Austrian Pilot Sets Wingsuit World Records
Austrian wingsuit pilot has achieved multiple world records with a nearly six-minute wingsuit flight.
An Austrian wingsuit pilot set multiple world records in wingsuit flight.
Peter Salzmann made the record-breaking flight on Oct. 24 launching from Jungfrau mountain in Switzerland where he flew for 5 minutes and 56 seconds over a distance of 7.77 miles. Red Bull, who teamed up with Salzmann for the flight said the jump was made from an altitude of 11,161 feet—setting a new record for the highest BASE jump from start to finish.
According to Red Bull, the revolutionary wingsuit was the culmination of a three-year engineering initiative combining Salzmann’s flight experience with wingsuit developer Andreas Podlipnik’s innovative foil design and expertise from Red Bull’s F1 program. In total, six different wingsuit prototypes were developed and tested before settling on the final design.
The wingsuit, which measures 6.9 feet in wingspan and weighs 8.3 pounds, has a foam core and 3D printed components. It is equipped with electric power for foil control and is extremely lightweight, allowing experts to carry the foil to the launch point in the Swiss Alps.
Speaking about the wingsuit design, Salzmann told RedBull.com, “We’re also quiet and light as a bird; I glide almost silently through the air.”
