Straight to the point
I am looking to secure sponsorship to compete at an international level in Wingsuit Performance Flying throughout 2024 and 2025.
Having successfully secured a bronze medal and podium position at the 2023 British Wingsuit Nationals for Performance Flying (in the advanced category), I qualified for the World Championships next year in Israel and secured my place on Team GB.
Though a lifelong aspiration, I have only competed within the sport for 18 months. Now being ranked 3rd in the UK is an incredible achievement, that should demonstrate the level of hard work that I am willing to put in. It should also show my potential for greater success moving forward with more time and training.
Others on the team have used sponsorship successfully to excel within the sport and the benefits have been reciprocated towards the sponsors. I am now looking for sponsorship myself, which will be an excellent opportunity for all involved by ‘getting in early’.
For a proportionally low investment level from your company, your brand will get a wide level of exposure at national and international events, supplemented by a range of social media posts accrediting your sponsorship and driving web traffic towards your company.
About myself
My name is Daniel May, a 37-year-old, highly motivated, passionate and responsible commercial pilot and air sports athlete. I am a proud father of two young boys and husband to an incredible wife, who not only tolerates my involvement in extreme sports, but actually supports it.
My various careers to date range from training as an Officer at Sandhurst, directing a media production company and working as secondary school teacher (Head of Faculty). After much hard work and investment, I have been fortunate enough to spend the last decade working within aviation. The first half of this was as a skydiving jump pilot, completing over 4000 jump flights for charities, the military and television.
Some of the demonstrations that I flew included The Grand National, British Women’s Open Golf, Don’t Tell The Bride and televised record attempts for the Red Bull Air Force. I acted as a jump pilot for both the Army and RAF display teams on various civilian and military events throughout England and Wales. I have been fortunate enough to spend the last 5 years as a full-time contract pilot for BAE Systems Submarines, gaining my command earlier this year.
Sports experience
Unlike most other wingsuit pilots, I have a varied range of experience within other air sports that gives me a key advantage. These include skydiving, alpine base jumping, paragliding, hang gliding, speed flying and paramotoring.
I previously used to compete at high board diving and secured a gold medal at intermediate level for the North West. My aviation experience as a pilot has allowed me to fly both professionally and recreationally throughout Europe and America.
My professional knowledge and experience within these areas has enabled me to excel within wingsuit flying within a relatively short period of time.
Wingsuit Safety
When you think of a wingsuit, you most likely imagine skimming down an alpine mountain side. This is wingsuit BASE jumping, a completely separate discipline that carries a much higher level of risk than wingsuit skydiving.
Flying a wingsuit out of an aircraft is exponentially safer, as the wingsuit pilot is at a much higher altitude with very little chance of collision. Furthermore, skydiving rigs consist of both a main and reserve parachute, accompanied by an automatic activation device that deploys the reserve parachute in the event that the pilot loses consciousness.
As a regulated sport, skydivers need to have completed hundreds of regular descents and ratings before they can begin wingsuit training. The injury rate for wingsuit skydiving is extremely low, especially in the UK where standards are extremely robust.
Wingsuit Performance
The Wingsuit World championships are an internationally participated air-sport event that tests the ability of both the pilot and technology used.
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Each athlete has a 600 meter wide corridor to achieve the highest level of performance within a 1000 meter vertical competition window. Each flight assess speed, distance or time.
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There are three rounds per competition, consisting of three flights per round. All positions and flight data are logged on a GPS enabled computer, mounted on a helmet and displayed to spectators on screens.
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The winner of each flight achieves 100 points. The runners up, then receive points based on what percentage of speed, distance or time they achieve in comparison with the winner. Penalty points are incurred for violating the lane boundaries.
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Wingsuit pilots compete at national level; the top 4 athletes go on to represent their country at the world championships. I am ranked 3rd in the UK and a member of Team GB!
Experience & training
I have over 600 skydives and 200 wingsuit flights to date. I am rated as a wingsuit coach by British Skydiving and teach experienced skydivers that meet the prerequisite requirements, everything from the fundamentals for their first flight through to advanced aerobatics.
I have over 16 hours’ worth of indoor tunnel training time through the world's only wingsuit wind tunnel in Stockholm Sweden. Equivalent to over 500 additional flights.
AIMS
I am currently ranked 3rd in the UK for wingsuit performance flying, having reached the podium in the 2023 National event held by British Skydiving. The top 4 wingsuit pilots qualify for the British Skydiving Team, to represent the UK within the World Championships.
This will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel in October 2024. I also intend to compete in the 2024 British National event in 2024 and secure gold. Once more, this will qualify me to represent the UK at the 2025 World Championships. The image below shows the sponsorships held by my team mates.
Opportunity for sponsorship investment
To get to this stage I have already invested around £46,000 in my own training over the last 10 years.
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I am seeking sponsorship for the sum of £9,080 to cover equipment and competition specific training. After much analysis, this is the most cost-effective training plan feasible that will achieve the performance results required at international level. Sponsorship funding will only be spent on equipment and training. All flights, accommodation, food and other expenses will be covered in full by myself or British Skydiving.
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​I am ideally looking for one single sponsor for the entire amount. Their brand will be placed in several places on the competition wingsuit and helmet. Branding will also feature on clothing worn for interviews and around the sports village. Alternatively, I am willing to accept up to five sponsors, contributing an equal sum, who would share the advertising space.
Time Frame
Sponsorship will last until the end of 2025. This will display your brand through all training sessions over the 26-month period at various drop zones in the UK and Europe. Also, at the indoor training facility in Sweden. It will be widely displayed through two British national events and through at least one World Championships (hopefully two). This represents extremely good value on your part. You will have the option to continue your sponsorship in 2026 based on results and the future training investment requirements.
The catch? I need to move fast on receiving sponsorship. The wingsuit is a specially made competition design, made to order in North America. It will take the factory approximately 10 weeks to construct and test. I need the suit in the first part of 2024 to continue training. To this end, I need to agree to the sponsorship deal and relieve funding before the end of October 2023.
Image of Sponsors
Wingsuits have only existed for around 25 years. In this short timeframe, media related to their flights have exploded in popularity in print, social and televised media. Wingsuit pilots are seen as highly capable and fearless air sport athletes who unquestionably trust their equipment to keep them alive on each and every flight. Sponsors of wingsuit pilots display their brand / logo on the suit for the world to see and reap the benefits of association with these qualities.
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Take Formula One for example. Many sponsors have little to do with car racing. Instead, they want their brand to be associated with the impression of high-end technology, professionalism, competitive spirit and success.
Wingsuit Performance Flying is a highly regarded sport that various sponsors relish the opportunity to support in return for the associated benefits.