ManBird

Cool. I'd really like to see where you're at with it now. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

There will be seriously hybrid play, indeed. I'm even thinking of disconnecting to dedicate half a day to hanging. I'd like to get in some tracking dives, as well. I'd really like to try taking my WS on a normal tracking dive and flying really dirty, and inversely, fly my freefly suit with someone flying dirty in their WS. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

OK. Your reasons are apt and your experience will also be sufficient to get people on their premiere flights. I approve. Proceed as planned. Dammit. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

15 flights and you want a BM-I rating? Sheesh. Do I have to go to Florida to get mine? Should I feel guilty about giving instruction? I don't have the rating, but I have over 230 flights. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Definitely. A somewhat deep d-arch with a head-high attitude from the dead center of the door should do it. If you are too off center, you will get bounced back and forth from one prop blast to the other. And yes, relax. ;) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Martial arts will do it. I studied for about 12 years and havn't explored much in the past three years. I recently started practicing on my own again, and it's made a huge difference very quickly (past two months). I lost a lot of weight and gained a lot of endurance. Plus, just flying the S3 maxed out as much as I can (about 50 flights in the last five weeks) makes a huge difference, too. And those reverse dumbbells make a world of difference. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Shoot, who was it. L&B does do ProTracks without time limits now, and I believe they will modify current ones. My camera helmet is my new ProTrack. :) Edited to add: That's good. We need lots of people flying wingsuits as their primary discipline. Too many suits in gear bags right now. Dammit. I need to get back down there some time to get my BM-I. 'Bout 235 flights right now. Yee-haw. Trying to hit 300 by one month from now... one year from when I first started flying these thingies. 65 in a month... I shall be very broke and very tired (or really ripped). Stockpiling the ibuprofin now. Fly around a 12,000' tall cloud for me. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

The bonus to the long dive is that you build up more momentum. I don't know how much you've flown a divey canopy, but they are NOT easy to dig out. A canopy that likes to dive takes a LOT more effort to plane out quickly than one that likes to plane out on its own. Not that it's impossible or anything, it happens all the time. But, a stiletto turned 30 feet too low will be much easier to flatten out quickly than a Velocity turned 30 feet too low, based simply on the momentum behind the dive. More momentum, more speed, more distance needed to stop. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

If wingloading was all that determined the way a canopy flies, there would be no need for different types of parachutes. Take a rigid, elliptical, cross-braced wing with a steep attack angle, wide aspect ratio, and slim profile and load it up the same as a seven cell F-111 square canopy with a huge open nose. Those are two drastically different airfoils. The slimmer, rigid wing will cut the through air and eat altitude a LOT faster than something that induces drag and doesn't pressurize well, even at lower wingloadings. I see people with a lot less jumps than me, and that's not a lot, that fly cross-braced or airlocked canopies and think it's no big deal because they're only loading their canopy at 1.3:1. One of these people has already broke his back once. There is a reason why Performance Designs does not want you to have a Velocity when you only have 200 jumps, even if you're only going to load it at 1.2:1 (an ideal WL for that experience level), and it's not just because it won't perform as well. A cross-braced canopy will eat more altitude in a dive than any low-timer can properly judge, at any wingloading, guaranteed. The people I know that made it through flying a X-braced canopy at low numbers took it very easy, and hurt themselves along the way. I'm just under 600 jumps, and I'm nowhere near ready to try to start judging a 700 foot dive. 400, I can do right now. Maybe in another 500 jumps I'll know what 700 feet looks like. Maybe never. Buying or flying a cross-braced canopy before you've maxed out everything under it is, IMO, nothing more than a vanity decision. Buy a cross-braced canopy and load it at 2.0 only when you've perfected every aspect of flight on your highly elliptical nine-cell loaded at 1.8 or 1.9. Then, you will actually have a valid reason. Take it easy. I'm getting really damn tired of reading about fatalities and injuries of people that died in vain. It's really damn sad. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

A-ight. How many flights are you up to nowadays? Still mixing it up between freeflying and the suit, or have completely joined the new dark side? Hey, was that you that scored a modified ProTrack that had no time limit, or am I thinking of someone else? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Hey, Randy. So have you been getting some flights in? You coming down this weekend for the Jumpfest? I've got my camera helmet now, so I can attempt to get some wingsuit video. I've got a ways to go before I get this camera thing dialed in. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

