ManBird

Should I worry about the PC slipping out of the pocket when performing aerobatics? I mean, as fun as it is to have your bridle wrapped around your body, it's still something I'd like to avoid. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Actually, the price has now increased, as I got the fitting for a Cameye II. I don't want a Cameye II just yet. I want to get used to having the camera on my head, get my head position on deployments dialed in, and then add the Cameye II. While I may lose some shots at first, I think I could better avoid snags this way. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Actually, it works really well. It essentially is doing crunches, too, if you rep it a bit. Try it, you'll feel you muscles burn in all the same places you do while in flight. Nothing else I tried worked out the right muscles. What better way to develop muscles for that body position than to get into that body position. It wasn't I started doing this that I was able to hold the position for the full 10,000 feet. This exercise helps you out mentally, too. If you're in the (correct) position for six hours a week, getting back into the right position in the air is a snap. And while I look like a freak, I walk around the apartment with my arms in an A frame all the time. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Just get in the correct body position on the ground, on your back. I do this for an hour or two... watch a movie, listen to music, whatever. Just hold it for a couple minutes at a time. A couple weeks after I started doing this, I found that I can stay maxed out from exit to deployment. Same thing for wingsuitless tracking. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

http://www.users.bigpond.com/gruntre69/Index.htm#top "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Nice. That second pic is very cool. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Totally. My brother and I studied various martial arts for twelve straight years. Four of those years were spent practicing full contact fighting. This is a sport where someone is guaranteed to get hurt every time they do it. Damage is kind of the GOAL. But when we'd take turns putting each other out of the sport for a bit, tons of support came from our family friends. I bruised my ankle this last weekend. Hit the step on the 182. No big deal at all, but because it was the first and only time I've ever felt pain on a skydive (outside of the occasional slammer), and it's a HUGE deal. I even brought up some of the horrible swelling and marks left on me after some of those fights, but for some reason, this is the bigger danger. Keep in mind, everyone sucks. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I didn't actually think it was him, but do you know which picture I'm talking about? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

That's why I got mine on eBay. ;) Flying a wingsuit, and dumping in a track 95% of the time, line stretch usually happens behind me. Of course, I could get nailed on the way back into my seat. I'll just have to try and not get complacent with the position of my head. And I definitely don't think riser strikes are a thing of the past. I know of a few cameras that were lost within the last year. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Hey, Stu, what's up? Haven't seen you at SDO in awhile. I heard you're jumping somewhere in Washington now. Toledo? The FF2 was like $477 when all is said and done. It's US dollars to UK pounds. The conversion rate sucks right now, but it's only getting worse, so I went for it. It's a pricey piece of headgear, but I think it's far better and safer than anything else I could assemble. I also decided that I'd rather have a second helmet for camera than modify my Mindwarp. It came down to this or a Rawa helmet. Either one is pretty snagproof, but I just like the look and functionality of the FF2 a bit more. It seems more like one piece than anything else (except the FFX, which is one piece, but doesn't hold my camera). "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

On Saturday, I flew down a "channel" in a clowd that was spitting marble-sized hail at me. I've had a bloodied face from less than this, but for some reason, flying the WS through hail was a piece of cake (as opposed to an entire cake in freefall). The visuals of hail coming at you sideways are very, very cool. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

With this post, at this time, we are now tied with the relative work forum. What losers we are. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

3000 posts in this forum? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Pretty dang nice, actually. Is that Benicio del Toro in one of those shots? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

"It's a special time in a boy's life when..." - Homer Simpson FF2: http://www.2kcomposites.com/html/ff2.html "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Would you please post or send me a sample. Sounds like a job for regular expressions. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

So where's the pic? ;) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Just ordered a FF2. It shall house the PC10 I already have. As of July 3, I shall officially join the gang of miscreant freefall videographers. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Eating an entire cake in freefall?! FINALLY! "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

True. That's always a sticky subject. Like some people will talk about the Classic as being a lower performance suit, and then you watch Yuri (Outrager) do better with a Classic than what most people can do with a Skyflyer. (Edited for better adjective choice) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

On Sunday, May 18, at about 3:20 pm, our bird brother Kirk Gilbertson, aka TALONSKY, was wed to Diane, uh... Gilbertson (forgot her maiden name already!). They chose the day that had the best weather all year to get married, which was torture to the jumpers that were present, but made for a beautiful event at a beautiful location (though some of did manage to haul ass to Skydive Oregon and make the last two loads after the reception). Saw his new S3 in person on Saturday. It's frickin' rad. We made very cold and very scenic jump around big fluffy clouds just chock full of "terrain". That suit looks great in the air. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I haven't flown one personally, so take my comments with a grain of salt. From what I've heard, and what I've seen in the air, they're very floaty. They get about the same lift as a GTi, but not the forward speed. Flying a GTi next to one, I have to hold a solid frame to maintain the same lift, but keep my knees down to keep from zooming ahead. They also slide quite a bit. When you do a side slide with it, it takes quite a bit to stop the slide. They appear to not require as much strength to fly efficiently, and I've heard they are as easy to fly as a Classic. The construction seems a little thrown together, and I've heard a good number of complaints about them coming apart at around fifty jumps. It's a "one wing" system. That is, it is essentially two pieces of fabric sewn together, and the way it is stitched forms the wings and the place to put your body, as opposed to three individual wings. It relies more on surface area than aerodynamics to stay aloft, which is why it floats more than it flies. It has a single-point cutaway system. The advantage is that there is only one handle to pull to free the wings. The disadvantage is that it cuts away along the arm. Because the suit is one wing, the wings can't be cut from the body. If for any reason you need to to cut your wings in freefall, or if you cut your wings, then need to chop and fire your reserve, it is extremely difficult to remain stable with the wings separated from the arm. I had a mal wherein I rolled into my lines and ended up with a riser under a wing due to this. Cutting the wings from the body so they are still attached to the arm is MUCH safer. The Crossbow has recently been resurrected as the MRT-1. It has some improvements in terms of construction, but I'd assume that the performance difference is marginal, as the engineering is almost identical. There are some people out there that still like to fly their Crossbows, but they're a little archaic next to what's coming out of the BirdMan camp. Some people, like Loic, do an amazing job with it. I wonder how he'd do with a Skyflyer.3... "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Or if the plane was on fire and made of bearskin. Yeah, that'd be the stuff. It'd be all like, "Whoo! Bearskin plane on fire!" "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Nice. That's the way to go. If you do a lot of tracking dives and feel ready for a WA, you may be able to hook up with a BMI in less than 200 jumps, but you didn't here that from me. On Skydive San Diego... I'm surprised you need a Cypres there. I mean, they fire at 750' above where you set them, which is 250' lower than where you'd impact. ;) I've rented gear to jump there, but I really don't like doing so. And I wouldn't want to jump big rented gear with which I am not familiar with a wingsuit. ANd I wouldn't want to jump without a wingsuit. Beautiful drop zone. I hear they scored a nice fat military contract, so they'll be stepping up. But I don't think Buzz will ever drop his Cypres rule. He's a great guy, his reasons are plausible and respected, and his DZ is gorgeous, but I don't want to pay $1,000 just to jump there, which is all that I, persoanlly, feel I would get out of a Cypres. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Any Elsinore birds in San Diego? I'll be down there for a friend's wedding from July 11 - July 14, and would like to jump on that Saturday (and/or Friday). I won't have transportation outside of San Diego at all, so I'm wondering if I can hitch with a regular. I'll cover all fuel costs. I should also have me camera helmet (no stills yet) set up, so I'm hoping to get some flocking video. And no, I won't be going to Skydive San Diego, as I do not have a Cypres. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click