Wingsuit flying is the sport of flying the human body through the air using a special jumpsuit, called a wingsuit, which adds surface area to the human body to enable a significant increase in lift. Modern wingsuits, first developed in the late 1990s, create the surface area with fabric between the legs and under the arms.
Wingsuits are sometimes referred to as a birdman suit (after the makers of the first commercially available wingsuit), flying squirrel suit (due to their resemblance to the animal. Squirrel is now the name of a commercial wingsuit manufacturer), or bat suit (due to their vague resemblance to the animal or perhaps the superhero). A wingsuit flight normally ends with a parachute opening. So a wingsuit can safely be flown from any point that provides sufficient altitude for flight and parachute deployment (normally a skydiving drop aircraft or BASE jump exit point). The wingsuit flier wears parachute equipment designed for skydiving or BASE jumping. The parachute flight is normal but for the extra step of the canopy pilot unzipping their arm wings to allow full arm mobility necessary for safe canopy flight.
