Wingsuit

Flying in a wingsuit is using the human body to fly through the air using a specially designed jumpsuit, that shapes the body to an airfoil, creating lift.

The wingsuit has become a new innovation in skydiving. It is a kind of jumpsuit which has three big wings attached to it. Two of them are attached to either side of the body by being sewn between the wrists, hips and armpits, and the third stretches between the legs above the knees. The wings are made of the same material that a parachute is made of, and is sewn down lengthwise at various intervals leaving the ends open to form long cells, a bit like those of a raft. During free-fall, the wind enters these cells, stiffening the wings, and creating lift.

The idea of a wingsuit is not new, and the first ones were produced in the 1930s. The users were referred to as Birdman. But they were largely unsuccessful in producing flight, and the majority of trials ended in fatalities. The breakthrough came in the mid 1990s, then a Frenchman named Partick de Gayardon perfected the design by spending endless hours in a wind tunnel, simulating flight with prototype suits. He produced a suit that was unparalleled in performance and safety. Whilst he was testing a new modification to the suit, he passed away, and his expertise was lost. Since then, others have built on his work to finally create a wingsuit that is considered safe for skydiving.

The innovative thing about the wingsuit is it’s ability to change shape during flight. An aeroplane’s wings are straight, with slight moving on it’s surfaces for take-off and landing. A wingsuit can modify its flying performance by changing the shape it is in. The shape can be changed easily by moving the body. Different positions will produce different movements. All sorts of maneuvers in the air, and types of landing approaches can be effected by moving different parts of the body.

Currently, skydivers wearing wingsuits open parachutes to land, but there are several skydivers across the world in a race to see who can be first to make it from plane to land without opening a chute.