Wingsuiting

[JoeF]

Early tower jumpers formed a borderline activity that was near to hang gliding, to skydiving, to ornithoptering, and to parachuting. As time went forward the dream to fly found clever solutions gelling into hang gliding, parachuting, skydiving, man-powered flight, and wingsuiting. Wingsuiting is the invited topic herein. Almost no one will adopt my stretch that wingsuiting is a type of hang gliding where the tether set of hang is a thousand-fold fabric situation. And since wingsuiting does not have easy ways to land (note the very expensive cardboard-box-pile landing device used for a special-case stunt), then for cultural and political reasons, the topic probably is a better fit to this Free Speech Zone.

Many hang glider pilots seem to easily perk up when observing wingsuiting. Cousin spirits. Foot-launch. Gain speed. Open space in of face. Move this way and that to alter flight path. Hang from some sail stiffened this way and that. But in wingsuiting part of the stiffeners are the boned limbs of the pilot. Come into the landing sequence and ....flare sometimes ... HG sequence one way; wingsuiting flare involves rapid opening of a governable parachute and finishing with a second course of flaring.

Some of the boyhood drawings of wing suiting of hang gliding pioneer Tony Prentice (ARP) will be placed in this topic thread.

Ask questions and present answers. What is the future of wingsuiting? Powered wingsuiting is occurring. Wingsuiting has occurred launched from hang gliders. B.A.S.E. wingsuiting may be traced. When will wingsuiters be launched from long-line kite systems? In future aerotecture, wingsuiting might be a choice for leaving SkyCity. Felix Baumgartner set some keen records for wingsuiting. How will wingsuiting compete with hang gliding or man-powered flight in Moon City? Or Space Torus Ship?

[ARP]

Who has not stood on the sea wall facing into a strong breeze with jacket spread out and leant into the wind? As kids we would do it and then jump to the beach a couple of metres below. The idea of wing suits was born.......

[SamKellner]

[JoeF]

BeesonSwimmingApparatusAIRalso.JPG (33.02 KiB) Viewed 4644 times

William Beeson was part of the soup that enriched early hang gliding and aviation. His "Swimming Apparatus" patent text recognized possible use in air.
https://www.google.com/patents/US243834
Year 1881.

BeesonSwimmingApparatus.JPG (33.79 KiB) Viewed 4644 times

Click image to obtain the full image.

Battened flexible wing, two-lobe. Pilot is keel. Arms are seemingly part of leading-edge spar complex.

[SamKellner]

William Beeson had battens in 1881 and
most standard rogallos didn't, in in 1975

[JoeF]

Earlier than Beeson is found W. F. Quimby with something that seems part suit and part non-suit wing.
https://www.google.com/patents/US68789
Year: 1867

QuimbyFlyApparatus.JPG (134.75 KiB) Viewed 4642 times

Click image to see full image.

[Bob Kuczewski]

William Beeson had battens in 1881 and
most standard rogallos didn't, in in 1975

Some of us are slow learners.   

Thanks Sam, for all you've done for the US Hawks.