2 Wingsuit Flyers BASE Jump Into a Plane In Mid-Air | A Door In The Sky
Why Aviation Stack Exchange recommends it
Aviation Stack Exchange answerers point people to it as a real example of people entering an aircraft in flight and as evidence of the speeds and angles wingsuit flyers actually need.
Recommended by 1 people across 1 different months, 2018 to 2024.
What it is
A short Red Bull clip showing French wingsuit flyers Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet (the Soul Flyers) BASE jumping from the Jungfrau in Switzerland and flying into a Pilatus Porter light aircraft in mid-air. It is the condensed version of their "A Door in the Sky" project, which followed months of training and over 100 test flights.
What people said
Recommends coteyr · 2018-05 · Aviation Stack Exchange · on “Why aren't any wingsuits able to sustain flight?”
This has a good example at the 2:15 mark. The glider has plenty of control for a landing. He is close enough but has to maintain a speed that is WAY TO FAST to land. shows an example of a wingsuit jumper entering a plane, notice the speeds and angle of the plane. Basically there just isn't enough lift generating surfaces to go slow enough to land. Same is true for a climb. You just need more lift generating surface then is available. That said, it could work, in an insanely strong updraft, but it probably wouldn't be very much fun.
Cites Dave · 2023-07 · Aviation Stack Exchange · on “Could a plane catch up with a skydiver with a failed parachute?”
If the plane was highly modified, was in a dive when the jumpers exited, and everyone had a pretty good idea of what they were doing, maybe ... Red Bull sort of attempted this [LINK] with their plane swap stunt [LINK] which ended badly for one of the planes [LINK] . Keep in mind these planes were equipped with dive brakes [LINK] to make this stunt possible and were able to dive un-assisted with custom auto pilots (although in your case there is presumably a pilot flying it down). Its also worth mentioning this may have license implications. [LINK] Catching up to the sky diver in a maneuverable, stable, way is going to be a tall order if your in an unmodified plane. Again, Red Bull proved you
Cites musicinmybrain · 2024-05 · Aviation Stack Exchange · on “Has there ever been a transfer of occupants from one aircraft to another while airborne?”
This successful Red Bull stunt would have also counted if the wingsuit flyers had started from a second plane rather than BASE jumping from a mountain into a plane. [this video]