Timeline of BIRDMAN – The pioneer company of human flight.

1999

Jari Kuosma starts up BIRDMAN International Ltd. in Helsinki, Finland and introduces the first commercial wingsuit for skydivers for 585,00 USD. It is called the BirdMan s.u.i.t.

The start is not an easy one. Wingsuits, prohibited in many places due to their notorious reputation, are considered as “death traps”. The last known birdman, Patrick De Gayardon has died after a test flight gone wrong a year earlier and the rest of the skydiving world is not yet ready for the human flight. Yet.

Jari creates the initial First Flight Program for skydivers and starts giving lessons on how to fly wingsuits. BBC’s Future World show catches on the news and makes the first main stream media feature of BIRDMAN. BBC’s World News follows with news coverage.

2000

BIRDMAN Inc. moves to America and introduces second commercial
wingsuit, the GTi.

Jari starts up BIRDMAN, Inc. in the Florida, USA. BIRDMAN’s Business manager Kimberly Griffin and Jari travel across the US teaching people to fly and selling the ‘nylon crack’ (nickname for a wingsuit, explaining it’s addictive nature).

JARI introduces the first wingsuit instructor program (BIRDMAN Instructor (BMI) program) and becomes the first Chief Instructor #1. First new BMI’s are trained and they start spreading the information to skydivers. Snowball is rolling.

PENTHOUSE magazine is one of many magazines to publish articles about BIRDMAN®.

2001

THIRD BIRDMAN wingsuit is introduced, and it is called the SKYFLYER. This new innovative wingsuit breaks all existing records and leads the way to many imitators to come.

SEVEN birdmen led by Jari fly from the island of Texel, Holland back to the mainland, Marsdiep, covering three kilometers of ocean. An international documentary is made about this flight which is sponsored by RedBull.

BIRDMAN introduces The Pantz. Air inflatable pants help skydivers to fly further and faster. They also become an instant hit.

2002

CLASSIC II, the fourth wingsuit by BIRDMAN is introduced. It replaces the original BirdMan s.u.i.t..

Jari and Vladi make history. Vladimir Pesa from Belgium flies his highly loaded elliptical parachute Velocity 84, while Jari flies his prototype Skyflyer wingsuit. They meet in the air, Jari grabs Vladi’s leg for a second, thus performing the first controlled dock between a man in the freefall and a man under a parachute. The stunt is repeated on the next jump proving that this was not an accident.

SPORTS Illustrated magazine runs a centerfold article of Jari flying a wingsuit over DeLand.

2003

SKYFLYER .3 is introduced. This new wingsuit is based on the original Skyflyer but is easier to control and has more power. It is immediately a great success.

ANGELINA Jolie stars in Tomb Raider II and flies BIRDMAN Skyflyer wingsuits, creating a big media attention to BIRDMAN.

FORBES publishes an article about Jari and BIRDMAN.

POPULAR Science runs a five page cover article telling Jari’s story and explaining technical details of the BIRDMAN suit.

2004

BIRDMAN International Ltd. moves back to Europe.

SKYFLYER .3 Special is introduced. It is the first wingsuit ever to incorporate semi-rigid ribs for the wingsuits. The suit is about to break every world record the following year.

FHM magazine features BIRDMAN in a large article and the TIME magazine has a small article of Jari.

2005

BIRDMAN BREAKS TWO WORLD RECORDS. Spanish BIRDMAN team breaks both time and distance world records using SKYFLYER .3 Special wingsuit. The team flies from Africa to Europe, crossing the Gibraltar. They cover 20,5 km distance over water and stay in the free fall for a record breaking six minutes!

 

BIRDMAN cooperates with Helsinki University of Technology and becomes the first wingsuit manufacturer to study and test wingsuits in the wind-tunnel.

“ROCKET MAN” Visa Parviainen is the first ever birdman to fly with the help of jet engines attached to his legs. Popular Mechanics covers the story.

REVOLUTIONARY new wingsuit PHI is introduced. The new suit has flexible wings, semi-rigid ribs, absolutely stunning looks and teflon based main material.

