Wingsuit Compatbility?

[Bazza 0]

I was at the Lost Prairie boogie in Montana last week (if you weren?t there you missed a great time) and managed to do some wing flying. In fact I was invited on a 5 way flock dive, my first (yes, beverages were purchased). I received some advice from the other flyers before the jump on how to ?fly dirty?. As well, we did discuss a flight plan. I was flying a Crossbow and the others were flying various Birdman suits. After exiting third I immediately found myself very high and slightly above the others. After some manoeuvering in an attempt to lose altitude I found I had to really almost fly in a box position to get down. Once on their level I flew behind the formation and to the left but never got fully to my place. The next day I borrowed a Birdman Classic and flew a 2 way with somebody else in a Birdman suit and got to my slot quickly and managed to maintain proximity.
Now, has anybody else flown a Crossbow in a flock dive with other companies? suits? If so, did you find there were compatibility problems. I acknowledge that much of the problem may be my level of experience (15 wing suit dives, 14 on a crossbow) but do suits have radically different flight characteristics that much compensation is needed to be relative?
I would welcome comments on this.
Wingsuit Compati

[bodypilot1 0]

The monowing suits such as the Crossbow, Sugar Glider and the Matter tend to be alot more floaty and have less drive (unless you have alot of experience on the suit so they say ) then the Birdman suits which generate alot of forward speed for lift.
Stopping the monowing suit from inflating, or trying to fly it "dirty" is hard to say the least, so having so many different style suits on 1 flocking dive can prove to be unsuccessful.

So yes, there is alot to do with the suits AND the jumpers compatibility on a skydive for it to be a successful one.
Such as in a BIGWAY RW skydive you wouldn't put a 135lb person with a baggy suit in the base.

Be safe.

-

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[diablopilot 2]

I've had no trouble flying relative with many Birdman products in my MTR2 suit. The drive is signifigant and while the wing signature is large, it's easily controled. In the few flights I put on the MTR1 I did find a tendancy to float, and a lack of drive.

With just 15 flights, and it sounds like few of those in flocks I'd suggest you'll just need to flock somemore and before you know it you'll be able to fly with whomever you choose in whatever suit you'd like.

Often people mistakenly use a relative work position like the "boxman" to compensate for "float". It doesn't work, infact it will tend to both slow your foward speed even furthur, and cause a head high position which does nothing to sink you.

Try not to think 2 dimentionaly. You're not trying to drop into a spot below you, you're trying to fly to a a spot ahead AND below you. figgure out the glide path that's gonna take you there.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[ManBird 0]

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Often people mistakenly use a relative work position like the "boxman" to compensate for "float". It doesn't work, infact it will tend to both slow your foward speed even furthur, and cause a head hig position which does nothing to sink you.

Totes. Reserve that for when you're above AND ahead. If you're behind and above, go for a dive (just don't aim directly at the other jumpers).

In regards to flocking compatibility, I jumped with people in Crossbows when I had my GTi. I generally had to keep my arms in full flight to maintain lift, while putting a big bend in my knees to kill forward speed. I haven't flown a Crossbow with other suits, but I've flown it solo, and can compare it to my own flight. I got fall rates comparable to my GTi (slightly higher), but had very little forward speed.

There are a couple reasons why the flock would drop out. One is that the BASE is sometimes the least experienced and/or heaviest jumper. When the BASE is an experienced wingsuit pilot, s/he will usually fly dirty, let everyone catch up, and then start pushing a little harder, but generally only to the extent of the least performant jumper.

People get this idea that they did really, really good when they managed to stay way above the flock the whole time OMG LOL! No. They're not able to stay with the formation. We all have very different performance envelopes when we get into one of many types of wingsuits. Flocking is not a competition. Flocking is about control and maintaining relativity.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[diablopilot 2]

I'm scared. Steve and I seem to be agreeing on something.

As Steve has pointed out, I'll emphasize that LEGS, LEGS, LEGS have a huge part to play in where you are going and how you are flying in wingsuits as compared to any other form of flight. Learn to use that big leg wing and you'll be a more proficient flyer.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[bodypilot1 0]

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Steve and I seem to be agreeing on something.

How sweet.....

-

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[KrisFlyZ 0]

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As Steve has pointed out, I'll emphasize that LEGS, LEGS, LEGS have a huge part to play in where you are going and how you are flying in wingsuits as compared to any other form of flight. Learn to use that big leg wing and you'll be a more proficient flyer.

Are you going to have any Demo MTR2 suits at Rantoul? You are going to Rantoul right?

Kris.

[ManBird 0]

Holy crap, I just noticed that I capitalized every occurence of the word "base" in my last post. Yikes.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[diablopilot 2]

Yes.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.