ManBird

This is a very good point. The BASE PC pouch is NOT spandex, so there is less give for bulky PC pack jobs and "sticky" F-111 PCs. On a skydive, I had a bulky pack job on a 32" F-111 PC, and it resulted in an "impossipull". Went to reserve. ZP for sure and pack the PC very thin and consistent (no lumps anywhere). "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Good call. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I use brakes to shorten up my flight path to my setup point for a 270 on my Katana 97, and did the same thing on my Sabre2. That's flying into a crosswind. And I also fly in brakes to sink my Fox 245. Same results. I've done this more times than you have total skydives. I've taken several canopy courses and have never heard of braked flight increasing your glide in a headwind or crosswind. I also apply the same prinicple to wingsuits. I now feel TALONSKY's frustration. I'm out. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

So maybe we should all jump rounds again. Of course our control inputs changes our glide ratio. Ahd how you fly in various windspeeds makes a huge difference! You should know this. If you have a strong headwind, do you think flying in brakes will increase your glide? No, you use rear risers flatten out your canopy relative to the air infront of you. Think about it... when your canopy is in full flight, there is not so much drag, allowing to move forwards quickly. When you deflecting the tail, you're increasing the surface area exposed to the air in front of you -- less forward speed. This decreases your descent rate, as well, since you are cupping air, but for the most part. In the case of a strong tailwind, the decrease in descent rate due to flying in brakes may actually increase your glide ratio. Using arbitrary figure, lets say that yoru canopy descends at 16fps and moves forwards at 32fps, in full flight. That's a glide ratio of 2:1. When you hit the brakes, you descend, let's say, 11fps, but your forwards speed slows down to 16fps. That's a glide ratio of about 1.45:1. If you have a 15mph tailwind, your groundspeed is now 38fps, for a glide ratio of 3.45:1. But if you were in full flight, you'd be going 54fps forwards, and 16fps down for a 3.37 glide. The difference is marginal, but you will actually cover more ground in brakes. Now if you face into the 15mph wind, using these figures, full flight will yield a 0.62 glide, where as brakes will have you flying straight down, if not backwards, regardless of descent rate. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I was recently considering grippers near the ankles on my S3. I'd like to fly some tight, no-contact, larger formations and maybe see if they're necessary. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Haven't done it yet, but this is what I've been taught: 36" - 38" PC. Mesh slider up. Vents don't matter. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Wow. Well... that settles that. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

You should flare. It's rad. Oh, and if I don't have a helmet on, I don't swoop. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Ah, gotcha. Don't know how that'd do. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

wingsuit[at]gmail.com, baby! "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

"Why are you kicking me?! I thought you loved me!" "Oh, yeah... you looked at my cat... and I love irony. Not you. Irony." Keep a thread on topic? BwuHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!! Speaking of topics, who here has played and finished every 'Ninja Gaiden' game ever made? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

