JohanW

Tailgate, hands down. Skyvans are flying coffins but not that bad for wingsuit (you can't fit enough people behind the line for a stall anyway ), but Herc and An-72 positively rule. Herc can fit four abreast for exit and is bigger, An-72 only three but climbs faster. And it's a jet ..

John, why didn't they? Natural talent on your side, lack of skill on their side, did they both funnel the exit, were they so much heavier than you or what? Curious .. Johan. I am. I think.

So why didn't you ask? You asked an entirely different question.

For a merely *functional* opening, all you really need are cleared lines. For a *soft* opening, all you really need is the slider against the stops. Lines in the center prevents burnholes, bridle routing is overrated as long as it'll open, line stows are overrated (locking stows are not

Ignas, you deserve to know what I was thinking. Previous summer, someone with way too not enough jumps took out Alex at the Cochstedt boogie. I landed next to him. (I didn't land next to her because she landed further away, which was smart for her.) She almost broke his leg diving to the formation, and hit him because she didn't know any better. She did break her own arm. She somehow managed to pull with a broken arm. Please realise people could have died right then and there. It's not like we're playing a friendly game of cards here. You have any right to ask questions, but please refrain from dumbfuckery like that. I hate it when friends get killed. It would not be the first time. Your friendly disclaimer: yes, I am drunk. I get honest like that. Good night, and merry Christmas. Johan. I am. I think.

He asked something - look what it got him Johan. I am. I think.

Fill out your profile, live with the consequences, I say.

Actually, in his profile he's listing his Home DZ as somewhere in Lithuania. Johan. I am. I think.

Does this count? (My emphasis.) Johan. I am. I think.

What if .. people would stop trolling for Christmas?

I once spent 3000' of altitude on seeing if that would work. After 3000', I was still spinning stably on my back. Refer back to the unstable deployment scenario posted above. Arching fixes almost every kind of tumbling (though not even all); tensing your body fixes almost no kind of instability in a wingsuit. What's the worst that can happen? Refer back to the spatula scenario posted above. Johan. I am. I think.

I would expect an unstable deployment at the very least. Unstable deployments are not good. Assuming adequate ground training in both cases, no. Throwing out persons on their own for their first jump used to be standard practice in certain military circles. Yes, they really did 10' freefalls solo as a first jump (with more than one mechanical/electronical friend). I would still expect the V3 jumper to open while unstable. Contradicting yourself here. A Ghost is not an intermediate wingsuit. An advanced wingsuit and a beginner pilot do not add up to an intermediate performance, they add up to carnage. Besides, any jump is dangerous. So that would be a yes. I am imagining two scenarios right now. In the first one, an underexperienced pilot takes up wingsuiting, messes up but lives and gets to spend three months in the hospital and six months on the ground. This gives him time to answer all the stupid questions for us, which would be good.

I had 490 jumps when I started on a wingsuit. Johan. I am. I think.

Unless you're making them hard on purpose. ISTR Difficult is worth doing. But that's not the issue here. And it wasn't wingsuiting either. Johan. I am. I think.

Exactly! Make me look good! Errrr, well, relatively. OK, OK, I don't have a snowball's chance in Hell of looking good besides you. But paraskiing is fun!

The Edudie the Eagle position is already taken - one of the guys on the team had one day of indoor experience on skis before competing last year. He is taking a miss on the first two World Cups for training before going to the World Championship again though.

So, Brick, when can we welcome you on the Para-Ski team? You'll get to jump a PA rig out of a helicopter, and since I've taken that up I've grown to like both, actually. Plus, where else would I get to compete in an honest-to-God World Championship? OT: yes, I ski. Don't worry about looking like an idiot the first times. Everybody does. Did it bother you for your first jump? And yes, it's fun. Johan. I am. I think.

Remember folks, it's the pilot, not the suit. I think you could actually ascertain that from the dirtdive photo. Prolly Tony Suits .. Johan. I am. I think.

Actually, I see his point. One picture would suffice to shut up the critics once and for all, but the organisation has chosen not to do that (this time anyway). Apart from the debrief photo, the only pictures and videos I have seen from Wednesday were of the last jump, where I immediately noticed one slot missing anyway (it was close to my own; I would). I have asked permission to repost the debrief photo, did not get it, and did not push the matter. Frankly, I want to be on the next record as well. But the long and short of it is, I have seen no shred of evidence, not one, there ever was a fifth jump on Wednesday. Just claims. Brian, I think you're a nice guy, but can we agree to disagree on this? At the time, it was good enough for me. But, as I have told the organisation people (first, before spouting off on a public forum. not saying you or anybody else did not), I would have liked to take home one picture (that I could repost) that shows my family, friends, supporters and possibly (though not in my case) personal sponsors just what we achieved instead of having to verbalise everything and point at the pictures that were out there and say 'And we did even better on Wednesday, but you (and I) will have to wait any unknown amount of time for those pix.' That could have been a limited resolution, even a grayscale photo without any resale value itself and without material impact on other pictures' resale value. And, while not vocal about it, by now I would like to see a, any, picture appear in the media, online, at a photo webshop, wherever, of a money shot. If we did it, there must be a limited amount of possible photos of it. There must be more than one, too. Yes, at the time, it was good enough. Past tense now. It's been a month. Until you posted I wasn't complaining, it won't keep keep me from participating next time, but I am less than happy by now. The news value is gone. (This part I have not specifically told the organisation people first, in fact, not at all. If it surprises them, I'll apologise. But I think they know, or imagine, the general sentiment already.) Not saying Jeff, Taya and team did not do a great job on other parts of organising the event. Not trying to nail them to the wall for the way they did this part. But they left themselves open to what's happening now by doing this part this way. Of course, they still did way, way better than I ever could.

I have been considering BASE jumping for years. If I ever get around to it, I will definitely start considering wingsuit BASE next. Chances of it really happening are slight. Johan. I am. I think.

But did he? Johan. I am. I think.

Sounds like he got the break you think he deserves. I'd have hoped for worse. People who do stupid things should hurt themselves just badly enough (but not enough to do permanent damage) to teach them judgement before they hurt some one else, do irreversible damage, or die. gixxer5223's post implied that this time he didn't hurt himself enough to learn. I hope that next time he only does enough temporary damage to learn judgement. +1 A Stiletto 120 at less than 200 jumps. I consider selling him that, or knowingly allowing him to jump that, nothing less than criminal. But that doesn't mean he should not have known better, and unfortunately pain and suffering probably is the only way he will learn. Johan. I am. I think.

Actually, it does fit in a plane. He even manages to get it into a Porter, but a nice big tailgate seems easier. A lot. Johan. I am. I think.

I've done 14 hours to get somewhere once, but they had a Hercules when I got there. That was sharing the drive with someone else. Solo, no more than maybe 6 hours. But they had a twin jet when I got there. Of course sharing the drive is better. If there just isn't anyone, for a 17 hour drive, consider flying in and renting locally. But it can be done. Cruise control really seems to help to make the drive less tiring. No experience with strange desert ax-wielding hitchhikers, fortunately. No, you didn't spell axe-wielding correctly. (And neither did I, I made damn sure of that. ) Johan. I am. I think.

Stretch your mind? Hey, you got off lucky. Count your blessing. Or screw yourself worse than you already did .. Johan. I am. I think.