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Aerial misfit #1

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“I love to learn, and I’m inspired by new challenges,” says OJ Lawrence, creator of the Red Bull Air Force. “My peak performance comes when I’m scared – in make or break situations that prove I have the mettle to succeed.” A national champion in paragliding, OJ is also an expert B.A.S.E. jumper and skydiver; and as the originator of the RBAF, he established the group’s reputation and masterminded epic flying adventures. After years of the administrative duties involved in building the world’s premier aerial demo team from scratch, OJ has handed off the managerial mantle to fellow RBAF flyer Jon DeVore and is devoting more time than ever to becoming a “master of the air.” Born in 1974, Othar John Lawrence grew up in Carbondale, Colorado (the town he still calls home), where he explored just about every alpine sport. “In college, I was looking for fresh challenges, and that’s when I met my nemesis, the air,” he recounts. OJ made it his goal to conquer the skies, and he had the best possible teacher to get him started: his longtime friend (and now RBAF teammate), paragliding wizard Chris Santacroce. Next he headed to Europe. OJ remembers, “After two years of intense study overseas – airborne every possible waking moment – I was crowned U.S. Paragliding National Champion at the age of 23, the youngest ever.” OJ immediately started conversations with Red Bull about developing a U.S.-based flying team, and with the new millennium the Red Bull Air Force was born. In the meantime OJ pursued skydiving, flying ultralights, and, eventually, B.A.S.E. jumping, becoming expert enough to rollover from the dangerous low of a 200-foot cliff in Monument Valley and to leap from the dizzying height of Switzerland’s notorious Eiger ridge. At 34, he’s still looking for new challenges. “My biggest dream is to B.A.S.E. jump in Antarctica, but I also want to fly my paraglider across the Canadian Rockies, and to set a record of the most vertical anybody has hiked and hucked in one day with a paraglider,” he states. “My mission is to spread the word that airsports are the most engaging, challenging, and fun sports imaginable, with the most creative playing field available: three dimensions.” OJ’s latest objective is airplanes – having passed his private pilot exams, he’s voraciously learning aerobatics. “By the time I’m an old man, I want to be accomplished at skydiving, B.A.S.E. jumping, paragliding, hang gliding, ultralights, sailplanes, airplane aerobatics – everything,” OJ states. “I really do want to be a master of the air.”