The project Electrified Wingsuit by BMW i was triggered by Peter Salzmann’s aspiration to raise wingsuit sport to a new level. The 33-year-old Austrian is a skydiving instructor and has meanwhile also made base jumping and skydiving his profession. In addition to skydiving training and wingsuit flying, his repertoire includes film stunts and show appearances. When jumping from cliffs or out of an aircraft, Salzmann uses the textile layer stretched between the arms and legs of his wingsuit as a paraglider that allows him to generate a horizontal flight movement from the fall velocity and the airflow. With each metre of descent, up to three metres of horizontal flight can be achieved. Wingsuit skydivers can reach speeds of more than 100 km/h.
The aim of the electric drive system is to increase the performance of the wingsuit in order to achieve a better constant glide flight, thus allowing longer distances to be covered. Upon activation, Salzmann explains, the pilot experiences immediate acceleration, allowing them to fly at speeds of more than 300 km/h. For the maiden flight with the Electrified Wingsuit by BMW i Salzmann was flown by helicopter together with two other wingsuit pilots over the mountain tops of his Austrian homeland. Directly after the jump from an altitude of 3,000 metres, all three flew in formation in the direction of a mountain massif. With the aid of the electric drive Salzmann accelerated faster than his colleagues and was able to fly across the peak in steep flight. After flying a further curve, he met up with the other two pilots who had flown in glide flight around the mountain. The three wingsuit pilots finally opened their parachutes and landed at the agreed destination.
Following the successful premiere, Peter Salzmann and the experts at BMW i and Designworks continued their development work on the world’s first electrically powered wingsuit. The Austrian is firmly convinced that electric drive technology will shape the future, not only on the road but also in the air. To him, the project Electrified Wingsuit by BMW i demonstrates perfectly which previously undreamt-of possibilities can become reality with the help of electric mobility.
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