Austrian Peter Salzmann has always wanted to fly. As a kid, he jumped off of everything from furniture to roofs, landing on pillows, mattresses, or whatever he could find to cushion the landing. As an adult, he turned his daredevil addiction into a job as a film stuntman. For fun, and to pursue his love for flying, he became a flight instructor, a basejumper, and a wingsuit pilot.
A wingsuit, in case you’re not familiar with the concept, is like a jumpsuit with additional fabric material between the legs, as well as between each arm and the torso. This extra fabric is sort of like the webbing of a duck’s feet, or the skin of a bat’s wing, or the skin of a flying squirrel when stretched out for gliding. A wingsuit allows its wearer to glide a distance from the starting point, versus a parachute which does not allow much distance travel. Both parachutes and wingsuits are used in the sport of base jumping (not necessarily at the same time), where the starting point is high atop a skyscraper, radio or TV tower, mountain top, or the like.
Salzmann was already an experienced and accomplished wingsuit pilot, but he wanted more than just gliding from his sport. He and a friend were discussing their desire for more, and came up with the idea to add powered propulsion to their flights. Once the thought entered his mind, Salzmann couldn’t let go of the possibility of flying farther, faster, and higher. It meant being able to climb higher than the point he jumped from: in other words, it went beyond gliding. He began studying the problem and sketching solutions but soon realized he needed professional designers and engineers to help him make his dream a reality. He reached out to the design experts at BMW i, the branch of BMW concerned with developing electric vehicles. BMW i brought in Designworks, the “design innovation studio“ of BMW Group, to contribute to the project. Together, Salzmann and the two teams from BMW created the electric-powered wingsuit.
After three years of design, development, engineering, and extensive testing (which included multiple wind tunnel tests and thirty-plus test jumps from altitude) the suit was ready for a dramatic real-world test. Salzmann made plans to fly over the Three Brothers mountain peaks in the Alps. Watch the video to see how things turned out.
“Meet BMW Electric Wingsuit – the future of individual flying is now” (5:34):
Question of the Night: What’s a boring, risk-free activity that you enjoy in complete comfort and safety?
