ManBird

NICE! That's a pretty excellent way to go about getting into flying a suit. "Yeah... got some instruction, nabbed a Classic I for dirt cheap while my new S3 is being made." You lucky bastard. If it weren't for the humidity and lack of affordable healthy cuisine, I'd move down there. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yeah. Definitely one of Jari's. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Hey, you didn't have to reveal your identity, bastardo. ;) I'm stoked that you made it through that so well and that you're all ready to get back in the air. Out of curiosity, what's your loading on that? Like 1.6:1? Start them turns high. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

To further complicate things: http://www.bird-man.com/?n=piece&a=id&v=80 ;) For skydivers, the real question would be whether or not you'd log that activity as freefall. In thinking about the Skyray and reading this post, I think I'd log it (though I'm definitely with you on the 60% claim). Basically, if I'm using a parachute to land, I'd consider it to be freefall. I think BirdMan needs to release a line of carbon fibre shoes. Each one should come with some sort of sandwich. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Never needed it on my GTi (and don't have one on it either), but I've used it twice on my S3. Once after a cutaway, when I didn't have time to unzip the legs. The other was when a bootie came off in flight and there was too much slack in the leg wing to get the zipper undone. On the cutaway, I probably could have just waddled in and been just fine. On the other one, I was already planning and pretty much committed to landing downwind, and definitely needed the LQRS, as I did not have the altitude to safely make it over to the main landing area from the high performance side (would have crossed the runway low, broken into the pattern, etc). I would never get another suit without it. If I can get it on both sides on my next suit, I will. When I lost a bootie the first time, I lucked out because the bootie came off on the same side as the LQRS. If it came off on the other side, I would not have been able to remove the bootie. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Excellent point. Get to know the tandem rigs if you plan to do any buzzing (most DZs number their rigs). Know the color(s) of the canopy of the last tandem out. It will help you indentify the buzzee, as well as assist you in locating the other tandems to avoid collision. And yes, always have your buzzes pre-approved, or your DZ might get a new policy. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I usually ask the pilot which way s/he is descending at about 4K before exit, then go the opposite way. Sometimes the direction of the descent must change due to traffic. Sometimes you get a pilot that always goes the same way, and sometimes the pilot will ask, "which way do you want me to descend" (my favorite response). Even with that communication, still keep an eye on the plane. Twice I've had pilots go the opposite direction that they said they would (ie, the same direction as me). On one, I came within fifteen feet of the plane, and that got me to really weatch what the plane does from then on. On the other, the pilot did it on purpose, and it turned into a two way for about forty-five seconds. :) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Shit... at 1 minute and 55 seconds, I still have a few grand left before I deploy. ;) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Saw one of the closest calls yet this last weekend. I've seen harder landings into water, but this was right into the ground. Don't know when the turn was initiated, but the canopy was about eight feet above the ground when the jumper hit. Serious ragdoll followed by zero movement. Everyone had anticipated serious injury or worse, but the jumper wasn't any more than badly bruised, thank God. A big, fat hole was left in the ground. The ass-saver was, believe it or not, about 35 square feet of soft dirt in a big field of non-soft dirt. Though, the pond twenty feet away would have been a much better ass saver. When asked why the jumper bypassed the pond, the response was that they didn't want to get their gear wet. Not an uncommon mentality, and I, too once thought the same thing (practice next to the pond before hitting the pond). I had one non-injurious close call right next to the pond, and it was resolved that I go big over water from then on. Don't know why it didn't dawn on me until then that the reason why swoops are done over water are not necessarily for style/rooster tail, but, of course, safety. I've seen a lot of would-be injuries or fatalities prevented by water. The lesson... you dry faster than you heal. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Don't know what you look like. Is that you? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yeah. What billvon said. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Hey, Bruno. I'm just messing with you. In all seriousness, go bigger (in canopy size). If you absolutely refuse to do so, then you'd better work your ass off to not go in. The only reason to fly a canopy that small is for glory, not experience. No one is impressed. How you even acquired that thing... "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

