"Three thousand people watched him fall straight down. His wings never slowed him." As [Michael Abrams] notes: "Seventy-two of the 75 batmen who jumped from planes for air shows from the 1930s to the 1960s were killed in their wings."

A hybrid of gliders and wingsuits is the Skyray, essentially a set of small wings attached to a parachutist's back. Made of carbon fibre, it has been described as "the Jet Ski of the air," providing a forward speed of 180 mph and inspiring "instant lust in the gadget-minded."

Yves Rossy, on the other hand, built a "Jet Man" suit with two tiny jet engines that allows him to fly horizontally for many miles. Another, Jeb Corliss, states the obvious: "My goal is to not break myself into little bits."