ProTrack charts. When there's something I want to know about later, like a major fall rate difference, I check my altitude. When I get down, I hook my ProTrack up to my compy and look at the corresponding altitude in the chart. Like if I get fatigued at 7k, I'll look at how much my fall rate went up at 7k. Or inversely, if it goes dead silent at 10k, I'll see how low my rate got on the chart at 10k. I can't actually tell what the difference is just by flying. Haven't maxed 'cause you don't need to? What's that mean? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Video. Just started jumping my FF2 this weekend. :) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

SAS or TAS and how many jumps on it? That's an excellent fall rate for the Classic II. You shouldn't be disappointed. Low 40s on my S3, low 50s on my GTi (TAS). "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Ah. That makes sense. I've recorded down to 21 on my GTi, but I definitely wasn't down that far for more than a few seconds. That also may have been a "helmet-assisted fall rate". "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Great input, Yuri. Just backing up a few points. Gettin' da hed nods. Er... Amen to that. This is why I believe that at the end of the day, if you aren't getting fatigued at the two minute mark, you aren't maxing it out. It's that balance of flying it hard and relaxed at the same time. Andy Ford had the best advice for this problem: go to the gym. While I'm not going an actual gym, per se, I am actually exercising more than I ever thought I would. Haven't broken three minutes yet, but got 174 seconds on Saturday. Almost there... Exactly. This is something that's difficult to explain to someone whose trying to figure it out. You can show them the body position, they can get in that body position, but it doesn't really, really fly until they feel that sweet spot and heard everything go quiet and stay that way. I feel the rig lift up off my back and then it feels like I'm laying on the wing of a fighter jet. It's a little hard to relay. ;) To rephrase a bit, I don't think the maxed out position is unstable at all. I think the maxed out position is very sensitive and very easy to make unstable. I find that I fatigue unevenly. My right shoulder fatigues a little ahead of my left. Rather than let it wobble me to much, I match my left shoulder to my right, which deteriorates the flight, but not not nearly as much as getting into those falling leaf wobbles. I'll bump up my fall rate a good 4 MPH, but if the wobbles really nail me, my fall rate increases as much as 15 or even 20 MPH. Yeah, I basically have to dive for the entire flight to meet them at a suitable altitude, and even then, you can be a bit low by the time you clear them. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Definitely. That's what I do, as well. Putting in one's helmet is pretty much guaranteed to shut it if you look around at all. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Now that I have a camera strapped to my head, I can finally get accurate freefall times. This weekend, I really considered what Robi was saying, and tried a few things out. Looking at an aerial photo of the DZ, I found what was about a quarter mile in each direction, and attempted to do a "lap", which was about 4.2 miles. This also puts me in four orientations to the wind, so I had to fight on the north leg and really screamed on the south leg, as there were some strong uppers from the north. This way, my average indicated airspeed would be very close to my true airspeed. I did five flights on Sunday. I started head high with very deep d-arch, and did each flight progressively flatter and steeper. Freefalls were 10,000ft (13.5k - 3.5k). Forward speeds are averaged indicated airspeeds. Distance is estimated, and is probably accurate within 1/4 mile. Time comes from what was recorded on video. The windspeeds varied throughout the day, but are nearly irrelevant as I flew in all orientations to the wind on ever flight. My attempted flight path was 0.3 miles west, 1.5 miles north (into the wind), 0.6 miles east, 1.5 miles south (downwind), then 0.3 miles west. The spots were all pretty close to being the same. I compensated the flight path accordingly to maintain the same distance on each flight. Here are the approximate results: 3.4M / 154s | 79 MPH forward, 44 MPH down, 1.80:1 3.9M / 167s | 84 MPH forward, 41 MPH down, 2.05:1 4.1M / 159s | 93 MPH forward, 43 MPH down, 2.16:1 3.7M / 142s | 94 MPH forward, 48 MPH down, 1.96:1 3.2M / 125s | 92 MPH forward, 54 MPH down, 1.70:1 I'd like to slap on a GPS to get more accurate results. Even though these figures aren't 100% on, I can at least benchmark the flights against each other. I found that having the slightest d-arch, with a teeny tiny bit of a downward attack angle gave me the best glide ratio, and was, as Yuri, Dwain, and others have told me, just slightly off of what gave me the best fall rate. I got such a glide ratio from this position that I covered significantly more ground (SO close to completing the "lap") with 8 seconds less of freefall. My best fall rate came from essentially the same body position, but without any angle to it. Flying "floaty" evidently didn't give me the forward speed needed to get a good fall rate. When I flew with a pretty aggressive attack angle, it gave me good forward speed, but increased my fall rate enough to decrease my glide. Flying flat with a very aggressive attack angle also gave me a really good forward speed, but also increased my fall rate so much that I actually covered less ground than flying "floatily". (Edited for spelling) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I completely agree. I think distance needs to be the next challenge for people, especially as they find themselves unable to further decrease their fall rate. I even got into a bit of an argument/debate about fall rate versus forward speed, and started a thread on it here. I know for sure that your best forward speed will not be your best fall rate. If anyone disagrees, go here. Personally, I've been on a fall rate kick, as I need a low fall rate and low forward speed to do canopy/wingsuit relative work. I think most people compare fall rates, not forward speed/distance, because we all have ProTracks, not GPS units. We also usually jump out of a plane that always drops us off at different points. When we don't always start from the same point (like a big wall), and we don't have a GPS device, it makes it difficult for us to gauge our distance. I think all that will change in the years to come as people start seeing as much value in GPS units as ProTracks. As soon as I can afford one (just ordered a new canopy), I'll be picking one up (one that does altitude, as well). Fall rate is also just a whole other type of challenge that is easier to measure for most people than distance. Edit to add: Woah, nutty... Yuri and I had almost the same post. Either I'm cool or he's not. Or both or neither. What? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I've only played with rear risers a bit, and flying a Sabre 120, I don't really even need to (it does give an extra 20 or so feet for me), but I've also seen and learned from the seasoned pros that get on the rear risers all the time. I think different people do it a bit differently under different canopies, but here's my take. Basically, after you've done your front riser turn and are starting to plane out, smoothly let off the fron risers and smoothly spread/pull the rear risers, like you're getting back to the DZ from a long spot. This flattens your glide (aka, keeps you aloft longer by preventing you from descending) without losing speed or flare. Your toggles must always be in your hands at all times, so the flare is just a smooth release of the risers to your standard flare. The key is smoothness. Hitting the rear risers too fast or hard might pop you up, and releasing them too quickly can give you a little drop. Smooth. Smooth. Smooth. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Mine and the BHS technique are almost identical, except that he bends his legs in front of him, and I put my heel on my butt. I also grab my heel, instead of my shin... primarily to keep from popping my shoe off. Doesn't apply when I'm wearing Tevas, though. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

