Wingsuit flying

Wingsuit flying (or wingsuiting) is the sport of flying through the air using a wingsuit, which adds surface area to the human body to enable a significant increase in lift. The modern wingsuit, first developed in the late 1990s, creates a surface area with fabric between the legs and under the arms. Wingsuits are sometimes referred to as "birdman suits" (after the makers of the first commercially available wingsuit), "flying squirrel suits" (due to their resemblance to the animal), and "bat suits" (due to their vague resemblance to the animal or perhaps the superhero).

A wingsuit flight normally ends by deploying a parachute, and so a wingsuit can be safely flown from any point that provides sufficient altitude for flight and parachute deployment—normally a skydiving drop aircraft, or BASE-jump exit point. The wingsuit flier wears parachute equipment specially designed for skydiving or BASE jumping. While the parachute flight is normal, the canopy pilot typically unzips arm wings (after deployment) to be able to reach the steering parachute toggles and control the descent path.

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Jokke Sommer

Jokke Sommer (born June 6, 1986 in Oslo, Norway) is a professional skydiver and BASE jumper.

Childhood

Jokke Sommer began skydiving in 2007. After selling his dirtbikes in order to gather the funds required for the training, he starts a skydiving formation in USA, where he did more than 200 jumps within 2 months.

The YouTube effect

Back in Norway, Jokke Sommer started BASE jumping in 2008. He uploaded his first video to YouTube called Wingsuit Base in Romsdalen, Norway where he jumps from huge cliffs in Norway. This video was seen by over 10,000 people.

Videos

Dream Lines

In 2010, Sommer launched a movie called Dream Lines - Part I where he flies near the cliffs and mountains all over the world. He launched four episodes of Dream Lines including Dream Lines - Part III that reached more than 10 million views on YouTube and Dream Lines IV which exceeded four million views. In this last, a teaser was dropped one month before the original launch, 14 December 2012, where we can see the different lines that Sommer and his cameraman, Ludovic Woerth, flew during 2012.

Jeb Corliss

Jeb Corliss (born March 25, 1976) is an American professional skydiver and BASE jumper. He has jumped from sites including Paris' Eiffel Tower, Seattle's Space Needle, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He lives in Venice, California.

Professional career

1999

In 1999, Corliss had a near-fatal BASE jump into the Howick Falls, in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. His parachute opening was asymmetric and he could not avoid flying into the downpouring water.

2003

In October 2003, Corliss was teamed to jump with his best friend, Australian BASE jumper Dwain Weston, at the inaugural Go Fast Games. Corliss was to fly under the Royal Gorge Bridge, while Weston was meant to pass over it. Instead, Weston impacted the bridge at an estimated speed of 120 mph (190 km/h) and was killed instantly. Corliss had to take evasive action to avoid colliding with Weston's body.

2006

In April 2006, Corliss attempted to BASE jump off the observation deck of the Empire State Building, while wearing a camera, but was restrained by building security and arrested by the NYPD. As a result, Corliss received three years probation and 100 hours community service, which was at one point overturned by a Manhattan state judge on the basis that Corliss "was experienced and careful enough to jump off a building without endangering his own life or anyone else’s". This sentence was affirmed in January 2009. Corliss was later permanently banned from the Empire State Building.

Panama City

Panama City (Spanish: Ciudad de Panamá) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,440,381, and is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of Panama. The city is the political and administrative center of the country, as well as a hub for international banking and commerce. It is considered a "beta-" world city, one of three Central American cities listed in this category.

The city of Panama has an average GDP per capita of $15,300. It has a dense skyline of mostly high-rise buildings, and it is surrounded by a large belt of tropical rainforest. Panama's Tocumen International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Central America, offers daily flights to major international destinations. Panama was chosen as the 2003 American Capital of Culture jointly with Curitiba, Brazil. It is among the top five places for retirement in the world, according to International Living magazine.