FIREBIRD replaces the infamous PHI and old GTi. This suit is first all around suit ever made and while appealing to conservative flyers it has revolutionary new features like back air-inlets for flying on your back.

BIRDMAN Sky Series. New small clothing line by BIRDMAN for skydivers is introduced.

MAXIM magazine runs a series of articles about Jari and BIRDMAN in many languages all over the world. HELSINGIN SANOMAT in Finland runs a translated MAXIM article.

200

BIRDMAN organizes the biggest wingsuit formation in the world in Cochstedt, Germany. Sixty-nine birdmen and -women jump out of an AN-72 simultaneously and fly for the record.

I.T.S. B.A.S.E. Wear by BIRDMAN. This is the first hybrid clothing ever introduced for skydivers and is marketed under brand name IMPACT. It gets the name from it’s impact resistant protective pads for the jumper’s knees, shoulders and elbows. It also incorporates removable I.T.S. tracking system and inflatable surface area.

2006 Sky Series: SKYFLYER S6 ‘Gibraltar’ and FIREBIRD R are introduced. They are fine tuned versions of previous suits. Additionally semi rigid ribs are added to the very popular FIREBIRD series.

PERFORMANCE Designs Factory Team chooses to wear BIRDMAN S6 ‘Gibraltar’ to make their stunts and skydiving display jumps. PDFT is the most successful canopy piloting team ever.

BIRDMAN B.A.S.E. team is formed in Norway. This team – also known as VKB – flies just meters above the terrain and is the ultimate test for the jumper and the gear he flies.

BIRDMAN factory team TOP GUN is formed. TOP GUN is a team of ten finest flyers from Europe.

BIRDMAN International Ltd becomes BIRDMAN OY (Inc.) to attract new capital and partners for its plan to develop the brand.

2007

Introduction of the BLADE – A new High Performance wingsuit. Lot’s of media highlights and sunshine.

A third generation wingsuit called the BLADE is introduced. It’s a high performance “all around” wingsuit and it’s versatile flight characteristics wins hearts of skydivers.

BIRDMAN joins Parachute Industry Association

Media highlights:

• Discovery Channel runs a “superhero” story of Jari Kuosma
• “Rocketman” Visa Parvianen flies in Discover Channels Stunt Junkies program in California.
• Birdman sponsored athlete Luigi Cani flies past “Christ the Redeemer” within just meters with his new S.6 wingsuit and makes world headlines.
• BIRDMAN wins both European wingsuit championships, Hungary and Germany.

2008

BIRDMAN launches first clothing line and five new wingsuits for skydivers and BASE jumpers at PIA Symposium in Barcelona. Worlds biggest wingsuit formation is built!

We introduce the first clothing collection for skydivers at the Parachute Industry Association symposium in Barcelona.

Five new wingsuits are introduced (TENGU, S.8 and S.8-R  together with renewed FIREBIRD, FIREBIRD-R, S.6 and BLADE).

In September the Birdman Jeans and the rest of the Collection starts its sales through Birdman authorized dealers and Birdman’s own webshop.

Wingsuiters make a world record of 71-way which is hot news in the world media.

Lots of media visiability in every skydiving magazine in the world plus world news.

2009

BIRDMAN’s 10 year anniversary and a stunning air show in front of 72000 spectators.

Birdman Participates at Helsinki International Air show and the Birdman Factory team TopGun makes a fantastic stunt for over 72 000 people to view live.

Wingsuit flying is recognized as a sport.

Jari Kuosma invited to debate in the proposition at Oxford Union about “This House would Live Fast & Die Young“.

Media highlights

• Birdman Factory team is viewed in the Media (The Sun, Daily Telegraph, Daily mail, 24 Sata).
• Jari’s interviews in several magazines such as 4 Men and GoFlying. Articles
• Finnish Television program “Salatut Elämät” uses Birdman Clothing for one of their characters.

2010

BIRDMAN introduces skydiving and BASE jumping inspired aviator heritage collection 2010 in Copenhagen’s and Stockholm’s international fashion fairs.

BIRDMAN AW 2010 Pressrelease

BLADE II, the second generation BLADE is introduced.

New website, look and logo are introduced in February 2010.