Airplane Wingsuit Formations – AWF – As if our sport was not spectacular enough we have now a new game in the skies!
AWF photos by Juan Mayer
Airplane wingsuit formations!
In December 2019 the Swiss Wingsuit Team went to Skydive Seven in Algarve, Portugal for some special team training.
The Swiss Wingsuit Team is a parachute demo team consisting of members Daniel Ossio, Marc Pfiffner and Reto Nyffenegger. With their red Squirrel wingsuits with the Swiss cross on the leg wing, they are reminiscent of the Patrouille Suisse flight squadron. Their aim is to help the wingsuit discipline to be publicly known.
In Algarve they trained with pilot Moritz Hollowman with the goal of flying as well as possible in formation with the PC-6 Pilatus Porter, their efforts being caught on camera by Juan Mayer.
AWF stands for Airplane Wingsuit Formation and it was first performed as a stunt activity. It is spectacular, for sure, joining other new disciplines like performance flying, flocking and mixed flying with small canopies (XRW).
Some wingsuits and planes can fly under the same operating conditions. Vertical descent, speed and horizontal speed can be adjusted to each other. There are some wingsuits with which you can reach sinking speeds of 50-70 km/h. This enables the wingsuit pilots to adapt to the glide angle of the aircraft flying in a steep descent.
16 jumps were carried out from an exit altitude of 5,300 m, their flight times were over three and a half minutes! So, different formations were possible on the same jump. Moritz always had visual contact with the wingsuit pilots and vice-versa. It’s true that this is a flight mode that is at the limit of what the wingsuit pilots can achieve, but it’s worth every sore muscle, or so the Swiss Wingsuit Team members said 🙂
Article by the Swiss Wingsuit Team
All AWF Photos by Juan Mayer
JUAN MAYER is one of the elite skydiving cameraman, who recently relocated in Empuria, Spain. If you are looking for a special video or photo production you can contact him on Facebook or at info-at-juanmayer.com.
