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Not all sport is played on ground. Some are played on water or underwater and others are played high up in the sky. Air sports, as its name suggests, are aerial activities. It includes air racing, aero-modelling, hang gliding, parachuting, paragliding, skydiving and more.

Unravel these images while reading about them.

Like Batman

Windsuiting is a sport of flying using a wingsuit. The suit adds surface area to the body, helping in the lift. Wingsuits are sometimes referred to as “birdman suits” (after the makers of the first commercially available wingsuit), “flying squirrel suits” and “bat suits” (as it resembles squirrels and bats). A wingsuit usually deploys as a parachute and can be flown from any point which has sufficient altitude, such as a tall cliff or a mountain top.

Floating on clouds

Sky surfing is exactly as its name suggests – surfing in the sky. The skydiver wears a board attached to his/her feet and performs surfing style acrobatics during the freefall. The boards are smaller than surfboards. The attachment to the feet is usually removable, so that if the skydiver loses control or has difficulty opening his/her parachute the board can be jettisoned.

Hang on

Hang gliding is recreational activity which is quite popular. The pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminum alloy or composite frame covered with synthetic sailcloth to form a wing. Typically the pilot is in a harness suspended from the air frame, and controls the aircraft by shifting body weight in opposition to a control frame.

Hop along

Hopper Balloon is a one-person hot air balloon, but unlike a conventional hot air balloon where people ride inside a basket, here there is no basket. Instead, the hopper pilot sits on a seat or wears a harness similar to a parachute harness. Hoppers are typically flown for recreation. These are also called “Cloud Hoppers”.