ManBird

I guess this could be considered more of a high and wide obstacle avoidance situation. I wasn't too low for my target, but I was too low for what was above it. I guess you could equate this to swooping past a hangar, but coming up short and getting the hangar in your path. Only, this was all dirt with which I was dealing. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I see "Other" selected the most. Are people thinking, "stop the front riser turn early"? If so, maybe I should have been more clear. If you find yourself low after the turn is completed, what do you do. Any other options that I'm not thinking about right now in my state of hunger? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Think of it as two landing areas... one about ten feet lower than the other, separated by a gradual bank. If I was fifteen feet closer in, I would have swooped down the bank to the lower landing area. So basically, I was about ten feet too low for the top landing area. It's hard to explain. And I'm kinda hungry. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

That's sort of been the goal for awhile. Going forth and spreading the wing, er... word, er... Nice work, man. Over 2.12 miles, that's about 1.5:1. Sounds like you're flying on the edge of a stall. This yields the best fall rate, but not much forward speed. With a tailwind, that is a good way to get a good glide. A slow fall rate and fast tailwind will offset the slow forward speed and have you covering more ground. Into the wind, you'll probably cover more ground in a flat/divier body position, even though your fall rate will be higher. Crosswind, flying somewhere in the middle gives a big, fat glide. If you can stay above 1.5:1 in a GTi with any wind orientation, then you're kicking some ass. You should cruise down for Kapollapalooza, anyway. Should be a good number of suits with which to flock. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

You don't need any skydiving experience: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=918886; :) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Aiming for a wingsuit-centric event in early fall. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

You're right. I misunderstood what was being said here. I though he was describing rotors, which can, indeed, drop you through dead air. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I vote yes. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

When I was up in Kamloops a couple weeks ago, I found myself sick and low. I was attempting to swoop down an embankment. I underestimated the headwind, spent too long on the second and third quarters of my 360, and came up short of the embankment, putting me on course to pound in above it. I went into what was definitely the deepest of carves I've ever pulled off, which reportedly had my end cell about a foot off the ground (fuck yeah). I made it to the embankment in the carve, which gave me room to level out and land standing. I'd seen video of Heath doing this and it looked like a great ass saver, so I've always kept it in the back of my mind in case I needed to use it. It totally looked like I didn't screw up, which is awesome. I mean, hardly anyone but me realized that I was about to have a femur sticking out of my mouth. I vote carve. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I actually bought a Reaktor 4 and Fox 245 before I bought a skydiving rig, at about 70 skydives. In terms of skydiving, I was dirt poor and sick of borrowing. My grandfather sympathized and gave me $1,000 to put something together. So I had grabbed me a Racer, Sabre 120 and MicroRaven 135. Yeah, loaded up at 1.5 at a little over 100 skydives. Thank God I survived. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Hey, you gotta start digging a pond somehow. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

And don't have kids! "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I know of several people that have been in three digits downwards while under canopy, loaded at around 3:1. But hell, it's the press. What do you expect? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I don't think I can make it for practice jumps, but I'm definitely there for the meeting at 8am. I might try to cruise out Friday night, as opposed to early ass Saturday AM. I don't need practice jumps, anyway, because I'm rad and I'll win anyway. I'll win distance, accuracy, freestyle, and a special new competition that you haven't even heard of. Yeah... rad! Actually, if I don't pound in, I'll be happy. Making gates would be a good bonus. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

"Sunlight Bathes Our Home" by Clinic. I love that track. I love that band. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I had a really great time. Great people and a gorgeous DZ. I love the grassy hills. I hate the cops. Five new birds: James, Leslie, Billy, Rex, and Jim all did their first flights and generous amounts of fun were had by all. There were several highlights over the weekend. The first that comes to mind was flying way the hell out with Rex, buzzing him under canopy, and then swooping out in the grassy hills. There was some great cloudplay. There are some big, fluffy ones up there in Davenport (I am talking about clouds). Billy went big and completely outtracked a big mother. Staying under 40MPH after breakoff on every single jump was good, too. ;) The best was seeing how well people were doing right away. Very little input from me was needed once we were in the air. I don't think I gave James a single hand signal, and I didn't need to. That was sort of the theme across the board. I think West Plains has a great flock in the future. The only downside to the whole weekend was that we didn't have more suits! The speeding ticket wasn't too bad. I'm glad I didn't get caught when I was seeing if I could break 120 MPH (mission accomplished... several times). It's a big trip, but I really liked the DZ, and could see myself returning when you get the Caravan again. BTW, in case anyone missed it, the 182 will probably be the better plane for launching multiple wingsuits (from the strut). You can do launch two from the Gonzo, but anyone launching from inside might get hosed a bit on exit. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

What was the freefall and what was the wind direction (headwind, crosswind, downwind)? 2.12 miles at 71mph forward is 107s. Would I be correct in assuming that you had about a 7,000' freefall for a 1.6:1 glide ratio? BTW, 1.6:1 is right about the max glide ratio you can get in a GTi in no wind. Good stuff. Sounds like you're flying a lot. That's great! I'm going to start bugging people pretty soon about participating in a BM-I course in the NW. You should definitely consider getting the rating. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I have to agree with this, and I've also found that the BASE pouch puts the handle along the same "path" that my hands take when going for the BOC, and I instinctively throw as soon as the handle touches my hand. I switch back and forth between the two quite a bit, and don't have issue missing a handle. It might just be the way I reach, though. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

You have a Wings, right? If so, you may want to triple fold it, or do whatever you can to get the fold down to the same length as a triple fold. That fixed this same issue for me. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Since when did downwind landings become this dangerous and impossible feat? When the ground shows up, pull the thingies. Slide it out if your feet won't keep up with your canopy. Look at the incident reports -- forcing an "into the wind" landing results in canopy collisions and low turns. The "into the wind" philosophy also does not account for swooping, which is often done downwind intentionally in a designated area. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I call bullshit. Two packets of Emergen-C (every vitamin) mixed into a sugarfree Red Bull (lots of B, no glucose), two - four ibuprofin (depending on your tolerance) and a hearty dose of protein and water. Within 30 minutes, you're back on top. This has worked consistently for me for at least a year, wherein I've been hungover at least once a week. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Or this? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Will this Cobalt ad do the trick? I've posted it like three times. Shut up. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

If you're in eastern Washington or Western Idaho and are interested in flying a wingsuit for the first time, head over to West Plains' Memorial Day Boogie. I'll be bringing a couple suits and will giving first flight courses. PM me for details. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Running down the super underhung rock was rad. Pretty damn ballsy, but definitely made for a better exit point. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click