Wingsuit Pilots

When I first saw this video, I thought it was some kind of special effect movie in which the actors were shot over green screen, and then superimposed over flight footage. I was really skeptical. The more I researched about the sport, the more I got excited. This is the real thing!

In 2004 the Outdoor Network (OLN) aired Fearless, highlighting the life of Jeb Corliss as a wingsuit flier. Once you start watching the first segment, you won't be able to stop until you see all 5 parts.

In 2003 at the Go-Fast Games, Jeb Corliss was paired with Dwain Weston for a demonstration jump, with Jeb wingsuiting and Dwain parachuting. At the last minute, Dwain decided to fly a wingsuit instead. So they jumped out of the aircraft. As Jeb was flying under a bridge and Dwain was flying over the bridge, something went terribly wrong.



Drag your mouse over the gray block to read what happened next:
(warning: this may be disturbing)

So Jeb would fly under the bridge, which was lined with hundreds of spectators, while Dwain would go over it. "All he had to do is miss it by a foot, and he would have been a hero". Instead Dwain smacked into the bridge railing, which tore his body in half. His parachute deployed, carrying what was left of his torso, while his severed leg plunged to the bottom of the gorge. "I thought people were throwing things off the bridge," Jeb says, and he continues "Instead, I was flying through his parts. And when I landed, I was covered in his blood."

Warning: this video may be disturbing for some viewers.

Loic Jean-Albert, aka the flying dude is another famous wingsuit pilot, but he's also a wing suit designer, photographer and cameraman.

Jeb Corliss is one of the most experienced wingsuit pilots in the world. He's planning on wingsuit-only landing after reaching terminal velocity without having to use his safety parachute.

The main issue with making a safe landing is that wingsuit pilots descend not only downward but also forward, due to the gliding action of the wings. Jeb's team is counteracting this problem by having designed a Nordic-ski-jump like runway in which Jeb will be able to slide and come to a stop with no shock.

Loic Jean-Albert, the flying dude, is not very optimistic as he said: "You might do it well one time, and try another time and crash and die". More details in this NY Times article Flying Humans, Hoping to Land With No Chute.



The Wingsuit Landing Project, as it's been called, is expected to take place as soon as this year. However, Mr. Corliss is not alone, at least half dozen groups around the world are working secretly to achieve the same goal. Who's going to do it first? And how? Stay tuned.

Flying foxes are the biggest members of the bat family. Pteropus poliocephalu in latin. These bats have gone beyond the gliding and parachuting abilities of flying squirrels, lemurs, or possums. Their wings act like webbed hands. The bat can move its wings like we move our fingers enabling it to change its wings' shape rapidly to dart, flip, and turn quickly.