
ManBird
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Good God, I hope not. Thanks. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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Just a story of my accomplishments in landing :)
ManBird replied to skyhighkiy's topic in Swooping and Canopy Control
You mean I'm not tactful That's probably true, I'll try and find time tonight for a more reasonable response. Though I really liked the first one. -
Thanks, Ian. We have almost the same exit weight. When I went Sabre2 107 to Katana, I didn't feel much difference in speed of flight -- it felt doggy. If history repeats itself, a few hundred jumps from now I might find myself on a Velo 90 or 96+weight. I should have weights, anyway. Either way, I'm looking at 2.1:1 to 2.2:1 when I finally get a Velo (or other X-brace, but most likely a Velo). For a 2.13:1 WL, it's either a Velo 90, or Velo 96 with 10 lbs of weight. I guess I'll find out which I like more next year. FYI, I when I got my Sabre2 107 last year, I made a goal to get on a different shape and/or size (XF2 was my top candidate back then) after at least one year and at least 300 jumps. Mission accomplished (with an extra 50 jumps). It went so well, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to pull off the same one-year plan again.
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About 45 seconds of last weekend was dedicated to a quick Felix discussion. What was quickly resolved amongst a few people is that the guy is a stuntman and an entertainer for the public at large. That's it. Anyone out there BASE jumping for personal reasons, no cameras, etc, really has no need to be against the guy. With that in mind, it sucks for anyone, even someone who makes a point of being super cocky and X-treme, to get arrested for something that shouldn't be considered a crime. Though I wish all the X-treme bullshit would just go away, including the X-treme story of his X-treme bust. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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A tale of two different drop zones
ManBird replied to CanuckInUSA's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
Yeah, it's best to get out earlier to save gas/money, but you're own safety comes before anyone's money. With your situation, I think our DZ is very forgiving on the first load. Once that's out of the way, you can, in fact, have someone rightfully telling you to get out when the spot looks bad. It's not that it's a bad spot, it's that there's a honking headwind. For the most part, green lights are spot on and go arounds are OK. What's funny is that I have the OPPOSITE thing happen at my DZ. For just a couple hop and poppers out of the Otter, we usually do climbing passes. It's an effective and economical way to dump us out. Since there's no cut, my philosophy is to go when the spot is right (or leave early and track to my spot). This means that I have every reason to go, but the light isn't green yet. The pilots don't give a crap -- there's no cut -- and someone is telling them when we're all out. The sooner we're out, the better. Heck, I'm just trying to save the load some time and money! It's not actually an issue or a problem, but fellow fun jumpers (not staff) tend to poke fun at my "premature exits." Premature my ass! DO IT! What? Steve, you should continue jumping at both DZs "B" and "A", just be sure to also incude DZs "S" and "E". "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click -
A tale of two different drop zones
ManBird replied to CanuckInUSA's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
Damn it! I knew I was supposed to make fun of you for something, and that was it. I was going to yell stuff at you like, "Hey, why don't you go handheld and spike your pilot chute?!" or call a foul when you climb over the rail. Maybe even throw a volleyball at you while you landed. You have to remind me of these things. Next time, man. Next time. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click -
I hate actually looking for real advice on the web. Unfortnately, I know that there are several people on here who are actually qualified to answer a question I have, and no one at my DZ has a lot of experience with both of these canopies. As a disclaimer, I'm thinking about a Velocity next year, when I'll likely have 350 - 400 Katana flights, 5 years in the sport, 1,200+ jumps, and the money for a new canopy. With that said... Has anyone out there transitioned from a Katana to a Velocity (or back), or have at least a couple hundred jumps on both? I flew a Xaos-27 98 a few times this last weekend. I usually fly a Katana 97, so everyone told me that it'd feel slower due to cross-bracing, wing efficiency, etc. It felt like a dog compared to my Katana. Would I be looking at the same issue with a Velocity 96? My exit weight is 192 (about 2:1 on the canopies mentioned). My question is this: Will a Velocity 96 feel as fast/faster than my Katana 97, or should I be looking at a Velo that's a size down from my Katana? If you can't advise, then maybe just share your experience. If you have flown these quite a bit or made this transition, I'd appreciate some feedback. Please just PM, as giving any sort of advice publicly generally results in a flamefest, especially in matters of canopy transition. FREAKS! Thanks, Steve "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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I know you don't mean it, but as an aside, this is one of my least favorite philosophies in skydiving and BASE. Leaving cameras out makes the moment a lot better for me in most cases. Anywho... Just need time to rip everything. I suck at video (generally just use it for coaching), so the footage isn't 100% super. I try to make up for it with cool editing and music.
