Patrick de Gayardon

{{Short description|French skydiver (1960–1998)}}

{{expand French|topic=bio|Patrick de Gayardon|date=July 2012}}

Patrick de Gayardon ({{IPA|fr|patʁik də ɡajaʁdɔ̃}}; 23 January 1960 in Oullins, Rhône – 13 April 1998 in Hawaii) was a French skydiver, skysurfer and a BASE jumper.

De Gayardon was famous for pushing the boundaries of skydiving. He was one of the first people to develop the unique style of skysurfing, in which skydivers use a snowboard to make aerobatic maneuvers. He also made many famous stunts with his development of a ram-air wingsuit, starting modern-day wingsuiting.{{cite web |url=http://adventuresportsjournal.com/a-life-in-flight/|title=A Life in Flight: Wingsuit Pioneer Loci Jean-Albert, "The Flying Dude"|last1=Schatz|first1=Bryan |website= Adventure Sports Journal|date=2 April 2012 |access-date=8 May 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://flylikebrick.com/wingsuit-history/ |title=Wingsuit History |last1=van Dongen |first1=Costyn |last2=Cordia |first2=Jarno |website=FlyLikeBrick |access-date=8 May 2016}} In 1998 Patrick fell to his death in Hawaii during a skydive with Adrian Nicholas using the wingsuit while testing a modification to his parachute container; his death is attributed to a rigging error he made while making the modification.{{cite book|title=Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers: Wingsuits and the Pioneers Who Flew in Them, Fell in Them, and Perfected Them|first=Michael|last=Abrams|pages=[https://archive.org/details/birdmenbatmensky00abra/page/211 211–220]|publisher=Harmony Books|location=New York|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4000-5491-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/birdmenbatmensky00abra/page/211}}