High-tech wingsuits enable these pilots to “fl y.”


A Flying Suit Not everyone likes the hang glider approach to fl ying. Some people want a diff erent experience. Hunched in the open door of an airplane high above Earth, two people wearing special wingsuits wait. T ey want just the right moment. When it comes, they fl ing themselves out and spread their fabric wings. T en they glide and swoop across the sky like human versions of fl ying squirrels. For this type of fl ying to work, these pilots


need a force to get them started. So, they jump out of a plane. Once they jump, their weight becomes a factor. Gravity pulls them toward the ground. Opening their fabric wings doesn’t provide much liſt , though. To fl y longer, these suits need more liſt .


Special valves built into the suit allow air to


move into tubes between the legs and under the arms. T e tubes create extra liſt once they fi ll with air. T is slows the pilot’s descent for a longer and slower trip to the ground. What wingsuit pilots cannot do, however, is


land using the wingsuit alone. T ey are moving too fast. Once a pilot fl ies down to a certain level, he or she releases a parachute. It’s been carefully packed to unfurl within a couple of seconds. T e air captured underneath the parachute quickly increases the amount of drag and slows a pilot enough to land safely. Using a wingsuit is very diff erent from the


peaceful fl ight in a hang glider. But for some, even the wingsuit isn’t enough.


SEPTEMBER 2015 13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24