History
Wings were first used in the 1930s as an attempt to increase horizontal movement. These early wingsuits were made of materials such as canvas, wood, silk, steel, and even whale bone. They were not very reliable. Some "birdmen", notably Clem Sohn and Leo Valentin, claimed to have glided for miles. The wingsuit was showcased in the 1969 movie The Gypsy Moths starring Burt Lancaster and Gene Hackman.
On 31 October 1997, French skydiver Patrick de Gayardon showed reporters a wingsuit with allegedly unparalleled safety and performance. De Gayardon died on 13 April 1998 while testing a new modification to his parachute container in Hawaii; his death is often attributed to a rigging error that 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.
Read more about this topic: Wingsuit Flying
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