Once upon a time,Leonardo da Vinci’s “Codex on the Flight of Birds”had depicted a man gliding through the air with bat-like wings.This has become the latest piece of invention in avionics,threatening parachute to become a history.The inventor Tony Uragallo of Zephyrhills,Florida has taken a big step in that direction with his invention of Bird Wingsuit which creates a web of nylon material between outstretched arms and legs.Its design is such that it slits in the arms and shoulders and allows a man wearing it to safely glide down from a height.

The wingsuit,an airfoil,is evaluated to give a diver greater control over speed and descent.” The standard wingsuit was first invented by French skydiver Patrick DeGayardon and would propel a diver 2 meters forward for every meter downward”,said a report.

“But the BirdSuit propels a diver 3.6 meters for every meter downward, which can slow a diver from 80 mph (128 kilometers per hour) to 30 mph (48 kilometers per hour) and glide for a distance of 6 miles (9.6 km).Gary Connery was wearing a special six-pound BirdSuit designed with heavier ribs on the webbing when he set his world record as the first human to jump from a half-a-mile in the sky to the ground without a parachute.

The stunt required permission from the British Civil Aviation Authority. According to Tony Uragallo, using his invention requires a lot of skill.
A diver needs to practice piloting the suit and using a parachute for landing before attempting what Connery did.

Tony will not allow anyone to use his BirdSuit until they have at least 400 jumps under their belt.

The 45-year-old Connery began parachuting with the Army when he 23 and has 900 skydive jumps and 450 base jumps to his credit.

Before attempting his world record, Connery trained in Uragallo’s BirdSuit by jumping from mountains in Switzerland and Italy. He used a parachute to land during these practice jumps. He also studied kite birds to develop his technique.”