True, but they'll tell you which dealer and give you info on various canopies. Plus they'll give you a foot massage and mail cat crap to your worst enemy. OK, I lied about that last part, but their customer relations are top notch for ANY industry. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I was going to mention that, but it's like making fun of fat people -- they've heard it all before. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I had very few WS jumps when I started this thread, and my thoughts on this have changed a lot. In my usual verbose manner... STUDENTS I think it's different when a student is involved. There really aren't to many students who can fully understand, expect, and accept the risk. You might have the flying ability and there might be a good plan, but the student really can't discern a good plan from a bad one or a good pilot from a bad one. And most DZOs don't want their students getting buzzed. If a DZO says no, respect it. FLYING ABILITY If politics and student acceptance are not an issue, the next thing to worry about is flying ability. Most people don't know how to define this. In this case, it's the ability to fly safely around other canopies, and you should really only build up this skill with experienced canopy pilots. Start with HP canopies that have a flight that almost matches yours and then move on to bigger and slower as you get better at it. The canopy pilot needs to be experienced and heads up, as well. They also need to be able to execute a plan very well, and accept that part of collision avoidance is out of their hands. PLANNING Planning is essential. Altitudes for deployment and breakoff must be followed strictly for it work, and to be done safely. There must be a period allowed for the canopy pilot to head in the right direction, followed by a period of working time, where the canopy pilot must NOT change heading or make any turns, regardless of whether s/he is passing the DZ or whatever. There also must be outs planned -- if the canopy pilot dumps too low or mals, abort, etc. WHEN IT'S OK When I was down in DeLand, there was a man doing an article for Popular Science. He already knew a lot about wingsuits, but had never made a jump. He planned to do a tandem and have Jari give him a buzz. They made an excellent plan with outs (and the buzz was aborted, actually). So you have a student that fully understands the concept and risks, a very experienced wingsuit pilot with a lot of experience around other canopies (this was after Jari docked with Vladi), a good plan with outs, an experienced tandem instructor, and a DZ that OKed it all. Even though the buzz didn't happen, these were, IMO, acceptable circumstances. WHAT IS A BUZZ? Good question from Nikolai... what constitutes a buzz and a "safe" flyby? 100'? 500'? I believe the policy is 500' at our DZ. I'm generally too far away on the other side of jump run for it to even matter. I think the definition of a flyby changes with ability. Some wingsuit pilots drift a LOT and don't know it. They might have a heading margin of 300'! Others are rock solid and don't drift at all, or maybe a few feet at most. A "safe" flyby is a very different thing for these two pilots. The ability to control your yaw, angle of descent, and fall rate should dictate what is safe. A good wingsuit pilot can treat 20' as a large error margin. An inexperienced pilot might need to plan on being 300' away to ensure that they avoid a collision. MY OWN EXPERIENCE I have over 460 wingsuit flights and I buzz canopies a LOT. I don't buzz tandems anymore. 99% of students I take on their first wingsuit flights get a close flyby once they're under canopy. I've flown relative to HP canopies, and have been very close to very docile canopies (literally under the canopy and to the side of the jumper), as well. I have a practiced and proven technique that I use a lot. I have done "big-way" wingsuit/canopy dives. We did one with five HP canopies and three wingsuits, where the wingsuit pilots were flying relative to and inbetween multiple canopies. For a decent amount of time, I had a canopy on either side of me, relatively close (the canopies were about 40' - 50' apart, and I was flying between them). I would feel very comfortable planning and performing a buzz on a tandem, technically, but I wouldn't do it unless the DZ approved of it, the student was fully aware of what's about to happen, and I knew the tandem instructor and trusted his/her ability to execute a plan. That's a rare occassion. ONE LAST THING Personally, I prefer flying relative to HP canopies for a long time over buzzing a big canopy for just a moment. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Za? On my Sabre2 107 and my Katana 97, this is NOT the case. When I'm setting up for a 270 and it looks like I'll be long, I fly in brakes to shorten up the flight. The deeper the brakes, the steeper the glide (even though the hang time is longer). I'm generally flying crosswind or into the wind, though, and land downwind. Brakes + downwind can mean a flatter glide, if the tailwind is fast. This, of course, is near landing. Descending from higher altitudes, I do what hookitt said... go somewhere else. On the HP side, most people at our DZ fly to sort of an unofficial "holding area" to burn altitude down to about 1,000' - 1,500' before flying back to the pond. Wide s-turns in the pattern (mainly 1,000' and under) are not a good idea. As far as stalling... don't do it. You don't need to be THAT deep in brakes. C'mon. And releasing the brakes doesn't have to happen that close to the ground. Do it a few hundred feet up. Edit: Looks like a lot of overthinking is going on here. You can shorten up your flight path with 1/2 brakes (which won't stall a canopy, ESPECIALLY a student canopy) or by losing altitude with maneuvres *out of the pattern*. Your canopy should be flying as you get close the ground. When you get there, pull the thingies, smoothly and symmetrically. Done. What's this stall and "cold edge" stuff? Do what you gotta do, and don't nail anyone else while doing it. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I'm so glad you'll be at the bridge over Labor Day weekend. I'm going to make fun of you for this the ENTIRE time. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

No joke. Did a 90 from 500' on my Katana and got a hell of a swoop and a lot of speed. No double fronts, and even got on rears to trim in. Regardless of turn angle, when your canopy is on level with you, you're falling. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I agree. It takes about as much time to do a 180° turn from 350' on a Sabre as it does from 650' on a Katana. Which gives you an idea of why a canopy with a longer recovery arc is *not* necessarily safer. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Here's what you do... call (386) 738-2224 and buy from PD instead.

With BASE canopies, making something flies with a lot of rigidity/performance (X-brace, airlocks, etc) is a bad idea. If the canopy inflates unevenly, the inflated side will start flying fast -- offheading. My ongoing joke about this, "hey, at least it will stay inflated through the object strike." Fast, consistent, symmetrical openings are, IMO, the #1 thing I want out of a BASE canopy. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I agree -- Cthulhu for President! That'd make politics fun. Two months until the HP Lovecraft film festival! If you haven't seen Dagon, go rent it right now! ACMEskydiver and Squeak might get put off by the live skinning scene, which was awesome. If you can't laugh while watching Dagon, then you don't, as Squeak claims, "have a hell of a sense of humour." "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I think you misunderstood. The only turn in the whole dive would happen on exit. Flying "in a straight line towards home" requires either a 180° turn (for most exits) and puts everyone over the line of flight (leaving last), or has you flying into jump run (leaving first). And if there's a strong headwind on jump run (leaving last), you have a tailwind on the flight and then you're putting everyone off in the wrong direction. Leaving last, flying at 45° and down/crosswind to jump run with good separation from the last group (15s - 20s) will keep people reasonably close to the DZ, away from the line flight, and would not require any turns for the remainder of the flight. It also doesn't require a strange protocol for anyone. The flocking dive would fit right into normal DZ operations. BJ had a cool deployment sequence idea for something like this. Basically, once it's built, you have people deploy out of the formation. Very cool. Have the tail just pull right out, the have the two in the back fly off for just a second or two and pull. Then the two on the outside fly off and pull while the "new" tail pulls in place. Then the two on the outside fly off and pull, leaving the nose to pull in place. That'd be a cool visual with smoke, and a safe way to stage the breakoff. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I asked recently and heard that it's pushed to October due to the number of orders of the pants and jacket (can't wait to get mine). October's just around the corner. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Does anybody use a tailgate, or the tailgate's elastic, to hold the slider up? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Hell yeah, overlooked. I'm telling you, man, Jerky Jackets™ are going to change the way you think, behave, and wake up in the morning. Thinking of putting together a winter coat out of Tom's tri-tip. Good shit. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click