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NW Wingsuit Boogie and Competition coming up!
ManBird replied to ManBird's topic in Wing Suit Flying
Big thanks to Nick and Veggie for bringing down demo suits and kicking ass on some nice flocks! Fun times. It was small. The weather report indicated rain all weekend -- definitely a deterrent. However, we got loads up -- I had ten jumps, myself. Unfortunately, Sunday was when we most people were going to do their first flight, and Sunday was the only day that actually had unjumpable weather (except a handful of hop and pops). We blew off the competition due to weather and attendance, and also the fact that we were having too much fun putting flocks together. We started with two balloon loads on Friday. It was absolutely beautiful out. Perfectly clear skies with fog on the ground at sunrise. I'll put up video. The visuals were amazing. Kirk and I got out at 4,300' -- cheated a bit says I, but we still got 33s each (pitching at ~2,500') and covered some serious ground. That's my bit of bragging for the weekend. We got back to the DZ and wasted no time, making the first jump a six-way: a 5-way slot perfect wedge with video. The weekend continued with focusing on experimenting with technical flocking, and learning new ways to get to the next level of slot perfect, formation flocks. I put up a thread here about that. I tried out a Classic II and a Xaos-27 98 (together) for the first time this weekend (yeah, beer, whatever). That was fun! I like my Katana 97 more, but that's a different story. The Classic was a blast to fly! I hadn't flown one yet. I found that it had a suprisingly good range. You can stay right in a flock easily, and still power off at the end. The yaw control is noticeably "looser" than the S3 and even the GTi, but that was really the only point against it. The forward speed is drastically less than what I'm used to, but I felt I was covering more ground in the Classic than I did in my GTi (though I get more lift/float out of the GTi). Lots of fun. James and Leslie from Spokane cruised by for a couple of nice jumps in their new suits. We also had a sweet four-way burble hop dive with Nice, Veggie, Scott, and myself. Kick ass dinner on Saturday night courtesy of Harry's Cheri. It was a rad weekend. That's right... rad. Good times. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click -
This last weekend was mainly about getting a little more technical with our flocking -- building slot perfect, no contact formations. It went pretty damn well and we learned a lot. We just went with wedges and diamonds, which were pretty easy to build, everyone in the right slot, with no more than one person, if any, not making it in. One of the biggest learnings, for me, was about "dressing for success". My GTi was borrowed and didn't make it to the DZ. I was fighting like hell in my S3 to stay with an all Classic and GTi formation. Once I threw on a demo Classic II, staying tight in formation was cake. Mr. Weber pointed out the importance of weights and clothing to provide fall rate control in a formation, in any form of skydiving. A lot of people would scoff at the idea of wearing weights with a wingsuit (defeats the purpose, right?), but I can definitely see this becoming a necessity in formation flocking. Having a ten foot margin of vertical "bobbing" is simply unnacceptable when you're trying to build an actual formation. Oh, and a tight exit helps a lot, too. I think as people get more experienced at using weights and switching suits, we'll see formations build more easily. Those conceptual large diamonds and deltas are pretty close at hand. BJ, where were you? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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Humans have broken 300 MPH in freefall. Falcons LOSE! Stupid birds. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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Taking off a slope with a parachute. Advise
ManBird replied to KerMor's topic in Swooping and Canopy Control
Slaton's got a ground launching camp in November in Lake Isabella, CA (north of Bakersfield). Go to canopypiloting.com and sign up. I'm going. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click -
I generally go with the "parallel" thing. The reason for that is that it also pushes my heels out as far as possible. It's easy to maintain symmetry, and therefore stability, when flying maxed. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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Totes. I tend to get "greedy" a lot, as well. I just started using an audible again. I don't like it. It nags and nags and nags. I just think, "Oh c'mon, just 10 more seconds!" "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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When endurance isn't an issue (aka, when I'm flying a GTI), I usually do marginally better on the bottom half. Air density makes only a very slight difference. I feel it affecting my forward speed more than my fall rate. On that particular long flight, I was actually at like 46 for the last 1,000' with a nice burn in my arms. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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Good plan.
