Men will be raining from the skies at this year's Oxford Balloon Fiesta as the Skyriders Parachute Display Team drop into the main arena -- and they'll be guided by a piece of paper.

Their Cessna aeroplane will fly to 2,000ft above the park, before passing directly over the dropzone.

At this point the skydivers will throw a 20ft paper streamer out of the aircraft to assess the direction and speed of the wind. From this, they will judge their exit position from the plane.

Once the jumpmaster is satisfied with the conditions, the pilot will apply full power and zoom up to the jumping altitude of 5,000 ft.

When the correct altitude is reached, the four-man skydiving team will leave the safe haven and freefall to approximately 2,000ft -- reaching speeds of up to 120mph.

At 2,000ft a freefall jumper only has about 10 seconds before hurtling into the ground, so timing is crucial -- and this is what makes skydiving such a breathtaking and dangerous pastime. Every second counts as the skydiver uses his quick wit and expertise to open the parachute before landing.

Once the 'chutes are open, the jumpers will be controlling their direction by pulling on the steering toggles attached to the main risers and assessing drift, wind speed and descent rate to land safely in the main arena.

The Skyriders Parachute Display Team was formed seven years ago. It has performed at Britain's football league grounds, speedway stadiums, vintage rallies and airshows as well as in America, Portugal, Cyprus and Russia.

But balloons are not the only high fliers at the fiesta. Another star attraction of the weekend is Nick Wakefield, who will give a dramatic solo aerobatic display on Sunday.

A virtuoso performance quite unlike any other flying demonstration on the show circuit, the Firebird solo flying display is an amazing combination of the spectacular, the unexpected and the just plain weird, such as the knife-edge flick, which will leave hardened fighter pilots shaking their heads in disbelief.