Wingsuit flying (or wingsuiting) is the sport of skydiving using a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit called a wingsuit to add webbed area to the diver's body and generate increased lift, which allows extended air time by gliding flight rather than just free falling. The modern wingsuit, first developed in the late 1990s, uses a pair of fabric membranes stretched flat between the arms and flanks/thighs to imitate an airfoil, and often also between the legs to function as a tail and allow some aerial steering.
Like all skydiving disciplines, a wingsuit flight almost always ends by deploying a parachute, and so a wingsuit can be flown from any point that provides sufficient altitude for flight and parachute deployment – a drop aircraft, or BASE-jump exit point such as a tall cliff or mountain top. The wingsuit flier wears parachuting equipment specially designed for skydiving or BASE jumping. While the parachute flight is normal, the canopy pilot must unzip arm wings (after deployment) to be able to reach the steering parachute toggles and control the descent path.
Wingsuits are sometimes referred to as "birdman suits" (after the brand name of the makers of the first commercial wingsuit), "squirrel suits" (from their resemblance to flying squirrels' wing membrane), and "bat suits" (due to their resemblance to bat wings or perhaps the aptly named DC Comics superhero Batman and his signature costume).
Wingsuitflying (or wingsuiting) is the sport of skydiving using a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit called a wingsuit to add webbed area to the diver's body and...
Fatalities from wingsuitflying have occurred almost from the inception of the sport. Listed below are notable examples where wingsuit pilots were publicly...
competitions, teams, and figures. 'Wingsuitflying' or 'wingsuiting' is the sport of flying through the air using a wingsuit, which adds surface area to the...
World Action Sportsperson of the Year in 2003. In 2015, he died in a wingsuitflying accident in Yosemite National Park. Dean Potter was born in 1972 to...
the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary...
carried out to sea by a rogue wave), Dean Potter (died age 43 while wingsuitflying when he crashed at Yosemite), Brad Gobright (died age 31 while abseiling...
parachuting from a helicopter above the stadium as James Bond. He died in a wingsuitflying accident near Les Grandes Otanes in Switzerland. He had been travelling...
plastic spheres with pilots suspended in the centre (zorbing); microlight flying; and BASE jumping (in the early days of this sport). In recent decades the...
transitioned to wingsuitflying then progressing to wingsuit base jumping and proximity flying. Rex rose to the top of the wingsuit world and now competes...
clothing to improve control and flight characteristics in the air. Wingsuitflying has become a popular form of BASE jumping in recent years, that allows...
of unusual deaths List of inventors killed by their own inventions Wingsuitflying His native name is also found misspelled as "Frantz Reichelt" in French...
helicopter Space Ranger (device) advertised in Popular Science, 1970s Wingsuitflying Burnett, Dean (23 September 2014). "Jetpacks: here's why you don't...
Roberta Mancino is an Italian skydiver, BASE jumper, wingsuit flyer and international model. She has participated in more than 12,500 skydives and won...
available in the game include mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding and wingsuitflying. Ubisoft described the game as a "massively multiplayer sports game"...
scansoriopterygid dinosaur Wingsuitflying – Variant of skydiving that uses jumpsuit with webbed sleeves, which mimic the patagia of flying mammals Elgin, Ross...
maintenance costs, and the portability are claimed to be this type of flying's greatest merits. Powered paragliders usually fly between 15 and 50 mph...
A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is...
minutes, from the Financial District to the Hudson River, flying up to 120 mph in their wingsuits. Other notable jumps include: on August 27, 2013, Provenzano...
variety of windsports such as kite flying, powered parachutes, paragliding, kitesurfing, speed flying, wingsuitflying and skydiving. The world's largest...
28, 2013, Corliss made a jump called the "flying dagger". He jumped out of a helicopter wearing a wingsuit and then flew through a narrow "crack" in Mount...
Helsinki) is the original developer of modern and commercial wingsuit (as a product), wingsuitflying (as a sport) and owner of BirdMan Inc. Kuosma has over...
Via Ferrata climbing Jumping-based: BASE jumping, hang gliding, and wingsuitflying Skiing-based: Backcountry skiing, freeriding, ski-BASE jumping, ski...
heads Parachuting, typically by jumping from a flying aircraft BASE jumping, parachuting or wingsuitflying from a fixed structure or cliff Competitive events...
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