elightle

Matt, Are you a lightweight and was your suit cut to fit tightly and was it made of the slickest material possible with cordura booties? I have to admit that I had my seamstress narrow the booties a bit by folding the material down on both sides and running a stitch over the folds. It streamlines the bootie without shortening it. Blues, --Ed

I just thought I'd put in a plug for Michigan Suits. (Yes, I know, do that in the Gear Review section - which I already did). But I wanted other lightweights to know how much my Michigan Suit has helped with my floating and overall control. I still have to wear lead but not as much. And I get positive response when I move. On fun 4-ways I like to fly outside center and set things up for the group. I can turn on a dime now and adjust altitude easier and feel totally in control. That's all I wanted to say. Blue Skies! Ed Lightle

I love my Michigan RW Suit. As a little guy, I still wear lead but not as much. It's great being able to get positive response when I turn! On fun 4-ways I like to fly outside center and set things up for the group. It's nice to feel totally in control and the Michigan Suit has certainly helped. My range is better and tracking is made so much easier. Blue Skies! Ed Lightle

Yeee Haaaa !!!! Takes me back to the early 70's when we groped and grabbed but enjoyed every second of it. If you guys can get along after all that, you are truly a team! Blues! --Ed

Video angle at the top of the skydive was the problem I saw. Other than that, the "flow" was great! Blues! - Ed

I hear ya, Portia. My team is doing the same thing. We're only jumping at the meets (Mideast Skydiving League) with maybe a practice or two in between. At least we're supporting 4-way and keeping our heads in the game. Blue Skies Ed

Thanks, Ben, for reminding everybody that there's no need to push the envelope when pulling off exits. As you indicated, at 4K it's time to get away from everybody. You can lose a lot of altitude in a funnel By the way, Ben, a very belated congrats on Mass Defiance's win at Nationals. I'm livin' my dream through guys like you. Blues to All! Ed Lightle

Rich, You'll get a boat load of advice in these forums and most of it is pretty accurate. The advice about tighter booties is one example. I'm a lightweight and for a long time thought tight booties were making me float. This year I improved my body position, tightened my booties (they should still be snugger), and was able to wear less lead (12 lbs as opposed to 17.5). I fly better and have more range vertically and horizontally. After I tightened the booties, I flew on the outside of a 73-way and, boy, did the more-responsive booties help. I stairstepped my way down to my slot, got level at 5 to 6 feet out and dropped the lower legs ever so slightly for that final move to my slot. Do I sound excited? All I'm saying is that Rehmwa is dead on. Learn to fly with snug booties. You'll have to keep your lower legs pointed up 90 degrees from your thighs but you'll have that extra kick when you need it for turning, moving forward, etc. Okay, enough from the "Ed Lightle" gallery. Congrats on the new suit!

Congratulations to all the POPS jumpers! You got me all fired up! I want to be part of the next one. A couple weeks ago I jumped on the Virgina State Record attempts and had a blast even though we didn't have enough jumpers. Got to take off my weights and fly on the outside of 70+ ways. Now I want more . Who do I contact about the next POPS record? Blues to All! Ed Lightle

Hi, Chris. Thanks for providing so many great images of the Virginia State Record jumps. I was honored to have participated in the jumps, especially Carol's 15,000th. Carol and I go way back to the early '70's when West Point was a premiere style & accuracy DZ. As belly flyers, Carol, Dennis Redwine, John Fallin, Cuz, and I were the renegades. Long Live the Queen! Ed Lightle

Excellent! Sounds like you relaxed and had some fun too. I'm glad you took Dom's advice about a little mantis with the arms. I also use mantis to help me fall faster - elbows forward, torso down, and hands up. I'm a lightweight and wear weights. By flying mantis, I was able to wear 5 lbs less weight. By using mantis (and booties), you will be able to stay up with formations and make smooth approaches. If you have an RW suit made by any major manufacturer (Tony, Bev, etc.), they should be able to install booties for a reasonable price. Blues to ya! - Ed -

I can see where a baggy suit is not enough. A little bit of wing and booties will give you more rigid surface areas to help slow you down. Booties don't do much good if they're not a little tight, however, and they will certainly help you make up that last 2 feet with no more "ugggggg!" Let us know how it goes this weekend! Blues to All! Ed Lightle

Yes, booties! Guess I assumed you had 'em. 'Course we all know what "assume" did . Anyhooo, booties will help in so many ways: forward movement, tracking, recovery, etc. I even turn my feet out when I'm tracking to get a little more flying surface (makes up for all the lead I have to wear on 4-way). Well, TFFTM, we've given you a lot to think about but not too much I hope. Get you some booties and fly! Blues, - Ed -

