ManBird

That's about 2,200' -- pretty normal, actually. That aside... If he's been in the sport for 40 years, then he very likely was around for both wingsuit eras! Very cool. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I prefer the short version: Don't fuck up. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Hey now, both hkf and I specifically stated that this wasn't a Katana issue, so don't assume otherwise. At this stage in the game, I believe we are both well aware of the affects of brake line length and dive loop position on a front riser turn. Another reason why this thread should be broken up, says I... "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yes. Don't think so hard. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Holy crap, I just noticed that I capitalized every occurence of the word "base" in my last post. Yikes. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

When lines start breaking.

Nice, did that just come in? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Nice, Ian! Congrats! "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Oh, we must have just missed you. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Forwards from me, as I'm facing the tail. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Calle, you are bringing up an age old debate about whether or not to cutaway a PC in tow. It has been discussed a LOT in the Safety and Training forum. It's like Windows vs Mac, Ford vs Chevy, etc. There really is no universal correct answer. Whether you choose to cutaway or not, pick one method and stick with it. This really isn't a thread for the wingsuit forum. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Put it in your front pocket or in your sock for more accurate readings. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Well, there's a right way and a wrong way to roll your shoulders (at least on the BirdMan suits). Whenever I tell first flight students "roll your shoulders", they ALWAYS do it the wrong way. That is, when they roll their shoulders, the rest of the arms goes along with them, so now they're reaching out in front of them. Push your SHOULDERS forwards, not your arms. If we're in flight and I look at you from the side, your hands should be directly out to your sides and your shoulders should be lower than your hands. Look at the wings on a low-wing aircraft. Note where they're attached to the fuselage -- on the bottom. Then look at the end of the wing and se where that is in regards to the fuselage -- it's almost in the middle. Do the same thing with your arms. The d-arch should be very slight... just enough to not have your chest or belly burbling your leg wing. Knees must be LOCKED and toes pointed. Your leg should be able to bend the wrong way just a hair when your knees are locked. Think of it this way: Every limb should be at it's fullest extension and the lowest points of your body should be your toes and shoulders. That's a good place to start. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Totes. Reserve that for when you're above AND ahead. If you're behind and above, go for a dive (just don't aim directly at the other jumpers). In regards to flocking compatibility, I jumped with people in Crossbows when I had my GTi. I generally had to keep my arms in full flight to maintain lift, while putting a big bend in my knees to kill forward speed. I haven't flown a Crossbow with other suits, but I've flown it solo, and can compare it to my own flight. I got fall rates comparable to my GTi (slightly higher), but had very little forward speed. There are a couple reasons why the flock would drop out. One is that the BASE is sometimes the least experienced and/or heaviest jumper. When the BASE is an experienced wingsuit pilot, s/he will usually fly dirty, let everyone catch up, and then start pushing a little harder, but generally only to the extent of the least performant jumper. People get this idea that they did really, really good when they managed to stay way above the flock the whole time OMG LOL! No. They're not able to stay with the formation. We all have very different performance envelopes when we get into one of many types of wingsuits. Flocking is not a competition. Flocking is about control and maintaining relativity. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

This is dead on. When I've had this happen, I've basically just committed my arm to one spot -- there'd still be funky turbulence, but it wasn't throwing my arm around. I couldn't find a good way to describe it. I think John LeBlanc totally nailed the problem and offered the solution with this comment. Imagine that. I found some POV video of this last night. I'll post it as soon as I rip it. Basically, my hand stays in one spot, and the front riser is going taught-slack-taught-slack-taught... but the swoop stays smooth and continuous the whole way through. BTW, this thread should be like three different threads at this point. I'll post the video in a new thread, or maybe this one should be broken off starting at this post. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yeah, wanted to make sure I was getting that thing out for the first few (note that I'd stopped grenade tossing by the time we did the 5-way) I enjoyed it much more than he did. We were both slider up and I took about a 1s delay. He didn't have much canopy time before getting wet. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Videos of the weekend. I'll have these on skydivingmovies.com, but they're on my server for now. There was quite a bit of really cool stuff that we didn't get on video, but there are some of my firsts, a backseat pack job, a couple Higgly Wiggly's, and Ray's 700th. Web quality High quality Video was shot by DJ, Sauce, Ray, BPS, and myself. Enjoy. Try not to kill the server. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

That's an endorsement if ever there was one. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I had a damn good time. I'm about to post some video. I went over to diveout's last night and we played back the sound of DJ hooking it in over and over again. This actually wasn't my FJC. I managed to survive a couple dozen BASE jumps a few years ago with essentially no training and only some minor bruising. This past weekend's tour de BASE was great. Video soon. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Jim, I did notice that you were getting a really nice glide while jumping with you down here. Your fall rate was low, especially for a GTi, but you didn't seem to be sacrificing much forward speed at all. If anything, you had room to drive forward without dropping. You're gonna rock the S3 if you keep flying like that. Speaking of which, did you only get to do one S3 flight down here? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

It seems that almost everyone (including myself at one point) goes through this "low score" stage. Get the low number to show up on the ProTrack. For some, a peaceful, quiet freefall is actually what they want from a wingsuit. The incredible glide you can get from these suits doesn't mean much to those who genuinely want to just slow down their freefall -- float. I think it's a nice skill to add to one's repertoire, but focusing on it for too long gets dull. I figure the sooner someone gets their fix the sooner they'll move onto business. Besides, 100 flights in, almost everyone stops going for the low score.

We generally call those "gainers". "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Start by getting as big as possible. Knees locked, toes pointed, and arms all the way out. Put in a slight d-arch and move your shoulders forward a bit. Make sure your hands are directly out to your sides -- not too far behind or in front of you. Tweak it from there. Note that if you can nail a good forward speed and your pitch is flat, a low fall rate will ensue. Basic principle: get big. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Oh, I should have also mentioned that this phenomenon has occured for me on different canopies, but same turn/conditions. I think it's less the canopy's fault, and more turn/conditions'. That's just my theory, though. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Woohoo! My KA 97 just arrived. hkf, I've had that same phenomenom occur several times, but it's been when I'm doing a slow carving turn in funky turbulence. Same deal -- riser damn near pops out of my hand and a "crack" can be heard (and the canopy planes out pretty quickly thereafter). But... this sounds like a different cause. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click