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I have more weight on me than last year, but I had a few over 180s. The longest was 198s. Exit was a little over 14,000 and deployment was around or under 2,000'. Overall average was like 40 - 41 MPH (39 on top and 42 on the bottom). That's with the S3. (Edited to remove the phrase, "in the basement", as 2,000 is pretty normal these days) "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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I doubt it's really related, but I'm just throwing this out there, with my limited number of jumps. The only off-heading/uneven inflation/opening I had all weekend was the one jump that I didn't use tape on the brake lines. It was noted from my point of view, above, and below that the tail on the right side of the canopy was up and running before the rest of the pack job. Every other opening I had, packing the exact same way (but with a tape gate) was dead on. Just thowing it out there. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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Staring at my Neptune through the whole deployment (worn sort of over/on top of my thumb so I don't have to rotate my arm).
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I use my tailgate to hold the slider and two wraps of masking tape on just the brake lines, just below the attachment points. Works really well so far. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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That's Phil, not Rusty. Good pic, though. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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Here's an incriminating one of my girlfriend. She was trying out some weird, new poi move thingy. She kept sticking her elbows out too far, so I taped them down. This resulted in a few blows to the head, so I gave her a helmet. Then I grabbed a camera just as she put on a goofy face. Red eye and everything. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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I was about to call that number, but it was actually Erika I was trying to reach. It's all good now. ALL OF IT! EVERY LAST PART OF IT! Er... I mean... hi. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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Totes. I was doing mainly solo belly-to-earth jumps and I'm awesome... at everything... always. OK, maybe not. Anywho... I was the guy with the no helmet and a lip ring. I usually wore jeans or shorts and one time a red Nintendo jacket. If you got any pictures of me, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS! I mean, er... duck? I'm still afraid of bears. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click
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Recently, some people asked me about pitching one-handed with the S3 and BASE PC pouch. Thought I'd share on here, as well. Newbies, cover your eyes. From full flight, reach for the handle with one hand and simultaneously raise your right foot up higher than your left, like your making a left turn. Pitch hard and return to full flight until you're under canopy. Easy. Before you say, "WTF? What kind of advice is that?", please read THE DISCLAIMERS: Only do this if you have a lot of S3 experience, a BASE PC pouch (with a good number of jumps on it), and want to start sucking it down an extra 400' - 500' or so. I have yet to do wingsuit BASE, but I've done this pitch a lot on skydives. I plan on using this pitch in BASE, as well. Don't do this with your 6' bridle and 28" PC from the BOC. Use the BASE PC pouch. I wouldn't try this with anything less than a 9' bridle and 32" PC on a skydive (I use a 10' bridle and 32" PC). On a BASE jump, you're obviously going to use a bit larger PC, and probably a 9' - 10' bridle. To practice it up top, try flying with your legs in a left turn, and your right arm wing completely shut down. Play with the body position until you can fly straight like this. It doesn't take much. You save a LOT of altitude this way. Even my Katana 97 only loses about 250' vertically with this pitch. I get much better heading this way, as well. I think it's something about the way you drag the canopy along without being under it, if that makes any sense. I've seen video of Robi pitching like this, but I don't know what his "technique" is. I happened upon it by accidently reaching with one hand and sort of instinctively corrected with my legs. There goes. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click