Gideon Yampolsky

Looking on the LowKi layout and size, I have impression that it is well represents mid-sized wingsuit. You don’t need another mid-sized wingsuit to make progression. With 200 jumps on LowKi you will have enough experience to switch to Freak. At the beginning Freak will feel difficiult to control, you may need coach. But there is no reason to go through ATC practicing.

But the funny thing is that I’m no longer using it. Explanation: In past I was reluctant to fall on the back with jets running. I built that automatic launching shelf with aim to drop me down straight on the belly. But it did not happen. Every time I found myself on the back right after the drop. So I decided to accept it. I practiced uncontrolled fall out on the back from Skyvan, until I obtained a good habits to make quick and controlled transition. From there, automatic launching shelf was no longer required. I replaced it with smaller equivalent permanently mounted shelf. I kneel on it, engines facing outwards, start engines, and then flip myself backwards, like scuba divers from the boat. In two seconds I’m back on the belly. It works pretty well, so this issue is closed.

If motor will not take the shelf up, pilot can pull it manually. If not, landing with shelf hanging would not be nice, but probably it would not be a crash. Since it is paraplane, pilot can bring it to nearly zero horizontal velocity by flaring the canopy, same as with our landings.

The automatic shelf is working well. Build by me. Return mechnism is based on servo motor with gear, a kind used in robotic arms. WhatsApp Video 2024-08-14 at 16.03.03.mp4

8 flight attempts since then. Half of them were successful. In other half were unable to start one of engines. Still researching why. It is not technical glitch. Apparently combination of lower air pressure at high altitude and my decision to use 100% diesel as fuel. I'm currently tuning the fuel mix to make it more suitable for jet engines to start at 9000 feet. Concurrently I'm working with quadcopter pilot to start filming the flight in air. Still work in progress.

Thank you. Yes, I meanwhile made research myself and ended with the same conclusion.

Thanks. I'm familiar with this one. Unfortunately it doesn't have follow-me function

Can somebody advise which drone can follow wingsuit ? It must have follow-me function and ability to fly in 140 – 180 km/h speed range. I have seen movies where base jumpers use them, but cannot find any brand which offers required specifications.

Thank you :-)

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So far I tested it with engines on the ground and without engines in flight. I still need to make several small modifications and practice jumps before jumping this new version with jets.

From April to August 2023 I made 10 attempts of powered flight. Only four of them were successful – engines started and run until all fuel was consumed. In other six jumps engine start issues rendered the attempt unsuccessful. One of engines was slow to start, until my flight altitude become critically low. After three consecutive fails in August I decided to take a break and focus on problem's solution. First I discussed it with engines manufacturer. They indeed confirmed that engine takes significant time to start, and they have no means to make it shorter. Next I tried to feed the engines with more flammable fuel, hoping that higher flammability will make it start faster. I replaced diesel with Jet-A fuel, which has 30% benzine. I was perfectly aware that something so flammable in intimate proximity is very bad idea. But at least I had to know if it works. Fortunately it did not work. Engine's start time did not improve. The best solution was to start engines prior to the jump, as in such case it doesn’t matters how much time it takes. But they cannot start in vertical position when I’m standing on the launching shelf. I therefore had to redesign the launching shelf.

One of my friends, pilot who took me up for jet test jumps, was killed in terrorists attack 10 days ago. He is one of 1300 civilians which were murdered in one morning

During the entire flight RPM was 97,000 which is turbines' maximum. As you can see in Flysigh recording horizontal speed was not constant. This because I was experimenting with body position. When I increased pitch (i.e. tried to “fly up”) I lost some of horizontal speed but managed to achieve level flight and even climb up a little bit. My conclusion after experiments is, that with engines thrust, the optimal flight characteristics are different than in the case of regular wingsuit. Optimal flight speed with ATC wingsuit is around 150 Km/h. But with engines I found that optimal speed is around 110 Km/h, in body position aiming to “fly up”. I’m planning to experiment more in future. But prior to further flights I have to make significant changes in some of system components, which will take time. Sadly saying Israel went through horrifying event 10 days ago, which drew us into an unexpected war. So currently we have completely different priorities.

Results so far ... 6L of fuel consumed. I'm still learning how to fly it efficiently jet_powered_ws.CSV