More than 500 years after Leonardo Da Vinci first sketched his dreams of flying, a group of engineers and academics educated at NTNU are giving flight to their own dreams, with the design of an aerodynamic winged suit.
The suit is for practitioners of BASE jumping, an extreme sport in which people parachute from mountains or other high-elevation structures (BASE is actually an acronym for Building, Antenna, Span, Earth). The winged suit enables BASE jumpers to soar along cliffs for a time before releasing their parachutes. Among the leaders in developing the suit is Ole Jørgen Bryn, who pursues his passion for designing winged suits as a hobby. His “day job” is at NTNU, where he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architectural Design, Form and Colour Studies.
The winged suit works by enabling jumpers to reach terminal velocity quickly, which in turn gives them greater manoeuvrability so they can glide for longer than conventionally dressed jumpers. Norway is something of a mecca for BASE jumpers because its once heavily glaciated landscape has left mountains with sheer faces and long drops. Kjærag in the Stavanger area and the Troll Mountain wall outside of Åndalsnes are two popular base jumping areas, although it is illegal to hop from the Troll wall.
