Video of the week: Wingsuit BASE jumpers catch mid-air flight
This week’s video is high on drama and features some clever wingsuit technology used by two BASE jumpers to perform an incredible mid-air stunt.

Produced by Red Bull (who else?), A Door In The Sky sees French skydivers Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet - known as the Soul Flyers - leaping from the top of Switzerland’s Jungfrau mountain and rendezvousing with a Pilatus Porter light aircraft mid-flight. The pair are able to ‘fly’ through the alpine sky with the help of their wingsuits, losing just a couple of metres of altitude per second.
Fugen told The Engineer that the wingsuits come from an American manufacturer called Squirrel, and the model used in the video is the Freak2. According to Squirrel's website, the Freak2 has compression inlets for lower drag and better internal pressure, as well as a wingtip profile gripper that increases the lifting surface of arm wing.
In the video, the Fugen and Reffet use the suits to control their flight, diving through the plane's door - which measures just 1.6m x 1.25m - at speeds of around 140km/h. As always, Red Bull's production is top notch. Watch the full video below, and keep an eye out for some failed practice attempts at the beginning.
Register now to continue reading
Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.
Benefits of registering
-
In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends
-
Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year
-
Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox
Experts speculate over cause of Iberian power outages
I´m sure politicians will be thumping tables and demanding answers - while Professor Bell, as reported above, says ´wait for detailed professional...