Wingsuit flying

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Wingsuits in flight

Wingsuit flying is a sub-discipline in skydiving. A wingsuit is a specially made jumpsuit that has fabric wings between the legs and under the arms.

1 Mechanics
2 History
3 Operation
4 Popularity
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Mechanics

One jumps wearing both a wingsuit and a undeployed parachute. The launch is similar to BASE jumping but requires more discipline, strength and control of the flight dynamics of one's own human body. A long vertical drop is required to accelerate, followed by a more gradual drop-off in which to glide. While still well above the target drop zone in altitude, the parachute is deployed and maneuvered during the last leg of the flight. At least one organization is investigating landings without a parachute.^[1]

Using a wingsuit enables the skydiver to reduce his fallrate to less than half of the usual terminal velocity of approximately 200 km/h. Vertical speeds of less than 40 km/h have been achieved momentarily, without opening the parachute. The suit also enables the wearer to travel longer distances horizontally; glide ratios of 2:1 are commonplace. While still very experimental, powered wingsuits, often using small jet engines strapped to the feet, allow for even greater horizontal travel. Currently, there are two basic wingsuit types. The tri-wing Wingsuit which has three individual ram-air wings attached under the arms and between the legs. The mono-wing wing suit design incorporates the whole suit into one large wing.

[edit] History

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Freefallers first started using wings in the 1930s as an attempt to increase horizontal movement. These early wingsuits were made of materials such as canvas, wood, silk, steel, and even whale bone. These wings often sealed the fate of those who donned them. According to wingsuit lore between 1930 and 1961, 72 of the 75 original birdmen died trying their wingsuits. Some of these birdmen, most notably Clem Sohn and Leo Valentin, claimed to have glided for miles and inspired dozens of imitators.

In the mid 1990s, French skydiver Patrick de Gayardon (nicknamed "DeG") developed a wingsuit that had unparalleled safety and performance. Unfortunately, Patrick died on April 13, 1998 while testing a new modification to his parachute container in Hawaii; his death is attributed to a rigging error which was part of the new modification. However, Patrick planted the seed that grew a new generation of birdmen.

In 1998, Jari Kuosma of Finland and Robert Pecnik of Croatia teamed up to fulfill their dream of creating a wingsuit that was safe and accessible for all skydivers when they established BirdMan, Inc. BirdMan's Classic, designed by Robert Pecnik, was the first wingsuit offered to the general public. BirdMan was also the first manufacturer to advocate the safe use of wingsuits by creating an Instructor program. Created by Jari Kuosma, the instructor program's aim was to remove the stigma that wingsuits were dangerous and to provide beginners with a way to safely enjoy what was once considered dangerous in the skydiving world. With the help of Birdman Chief Instructors Scott Campos, Chuck Blue and Kim Griffin, a standardized program of instruction was developed that not only allowed people to experience the joys of flight safely, it also allowed for the creation of more instructors who would be able to carry on BirdMan's high standard of training beginners all over the skydiving world. Following BirdMan's lead, Phoenix-Fly and Fly Your Body have also instituted an instructor program aimed at training new comers to the wingsuit discipline.

Loïc Jean-Albert developed a one-wing design which was manufactured and marketed by Parasport Italia as the Crossbow in 2000 Loic has since set up the wingsuit company Fly Your Body. In 2004 Robert Pecnik launched his own wingsuit company, Phoenix-Fly, contracting with Atair Aerodynamics to manufacture the suits. With a new level of safety and performance, the wingsuit pilots are back and rapidly growing.

On October 25th of 2005 in Lahti Finland, the BirdMan Rocket Team successfully experimented with small jet engines attached to the feet of BirdMan Visa Parviainen. The jets used provided approximately 16 kgf of thrust each and ran on kerosene (JetA-1) fuel. Visa was able to achieve approximately 30 seconds of horizontal flight with no noticeable loss of altitude. Once the fuel ran out, Visa continued to fly in normal Birdman flight until deployment altitude. Deployment and landing were uneventful. The flight was considered a success as it proved that level human flight was not only possible but sustainable with the use of rockets and a Birdman suit. Similarly successful experiments have also been undertaken with the SkyRay wing system. Visa Parviainen made a second flight in February of 2006, with similar results. ^[2]

In 2006 Tony Uragallo of Tony Suits in Zephyrhills Florida, developed a new generation of wingsuits that feature easy donning (very much like camera suits) and "webbies" that are integrated webbed gloves.

[edit] Operation

The wings on a wingsuit are fairly similar to a modern ram air parachute. They are equipped with crossported cells that inflate with air through inlets in the front of the wings, allowing them to become rigid and aerodynamic. Some wingsuits use airlocks or deflectors to help maintain pressurization and airflow while minimizing turbulence. The surface area of the wing causes drag vertically, while the shape of the wings and the jumpers body position causes the wingsuit pilot to move across the sky at very high speeds. The resulting forward speed translates into lift potential and creates a slow fall rate which gives the pilot a relatively high glide ratio.

Many wingsuits attach to a skydiving rig using openings on the sides of the suit to insert the leg straps, which stay inside the suit at all times. On other designs the leg straps are worn over the suit. The arm wings go through the main lift webbing and are then secured with cutaway cables or shackles. The cable is routed in a manner that leaves the emergency handles exposed. All suits have booties, thumb loops, and zippers to keep the wingsuit pilot sealed in, some have integrated webbed gloves. It usually takes five minutes to hook up a wingsuit.

[edit] Popularity

Bigway wingsuit formation

A skydiver flying a wingsuit has an average vertical fall rate of 50 - 60 mph, which can easily increase freefall time from the average 60 second skydive up to 3 minutes of freefall time. Experienced wingsuit pilots with more advanced suits can maintain fall rates under or around 30 mph. Wingsuit pilots are constantly trying to lower their vertical speeds via different flying techniques.

Flying a wingsuit has been compared to pure human flight. When wearing a wingsuit, the pilot is able to fly with considerable horizontal airspeed. Due to the slower fall rate and greater forward speed a good wingsuit pilot can cover five to six miles from 13,500 feet and achieve a glide ratio of over 2.5:1. Forwards speeds are believed to be between 90 and 120 mph without wind assistance.

Wingsuit flying is one of the few skydiving disciplines that allows skydivers to hear each other talk in freefall. Because of the slow fall rate, there is less noise from the passing air and wingsuit pilots can actually talk to other wingsuit pilots when flying next to each other.

Wingsuit flying even comes with its own sub-disciplines such as speed, lift, distance, aerobatics, flocking, formations, horizontal freeflying, canopy and wingsuit relative work, and more. Wingsuit flying is still a relatively young discipline, and the full potential is still unexplored, yet many ways to enjoy them have already been discovered.

The USPA recommends that any jumper flying a wingsuit for the first time have at least 200 jumps and be accompanied by an instructor or 500 without.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wingsuit Manufacturer Pages

Wingsuit Reference Pages

Books

Michael Abrams (2006). Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers: Wingsuits and the Pioneers Who Flew in Them, Fell in Them, and Perfected Them. ISBN 1400054915.