Wingsuit flying is the sport of flying the human body through the air using a special jumpsuit, called a wingsuit, which adds surface area to the human body to enable a significant increase in lift. Modern wingsuits, first developed in the late 1990s, create the surface area with fabric between the legs and under the arms. A wingsuit may be referred to as a birdman suit or flying squirrel suit.
A wingsuit flight ends with a parachute opening, so a wingsuit can be flown from any point that provides sufficient altitude to glide through the air, such as skydiving aircraft or BASE jumping exit points, and to allow a parachute to deploy.
The wingsuit flier wears parachute equipment designed for skydiving or BASE jumping. The flier deploys the parachute at a planned altitude and unzips the arm wings, if necessary, so they can reach up to the control toggles and fly to a normal parachute landing.
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Wings were first used 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. They were not very reliable. Some "birdmen", notably Clem Sohn and Leo Valentin, claimed to have glided for miles. The wingsuit was showcased in the 1969 movie The Gypsy Moths starring Burt Lancaster and Gene Hackman.
On October 31, 1997, French skydiver Patrick de Gayardon showed reporters a wingsuit and alleged unparalleled safety and performance.[1][2] De Gayardon died on April 13, 1998 while testing a new modification to his parachute container in Hawaii; his death is often attributed to a rigging error which was part of the new modification rather than a flaw in the suit's design.
In early 1998, Tom Begic, a BASE jumper from Australia, built and flew his own wingsuit based on a photograph of Patrick de Gayardon and his ideas. The suit was developed to assist Begic in capturing freefall footage of BASE jumpers while jumping the high cliffs of Europe. In early 1999, Begic stopped development of his suit when he met Robert Pečnik and learned of plans for the creation of a wingsuit manufacturing company. Phoenix Fly was started in the mid 2000s.
In 1999, Jari Kuosma of Finland and Robert Pečnik of Croatia teamed up to create a wingsuit that was safe and accessible for all skydivers. Kuosma established Bird-Man International Ltd. the same year. BirdMan's Classic, designed by Pečnik, was the first wingsuit offered to the general public. BirdMan was the first manufacturer to advocate the safe use of wingsuits by creating an instructor program. Created by Kuosma, the instructor program's aim was to remove the stigma that wingsuits were dangerous and to provide wingsuit beginners (generally, skydivers with a minimum of 200 jumps) with a way to safely enjoy what was once considered the most dangerous feat in the skydiving world. With the help of Birdman instructors Scott Campos, Chuck Blue and Kim Griffin, a standardized program of instruction was developed that prepared instructors.[3] Phoenix-Fly, Fly Your Body, and Nitro Rigging have also instituted an instructor training program.
The wingsuit flier enters freefall wearing both a wingsuit and parachute equipment. Exiting an aircraft in a wingsuit requires skilled techniques that differ depending on the location and size of the aircraft door. These techniques include the orientation relative to the aircraft and the airflow while exiting, and the way in which the flier will spread his legs and arms at the proper time so as not to hit the aircraft or become unstable in the relative wind. The wingsuit will immediately start to fly upon exiting the aircraft in the relative wind generated by the forward speed of the aircraft. Exiting from a BASE jumping site, such as a cliff, or exiting from a helicopter, a paraglide or a hot air balloon, is fundamentally different from exiting a moving aircraft, as the initial wind speed upon exit is absent. In these situations, a vertical drop using the forces of gravity to accelerate is required to generate the airspeed that the wingsuit can then convert to lift.
At a planned altitude above the ground in which a skydiver or BASE jumper would typically deploy his parachute, a wingsuit flier will deploy his parachute. The parachute will be flown to a controlled landing at the desired landing spot using typical skydiving or BASE jumping techniques.
A wingsuit modifies the body area exposed to wind to increase the desired amount of lift with respect to drag generated by the body. The glide ratio of most wingsuits is 2.5. This means that for every foot dropped, two and a half feet are gained moving forward. The ratio is also called efficiency. With body shape manipulation and by choosing the design characteristics of the wingsuit, a flier can alter both his forward speed and fall rate. The pilot manipulates these flight characteristics by changing the shape of his torso, arching or bending at the shoulders, hips, and knees, and by changing the angle of attack in which the wingsuit flies in the relative wind, and by the amount of tension applied to the fabric wings of the suit. The absence of a vertical stabilizing surface results in little damping around the yaw axis, so poor flying technique can result in a spin that requires active effort on the part of the skydiver to stop.
Wingsuit fliers can measure their performance relative to their goals with the use of freefall computers that will indicate the amount of time they were in flight, the altitude they deployed their parachute, and the altitude they entered freefall. The fall rate speed can be calculated from this data and compared to previous flights. GPS receivers can also be used to plot and record the flight path of the suit, and when analyzed can indicate the amount of distance flown during the flight. BASE jumpers can use landmarks on exit points, along with recorded video of their flight by ground crews, to determine their performance relative to previous flights and the flights of other BASE jumpers at the same site.
A typical skydiver's terminal velocity in belly to earth orientation ranges from 110 to 140 mph (180–225 km/h). A wingsuit can reduce these speeds dramatically. A vertical instantaneous velocity of -25 mph (-40 km/h) has been recorded.[4]. However the speed at which the body advances into the wind is still much higher.