Hi! If you are already flattened out trying to stay up with the formation when you make your final approach, you’re in a tough spot. In the old days, they avoided this predicament by making steep approaches. Trial and error has taught us that you DO NOT make steep approaches on any formation. Try that on the outside of 300-way and see what happens! A funnel so intense that it’ll be hard to track your way out. Anyway, it sounds like your set-up is fine. That leaves body position. If you’re flat as a board, you have nothing left to fly with. Your lower legs should be bent upwards so that you have a little kick when you need it. It sounds like you’re hanging everything out there just to stay up with the formation. First suggestion: Deep six the swoop cords and purchase a little looser suit. That should allow you to sit five feet out with your lower legs slightly bent so you can stick 'em out ever so gently and move confidently and gracefully to your slot! I know a big guy in your same predicament who has years of experience and the only adjustment he ever made was with a baggier suit. You should see him fly in a box man! Second suggestion: Practice the first suggestion on smaller formations for several jumps until you can consistently dock with NO momentum when you get to grips. Gradually build up to larger formations. P.S. I had a similar predicament the first few jumps I wore weights. I had to learn how to stop all over again. Blues to All! Ed Lightle

Sorry, Zoltan, I didn't make myself clear. I didn't give up early getting back up; I just tracked like crazy when the first wave broke off. By the way, your grammar's fine. "Then," "than," who cares as long as you get your point across, right? Blues, - Ed -

Zoltan, Thanks for reminding everybody that there is only ONE unequivocal answer - and that is to stay off to the side out of the red zone (where other jumpers are making final approaches) and track off with the first wave. I remember jumping on a record attempt years ago and being told to track like I'd never tracked before. I tracked farther than anybody on the load and it made me feel good (and safe). Blues to All! Ed Lightle

Bengel, The advice offered so far in this post is good information but probably over your head or anybody else's who hasn't spent time in the tunnel or been on a team. Not everybody flies mantis. I have a couple friends who were on Dan BC's 300-way record and they just flew like they always had, in control and with safety in mind. By all means see a qualified coach and learn on the small formations. Once you can do that, think about attending a big-way camp. Also take a look at the attached article I wrote for Parachutist a couple years ago on big-way flying. It's pretty basic but it will give you a good idea of what it's like to get to the formation safely and smoothly. Blues to All! Ed Lightle

Do ex-Marines count? Probably not. I know what you mean, I was in the Corps for 6 years and would have loved to be on an all-Marine team. I made quite a few jumps into that little landing area at Quantico, VA. Of course, we jumped from Hueys and that made spotting easier. Semper Fi to ya! Ed Lightle D-5966 Former Marine Corps SSgt

Tony, Just the guy I hoped would respond. Just a few technical questions/comments: I heard that de-arching is not as effective with the "bullet" on your front. It shouldn't be any worse than de-arching with all that lead on my front, should it? Won't I still need a little lead? Cheers! Ed Lightle

Man, I have no idea if it would or not. I don't think there is any substitute for mass. One of these days, I might try it. Cheers! Ed Lightle

Hi, Eric. Didn't get a chance to try the nerf football but the I have tried using two weight belts. This configuration sure picked up my fall rate. I need to make a few more jumps this way but already I am able to jump with 3 or 4 lbs less because of the bigger belly bulge. I found out on an 11-way July 2nd that I'll need to take out a little more when closing the tail of a diamond. Where I used to use 14 lbs on a 16-way, I will be able to use 11. That makes me happy. My theory is that a little person wearing a nerf football will still cause a large formation to float once other jumpers have grips on him/her. I might experiment with the nerf football but right now I am pretty happy with using two small weight belts. By the way, to keep the top belt from flipping up, I tuck it partly under the bottom one and secure it with a strip of velcro. Blues! Ed Lightle

Has anybody heard about or tried using half a nerf football under their jumpsuit (in the belly region) to speed up fall rate? Somebody told me about it once but I never tried it. I'm a little shit who has to wear a lot of lead and I'm just curious if the nerf thing might allow me to wear less lead. Blues - Ed -

My money's on Velocity. Who's the little guy at Point? Anyway, I believe that the dynasty Dan BC built will continue. A couple of blips since Dan's retirement but I think they're very much back on track. By the way, BC's first 4-way jumps were with yours truly back in the day. I was supposed to jump on Dan's first 4-way team but passed because I wanted to finish college. If I could go back... Oh well... I kick myself in the ass every day... Blues to All! Ed Lightle

... yea, what you said, Foxy Rox. It's frustrating being an experienced jumper who can't afford the big-way camps but that's the price you have to pay to get on an organizer's list. Blues, Ed Lightle

It might be used in Style turns, I don't know. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like something RW jumpers should use - like the old "hand track" they taught jumpers in the old days - useless. Blues! Ed