The Skyray is an attachable wing system which expands skydiving to skyflying. It is the result of 3 years research and development. In cooperation with the University of Applied Science Munich, numerous studies and tests in the wind tunnel have been conducted.

The core objective of the project was to ensure the safety of the skydiver at any time and under all conditions. According to these criteria, from all of the possible configurations, the rigid wing was chosen. Besides the best performance and high manoeuverability, it also offers the possibility to detach the complete lift-system from the skydiver with one flick of the wrist.

The SKYRAY consists of two sections: A harness with a rigid back-section and a wing. The harness is put on before the rig and lies underneath the parachute. It transfers the generated lift to the body of the skydiver. In this way arms and legs are free in their movements. SKYRAY can be maneuvered by shifting the center of lift and aerodynamically, using arms or legs. It has an airplane-like agility far beyond other concepts.
The wing is attached to the harness with a release system. When developing the release system, the focus was on an easy separation even under maximum emerging load. While the harness remains with the skydiver, the wing deploys its own rescue parachute after a short delay. It pulls the wing away from the skydiver and ensures a sinkrate which is significantly lower than with usual rescue or reserve parachutes in order to steer clear of a collision. This configuration is patent pending worldwide.

Saturday, June 15, 2002