 angelo d'arrigo (april 3, 1961 â march 26, 2006) was an italian aviator who held a number of world records in the field of flight, principally with microlights and hang gliders, with or without motors. he has been referred to as the "human condor".bbc sport | federer wins top sportsman prize ==biography== d'arrigo was born in catania, sicily but grew up from a very early age in paris, as his parents emigrated there in search of work. he returned to sicily after graduating from the university in paris, and from his base on mt. etna gained a number of world records and world titles in the field of ultra light flying and free flying. in 2001 he initiated a sequence of breath-taking events which saw him flying alongside various birds of prey as he attempted to learn from them their techniques for migratory flight by taking advantage of thermal air currents for long distance flight with low energy consumption. in 2002 he crossed the sahara and the mediterranean with an eagle. his hang glider was launched from a microlight. in 2003 he flew 5,500 kilometres from northern siberia to the caspian sea in iran in the company of a flock of siberian cranes bbc news | monitoring | media reports | siberian cranes take flying lessons who had been born in captivity and, due to imprinting, considered him their parent. the bird is at risk of extinction, and, in order to try to save the species, russian ornithologists hatched a plan. it called for having the eggs incubated under angelo's hang-glider, so the chicks saw this as they hatched. angelo would then be with the chicks as they fledge. when they were ready to fly, they would fly alongside angelo so they would consider him their mentor. that way, he could show them the traditional migratory route for their species. they had no other way to learn it. this approach was similar to the one taken in the movie fly away home. in 2004, he was aerotowed by richard meredith-hardy and released over mount everest bbc news | england | beds/bucks/herts | man flies microlight over everest another world record. he reportedly made this flight over the summit of everest with a trained nepalese eagle. how
1961_births 2006_deaths Aviators_killed_in_aviation_accidents_or_incidents Italian_aviators Laureus_World_Sports_Awards_winners People_from_Catania Victims_of_aviation_accidents_or_incidents_in_Italy