105s in PF Tracking Suit

[ManBird 0]

So, do I log these jumps as wingsuit jumps or not? I have ten jumps on the PF tracking suit now. My Neptune reports the following on my ninth jump:

12K: 62 MPH
9K: 65 MPH
6K: 71 MPH
3K: 78 MPH

Exiting at 13,300' and deploying at 2,400', I had a 105s delay and an overall average of 69MPH. This felt more like a wingsuit flight than any other non-wingsuit jump I've ever made. I was flying really cupped and floaty at first. As I got a visual on tandem canopies (to use as a reference point), I started flattening out more (hence the increased fall rate). I found that when I was covering the most ground, I had a fall rate of 70 - 75 MPH (71MPH and 73MPH came up as averages a lot).

When I first flew the suit, I found the twitchiness a little disturbing and wondered if this was just a trait I'd always deal with or eventually overcome. It ended out going away on my fifth jump. You just have to pay a lot of attention to your legs and use your arms a bit more than you would in a normal track, and RELAX. It also helped to move the bootie setting up one (shorter). There was a noticeable stability improvement with a much "tighter" setting.

As far as how it feels... after flying a bit more proficiently, it FEELS like a wingsuit jump. It feels and SOUNDS like flying a Classic, but with more forward speed. I'm utterly impressed. I did find it a little tougher on the legs, though, to really keep it flying. It's a workout on your calves to keep your legs from getting too high.

My USB IR port broke. As soon I buy a new one, I'll grab a chart.

Edited to add: My exit weight was 189lbs for those jumps (got on the scale fully geared up). And for body position -- it's too tough to explain. It's sort of weird but makes sense at the same time.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Quote

So, do I log these jumps as wingsuit jumps or not?

That is awesome. GPS it to see how it compares to a wingsuit. You going to buy a PF wingsuit?

Kris.

[ManBird 0]

Quote

GPS it to see how it compares to a wingsuit. You going to buy a PF wingsuit?

Most definitely to both of the above. After my vacation, my stuff was sort of in disarray and I didn't find my GPS until last night.

To get close to a "no wind" glide, I divided some jumps into thirds -- the first third into the wind, the second third crosswind, and the last third downwind. As well as I know Skydive Oregon, I'm guessing that I was getting about 2.5 miles total, so something like a 1.2:1 - 1.3:1 glide. I'll verify this with GPS, but I'm sure it's in that ballpark.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[ove 0]

Insane!

Can't wait till my suit arrives!

Arm position? Rotated, bent, palms down/up?

Ove

Do, or do not. There is no try.

[ManBird 0]

Quote

Arm position? Rotated, bent, palms down/up?

I had a tweaky arm position at first, but what I found works best is to keep your arms and hands flat, like in a normal track, but then rotate the sleeves to have the inlets pointed towards the earth a bit more. Works like a charm.

I flew the suit against a GTi yesterday (the wingsuit pilot weight about 15lbs less than me). It was amazing how little he had to compensate his body position to stay with me. It was basically a full flight position, but with an arch. We were within a couple feet of each other for the whole jump.

I had a fall rate in the 60s at the start of the dive, and he was able to catch up, horizontally, very easily. So I pushed forwards more. This put my fall rate in the 70s, but the forward speed was very fast. He had a hard arch to stay with me vertically, but his arms and legs were fully extended. At the end of the dive, he went into a maxed out position. The wingsuit, of course, had a much better fall rate, but the difference in forward speed was marginal (with the wingsuit outpacing me, of course).

Fun crap.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click