ManBird

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!! Someone get me off this thing! I'm stuck! I'm stuck!" "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

My guess would be a WS Extreme and a TrollMDV. http://www.baserigs.com "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Nice job, Troy. Both on the site itself and the photos. Looks like you got that lens dialed in. It really pulls up the background. Excellent work. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Just playing devil's advocate. That video is freaking awesome. Watched it about twenty times last night. So sick and low... "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yeah... six seconds from the when there's *something* over his head. About three and a half seconds of inflated canopy time... slightly less if you count from when the slider went down. Sick and f*¢king low. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

[replyI could see that it is possible, if you had a lot of forward drive when you dumped (not the way I dump) that you'd open in less vertical distance, because of horizontal sniveling (like a hop n pop). Right. Your canopy doesn't take any less time or distance to open in a wingsuit, it just does it along a different axis. Therefore, you lose less altitude when opening in full flight. That's if you don't get a PC in tow. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Careful. There are two Steves here. Crawford should get in here and then we'll confuse the hell out of everybody. I think Ed was saying that the ability to float your suit doesn't necessarily equate to flying skill. I think it's all subjective. Personally, I like to set goals in each area, then continue to up the ante as I meet them... like attempt ot break three minutes, and then six miles, and then four points, and so on. Once that's beat, go bigger... 3:15, 6.5 miles, six points, and so on. In other words, there's really just too much to do with these suits to only focus on floating. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Don't sweat it Kevin. Many people have made that mistake. Did you read my post about freefall computers? http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1061856; Granted, there is no jump run with a balloon, but the ProTrack seems to be less sensitive to lower speeds that are actually not freefall (exit and deployment). In the case of a balloon, set ProTrack's mode to a SPC type and then back to SLO. I forget the process details... it's used for fixed object jumping... take a look at the manual. Your Neptune essentially reported 28 MPH while the ProTrack reported about 36 MPH. Being that a significant chunk of the freefall is subterminal, it's not unusual to get a very low average. I think the correct answer is going to be somewhere between the two devices. Did you ever pull charts down from either device? Where the devices are worn makes a difference, too. Most people have ProTracks on their heads and Neptunes on their hands. For really accurate results, the device need to be in a place that gets constant airflow, and doesn't move much (relative to the rest of your body). I prefer the front pants pocket. The ankle works well, too, as it will still read properly when on your back, but I move my legs around too much to trust my own ankle-readings. In the end, what's important is that you have fun. I actually haven't jumped with my ProTrack since the batteries died about six weeks ago. Video is the most accurate tracking device. :) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

http://www.basejump.org/order.htmlI actually never saw the video, but I think it's in there. DW brought by a bunch of footage of various jumps once. I'd later heard that the jump in question was in Fistful of F111. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

[replyHe nearly landed a wingsuit a couple of years ago, impacting at line stretch with his slider still stowed in a C-line rubberband. Damn. He wins. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Nice. If there was, say, a hundred feet or more of (grassy) bank on the west side of the pond, you could swoop north/south or south/north, close to the bank, and have a pretty good out. Then you could focus more on distance than accuracy or a corn collision. Sort of like a "normal" swoop pond on one side (so long as no one is fishing there). "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Check out Fistful of F111. DW pulled lower in a wingsuit.