ManBird's Twelve Steps to Success: 1. Unzip left arm and remove left loop from thumb. 2. Unzip right arm and remove right loop from thumb. 3. Collapse slider (if applicable). 4. Put right heel on butt and grab the zipper (pull LQRS out of housing, if you have it). 5. Straighten out right leg while firmly holding the zipper. This will unzip the right leg. 6*. Put right foot high up on front of left thigh. Use right hand if needed. 7*. Use left hand to grab tab on bootie, right hand to grab right heel (to keep shoe on), and pull bootie off of foot with left hand. 8. Put left heel on butt and grab the zipper (pull LQRS out of housing, if you have it). 9. Straighten out left leg while firmly holding the zipper. This will unzip the left leg. 10**. Put left foot high up on front of right thigh. Use left hand if needed. 11**. Use right hand to grab tab on bootie, left hand to grab left heel (to keep shoe on), and pull bootie off of foot with right hand. 12. Release toggles to fly canopy. * May not be needed on the Skyflyer or S3 with no LQRS or LQRS on left side ** May not be needed on the Skyflyer or S3 with no LQRS or LQRS on right side "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

There are pics in the gallery at bird-man.com: http://www.bird-man.com/?n=piece&a=id&v=16 http://www.bird-man.com/?n=piece&a=id&v=18 http://www.bird-man.com/?n=piece&a=id&v=20 http://www.bird-man.com/?n=piece&a=id&v=21 http://www.bird-man.com/?n=piece&a=id&v=22 Can't wait for the movie. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

http://www.bird-man.com/index.asp?n=article&a=id&v=73 "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

The difficulty depends on the your experience and ability, and the suit you're flying. The GTi and Classic II are generally not difficult to fly. In relation to a "normal" suit (to me, the winsguit is the normal suit), it's much, much more responsive. You don't really feel like you're flying what you're wearing in any scenario, but with the wingsuit, maneuvres happen much more quickly. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click