notsane

Try a Pilot. I jump a 150 and I love it.

I second James suggestion! If you plan to attend Flock and Dock 2.0 please take the time to read the article ... this is pretty much how we run the event. Scott

Mike S. and Matt ... you guys made the centerfold ... with your clothes on! Who were the other two flockers??

I think most of the drinking will be at the on-DZ bar. Official beer of Z-Flock is Red Stripe BTW.

Katee come join us!

At ZHills we've settled on the single left-turn approach. With a single a/c the pilot goes out about 2 miles (depending on the wind) and turns left 90 degrees. Wingsuiters exit and make a single left turn back towards the dz. The main reason this works best for us is that you can equalize the distance everyone has to travel to the base by moving the base more towards the center of the exit order. The larger the group the further the base is inside the a/c. Also, even if you're last out you can turn left and the base is in front of you heading towards the dz, not behind you heading in the same direction as you are (as a straight downwind flight path would do). For multi-plane formations the same rules apply, but the a/c approach the exit point with the dz to their left ... no turn. Base is usually near the door of the lead a/c. Trail plane folks take one side of the formation, lead the other. This approach has worked so far to 38 wingsuiters and 2 planes for us. As far as where to put the lesser experienced folk ... never, ever make them base. You need a fast down/slow forward/smooth flyer to act as base. Usually an experienced heavier person will do. They need to fly so that the folks behind in their GTi's can catch up. Lesser experienced folk go in the back of the plane and practice their catching skills. Once they achieve this they show up on the video. As they learn to smoothly hold thier position in the formation they get promoted up front. Kind of backwards from RW .... IMHO Scott

The local Channel 8 news broadcast the long awaited story on wingsuit jumping at Z-Hills. An on-line version is at http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBVUBSEVHE.html I have the broadcast recorded, but I'm not sure about the legal issues posting it. Anyone know about this?

I jumped the earlier version without the leg-wing extension and I didn't have any issue with the leg-wing flapping, even though the suit was too tall for me. The extension on this suit has a strip of mesh from top to bottom on it .. does yours?

I've got to admit that I never look at my altimeter until I'm open. I depend on my eyes first and my audible second to tell me the altitude. Passing those tandems too is a pretty good indicator that you're under 5000 feet. After so many wingsuit jumps my time-sense is completely lost ... some jumps are 85 seconds and some are 150 seconds, so you sure can't depend on that.

I just received a brand-new GS-1 demo suit from Cate at Jii-Wings. Compared to the first GS-1 this model has been extensively modified and includes the new leg-wing extension, arm leading edge foam, snaps on the cutaway, no bootie heels and more. It fits me well so it should fit someone up to 6' tall and up to 200lbs + (I'm 5'11" and 200lbs and there's room for more beer). If you're planning to be around ZHills over the holidays and want to give this babe-magnet a try let me know.

I may just wait and register there. It's not their computer that bothers me ... it's all the ones between me and them. HEY ... Matt and I are sharing a room at El Guajataca 2/7-2/12. We have space for a 3rd person to share room costs on the sleeper sofa. (The other bed is a king and Matt has promised to stay on his side and not try to snuggle ). So if you're a non-smoker and need a cheap place to crash let me know. I know Mark tried to arrange some transportation ... any news on this? Matt and I arrive on the 7th at 2:30PM and depart on the 12th at 6:30PM. SHOULD BE FUN!

Has anyone else noticed that the registration website is not secure? Without security I really hesitate to drop my CC number on there ...

The only time I take the suit off the rig is either to wash the suit or switch to another. I've got nearly 500 back-to-back wingsuit jumps ... why do anything else?

The only part of your body that's able to cause a spin this bad is the leg wing. You'll notice that the person's legs are not pulled up tight to the body even though they've closed the leg wing. Once they were on their back and spinning things weren't going to get any better until either those legs were pulled up tight or they rolled over. If you're on your back spinning like this grab your knees with your hands and pull tight. If you wait too long G forces may make this impossible. React quickly when you spin! I've watched some very good people get in trouble when they waited too long to correct the situation.

Jonathan these are really some nice pics. Thanks!!

I think you're expecting jump numbers to translate into how good someone is at freeflying, fs, crw .. you name it. It doesn't. What it does translate into is a general idea of how comfortable someone is tossing themselves out of an airplane. If jump numbers don't mean anything why not make that very first jump a solo HALO wingsuit dive? What's the rush? Take those 200 jumps to get comfortable and learn all you can. Don't get stuck doing freefly or fs for all of them .. shop around. There are so many things to do and so much fun to be had .. try them all!

Welcome to the flock, Otter!!!

Thanks for the Red Stripe Catie! Come back and jump with Z-FLock anytime!! Oh yeah, and bring Tony too.

I never look at mine either until I'm under canopy. Wouldn't it be sweet if we had an audible that announced the altitude every 2K or so. Right now I've got my audible (Neptune) programmed for 5K and 3.5K beeps.

There are several hotels listed on the Skydive City website and, depending on your tolerance for bugs the prices can be pretty low.

For belly flying a chest mounted altimeter is just fine, but for most everything else the alitmeter will be in the burble at some point. I'm sure that wingsuit backflying with a chest mounted altimeter would give you readings that are too high because of the lower pressure. I had a friend in the early 80's that nearly bounced because he was depending on a chest alimeter while falling on his back. The easiest way to check this out is to use 2 Neptunes .. 1 wrist mounted and the other chest mounted. Alternate flying belly first and back first for the dive, then download and compare the graphs. If you want to try it this weekend Matt I'll provide the 2nd Neptune. Scott

The Phi (mine in particular) is probably the best looking suit (aestetically) out there. But as chick-magets go the Jii-wings GS-1 has them all beat ... they just loved those BIG wings!

I couldn't disagree more, Yuri. I think we can all agree that the point of someone's first jump on a wingsuit is to have a comfortable and safe flight so they'll want to do it again. The things that will make someone more comfortable and safe on that first jump are equipment and training. The Access and Prodigy certainly make the equipment side somewhat safer (although I wouldn't say much safer since I've seen people get themselves into trouble with one of these suits). Now training is the other half. Since people have no idea what to expect from any type of wingsuit it's the training that gives them the comfort level. Take that away and replace it with a slap on the back and a few words on the way to the boarding area seems like a poor substitue for some real, structured training. Is paying for a first flight course a huge impediment to getting more folks to jump a wingsuit? In my experience the answer is no. People pay for training all the time, even very experienced people. You're absolutely correct that a first wingsuit jump is not rocket science, but that's not the point at all. Scott

yeah, I suppose we could build it vertically ..

I think you're kidding about making a big "Z" formation, but that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all ... Of course we'd have to decide whether it's a Z from above or below