I think more landings have been on target than into the corn fields, actually. Well, that's the story that I'm sticking with. Here's a pic of the pond. As you can see, the target is small, but you aren't really limited in terms of where you can land, and there aren't really any obstacles on the your way (except the bank). Here's a clip of my slow ass planing out high and barely making it to shore: http://www.deepart.org/files/ES_Pond_Swoop.wmv This was my first landing at this pond. It sucks compared to the later ones, but I didn't have the balls to wear a camera again (for obvious reasons). Butt slide omitted from this clip. If I had more skill, my landings would be way better. I'll edit together the good landings (and one bad one) as soon as I get the chance. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yes. You guys missed out. And again, I didn't mean to make it sound too intimidating. Anybody who's pond-side at SDO right now should handle this thing just fine. Hell, if I can do it... "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Sorry, didn't mean to make it sound like the danger zone... just that it isn't the kind of purpose-built pond we usually find in skydiving, and that's it's not the place to perform your first swoops ever. The target is about 10' x 30', but you can land safely anywhere west of the pond (assuming you're starting from the east), so long as you are above the bank (and away from the little tree). From that perspective, you've got a landing area that's at least a hundred feet wide by who-knows-how-far back. The power lines are not an obstacle at all... it's just a little weird to start a turn over them. I think the only real "danger" with the pond is either getting wet or not clearing the bank (or both). There aren't really any obstacles, and anything that might generate rotors are pretty far off. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Probably only Jari, Robi, or few others get 2.5! Naw, quite a few get that, actually. GPSing on a no-wind day dispels a lot about what forward speeds we once thought that we had. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Who uses Paralog with their Neptunes out there or JumpTrack with their ProTrack? Something I've noticed by using these applications that these devices is that they can accidentally record jump run on a wingsuit/slow setting. Hanging on the strut or bar, hanging out by the door, or being in ACs that are windy with the door open can start the timer (I've seen it quite a bit). The ProTrack seems to be less sensitive than the Neptune when it comes to jump run. The ProTrack seems to be less prone to this. We can temporarily nail some REALLY slow speeds, which usually shuts the ProTrack off (even on the SLO setting). I think that because the Neptune is really flexible in addressing these super-slow fall rates, it can misinterpret the wind from jump run as the beginning of freefall. I did a GTi jump with someone before where they had a Neptune and I had a ProTrack. We exited and opened at the same time and altitude (maybe 2s apart or so on deployment). I'd recorded 110s and they record 148s. After using Paralog, they found out that the jump run was recorded as part of the freefall (the altitude did not change for 36s). What's odd is that it still registered very wingsuit-like speeds. If you "started getting better freefall times with the Neptune". For either of these devices, I recommend using the accompanying software. Then again, good old video is ultimate time tracking device. :) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Nice one, Ray. That's a 40 MPH average, as well (9,500'/160s). I've got about half a dozen flights over 3 minutes. All from 13,500', usually dumping around 3,000' (I dump at ~4,000' when not going for freefall time). The best overall average I recorded was 38 MPH (my longest flight), but that was also the lightest I've been in awhile. Did 170s on Friday, but sucked it down a bit, and that was the best feeling fall rate I've had in almost a year. I don't have a Neptune, I just go off of video. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Stu came down on Friday and the was just absolutely dead. Stu had some really nice ones. A couple scrotum injuries, but great swoops nonetheless. I prefer a nice tailwind, but it was a good chance to measure what my actual distance is without wind assistance. Headed to Creswell yesterday (Sunday) to play with the pond that was, as Diveout puts it, "opened" last week. Turns out the pond is on private property, but Dan and Kim talked to the owners and got their permission to swoop it. The only stipulation is that we can't land in the corn fields (obviously). At the moment, this leaves us with a landing area that is about ten feet wide (but continues to widen) and maybe 30 feet long. Plus, there are no outs on this pond. You make it or you swim, and the pond is deep. Adding to that, you pretty much have to start your turn over the nearby power lines to nail the landing area. Not your standard DZ swoop pond. The pond is absolutely beautiful and full of wildlife. Fish will jump infront of you in mid swoop. We didn't get a ton of footage. I did it wearing a camera (and wingsuit) once, but opted to leave it off my head after that (which sucks, because the following two shreds were two of the best I ever pulled off). Diveout had some really nice swoops with a lot of water contact time and big, fat carves. It was some of the most fun I've had landing. Got a new birdman whilst down there, as well. Congratulations, Sean! I'll assemble a video of this last weekend's footage and put it up here in a bit. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I'm all over it. When and where? Is it at Oddball? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Thanks a lot! Everyone, use Phreezone's server! "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

The 0.45x for the PC109 should be out soon, if it isn't already. Probably best to wait so you can get matching glass. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

OK, this is probably server suicide, but here's a video I slapped together of last year's brutal downwind accuracy round at the PST at Skydive Oregon. http://www.deepart.org/files/pst2003.wmv And in case you haven't figured it out, I use Windows Media for everything. If you get a blank screen and just music, then you need to update your player and/or codecs. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Too far, I'm going on Sunday, and my gear's in a locker at SDO. Plus beer. Plus potential for partying in PDX. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

That I cannot argue. There were some great stunts in there (and fucking awful skysurfing). Sucks that someone was lost in the process. As far as films go, I'd have to say I'm more into slow, epic Chinese dramas than American 'splosion fests. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click