ManBird

Now that I think about it, you wouldn't need to "tilt" in the Skyflyer at all, just rotate your arms a bit (if there are front deflectors). The idea is to get some more air over the top of the wing. Without the deflectors channeling the air, you kind of have to do it with a tilt, which drops you a lil' bit. In this sense, the Skyflyer really does give you the best of both worlds without compromise. Robert and Jari, you guys really are a couple clever ones. Admit it! "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Down the street is too far for my lazy ass. I got a ride last night, and now I'm stylin' like Nancy Reagan on a porcupine (with an English saddle, of course). Maybe it's a good idea to not have one at the DZ. You'd have a lot of poor people. Poorer, that is. Poorer. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

OK, scratch everything. As it turns out, I'm a toital retard. Yes, toital. So the more realistic figures I've received put the glide ratio at a little over 2:1 on the above mentioned jump. It just doesn't look like it, though. I mean, if he's falling ~40 MPH and travelling forwards at about ~80 MPH, give or take a few MPH on each direction, then, why does the smoke trail look so flat? You and your mirrors. Everyone is lying to me and pissing in my shoes. Well, at least I'm pissing in my shoes. It's awesome. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Right. Not even you really. It's not like I'm trying to tell people what to do or saying that I have any skill. It's just that we have this wingsuit thing, and it does some stuff that a lot of people don't know about or don't try. There's so much to be explored, and there sometimes I feel like I'm dismissed when I have any sort of theory that I want to put into practice. It's like when you KNOW that the sasquatch is leaving perverted messages on your parents' answering machine, and no one believes you... plus the stabbing. You know how when someone doesn't have a lot of experience at something and they think they're doing it right, wouldn't they don't know any better to tell that they're screwing up? I think that's what I'm doing. I think I'll shut up until someone I know who knows what they're talking about knows that I know what I'm talking about. Speaking of which, but the exact opposite... I jumped with Andy today, and it was good. No one I've jumped with has really been in the position/had the experience to tell me if what I was doing was right or wrong, so they never did. Or maybe they knew, but didn't tell me, or their advice just wasn't working for me. Andy definitely knows this stuff, and did a great job of communicating what to do right, even in the air. While I still have no skills, I now have goals. He's helped me find the right body position for me. And that's why you should consider a purchase of Andy within the next 30 days. My goal right now is to find a damn ATM machine in Florida. WTF? I can't do anything until I find one. I'm in the hole at DeLand because of Florida's lack of ATMs and oversizing of food. Batteries. Three of them. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Totes. In my time here in DeLand, I'm really exploring what I can do with the wings for forward speed, as opposed to fall rate. I check in with the low fall rates on some jumps. But for the most part, it's all about tearing across the sky, not just falling slowly. Prfft. I'm going to stop speaking English. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

It's all body position. Perfect symmetry or else. Good point by SkyMonkey. If your legs are un even, you'll definitely spin a bit, which often leads into line twists. In DeLand right now. I saw a guy get run over last night (not at the DZ). This town is weird. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Remember the lesson with the gliders? Remember that curve that insues that when attaining the maximum forward speed, fall rate is increased as well? Well, I've been basing my flight on that principle, and felt I've really proved it to myself, but there are still those that doubt. OK, as you get forward speed, you get lift. Yay! Right? Well, as you get even more forward speed, you start to descend. Part of this is that you gain this additional speed by increasing the attack angle, which also increases fall rate. After having outtracked some maxed out Skyflyers with a GTi (though my fall rate was 25 MPH+ faster), I've decided I'd rather fall 60 - 70 and move forward at 90 rather than fall in the 40s and move forward 70 - 80. When I tell people this, most say, "Bullsh*t". I guess I'm just ranting. This is something that's totally standard and obvious in non-powered aerodynamics, but is, for some reason, denied by a lot of wingsuit flyers. I encourage everyone to try it. Get to "the sweet spot", then tilt forwards just a little more. Do it next to a fellow jumper or cloud and you'll see a huge difference. The comment I got to today was "we were right there, and then you just shot way ahead". I actually broke off/got separation by bolting forwards from the "sweet spot", rather than turning. Believe! Now! Dammit. I still have no skill, but boy can I tilt. Plus, there's my lameness. If I made a list of hams, I wouldn't be on it. (Edited to add the letter "n"... I need a cab) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

