Surfers usually end up underneath their boards at the end of a wild wipeout. In the case of North Shore pro Flynn Novak, it happens when he’s about halfway through a 360-degree aerial backflip.

Novak, 28, of Waialua, is believed to be the first surfer to pull off the outrageous move, which he has dubbed the Flynnstone Flip. The maneuver landed him on the cover of Transworld Surf magazine’s March issue, on newsstands now.

"When this sequence of Flynn Novak came in, it was pretty much decided on sight that this had to be a cover," according to the magazine’s website.

Novak said it took him six years of trial and error to land his first flip about four years ago. He’s been perfecting it ever since, completing about 20 while trashing dozens of boards in the process and escaping serious injury.

Only recently has the move been caught by still and video photographers, among them North Shore photographer Brian Bielmann, who in late November took the series of photographs at Rocky Point that appear in Transworld Surf and on this page.

"There were a bunch of other photographers out there that day, but no one else got it," Bielmann said.

Novak grew up on the North Shore, surfing beaches from Sunset Beach to Mokuleia. He made the quarterfinals in the Pipeline Masters in 2009 and won contests at Ala Moana Bowls. He also is involved in promoting surf-related events through Chance’em Promotions.

Novak said he was inspired to figure out the flip move by "kickouts" at the end of a ride, when his board hits the lip of the wave, launching him into the air.

"I kind of discovered the rotation doing that," Novak said. "In the high-diving world you’d call it a ‘gainer.’ You’re moving forward but doing a backflip at the same time."

It’s similar to a move known as a rodeo flip, but with more air and less twist.

Here’s how he describes the Flynnstone Flip:

"I’m looking for that perfect section of a ‘pitching out’ wave, almost like a barrel, but inside of pulling in … I launch into it, trying to get as much speed as I can before that section of the wave actually presents itself. Halfway up, almost upside-down, that’s where I’m able to grab my board — one hand is right by my front foot, the other is by my back foot so I’ll have the most torque as you can get in that position.

"The rotation comes pretty quick, like on a trampoline. It’s just from knowing you’re going to do it. You just have to trust in putting your head back and following through with your body.

"Coming down, you get a crazy sensation because you’re moving with such a velocity, like a G-force, in the rotation, and you can’t see anything. It’s a pretty powerful sensation of gravity, almost like your blood rushing so quickly. And then you feel like you’re through the rotation and that’s when I open my eyes.

"The landing is the hardest part because that’s where it’s crucial to have the right section to land. If you land in the trough of the wave, you could get really injured. If you land on top of the lip, it will suck you over. … Whenever you do a perfect one, you clear a section of a wave and you can come down a steep part of a wall, so the wave hasn’t broken yet."

While Novak developed the flip on waves that were head- to shoulder-high, he’s now trying it on bigger swells and is even attempting double loops.