Cacophony 0 #1 May 8, 2001 I did the coolest 4 jumps of my life this weekend. I borrowed my friends birdman suit. Holy S(beep)!!!! I am buying one as soon as possible. I can't even describe the feeling. I was chasing the freakin plane! I logged 8 minutes of freefall time in only 4 jumps. My muscles have been sore for the past 2 days but it was the best. I don't recommend it for everyone, but if you feel very comfortable that you can take care of yourself then you might want to try it. It is safe to say that I am now gonna be a birdman!!!Safe landings,Alex D-23912 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #2 May 8, 2001 That is correct, that is CORRECT! Yep, I took my first flight at the Easter Boogie at CSS and had a BLAST! I jumped the Bird-Man GTI. A full minute into the freefall (when my internal clock was going off) I checked my altimeter to see that I was still at 9,500 feet. Unbelievable. A buddy of mine (my same size) bought a demo suit at Quincy last year. Now that I have done it, I will definitely be borrowing his suit on a regular basis until I get my own. "There goes my income tax return!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skreamer 1 #3 May 8, 2001 Aaaaah man, that is excellent Alex!I am so looking forward to trying it too, hopefully next year summer. Were you shitting yourself the first time? How difficult was the exit? How loud is it at terminal? Is it hard to see your alti? You used an audible I presume? Weren't you worried about the burble when you dumped? Didn't your body clock start screaming after 60 seconds of freefall? How hard is it to run off your landings?Man, I have watched footage of the masters in action, Patric De Gayardon and Adrian Nicholas - they make it look so effortless and easy.Sounds like you had a blast!/s Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gus 1 #4 May 8, 2001 Shit, I'm dead jealous. I've seen some pretty awsesome video too (including the excellent Crosswind) and I'd love to try it. Seriously, this is still a dicipline in its infancy and it can only get better, the suits can only provide more lift and give greater freefall times. People laugh but why can't there come a day when someone intentionally lands a birdman without ever deploying a parachute?Alex, out of interest how many jumps do you have? And SkymonkeyOne what about you? Did you jump the GTI straight off or had you jumped the 'Classic' already?Come on guys, we want the details!Gus Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cacophony 0 #5 May 9, 2001 I have 240 jumps. I just jumped the Classic because thats what my friend had. The exits were easier than I thought. I just did a poised exit out of the King air. I followed behind the plane as it banked and turned. It was a little fast for me though. Its weird when you pull because your canopy goes backwards and pulls you a much farther distance upright than usual. My openings were nice. Its so awesome seeming everyone else under canopy below you while you are still at 10,000'. Its weird because normally at 4,000' I am getting ready to pull. Well in the suit I still have around 10 seconds of freefall left. Its so cool.Safe landings,Alex D-23912 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jtval 0 #6 May 9, 2001 sweet deal,ive always wondered about the birdman suits. but i just only got my own rig.(i'll jump it this weekend.woohoo)and i've only just healed and began jumping again last weekend so i was on hold for a while but im full force into skydiving again. man i feel so alive when im in the sky. i'll be spending nine days at the dz jumping til im broke(or in debt,i should say)woohoo it's great to be back.good to see your still on-line, alex.have fun, live free,SKYDIVE!!!!JT Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pammi 0 #7 May 9, 2001 That sounds like so much fun!! I can't wait until I'm experienced enough to try it! It'll be a while, but something else for me to look forward to. For now, I'll live vicariously through you and whomever else gets to try it! So tell me all about it, you guys, til then!!!Pammi"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live." http://trak.to/skydivechick Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skreamer 1 #8 May 9, 2001 Hey PammiI you ever jumped the suit, would that make you a Birdchick???/s Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #9 May 9, 2001 I have just under 2,700 jumps and no, I didn't jump a classic first. If he would have had a new SkyFlyer that fit me, I would have jumped it right off the bat. Dan Preston, the president of Atair USA has around 1,600 jumps and jumped the SkyFlyer for his first flight without incident. The bottom line is that they are very easy to jump, you just have to be VERY confident in your abilities and the malfunction procedures for that new piece of equipment. If you have a canopy that is prone to off-heading openings, they will recommend borrowing one that doesn't have that problem. I jump a Cobalt 75; it doesn't spin.It's all covered in the BirdMan flight manual, but basically, you just do a sort of jumping-jack at opening altitude to pull. The farthest up my body I was able to reach while in the suit was my base three-ring. Reaching your cutaway and reserve handles are not a problem at all. Once under canopy you reach across and unzip your arms, then you can reach your toggles. You next unzip your legs and get out of the booties. After that, you just land; business as usual. If for some reason you DID have to get to your toggles or risers in a hurry, you just pull the wing-cutaway handles on the suit. You then have immediate access to everything. In all, it is a very rewarding experience. Terribly pleasant and very quiet during freefall. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mountainman 0 #10 May 9, 2001 The birdsuit sounds AWESOME! There was a guy at Aerodrome on Saturday jumping the birdsuit all day. He said he just flew back and forth over the DZ. Sounds like a lot of fun! Also, I hear you can pull much lower. Is that true?? Also, before pulling, should you do a barrelroll to eliminate some "burble"?? Just wonderin...Sounds awesome, though!!MORE SKYDIVING PHOTOS ADDED!!!http://home.woh.rr.com/brandonandlaura/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wingnut 0 #11 May 9, 2001 just wondering this.....can you fly on your back in a birdman suit? it would be cool to do a tracking dive with a few people and have them fly on thier backs below.......p.s. what is the min jumps they require to jump one?....just wondering i'm along way off from it now i bet!!!!"if dreams are like movies, then memories are like films about ghosts"-counting crows Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #12 May 9, 2001 QuotePeople laugh but why can't there come a day when someone intentionally lands a birdman without ever deploying a parachute?Yeah, they can already do that! It's called hang-gliding!!Speed RacerBrew Skies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #13 May 9, 2001 Yes, you can fly on your back, and no, you don't do a barrel roll to clear your burble on opening. You dump in a track while flying along straight so that your pilotchute pulls your d-bag clear of the burble. No, it doesn't snap your neck because you are only going (on average) about 60 mph vertically. Also: NO, you do not pull lower; you pull slightly higher than normal so that you can deal with any possible suit malfunctions. They told me to go in to pull at about 4k. I was in the saddle at about 3,500. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
