' he said. His role as an aerospace engineer also plays a big part in his experiences in the air. 'If you want to start to fly, you have to know aerodynamics … you have to know how the wind (is) flying and all of those things,' he explained. It also helped him become a fast learner and understand what was happening when he flew. 'There are two kinds of pilots. There is an experienced one and there is (an) experience and no physics one … it's like driving … you know how to drive the car, but you don't know anything about the car, you don't know about the engine,' he said. Al-Olayan added that was what made him fall in love with paramotoring and other sports. 'I even built my own paramotor. I was designing it, everything with my specifications and things like that,' he said. 'And all of that happened when I studied at KFUPM (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals) in Dhahran.' For five years, he did nothing but study until he obtained his degree in aerospace engineering. After that, he started taking part in competitions, doing well enough to earn his place in Saudi Arabia's national paragliding team, run by the Saudi Paragliding Federation. 'Shaheen (is) the name of the paragliding organization. And that was like … a new chapter for me because to compete is something — you're holding your name — but now you compete with the Saudi name … bringing your flag and your clothes, and everyone is seeing you as a Saudi athlete,' he explained. 'It's not like Faisal, the old one, is coming to compete. In the competitions that I was in, (I) was less nervous and less pressured. But when I was going with the national team, it was much, much more pressure. But for me, I enjoyed it a lot because it was more exciting.'
CTV News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘It feels great': B.C. man turns Superman dream into rescuing orphaned animals by air
Although his dogs are all different, Jayson Biggins says they have one thing in common. 'All rescues,' Jayson smiles after stopping to pet the trio of pups he was walking. 'As a kid, I always had a connection with an animal.' As a kid, Jayson also always dreamed of flying like a superhero. 'I could picture Superman saying, 'Up! Up! And away!'' Jayson smiles. 'And then free. He's gone.' But it wasn't until he was in university and tried paragliding for the first time that Jayson thought he'd found a way to realize that dream. 'You feel like a superhero. It feels magical,' Jayson describes the start of a paragliding flight when you run off a cliff and continuing taking steps in the air with falling. 'That just captivated me, and I was hooked for years.' For decades, Jayson taught paragliding around the world. During one of those trips, he and his wife rescued their first animal. 'A starving pup came out of the bush,' Jayson says. 'And we scooped that pup up and brought her back to health.' Jayson has his wife ended up living with nine rescue dogs, before someone suggested he combine his passion for animals with his passion for flying. 'It was an idea of service,' Jayson says. 'It seemed to fit.' So, when Jayson retired, he earned his pilot's licence, bought a family member's 70-year-old plane, and volunteered to pick up wildlife in far-flung places and transport them to animal rescue centres. Because airplanes can fly in a straight line fast, a rescue that might take a day by land and sea can be accomplished in less than an hour by air 'That can be a game-changer for animals that are injured orphaned,' Jayson says. Jayson started getting so many calls to help, he launched a charity called Big To The Rescue and began sharing the stories of his passengers on social media, racking up millions of views. The dozens of animals he's helped rescue include seal pups, bald eagles, and baby bears. 'It's pretty special that I can help little critters,' Jayson smiles. 'When I'm with an animal in the air, I feel like I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing and it feels great,' Because even better than learn to fly like a superhero, is wielding that power to help like one.
News.com.au
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Wife shares final footage of Red Bull space jump icon Felix Baumgartner
The grieving partner of famed skydiver Felix Baumgartner shared tragic footage of the extreme athlete's final flight — just moments before he crashed and died. The 56-year-old — who was renowned as the first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of sound — died in a paragliding accident in the Italian town of Porto Sant'Elpidio. The Austrian daredevil reportedly fell ill and lost consciousness while flying a motorised paraglider. Video shared by Baumgartner's longtime partner shows him preparing his parachute and starting the propeller of his paraglider before taking off into the cloudless summer sky. 'I was filming him taking off not knowing that this will be his last flight of his extraordinary life,' Miha Schwartzenberg, 55, who was with Baumgartner since 2014, wrote in a social media post accompanying the video which you can watch above. 'For over 12y I was there for every take off and landing, from skydiving, paragliding, helicopter flights, paramotor to aerobatic shows,' she wrote, adding that he was 'going home now, up there, where he was the happiest ever.' In the short clip, the adrenaline junkie is seen wearing shorts and a crash helmet as he fires up his propeller pack and runs across the grass to get airborne. As his wing fills with air and lifts him up from the ground, he tucks in his legs. Baumgartner achieved global fame in 2012 when he successfully skydived 24 miles from the edge of space to the ground, becoming the first human to break the sound barrier with only his body. Schwartzenberg also recalled how when she hadn't been able to attend her partner's skydives, the couple had a 'WLC code,' or 'the Wifey Landing call,' when he got to the ground. 'Never missed one. Except … this one,' she added. The exact circumstances behind Baumgartner's death are still under investigation. The Red Bull-sponsored athlete is believed to have fallen ill midair which caused him to lose control and crash to the ground, into the side of a swimming pool, killing him instantly. A hotel employee on the ground was also injured in the fall when the paraglider struck them. Schwartzenberg, a Romanian-born TV presenter, also praised Baumgartner's fans who have reached out to her since her partner's tragic death. 'Thank you all for your support and for keeping his unique legacy high up. This man was truly special, in so many ways, and I'll make sure I'll keep telling his story,' she wrote. 'But now…., I have to deal with the shock, the pain, the sunrises where I get to make just one coffee, not two,' she said.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Watch: Last video of Felix Baumgartner as he sets off on fatal paraglider flight
Felix Baumgartner's partner shared video of the extreme athlete setting off on his fatal paragliding flight. The 56-year-old Australian daredevil was flying over Porto Saint'Elpido in Italy on Thursday (17 July) when he lost control of his motorized paraglider. Witnesses said they heard a loud boom as the paraglider spun out of control and crashed next to a swimming pool. On Saturday, Miha Schwartzenberg posted a video to X of Baumgartner's taking off on his fatal journey. 'I was filming him taking off not knowing that this will be his last flight of his extraordinary life,' Schwartzenberg said in the caption. 'Felix Baumgartner is going home now, up there, where he was the happiest ever.' Baumgartner was best known for his record-breaking skydive from the edge of space in 2012.
The Independent
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Watch: Last video of Felix Baumgartner as he sets off on fatal paraglider flight
Felix Baumgartner's partner shared video of the extreme athlete setting off on his fatal paragliding flight. The 56-year-old Australian daredevil was flying over Porto Saint'Elpido in Italy on Thursday (17 July) when he lost control of his motorized paraglider. Witnesses said they heard a loud boom as the paraglider spun out of control and crashed next to a swimming pool. On Saturday, Miha Schwartzenberg posted a video to X of Baumgartner's taking off on his fatal journey. 'I was filming him taking off not knowing that this will be his last flight of his extraordinary life,' Schwartzenberg said in the caption. 'Felix Baumgartner is going home now, up there, where he was the happiest ever.' Baumgartner was best known for his record-breaking skydive from the edge of space in 2012.
