JohanW

Steep. That's a normal size where choice in 2nd hand suits should not be a problem. It is. But there's lots of suits suitable for a beginner these days. Not if they have one of the bigger ones, and turn up the speed. Forward speed is limited in a Classic. I can't. It's the Indian, not the arrow. You can backfly pretty much any suit, if you can. Get ready first, then seek out an instructor. He/she probably will have demo suits in your size. Buying a suit now is not the correct priority for you, in my unhumble opinion. You may find you like freeflying in the next 150 jumps. Or classic accuracy. (OK, taking a bit of a leap here.) Or you may not be ready for flying a wingsuit at 200 jumps total (or ever). Make some jumps first, have fun, learn, take a FFC, then worry about buying a suit. I think it's overpriced. Get started on wingsuiting (later) first, get to know the local flock (and vv) and take advice from them then. Johan. I am. I think.

6'1", 220 out the door, S3S. High 40s is repeatable, low 40s is definitely possible (as an average), low 30s is extraordinary (only attained while flaring). It's not the arrow, it's the Indian. I would not have the stamina to go from 14.5 to 2.5, I don't think, but I can get 2'15" from 12 to 3. I'm not all that good, I have maybe 300 wingsuit jumps and not all of them on the S3S. Doing a bunch of solos to improve drive and lift does help with flocking, in my experience. So does doing a bunch of flocking dives. As does some belly-RW, but for different reasons. Johan. I am. I think.

Netherlands also: Johan Wiltink. Johan. I am. I think.

Try finding a packer for that MoFo though .. or a container .. man, even a jump plane. Would it fit inside a 182? Johan. I am. I think.

According to his profile, about 1.8. I've jumped a Pilot 124 demo which gave me a wingload of almost 1.8. Flies nicely at that load, my second jump on the canopy I wore my wingsuit.

I voted 3000, but have taken it down to 2000 to get away from a bigway where separation consisted of letting go of the grips (this was in another country; here, 2500 is minimum legal). But normally, I like to pull somewhere around 3. Birdman S3S, going on 300 jumps, Triathlon 120 at 1.8, no camera, I don't do camera, with or without a wingsuit. All of these are very personal decisions which may or may not fit someone else. Johan. I am. I think.

Chutes like this .. Triathlons, from 150 down to 120. Exit weight much the same as yours. Current one (120) likes a little extra speed on the landing, but doesn't any canopy .. from unaccelerated straight-in there is enough flare. I assume you've demoed it? I wouldn't expect major problems you wouldn't have on any other canopy. Johan. I am. I think.

Land miles, sea miles or metric miles? It's never simple .. Johan. I am. I think.

I do not agree with you on this point. Empathically very much *NOT*. It's not just another jump. Johan. I am. I think.

For a first flight, I'd let the coach figure that out. Yes, I'm chickening out on giving advice here .. That's what I meant by 'coach'. Johan. I am. I think.

With those numbers, I wouldn't mind a spot at 317° or 319°. Much, much more important is to keep in mind you can really fly yourself to a bad opening spot (as opposed to exit spot) if you go off flying into the sunset, instead of keeping an eye on the ground. A mile and a half is conservative (2 minutes is wildly optimistic), the exit spot doesn't really matter. Fly (a pattern) towards your opening spot. Keep in mind you will have drills to perform during your first flight also. On the other hand, going wildly unstable will cost a lot of potential distance, so you should not rely on being able to fly back. Yes, a coach or instructor should go over this with you beforehand. Johan. I am. I think.

Netherlands 72, RW 1-point, national record, 1999 25, RW 1-point, national record (female), 1993 27, CRW 1-point, national record, 2003 http://www.parachute.nl/records.html Johan. I am. I think.

