Wingsuit flying is the sport of flying the human body through the air using a special
jumpsuitJumpsuit originally referred to the utilitarian one-piece garments used by parachuters/skydivers, but has come to be used as a common term for any one-piece garment with sleeves and legs.-Use:...
, called a wingsuit, which adds surface area to the human body to enable a significant increase in
liftA fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a surface force on it. Lift is the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is the component of the surface force parallel to the flow direction...
. Modern wingsuits, first developed in the late 1990s, create the surface area with fabric between the legs and under the arms. A wingsuit may be referred to as a
birdman suit or
flying squirrel suit.
A wingsuit flight ends with a parachute opening, so a wingsuit can be flown from any point that provides sufficient
altitudeAltitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...
to
glideGliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s...
through the air, such as skydiving
aircraftAn aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
or
BASE jumpingBASE jumping, also sometimes written as B.A.S.E jumping, is an activity that employs an initially packed parachute to jump from fixed objects...
exit points, and to allow a parachute to deploy.
The wingsuit flier wears
parachuteA parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
equipment designed for skydiving or BASE jumping. The flier deploys the parachute at a planned altitude and unzips the arm wings, if necessary, so they can reach up to the control toggles and fly to a normal parachute landing.
History
Wings were first used in the 1930s as an attempt to increase horizontal movement. These early wingsuits were made of materials such as
canvasCanvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
,
woodWood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
,
silkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
,
steelSteel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, and even
whaleWhale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
bone. They were not very reliable. Some "birdmen", notably
Clem SohnClement Joseph Sohn was an airshow dare-devil in the 1930s from Fowler, Michigan, USA. He perfected a way of gliding through the air with a home-made wingsuit...
and
Leo ValentinLeo Valentin was a French adventurer, who attempted to achieve human flight using bird-like wings. Léo Valentin is widely considered to be the most famous "birdman" of all time.-Biography:...
, claimed to have glided for miles. The wingsuit was showcased in the 1969 movie
The Gypsy MothsThe Gypsy Moths is a 1969 American film starring Burt Lancaster, based on the novel of the same name by James Drought. It is the story of three barnstorming skydivers and their effect on a midwestern American town. At the time, the sport of skydiving was in its infancy, yet the movie featured an...
starring
Burt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
and
Gene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
.
On October 31, 1997, French skydiver
Patrick de GayardonPatrick de Gayardon was a French skydiver, skysurfer and a BASE jumper.De Gayardon was famous for pushing the boundaries of skydiving. He was one of the first people to develop the unique style of skysurfing, in which skydivers use a snowboard to make aerobatic maneuvers...
showed reporters a wingsuit and alleged unparalleled safety and performance. De Gayardon died on April 13, 1998 while testing a new modification to his parachute container in
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
; his death is often attributed to a rigging error which was part of the new modification rather than a flaw in the suit's design.
In early 1998, Tom Begic, a BASE jumper from Australia, built and flew his own wingsuit based on a photograph of Patrick de Gayardon and his ideas. The suit was developed to assist Begic in capturing freefall footage of BASE jumpers while jumping the high cliffs of Europe. In early 1999, Begic stopped development of his suit when he met Robert Pečnik and learned of plans for the creation of a wingsuit manufacturing company. Phoenix Fly was started in the mid 2000s.
Commercial era
In 1999,
Jari KuosmaJari Kuosma is the original developer of modern and commercial wingsuit , wingsuit flying and owner of BirdMan Inc. Kuosma has over 5000 jumps. He has worked as an Accelerated Free Fall Instructor in USA, Sweden and Venezuela. He introduced the first wingsuit training program for skydivers in 1999...
of Finland and Robert Pečnik of Croatia teamed up to create a wingsuit that was safe and accessible for all skydivers. Kuosma established Bird-Man International Ltd. the same year. BirdMan's Classic, designed by Pečnik, was the first wingsuit offered to the general public. BirdMan was the first manufacturer to advocate the safe use of wingsuits by creating an instructor program. Created by Kuosma, the instructor program's aim was to remove the stigma that wingsuits were dangerous and to provide wingsuit beginners (generally, skydivers with a minimum of 200 jumps) with a way to safely enjoy what was once considered the most dangerous feat in the skydiving world. With the help of Birdman instructors Scott Campos, Chuck Blue and Kim Griffin, a standardized program of instruction was developed that prepared instructors. Phoenix-Fly, Fly Your Body, and Nitro Rigging have also instituted an instructor training program.
