Yes, the title is correct, and that is to say: BMW will get you high up in the sky, in a legal manner, I think. I’m not sure whether or not it is allowed for someone to just pick this wingsuit off the shelf and jump of the adjacent building.
Nonetheless, the BMW Group has presented the world’s first electric drive system for a wingsuit. Villains all over the world are probably paying attention, right about now.
People have been dreaming about flying for quite a while now, and I am not just talking about the Right brothers and that era. This might be a great step forward for us.
Developed in cooperation with Designworks and professional Austrian wingsuit pilot Peter Salzmann, this innovative project from BMW i has just completed its first maiden flight.
Unveiled at #NEXTGen 2020, where BMW revealed a few new additions to their impressive portfolio, this project was meant to put a light on the technological field of electric mobility.
The electrified wingsuit from BMW aims to offer a unique flying experience thanks to its two encased carbon propellers, so-called impellers, each of them delivering a power output of 7.5 kW for about five minutes.
You might have noticed some wingsuits in popular Hollywood productions, but none were electrically powered. This time, engineers were trying to increase the performance of the wingsuit in order to achieve a better constant glide flight.
According to Salzmann, the pilot experiences immediate acceleration, with the top speed supposedly standing at over 300 km/h. Breathtaking, indeed!
The maiden flight saw Salzmann jumping from a helicopter, hovering at an altitude of 3,000 meters, and then fly across an Austrian peak in steep flight.
We can all agree that this is not the safest way to spend your Monday, but I guess boredom is not an option, either. Riddle me this: how long will it be until one of these cool wingsuits will be available at a retail store near you?