15. Date a student "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Sure. You're good to go. But let's make sure you are familiar with the mechanics of swooping, as detailed in the attached picture: - Stay clear of any obstacles with which you may collide, such as trees, cars, etc. - Try to stay out of the path of anything tall enough to send rotors at your canopy, such as trees - Initiate your front riser turn high enough to allow your canopy naturally return to level flight with minimal riser or toggle input - Look at where you are going to land, not ground below you - Minimize drag by presenting as little surface area as possible to the relative wind - On cross-braced canopies, try not exceed a 2.3:1 wingloading, as you may sacrifice performance and safety in doing so Studying this picture carefully will unlock the secrets to the perfect swoop. Have fun and good luck! Go kick some balls! "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

From what I've been doing up top, I have a feeling that a 360 will be my turn of choice. I'm not a big 270 fan yet; only because it's harder for me to set that turn up properly... which may sound nuts to some people, but I'm more into setting up along a single line. I'm too dumb to figure out all three axis. More than half of the powerband is spent on double fronts on my 180, and that seems to sort of kill some distance for me (though it maintains speed pretty well). 540s and even 720s have been easy to pull off on this canopy up high. I figure I'll eventually move up to a 360 from 600 feet, which should give me a good combination of speed and correction/bailout room, with about a quarter of the altitude spent after the turn, even with the approach as fat and carvy as I like it to be. Who knows... maybe in my progression I'll figure out how to nail this 270 thing. Seems to be popular with the teenagers or something. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Vertically, you have to contend with gravity of this big, fat chunk of dirt. If there was a wind blowing you, or some sort of vortex sucking you, upwards with more force than gravity (ie, wind tunnel), then yes, your fall rate would be affected. However, this really doesn't occur naturally while skydiving. Horizontally, the wind has no other force against it... there's no gravity to fight. So when these particles in the air push you at any speed, your body has no resistance. This is why you can push your buddy on a jump and send them across the sky horizontally, but if you try to push them up, they'll barely budge (asuming their body position stays the same). "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Really? I figured you were already there. At least in the neighborhood. Must do a big fat east coast trip next year (if not a big, fat Norway trip), and fly with all these peeps. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

My GTi has about 200 (~180 by me), has been through hell and back, and the only time it lost so much as a stitch is when I clipped a couple to get glowsticks in the wings. I have about 120 jumps on my S3 and it's flawless. Well... maybe it smells a little weird. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Flew my Sabre2 this weekend (got beer). Loading at 1.68 with a wingsuit (most of the time), 1.65 without (like it matters all that much), so, err... 1.7ish. Fuckin' A, I'm in love. It does everything I want it to, and doesn't do what I don't want it to. I got nine flights in on it, so I don't have a lot to say yet, but there are at least a few things I've found that I'm pretty sure I will stand by hundreds of jumps from now: - NO front riser pressure. It's pure cake for about six seconds, dropping me about 600 feet across the whole powerband. - Flies straight in line twists. I induced line twists intentionally (not in a wingsuit), and got about four twists with the risers somewhat uneven. Flew straight. I accidentally got one line twist (with the wingsuit). Flew straight. It's fairly unresponsive to harness input, but that's a tiny tradeoff when flying a wingsuit safe canopy that can also perform like a mutha. - Has a HUGE flare. It seems endless. I landed straight in five times and front riser 180ed (how I usually land, but about 170' higher than my previous canopy) four times. Granted I was going into a 12 - 14 knot headwind, but still... it had that kind of flare where you can just sort of hover and fuck around at the end of your swoop. - Gets back from long spots. I had a nasty headwind to fight to get back from far away a couple times this weekend, but hanging on the rear risers gave me an excellent glide ratio (obviously... but it was far better than anything else I've jumped... which isn't much... so... shut up). Anywho. I love it. I named her "Girlfriend #2". Girlfriend #1 was rather dismayed by this. I thought I was being a little too nice and dishonest with myself, putting my Sabre2 behind my girlfriend in priority, but no... Girlfriend #1 is rather upset that she now has to share. She'll just have to get used to it. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Not that it's a mega big deal to anyone but me, but I got my 300th wingsuit jump in this weekend. I wanted to get 300 in the span of one year (missed by a month), but the theft of my main and the subsequent lack of jump money was a (GIANT) contributor to the delay (not to mention our six-month winters). Hey, maybe I'm ready for my BM-I now, right? Damn you BM-CIs and your non-NorthWest residences. Damn you all. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