Non-technical mechanics
The wingsuit flier enters freefall wearing both a wingsuit and parachute equipment. Exiting an aircraft in a wingsuit requires skilled techniques that differ depending on the location and size of the aircraft door. These techniques include the orientation relative to the aircraft and the airflow while exiting, and the way in which the flier will spread his legs and arms at the proper time so as not to hit the aircraft or become unstable in the
relative windIn aeronautics, the relative wind is the direction of movement of the atmosphere relative to an aircraft or an airfoil. It is opposite to the direction of movement of the aircraft or airfoil relative to the atmosphere...
. The wingsuit will immediately start to fly upon exiting the aircraft in the
relative windIn aeronautics, the relative wind is the direction of movement of the atmosphere relative to an aircraft or an airfoil. It is opposite to the direction of movement of the aircraft or airfoil relative to the atmosphere...
generated by the forward speed of the aircraft. Exiting from a BASE jumping site, such as a cliff, or exiting from a
helicopterA helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
, a paraglide or a
hot air balloonThe hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
, is fundamentally different from exiting a moving aircraft, as the initial wind speed upon exit is absent. In these situations, a vertical drop using the forces of gravity to accelerate is required to generate the airspeed that the wingsuit can then convert to
liftA fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a surface force on it. Lift is the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is the component of the surface force parallel to the flow direction...
.
At a planned altitude above the ground in which a skydiver or BASE jumper would typically deploy his parachute, a wingsuit flier will deploy his parachute. The parachute will be flown to a controlled landing at the desired landing spot using typical skydiving or BASE jumping techniques.
A wingsuit flier manipulates the shape of his body to create the desired amount of
liftA fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a surface force on it. Lift is the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is the component of the surface force parallel to the flow direction...
and
dragIn fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
although most wingsuits have a 2.5 to 1 ratio. This means that for every foot dropped, two and a half feet are gained moving forward. With body shape manipulation and by choosing the design characteristics of the wingsuit, a flier can alter both his forward speed and fall rate. The pilot manipulates these flight characteristics by changing the shape of his torso, arching or bending at the shoulders, hips, and knees, and by changing the
angle of attackAngle of attack is a term used in fluid dynamics to describe the angle between a reference line on a lifting body and the vector representing the relative motion between the lifting body and the fluid through which it is moving...
in which the wingsuit flies in the
relative windIn aeronautics, the relative wind is the direction of movement of the atmosphere relative to an aircraft or an airfoil. It is opposite to the direction of movement of the aircraft or airfoil relative to the atmosphere...
, and by the amount of tension applied to the fabric wings of the suit. The absence of a vertical stabilizing surface results in little damping around the yaw axis, so poor flying technique can result in a spin that requires active effort on the part of the skydiver to stop.
Wingsuit fliers can measure their performance relative to their goals with the use of freefall computers that will indicate the amount of time they were in flight, the altitude they deployed their parachute, and the altitude they entered freefall. The fall rate speed can be calculated from this data and compared to previous flights. GPS receivers can also be used to plot and record the flight path of the suit, and when analyzed can indicate the amount of distance flown during the flight. BASE jumpers can use landmarks on exit points, along with recorded video of their flight by ground crews, to determine their performance relative to previous flights and the flights of other BASE jumpers at the same site.
A typical skydiver's
terminal velocityIn fluid dynamics an object is moving at its terminal velocity if its speed is constant due to the restraining force exerted by the fluid through which it is moving....
in belly to earth orientation ranges from 110 to 140 mph (180–225 km/h). A wingsuit can reduce these speeds dramatically. An instantaneous velocity of -25 mph (-40 km/h) has been recorded.
The tri-wing wingsuit has three individual ram-air wings attached under the arms and between the legs. The mono-wing wingsuit design incorporates the whole suit into one large wing.
Wingpack
Another variation on which studies are being focused is the so-called
wingpack, which consists of a strap-on rigid wing in carbon fibre. It is a mix between a hang-glider and a wingsuit. The wingpack can reach a glide ratio of 6 and permits transportation of oxygen bottles and other material.
On July 31, 2003 an Austrian,
Felix BaumgartnerFelix Baumgartner is a skydiver and a BASE jumper. He is renowned for the particularly dangerous nature of the stunts he has performed during his career...
, jumping from 29,360 ft (9 km), successfully crossed the
English ChannelThe English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
in 14 minutes using a wingpack, having covered over 35 km (21.8 mi).
