Extreme Engineering

Extreme athletes have been using wingsuits for decades. The fabric suits have a soft flap under each arm and another between the legs. When a skydiver jumps, the flaps inflate into stiff wings. Those create lift, or upward force, so the jumper coasts forward instead of falling straight down. “It allows you to transform a human into an aircraft,” says Grubisic.

Using a wingsuit is risky. If a skydiver isn’t moving fast enough, the suit can stall. That’s when air flowing over the wings doesn’t create enough lift, and the person falls. Most divers wear backup parachutes, but they can still be injured or killed if something goes wrong.

Grubisic and his students want to make the wingsuit safer by making it more aerodynamic. The more smoothly a suit slices through the air, the faster it will go—and the less likely it is to stall. 

Extreme athletes have been using wingsuits for decades. The fabric suits have a soft flap under each arm. They have another between the legs. When a skydiver jumps, the flaps inflate into stiff wings. The wings create lift, or an upward force. This lets the jumper coast forward instead of falling straight down. “It allows you to transform a human into an aircraft,” says Grubisic.

Using a wingsuit is risky. The suit can stall. That happens if a skydiver isn’t moving fast enough. The air flowing over the wings doesn’t create enough lift. Then the person falls. Most divers wear backup parachutes. Even so, they can still be injured or killed if something goes wrong.

Grubisic and his students want to make the wingsuit safer. They will do this by making it more aerodynamic. This means it will slice through the air more smoothly. The faster the flier goes, the less likely he or she is to stall. 

To make a more aerodynamic wingsuit, Grubisic’s students study airplane wing designs. Copying these shapes helps them improve the suit. The students also change things such as the shape of Grubisic’s helmet.

To test each new idea, the students develop a prototype, or model, wingsuit. Grubisic puts it on, then steps into a harness that holds him up in a wind tunnel (pictured above). Giant fans blow air all around him, copying the conditions he’ll experience in flight. Sensors in the tunnel measure how air flows around the suit. The students use the data to make adjustments.

When he’s sure the suit is safe, Grubisic will jump from a plane 13.5 kilometers (8.4 miles) up. If he succeeds, it will be the highest-ever wingsuit jump.

Grubisic hopes the new and improved suit will be ready in a year or two. But the flight itself isn’t his main goal. “What I really enjoy is inspiring the next generation of engineers,” he says.

To make a more aerodynamic wingsuit, Grubisic’s students study airplane wing designs. Copying these shapes helps them improve the suit. The students also change things such as the shape of Grubisic’s helmet.

The students wanted to test each new idea. So they develop a prototype, or model, of the wingsuit. Grubisic puts it on. Then he steps into a harness that holds him up in a wind tunnel (pictured above). Giant fans blow air all around him. This copies the conditions he’ll experience in flight. Sensors in the tunnel measure how air flows around the suit. The students use the data to make changes.

When he’s sure the suit is safe, Grubisic will jump from a plane. It will be 13.5 kilometers (8.4 miles) up. If he succeeds, it will be the highest-ever wingsuit jump.

Grubisic hopes the new and improved suit will be ready in a year or two. But the flight itself isn’t his main goal. “What I really enjoy is inspiring the next generation of engineers,” he says.