We were approximately 1.5 miles away from the drop zone at around 6,300 feet (checked the altitude right after we turned) when we started heading back (as determined by the terrain directly below and being familiar with it). Maybe a bit less. Let's call it 7,000 feet away from the DZ He made it back to the DZ and dumped at maybe 3,500 feet (you'd have to ask, but that's about what it looked like). That's gives him a 2,800 foot descent over 7000 feet, which is a 2.5:1 glide ratio. His average fall rate was just over the mid 50s... probably 56 or 57 MPH during that part of the flight. Given the glide ratio and fall rate, it can be determined that his indicated airspeed was about 140 - 143 MPH (120 knots). Knowing that the tailwind was between 50 and 55 knots (58 - 63 MPH), that would put his true airspeed at 85 - 90 MPH. Given the distances and speed recorded on the ProTrack, there's no doubt that his indicated airspeed speed was in the neighborhood of 140 MPH. Knowing that one's forward speed in a wingsuit is 90 MPH at the very most, the difference, which matches the reported speed of the wind, would indicate that the uppers contribute fully to one's IAS. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yeah, 55 knots behind us (in front of us for most of the jump). 55 knots is roughly 60 MPH, plus around 80, if not more, on his own. Granted, the wind tapers off at lower altitudes, but they were trucking down to about 4K yesterday, where they dropped off quite a bit. On the ground, the 16 knot windsock looked like my Pantz at the strip club. Er... I didn't actually say that, did I? This is the Northwest, you know? We're about a 45 minute drive from the Columbia River Gorge, where one shall find some of the fastest wind in the world (also the birthplace of windsurfing and kiteboarding). It's not too uncommon to get some screaming wind here. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Pantz kick ass. Finally flew mine this weekend. I have the BASE version. I was really blown away by how well they fly right of the bat. I wore a freefly jacket and could still keep my arms pretty close in without getting too head-low. There were some screaming uppers on Saturday. It was the kind of day where you could get out and track two miles in jeans and a t-shirt. 3.2 miles away was on the GPS when I ran from the front to the door to exit from 13.5K, and I got back to the DZ at 6K. The forward speed is amazing on these things. Speaking of forward speed. TALONSKY seriously SMOKED my ass on Sunday. Uh... that doesn't sound right. Anywho, we spent way too much time playing around, cutting through a stiff headwind, that we didn't realize how far we were away from the DZ. At a little over 6K, we turned around and raced back (~from 1.5 miles out). I chickened out and dumped at 5k (was going to dump at 4, anyway, as it's a new canopy), but he kept flying and actually got back before deploying. While his fall rate went up a bit, maybe even significantly, his forward speed coupled with a tailwind gave him some serious glide. I'm guessing it was around 2.4:1. He had to have been going about 140 MPH forwards with the tailwind with a mid to high 50s fall rate. I'll just keep telling myself that I could have "floated" it back, but I don't think I could have covered nearly as much ground as he did in that same amount of time/altitude. Good stuff. Edited to add: I wore my Pantz to a strip club the same day I flew them for the first time. They've been properly broken in. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I could have phrased that better. I was speaking specifically about harness input, and nothing else. You can definitely get a hell of a swoop out of this canopy. Comparing this to (just a little) experience on a Crossfire 109, my Sabre 2 has FAR lighter riser pressure, a longer powerband, a longer recovery arc, responds better to toggle/rear riser input, and has about the same amount of flare. The Crossfire was far more responsive to hip input, which is great for (amongst many other things) moving about after you've planed out without exhausting any flare. But this turning into a canopy thread. Didn't mean to make it sound like the Sabre2 was docile at all. It has a HUGE performance envelope, heading all the way up to the high performance arena. I'm just saying that one should expect to win a PST with one anytime soon (though you probably wouldn't get last, either). "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Finally flew my Sabre2 107 (loaded at ~1.7) this last weekend. I put it to the test by inducing line twists intentionally (not with the wingsuit), and once by accident (with the wingsuit... oops). Flew straight on both occassions. I love this canopy. It drops ~600 feet across a 5-6 second powerband, has an endless flare, and doesn't spiral in line twists. It's relatively unresponsive to harness input, which is excellent for flying a wingsuit, but not really for HP canopy flying (mainly when doing minor corrections while swooping... riser or toggle input works better for this one). Highly recommended. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click