In 2006, the German enterprise
ESG introduced
GryphonThe Gryphon is a military wingpack that currently allows paratroopers to exit an aircraft at an altitude of 10 kilometres, then fly 40 kilometres while carrying up to 100 kilograms of equipment...
, a wingpack specifically destined for the secret incursions of the
special forcesSpecial forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
.
WiSBASE
Since 2003 many BASE jumpers have started using wingsuits, giving birth to
WiSBASE, regarded by some as the future of BASE jumping and the best course of development of wingsuit flying.
Among the main places where the WiSBASE practice in Europe is reported
KjeragKjerag or Kiragg is a Norwegian mountain, located in Lysefjorden, in Forsand municipality, Ryfylke, Rogaland. Its highest point is 1110 m above sea level, but its northern drop to Lysefjorden attracts most visitors. The drop is and is just by the famous Kjeragbolten, a 5 m³ big stone...
and
TrollstigenTrollstigen is a mountain road in Rauma, Norway, part of Norwegian National Road 63 connecting Åndalsnes in Rauma and Valldal in Norddal. It is a popular tourist attraction due to its steep incline of 9% and eleven hairpin bends up a steep mountain side...
in
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
,
LauterbrunnenLauterbrunnen is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.The municipality lies in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and comprises the villages Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Mürren, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg and Isenfluh...
in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and Monte Brento in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, with the landing field near Dro.
One technique, risky and spectacular, is
proximity flying, which is flying close to the faces and ridges of mountains. On July 1, 2011 near Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland,
Jeb CorlissJeb Corliss is a professional BASE jumper, skydiver, and wingsuit flyer. He has jumped from sites including Paris' Eiffel Tower, Seattle's Space Needle, and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia....
became the first man to fly through a waterfall wearing a wingsuit
Apache. In 1999, Corliss had a near-fatal BASE jump into a waterfalls where the chute opening went asymmetric and he could not avoid flying into
Howick FallsHowick Falls is a waterfall in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The waterfall is approximately 95 meters in height and lies on the Umgeni River. The Zulu people called the falls KwaNogqaza, which means "Place of the Tall One"....
.
Jet-powered wingsuits
While still very experimental, powered wingsuits, often using small jet engines strapped to the feet or a wingpack set-up, allow for even greater horizontal travel and even ascent.
On 25 October 2005 in
LahtiLahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
in
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Visa Parviainen jumped from a
hot air balloonThe hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
in a wingsuit with two small
turbojet jet engineA jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s attached to his feet. The turbojets provided approximately 16 kgf (160 N, 35 lbf) of thrust each and ran on
keroseneKerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
(JET A-1) fuel. Parviainen apparently achieved approximately 30 seconds of horizontal flight with no noticeable loss of altitude.
On August 2011 Visa performed flight in Finland, jumped from a hot air balloon, started his engines and could gain hundreds meters of altitude with the power of his turbojets.
Christian Stadler (
Birdman Chief Instructor) from
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
organized the first international wingsuit competition with prize money
SkyJester's Wings over Marl in 2005. His world wide first achievement the
VegaV3 wingsuit system uses an electronic adjustable hydrogen peroxide rocket. This rocket provided 100 kgf of thrust, and produces no flames or poisonous fumes. His first successful powered wingsuit jump was in 2007 with more than 160 mph horizontal speed.
Using a powered wingpack,
Yves RossyYves Rossy is a Swiss pilot, inventor and aviation enthusiast. He is the first person to achieve sustained human flight using a jet-powered fixed wing strapped to his back...
became the first person to obtain the maneuverability of an aircraft while steering solely with body movement; his experimental wingpack, however, is not commercially viable because of the fuel the wing uses, and the materials required in construction are prohibitive in cost. Nonetheless, his eight-minute flight over the Swiss Alps made headlines around the world, and so far, his "jet-wingpack" remains the only one capable of sustained flight.
Training
Flying a wingsuit adds considerable complexity to a skydive. The
United States Parachute Associationthumb|180px|right|USPA logoThe United States Parachute Association is a self-governing body for the sport of skydiving. Its headquarters are located in Fredericksburg, Virginia parallel to I-95...
(USPA) requires in the Skydivers Information Manual that any jumper flying a wingsuit for the first time have a minimum of 200 freefall skydives, made within the past 18 months, and receive one-on-one instruction from an experienced wing suit jumper, or 500 jumps experience to go without an instructor. Requirements in other nations are similar.
