The111

If I don't have a rigid case for my helmet, what's the best option for taking it aboard an airliner? Packed (and checked) in a fairly rigid, large suitcase, surrounded by clothing? I wouldn't want the TSA people to rummage through my suitcase and repack it in a less optimal orientation, that would allow it to be crushed or something. Carried by hand, unpacked and unchecked? Other ideas? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Insane. The "tracking vs wingsuit" split-screen section obviously left a lot of information out - suit models, pilot skills, etc... maybe even wind conditions if the jumps weren't simultaneous. But what I can observe from it is that both flyers seemed to fly roughly the same glidepath... the tracker just had a faster speed down that glideslope. Cool stuff. Yes, they are. I had never heard this song and was confused (as I have all their albums), but a quick search revealed why, I was unaware of the Daddy G album. Still a good song. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Shawshank Redemption Magnolia Punch Drunk Love Dark City Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind King Kong (yes, the new one - I'd never seen the original, and was shocked and a little confused that a movie about an ape could make me feel more emotion than most movies about people can) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

A new video I made, mostly shot at Zhills and mostly featuring the Z-Flock and "swooping" shots. It is also a "year-end" video of sorts; I included a few other random snippets of some of my favorite footage from the last several months, since getting my camera in September. CLICK FOR VIDEO From the SM.com info page: This video showcases a series of highspeed approaches and swoops over other flyers. The swooper often passes through the burble of the bird being swooped, hence 'burble flyers'. EDITING: Matt Hoover CAMERA: Matt Hoover Jeff Nebelkopf Omar Nery's Scary Perry Medusa BIRDS: Fredrik Tengbom Jeff Nebelkopf Matt Hoover Medusa Omar Nery's Paul Mazillo Scary Perry Scott Bland Scotty Burns Enjoy! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Yeh, sorry Bob. I left yesterday late afternoon, told Ryan to call me this morning if it was jumpable and I'd be right back over. We got a few jumps in on Friday and still had a good time. We will reschedule this weekend early next year, for those still interested. Bob, you will probably find at least 1-2 people to fly with during the week @ Zhills, hope you get some good weather.

But Jeff was able to move his arms inwards and grab his hackey. That's the point I was trying to make... if someone is telling a story about an "unrecoverable flatspin" (one where they couldn't move their apppendages), it can't have been truly unrecoverable, since they are telling the story on the ground, after the fact (and the end of the story always involves them moving their appendages). The only stories of "unrecoverable spins" would be told by dead men (again, sorry for the morbid talk). There's a logical gap in the statement "I ended the jump where I couldn't move my arms, by moving my arms". I do believe it's possible to get "pinned" (appendages trapped), but I'm curious how people always manage to get their appendages unpinned, even without proper recovery technique sometimes. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Two problems with that: I don't think any 2 flatspins are equal, and I don't know if these devices are reliable while in a flatspin. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I hear this a lot, and I'm not saying I doubt it's truth, but I have never heard a first hand account of "getting into an unrecoverable spin". The reason should be obvious... sort of the same reason I've never heard a first hand account of a bounce (sorry for the morbid analogy). My point is... what happens if the spin is truly "unrecoverable"? If it's so bad you can't bring your knees in (ball up), I'd imagine you can't bring your arms in to touch hackey or handles either. So should I conclude that if there is such a thing as an "unrecoverable flatspin", it has never actually happened? Every story I've heard that has involved one (unrecoverable, according to the jumper) has ended with either a deployment or wing cutaway followed by deployment. In either case, it's clear the G forces weren't so intense to disallow limb movement. Comments? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Cool Bob, we'll see you then.

Move over, Kris! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think you should hook them all up at once Kris, and put the mess on and jump it - you'd get at least 20 minutes of freefall. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

It wasn't me in the video. I've had many spins/tumbles (exits/burbles/acrobatics/etc)... only one or two required balling up but that method is foolproof, for the S3 at least. I don't expect I'll ever cutaway any wing in freefall, in this suit. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Same thing happened to me on the way to work one morning. I was leaving a 50ft buffer between me and the car I was trailing, while about 3 people tailed me bumper to bumper. I spotted an empty 5-gallon bucket rolling across the highway and my buffer zone allowed me to see it and avoid it. The people behind me did neither. The sad thing is they don't learn... after annihilating the bucket and their tires (in a failed attempt to miss the bucket), they were right back on my ass 30 seconds later. Here in Orlando tailing you is the least of what they do. I've had people honk, flash brights, and even PASS ME ON THE SHOULDER because I was leaving a short gap in front of me, while travelling as fast as the traffic would allow. The most bitter irony of all is that these people are ostensibly trying to drive "efficiently" (so they think), but their manner of driving actually has the opposite of the desired effect, contributes to congestion because it doesn't allow the traffic density to equalize smoothly, during rush hour. I've done a lot of analytical thought about what causes traffic to back up at rush hour and a big part of it is people who refuse to leave safe gaps. The gaps allow people at on-ramps to merge, and if they can't merge they slow down to 10mph and THEN merge anyway, which propagates back and eventually creates a huge jam. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

CLICK Some thoughts: 1) The spin did not seem that bad before the wing cutaway. There were several moments when it almost stopped completely but then picked up a bit of momentum again. It wasn't so much a flat spin as a random tumble. 2) After the wing cutaway, it seemed to get worse. Not immediately, but eventually it seemed to turn from a weird tumble into a true backspin (with the sky spinning around center frame, very quickly). Something about this video still confuses me. Not sure what it is. It also seemed weird how easily the person rolled over at the end, after fighting it for so long. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Wow, that 8R picture makes my head spin! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

BIRD-MAN has a full-size tent @ WFFC every year, with instruction from multiple BMI's, a full fleet of demo wingsuits, and load organizing. All day, every day.

I don't know anything about the PC109 (I've only researched newer models), but the HC42 and PC1000 are worlds apart. If you're going to include an HC model with the PC1000, I'd include the HC90. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

At first glance, it looks like there is exposed PC (I did a double-take too) but I'm pretty sure it's actually just the hackey and the corner of the rig, made more visible by the angle of the shot. Perry's rig is tye-dye blue (see the mudflaps). www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Yes we are. Perry is not only scary; he's also a good guy. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

You had some damn good pictures of Jeff on his back from that weekend... he makes cool faces.

Yeh, I actually saw that for the first time 2 nights ago! Pretty good one as well. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Yes, that is cool. Would you say he is "Maxed" out, James? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Oh, I was thinking that was his nickname or something. Didn't make any sense. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

BUMP! I was down there this past Sunday and the locals were all very excited about the upcoming wingsuit weekend. There are flockers from various corners of the state coming, so it should be a fun time... hope to see you all there.

Nice work James. I'll be there with you guys some day. What's the story behind the "Fat Face" logos everywhere? www.WingsuitPhotos.com