Indonesia
Flying Free with Wingsuit
Jump out of the plane in a superhero like costume and…flying! Wow, that may sounds too much, but not. There are people that much crazy in this world to do some daredevil sport that extreme. They put on a wingsuit, elastic but very powerful special cloth, capable of turning out body into aerofoil of an airplane. The wingsuit is often called squirrel suit. Take a look when a wingsuiter is flying in the air, Superkids. It really looks like one of those flying squirrel.
So how does this outfit makes us fly? Wingsuit has some kind of wing around the sleeves and between legs that can expand when filled with the air. Now these two wings are the main controller when flying. During flying, the sleeves and legs become rigid, making flyer easier to balance the body under heavy wind. Want to fly a bit slow? Open the wings wide. The wider they spread, the slower the wings take us flying.
So what about the landing? There’s a parachute available on the shoulder of the wingsuit. When approaching the landing, just pull the handle on the front shoulder and…pop! The parachute is deployed and wingsuiter can savely touch the ground. Some sports, like skydiving also use this landing technique, Superkids. Care to try? There’s a requirement for this. For precaution, one must have quite some airborne experience. At least 200 parachutes within 18 months.
The North Face employe, Brook Shinsky (33) went through that before getting herself into a wingsuit. On his 201 jump, Brook’s dream came true. “Wingsuiting is my goal from the beginning. If i can, anyone can. All you need is a little bit of faith,” Brook suggested as quoted by National Geographic.
Just a while ago someone dared to pull the wingsuit stunt without skydiving practice. The guy was lucky to have survived. He was only four years old, age matching the legs. It was a an Australian cattle dog named Whisper and surely becomes the first dog to have jump in swingsuit. The dog was with the owner, a veteran flyer, the notorious Dean Potter. Dean tied Whisper tight on the back of the wingsuit and jumps out with GoPro camera recording their act. Dean and his Whisper took a leave from 13,020 feet on Eiger mountain, Switzerland.
HAFIDA INDRAWATI
PHOTOS: THINKSTOCK PHOTOS