Wingsuit manufacturers offer training courses and certify instructors.
Records
On July 24, 2008, Australian couple Heather Swan and
Glenn SinglemanDr Glenn SIngleman is an Australian basejumper who currently holds four world records, including highest altitude BASEjump . He is also a documentary filmmaker ; and practicing medical doctor.-References:...
jumped from 37,000 ft (11.27 km) over central Australia setting a world record for highest wingsuit jump.
Fédération Aéronautique InternationaleThe Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...
has not established judging criteria for official world record wingsuit formations. However, several national organizations have established record categories and have established criteria for judging whether or not a wingsuit formation is complete.
The largest wingsuit formation officially recognized as meeting the criteria for a national record consisted of 68 jumpers in an arrowhead formation which set a US National Record at
Lake Elsinore, CaliforniaFor the lake see Lake Elsinore.Lake Elsinore or LE is a city in western Riverside County, California. The population was 51,821 at the 2010 census...
, on 12 November 2009.
The best proximity flying is thought to have been performed by Swiss pilot Jokke Sommer when flying at a distance of about 50cm from the terrain during some of his flights.
The largest unofficial record was a B-2 formation involving 71 jumpers at Lake Elsinore, California, in November 2008.
The longest verified WiSBASE jump is 5.8 km (3.6 mi) by
Dean PotterDean Potter is an American free climber, alpinist, BASE jumper, BASEliner, and highliner. He is noted for hard first ascents, free solo ascents, speed ascents, and enchainments in Yosemite and Patagonia....
in August, 2009. Potter jumped from
EigerThe Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m...
and had spent 2 minutes and 50 seconds in flight, covering 7,900 ft (2.4 km) of altitude.
On May 28, 2011, Japanese wingsuit pilot
Shin Itois a Japanese wingsuit pilot and skydiver who currently holds two world records, including the longest wingsuit flight of jumped from and the fastest speed reached in a wingsuit of , both achieved on 28 May 2011....
set world records for the longest wingsuit flight of 23.1 kilometre and a flight time of 5 minutes and 22 seconds, jumped from 32000 feet (9,753.6 m) and the fastest speed reached in a wingsuit of 363 km/h (225.6 mph).
In popular culture
The movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon features an extended scene of special forces NEST team members starting their descent from the apex of the
Sears TowerSears' optimistic growth projections were not met. Competition from its traditional rivals continued, with new competition by retailing giants such as Kmart, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart. The fortunes of Sears & Roebuck declined in the 1970s as the company lost market share; its management grew more...
after jumping out of
V-22 OspreyThe Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing , and short takeoff and landing capability...
s and flying between the skyscrapers of downtown
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The scene was filmed using actual wingsuit stuntmen with helmet-mounted cameras.
In the movie
X-Men: First ClassX-Men: First Class is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics starring the X-Men.-Publication history:The original series was an eight-issue limited series. It began in September 2006 and ended in April 2007. It was written by Jeff Parker and penciled by Roger Cruz...
, Banshee has a costume very similar to a wingsuit, using his supersonic powers to lift himself from the ground, causing him to fly.
See also
- BASE jumping
BASE jumping, also sometimes written as B.A.S.E jumping, is an activity that employs an initially packed parachute to jump from fixed objects...
- Parachuting
Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of exiting an aircraft and returning to earth with the aid of a parachute. It may or may not involve a certain amount of free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal...
- Kite applications
The kite is used to do certain things; one kite or many kites are applied to achieve certain purposes, objectives, or tasks, that is: applications. Humans have applied the kite to bring perceived benefits during peace and war alike. New applications for the kite continue to be found...
- The Gypsy Moths
The Gypsy Moths is a 1969 American film starring Burt Lancaster, based on the novel of the same name by James Drought. It is the story of three barnstorming skydivers and their effect on a midwestern American town. At the time, the sport of skydiving was in its infancy, yet the movie featured an...
- Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi
External links
- An example of wingsuit flights May 2011 video from Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
- Modern view on proximity flying video from Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
- Jeb Corliss wing-suit demo flights video
- Video demonstration off, around, and over cliffs in Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
- Wing Suit Record Video on Airsports.tv Lake Elsinore, CA USA
- The Price of Wingsuiting and How to Start Wingsuiting University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
Skydive Club
- Wingsuit flyer dives through hole in Chinese mountain BBC News Online
BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. The website is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom and forms a major part of BBC Online ....
, brief article with video (2011-09-26)