The tri-wing wingsuit has three individual ram-air wings attached under the arms and between the legs. The mono-wing wingsuit design incorporates the whole suit into one large wing.
Another variation on which studies are being focused is the so-called wingpack, which consists of a strap-on rigid wing in carbon fibre.[5] It is a mix between a hang-glider and a wingsuit. The wingpack can reach a glide ratio of 6 and permits transportation of oxygen bottles and other material.[6]
On July 31, 2003 an Austrian, Felix Baumgartner, jumping from 29,360 ft (9 km), successfully crossed the English Channel in 14 minutes using a wingpack, having covered over 35 km (21.8 mi).[7]
In 2006, the German enterprise ESG introduced Gryphon, a wingpack specifically destined for the secret incursions of the special forces.[8]
Since 2003[9] many BASE jumpers have started using wingsuits, giving birth to WiSBASE, regarded by some as the future of BASE jumping and the best course of development of wingsuit flying.
Among the main places where the WiSBASE practice in Europe is reported Kjerag and Trollstigen in Norway, Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, and Monte Brento in Italy, with the landing field near Dro.
One technique, risky and spectacular, is proximity flying, which is flying close to the faces and ridges of mountains. On July 1, 2011 near Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, Jeb Corliss became the first man to fly through a waterfall wearing a wingsuit Apache.[10][11] In 1999, Corliss had a near-fatal BASE jump into a waterfalls where the chute opening went asymmetric and he could not avoid flying into Howick Falls.[12]
While still very experimental, powered wingsuits, often using small jet engines strapped to the feet[13] or a wingpack set-up, allow for even greater horizontal travel and even ascent.
On 25 October 2005 in Lahti in Finland, Visa Parviainen jumped from a hot air balloon in a wingsuit with two small turbojet jet engines attached to his feet. The turbojets provided approximately 16 kgf (160 N, 35 lbf) of thrust each and ran on kerosene (JET A-1) fuel. Parviainen apparently achieved approximately 30 seconds of horizontal flight with no noticeable loss of altitude.[13]
On August 2011 Visa performed flight in Finland, jumped from a hot air balloon, started his engines and could gain hundreds meters of altitude with the power of his turbojets.
Christian Stadler (Birdman Chief Instructor) from Germany organized the first international wingsuit competition with prize money SkyJester's Wings over Marl in 2005. His world wide first achievement the VegaV3 wingsuit system uses an electronic adjustable hydrogen peroxide rocket.[14] This rocket provided 100 kgf of thrust, and produces no flames or poisonous fumes. His first successful powered wingsuit jump was in 2007 with more than 160 mph horizontal speed.[15]
Using a powered wingpack, Yves Rossy became the first person to obtain the maneuverability of an aircraft while steering solely with body movement; his experimental wingpack, however, is not commercially viable because of the fuel the wing uses, and the materials required in construction are prohibitive in cost. Nonetheless, his eight-minute flight over the Swiss Alps made headlines around the world, and so far, his "jet-wingpack" remains the only one capable of sustained flight.
Flying a wingsuit adds considerable complexity to a skydive. The United States Parachute Association (USPA) requires in the Skydivers Information Manual that any jumper flying a wingsuit for the first time have a minimum of 200 freefall skydives, made within the past 18 months, and receive one-on-one instruction from an experienced wing suit jumper, or 500 jumps experience to go without an instructor.[16] Requirements in other nations are similar. Wingsuit manufacturers offer training courses and certify instructors.
On July 24, 2008, Australian couple Heather Swan and Glenn Singleman jumped from 37,000 ft (11.27 km) over central Australia setting a world record for highest wingsuit jump.[17][18]
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has not established judging criteria for official world record wingsuit formations. However, several national organizations have established record categories and have established criteria for judging whether or not a wingsuit formation is complete.
The largest wingsuit formation officially recognized as meeting the criteria for a national record consisted of 68 jumpers in an arrowhead formation which set a US National Record at Lake Elsinore, California, on 12 November 2009.[19]
The largest unofficial record was a B-2 formation involving 71 jumpers at Lake Elsinore, California, in November 2008.[20]
The longest verified WiSBASE jump is 5.8 km (3.6 mi) by Dean Potter[21] in August, 2009. Potter jumped from Eiger and had spent 2 minutes and 50 seconds in flight, covering 7,900 ft (2.4 km) of altitude.
On May 28, 2011, Japanese wingsuit pilot Shin Ito set world records for the longest wingsuit flight of 23.1 km (14.4 mi) and a flight time of 5 minutes and 22 seconds, jumped from 9,800 metres (32,000 ft)[22] and the fastest speed reached in a wingsuit of 363 km/h (226 mph).[23]
The movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon features an extended scene of special forces NEST team members starting their descent from the apex of the Sears Tower after jumping out of V-22 Ospreys and flying between the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago. The scene was filmed using actual wingsuit stuntmen with helmet-mounted cameras.[24]
In the movie X-Men: First Class, Banshee has a costume very similar to a wingsuit, using his supersonic powers to lift himself from the ground, causing him to fly.
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