I think a canopy reacts differently to a gust from the side, the front or the rear. A gust from the side will not affect the angle of attack; a gust from the front will decrease the AoA; a gust from the rear will increase it. I may be mixing up increase and decrease, my apologies for posting near the end of a working day (esp. to my boss). Please note I am not talking about steady winds, I am well aware the canopy doesn't know those. But a canopy in a gust is a dynamic system. Of course, the end of a gust from the front is much the same as the start of a gust from the rear. And flying into an area with suddenly less wind (e.g. a stadium, or generally the burble of an obstacle), or more, has much the same dynamics. Johan. I am. I think.

I think a canopy can actually tell if a gust came from crosswind, upwind or downwind. The more I think about it, the more that seems to be right. Johan. I am. I think.

There is also a Scotch Jameson? Favourite Scotch - Longmorn. Not above splashing Jameson into coffee. If it's good enough for the Irish ..

Then there are the Aerodyne Triathlon and the Icarus Omni and Omega. I looked at the Gear section of this website to find out about the Icarus ones, you could have done that yourself of course. I have no experience with the Icarus products, and I can only recommend to demo, demo, demo. You might love a Triathlon, you might hate it. You might also very well be better served with a Pilot, Silhouette, Safire2 or maybe, just maybe even a Sabre2. It all depends on what you want in a canopy. And on what you can handle. Johan. I am. I think.

Why is there no option for direct bag static line? Johan. I am. I think.

A ripcord IS a handle. I think a ripcord HAS a handle. Johan. I am. I think.

You really should have been in the last load on Saturday Brickie. We did a hop'n'pop from 12 with 12 people, and everyone aimed for *me*. It was .. crowded. Landing was a breeze, apart from having no arm muscles left. Johan. I am. I think.

More people land than do CReW. I do both recreationally, and neither scares me. I have a healthy respect for both disciplines, as I do for 4way, precision, wingsuit bigway, driving a car in rush hour and walking down three flights of stairs. I voted swooping is more dangerous, mainly because it's closer to the ground, but canopy relative has a lot of opportunities for wraps and entanglements where you cannot simply follow standard emergency procedures. Both disciplines require focus and clear thinking when the sh*t hits the fan really. Johan. I am. I think.

The increase in speed means you have to give less input to level it off to the point where you have zero vertical speed; horizontal speed does not kill (no guarantees, no refunds). So you can keep (a little) farther away from the rear riser stall. Of course, you might have thrown away more margin by hooking (carving) it in than you're getting back from the induced speed. It might be unrecommended to try this if you don't level out your swoop on rears most of your jumps anyway. You'd abort .. on rear risers, I guess. Nothing else there, is there? Actually, there is. Sharply dropping the fronts has much the same effect as a short stab at the brakes. Refer to BrianG's book for a fuller explanation of this. On Stilettoes and the like, a very well-timed and well-executed release of the fronts might be enough to level out without any additional input. Of course, you might find out the reason your canopy normally does that is your brakelines are really too short, and you've just cut away that tension because you couldn't get the half brakes untangled. Oops. Ouch. So no, it's not instant death to land on rear risers, it's not even an accident waiting to happen to make a nice carving approach, or even to hook it in. But it's lurking in the background, just 'round the corner. Know your options, know the pros and cons, and be careful out there. Johan. I am. I think.

Ronald Overdijk is one of the least known but best of the Dutch flyers. He flew a dock on me while I was carrying a passenger, and I flew a dock on him while he was backflying *rock*solid. (Yes, these docks would have counted in a recent competition. And then some.) But he doesn't come out and fly nearly often enough. (You hear me Overlast? Still married after all these years, huh? ) Johan. I am. I think.

I'll be the first to admit there was no video, so it never happened , but I can tell you from experience it can be done. Wingsuitrodeos are fun!

Why, that's last Monday! And I had a major good day, too.

I seem to remember early Stilettoes were meant to be sold to skydivers with at least a thousand jumps. Later models were fit for skydivers with 'only' 500 jumps. If you order a new one now, it might be fit for just any skydiver regardless of jumpnumbers as long as you pony up the cash. So there must be some cut-off date for those models, even if physically, they are exactly the same. Caveat: I may be wrong about the 1000 jump limit. Johan. I am. I think.