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It's easy to see how it plays out. The BoD passed the item. It is a BSR. You will whine about it because you believe it is part of a plot by Big Parachute. They will carry on, you will carry on, and no one will change their mind. Only a very few of those 34,977 will see this forum and know that it bothers you. And that's because you will never do a damn thing about it other than complain in this forum. And even if you did, few would agree with you.

Well, I have 23 members that are in favor of the decision, how many do you have that do not like it? USPA is not a democracy, it is a Republic, just like the government of the US. You elect your representative to make the decisions and they do so using their experience, insight, and judgment. If you do not like their decisions, then run for the BOD yourself, or elect someone else. BTW, I have no idea who you are, or if you are even a USPA member. I have signed by name to every post that I have made on DZ.com. I will not be replying to any more posts from individuals who do not identify themselves. If you feel so strongly about your position, you should (or shude I say shude?) identify yourself. Mike Mullins

I've never flown with a Gus but I've flown with many other larger delta wings like the Funk and Carve. They are slow. I have to fly in brakes or shut down my Swift 3 in some fashion not to pass them. This is over multiple jumps at multiple DZs with different people, so it's not just the one person who cant fly his Funk.

Everyone is saying to go with the Swift 3, and I highly agree with them. On that note, I want to take a second to save you from buying a Funk 1. I upgraded from a Swift 1 to a Funk 1 about 2 years ago, and I regret that choice more than anything. The biggest issue with the suit IMO is the lack of forward speed, which makes it hard to keep up with flocks, and the fact that the suit has little flare when it comes time for deployment. I eventually got to a point that I didn't want to WS anymore until I could get a new suit. And this wasn't from lack of skill, but just the fact that the suit is built specifically for acro and not anything else. Plus the suit itself is actually quite large, and definitely not suitable for someone's second suit @15(ish) jumps. If you do decide to go the Funk route, I highly recommend either the Funk 2 or the Funk 3, which Squirrel specifically addressed the issues of forward speed and flare for these models.

As I wrote we use the Swift3s for first flight courses, so that is from the very first jump

The swift 3 is suitable post first flight course. Squirrel recommends 5+ jumps for a Swift while 50+ on a funk. So they should be fine on a swift especially factoring in the likely 7-8 week wait on a suit.

I'd hate to be the party pooper here, but buying an S3 seems to be a huge step-up from 13 jumps on an Indy? Maybe you should check with your mentor if there are any intermediate suits to rent nearby, Versos, Hawks or similar older "French level 2" suits? The Indy is a great suit to start for your first jumps. But it's an old, low-pressure design. Your position when pulling from an Indy won't matter much. The S3 on the other side, is a race car in its own category, not to be underestimated. Again, check with your mentor. You're in for another 7 jumps before you can get your "niveau 2" anyway

we fly the suits here together in flocks regulary. We have a student fleet of Swift3's.The Gus and the Swift3 are in the same performance legue speed and all. I know Squirrel paints another picture in their performance comparisons, but that is not true in reality.

The Swift 3 is possibly the best beginner WS ever made or at least the best I know about anyway. It's a fantastic suit with tons of range and power for its size. Without question it's worlds better than a Funk 1. The Gus and Funk are delta wing designs intended for acro which are naturally pretty slow. Someone in a Swift 3 could outfly someone in a Funk 1 (or a Funk 3 for that matter). I've flown with Carves, Funks, and other deltas in my Swift 3 and I often have to depower my S3 to stay with them.

Thanks for you permission and concern. A lot of people have unreasonable fears about the civil law system in America. I'll bet you can cite no applicable case law though. Blaming fear of lawsuits is an old and tired excuse for all sorts of questionable behaviors. Riggers tend to be control freaks, it's in the nature of the game. I know there will be riggers jumping all over me for my position. I could not care less.

I don't like it at all. Go back to the previous format.

The Gus, is a Swift 3 handsfree. It has roughly same performance but is more agile. I currently fly the Gus when I fly with students. You could also just ask Zun, He developed the Gus and the Funk3

I would definitely go for Swift. This suit will keep you busy for hundreds of jumps. You should feel already quite a difference between the Indy and the S3. Also everything (transitions, barrel rolls, back flying, flocking) will be significantly easier on S3 than on the Funk which will allow you to progress much faster. Swift 3 came out last year so the new version will come at earliest in 2020. However the difference shouldn't be too big (S3 is already an awesome suit. Also technically speaking more "advanced" than Funk1 in that sense that it came out few years later)

Hi Bill, Hopefully, you or anyone else will never hear me say that I know it all about parachute equipment. I have built a fair number of flat sliders ( ~ 15 - 20 ) & a few domed sliders ( ~ 4 - 5 ). a. Depending upon the domed slider design ( they are not all the same design which means that the material costs & labor costs will vary ), I question whether they 'are harder to build.' As to 'wear out faster,' once I see some data supporting this, then I will believe it. At this time, I have doubts regarding this comment. b. As to 'there is a lot of force on those not-straight seams,' once there is some tension on those seams, they straighten out immediately. I think that any differentiation in forces would be neglible. And there is at least one domed slider design in which the seams are straight. c. As to 'Thus they'd be more expensive - and more likely to fail.' Having built both types, I doubt that they would be more expensive; again, it comes back to the design of the domed slider. The OP did say build it slightly smaller but domed. Smaller would be less fabric = less cost in materials which could offset any additional labor costs during mfr. As to 'more likely to fail,' I have never read or heard of anything that supports this comment. I am open to input from anyone on this. Just my $0.20 on these issues; others may disagree & that is OK with me. Jerry Baumchen

The two faces grinning at the camera belong to Phill and Tanya McCormick. I believe they lived in Atlanta at the time. The plane was definitely a Lockheed 10. It is probably the lens which makes the nose look longer, like a Loadstall. If I remember correctly, Dan Bossard told me it was 36 numbers from Amelia Earhart's. That picture was one of a series we did with Andy Keech on that plane. That plane had huge wings and would tolerate the odd things we did on it. And I have to say that Gene Paul tolerated the lunacy quite well. I think the maximum number of people we had outside at once was 17. The thing would fly at 85 and had an amazing number of bars to walk and hold on to. If you were one of the first out and sitting on the wing, it was quiet enough to hold a conversation about the dive or how slow the exit was going, etc. Ed Christy