My erroneous figures were pointed out today. kmh, not mph. I knew that, but I didn't write it or bother to convert it. It was late, I was tired. F**k off. I have no skillz. I'll buy beer. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I've seen a lot of questions about the Skyray here and a few of my own. I sent an e-mail off to Skyray and Alban replied. Looks like it's ready to hit the market at a bit over the price of a new, high-performance canopy. --------------------------------------------------------- > Are you selling the Skyray yet or do you have plans to sell it at all? I think we are ready for selling it now. We had some other projects that drew our atention away from the SKYRAY (design and aerodynamics of a new sportscar) :-) > If so, what is the price? The Price is 2895€. > Has a manual been written yet? We have a manual. We are still changing this and that because of negotiations with the german insurance company that is insuring a german skydiver when using one of our wings. > What equipment modifications and/or additions are necessary, if any? You need to use a hot dog system because you can´t reach your BOC. This is better anyway because your pilotchute comes up not influenced by the delta-vortices produced by the wings. > What are the exit logistics (ie, how to take it out of a side door, etc)? You can exit from an Otter a Caravan and any tailgate-aircraft with broad enough tailgate. When exiting a side door you do a standard floater exit. You can remain in box position and beginn your flight when fully stable by taking your hands to the grips on the SKYRAY. When exiting a tailgate you should exit backwards (facing into the wind) otherwise you will experience some heavy tumbles and rolls (about 3-5) :-)) greetings from munich :-) ALBAN --------------------------------------------------------- (Edited for formatting) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

He wishes. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Man, you perv. At least you didn't say fits like a baby. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

We've been over this one a few times. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=236980;sb=post_subject;so=DESC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=172574;sb=post_subject;so=DESC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=159716;sb=post_subject;so=DESC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=352901;sb=post_subject;so=DESC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=440248;sb=post_subject;so=DESC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Oh, and, not depicted, but the backpad is red. I like it. It's like a baby's glove. I have no idea what that means. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yes indeed it does. I need a matching canopy, though. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Had her for awhile, but never posted a pic. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

A neightborhood that I had to drive through to get home east of San Diego ran checks for like two years. I've been pulled over at least 30 times. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

BUT DO THEY UNDERSTAND THE CHOCOLATE?!?! Of course they know the risks. That doesn't necessarily mean that it makes it better. Like you know how it's fun to sleep with girls that you know have AIDS, and then other times, you really just want to focus and not think about the AIDS? You do?! You're a sick bastard! What's WRONG with you?!?! "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Totally. Totally. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I disagree. I think that the sneaking around and illegality of it is only fun some of the time. When it comes to honing skills or just getting a of jumps in, the illegal aspect of it can be stressful or distracting. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

That is the "official" position, but, of course, that doesn't always coincide with reality. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Nice. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Bastard, I'm leaving the area one week earlier. I'll be at DeLand between the 15th and 23rd, though. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

My social skills ARE limited. ;) Actually, it's more of a workload vs initiative issue. I'll bug some people. I'm one of those people that when it comes to staying somewhere am totally meek, but when it comes to having guests, am totally accomodating, not realizing that others may be. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Ouch! Not in MySQL 4 yet? Actually... XML has come through big time in SP1 of version 4. Of course, you aren't going to switch this site over, but you should look into it. Intel and Microsoft have worked together to release the "NewParser" property and XQL language for XML. XML has always had this great structure, but it sort of lived in theory, as it really slowed down if you got over even 1 MB. Now, a P4, Xeon, or Itanium will do all the work, and XQL allows node selection without traversion. After converting a 100 MB SQL Server database (post compacting) to XML, time between data requests and display decreased eightfold (ie, half a second instead of eight). Plus the structure is really easy to work with... no relations needed in a tree (for the most part). I'm loving it. Good stuff. This coming from someone that has been hardcore ODBC/SQL (and even MySQL) for years. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I'll be in DeLand next week, but I won't have a helmet together for a bit for money reasons, though, I am bringing the camera and helmet. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click