When you think of flying, you likely imagine wings.
This natural association has driven humans to develop ways to soar through the air, and wingsuit skydiving is one of the most fascinating outcomes.
But how did it all begin?
To understand how wingsuit skydiving came to be, we need to take a look back at its history.
The story of wingsuit flying is filled with bold pioneers, dangerous experiments, and a constant push to make the dream of human flight a reality.
Key Takeaways
- Wingsuit skydiving dates back over a century, with early attempts in the 1910s, though modern wingsuits emerged in the 1990s.
- Technological advancements in materials, aerodynamics, and training programs have transformed the sport into a mainstream extreme activity.
- Competitive wingsuit events and virtual reality simulations have made the experience accessible to more people.
How It All Started
To begin with, the history of wingsuit flying goes back over a hundred years.
It all started in 1912 with a man named Franz Reichelt, who was known as the “Flying Tailor.”
He had the dream of creating a suit that would let him glide through the air like a bird.
So, he made a suit with wings and decided to test it by jumping off the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Sadly, his suit didn’t work as he hoped, and the attempt ended in tragedy.
However, his courage and ambition inspired others to keep working toward the goal of human flight.
Not long after, in 1930, a young man from Los Angeles named Rex G. Finney made a more successful attempt at wingsuit flying.
Finney was only 19 when he built his wingsuit using materials like canvas, wood, silk, steel, and even whalebone.
His suit, often called a “bat-wing,” allowed him to glide through the air during a parachute jump.
Even though this early wingsuit wasn’t very reliable, it was still a big step forward.
Finney’s efforts showed that it was possible to glide and maneuver in the air, which encouraged other daredevils like Clem Sohn and Leo Valentin to try similar designs.
The Birth of the Modern Wingsuit
As time went on, people kept experimenting with wingsuits, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that the sport really started to take off.
In 1994, a French skydiver, Patrick deGayardon, introduced a new wingsuit design that changed everything.
His design was based on the work of John Carta, a parachutist and Vietnam War veteran.
DeGayardon’s wingsuit allowed for much better control and longer flight times, and it set the standard for what wingsuits would look like from that point on.
The real turning point came in 1999 when Robert Pečnik from Croatia and Jari Kuosma from Finland created the world’s first commercial wingsuit.
They founded a company called Bird-man International and released a suit called the Bird-man Classic.
This suit made wingsuit flying more accessible to experienced skydivers and helped the sport become more popular.
Realizing the risks of wingsuit flying, Bird-man International also created a special training program for beginners.
This program, led by Jari Kuosma and with help from instructors Scott Campos, Chuck Blue, and Kim Griffin, required skydivers to complete at least 200 jumps before they could try wingsuit flying.
The Technology Behind Today’s Wingsuits
Over time, wingsuits have become more advanced and safer.
Nowadays, wingsuits are made from strong, flexible materials like reinforced nylon.
They also include features like air inlets and outlets for better stability, tougher leading edges for more control, cut-away arms, and reinforced booties for added safety.
Most modern wingsuits have an upper wing for the arms and a lower wing for the legs, which helps the flyer maintain control during their flight.
In 2010, researchers at MIT conducted a study to see if they could make wingsuits even better.
They used a mannequin in a wind tunnel to test a wingsuit design with a third wing above the arms and behind the head.
This extra wing increased the lift, which allowed for a longer flight time, but it also created more drag, which meant a shorter flight range.
Even though this design hasn’t been widely used yet, it shows that people are always looking for ways to improve wingsuit flying.
Wingsuiting Becomes a Sport
With these advancements, wingsuit flying became a real sport.
Today, wingsuit skydiving competitions are held all over the world, with athletes competing in events that focus on distance, speed, and acrobatics.
In addition to regular skydiving, wingsuit flying has become popular in BASE jumping, too.
BASE stands for Building, Antenna, Span (bridge), and Earth, which are the four fixed objects that jumpers use as platforms.
In 2005, the term “proxy flying” was introduced to describe wingsuit BASE jumpers who fly close to the ground or near obstacles like cliffs and valleys.
This type of flying is one of the most exciting and dangerous aspects of the sport.
Some wingsuit flyers have set incredible records.
For example, Shin Ito holds the record for the fastest wingsuit flight, reaching a speed of 363 km/h (226 mph).
Another wingsuit flyer, Jhonathan Florez from Colombia, holds records for the longest and highest wingsuit flight.
He flew for nine minutes and six seconds from an altitude of 11,358 meters (37,262 feet).
Making Wingsuit Flying More Accessible
Even though wingsuit flying is thrilling, it’s not an easy or cheap sport to get into.
It requires a lot of training and costs a lot of money.
A new wingsuit can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000, which doesn’t include the cost of other gear like helmets, parachutes, and altimeters.
You also have to pay for the skydiving jumps needed to train and travel costs if you want to jump at special locations.
Because of these challenges, a company called JUMP came up with a way to make wingsuit flying more accessible.
They created a virtual reality (VR) wingsuit experience that lets people feel what it’s like to fly in a wingsuit without any of the risks or high costs.
JUMP’s VR experience uses realistic technology to simulate the feeling of wingsuit flight.
This VR wingsuit experience has several benefits.
First, it’s safer because there’s no risk of falling or crashing.
Second, it’s more affordable than real wingsuit flying.
And finally, it’s accessible to anyone, even if they’ve never been skydiving before.
With just a VR headset, people can experience the thrill of flying through the sky like a wingsuit pilot.
The Future of Wingsuit Skydiving
As wingsuit skydiving continues to grow, the possibilities for the future are endless.
We might see new wingsuit designs that allow for even longer flights and better safety features.
The sport might become more popular as more people discover it through VR experiences like JUMP.
No matter what happens, the dream of human flight that started with Franz Reichelt over a century ago has come a long way, and it’s only getting more exciting.
The sky might be the limit for most things, but for wingsuit skydiving, it’s just the beginning.
P.S. If you enjoyed this read, you might want to learn about the history of Mountaineering.
