The111

Nice work Omar. Only a few comments. 1. This comment is in defense of the pilot (me) more than the comparison of the suits... but at 1:49 you were not backfloating up on me, I simply bombed the exit and dropped a bit. It may be true that I was backfloating up on you in the other part, I don't know since I couldn't see you. 2. Who you calling Mr. Magoo? 3. Nice work (again). I'm sure everyone appreciates all the effort you put into this. Hopefully more people will get access to all the suits and we can see more firsthand opinions. I'm off to Lake Wales! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I made a post awhile ago that I was curious how far I could get my 0.3x Diamond wide angle lens zoomed in. A few people chimed in and said it was probably around 0.45x. I also, through reading around a lot, found out that the wide angle "specs" given for a lens are often not standardized, for example one brand's "0.6" may be actually wider than another brand's "0.5". So, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to see if I could crudely measure my lens. I set up a grid on the wall with units of measurement and first looked at it without any lens on the camera, zoomed all the way out. Then I zoomed my camera in to the max, and confirmed that the units were 10 times bigger on the screen (my camera has 10x optical zoom). So that makes sense. Next I zoomed out again, and then put the lens on. By examining the grid I made, I calculated that the "0.3x" Diamond lens is actually about 0.48x. I'm not complaining, if anything I'm actually glad it's only that wide (assuming my experiment is not faulty) since after buying it I wished I had not gone all the way to 0.3. However, could there be something wrong with my experiment? Would this lens produce a different picture on different cameras? I have an HC90. Next, I zoomed in as far as I could with the lens on... to the "pre-blurry point" as we described in the earlier thread. Then I did my calculations again and got close to 0.7x! So if I'm not doing something horribly wrong, it seems my lens, which I guessed ahead of time had a 0.3-0.45 range, actually has a 0.48-0.7 range! Any comments? Anybody else ever done anything like this? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I dunno, for me the fact that he presented the jump dishonestly (as if he jumped solo) sort of negates any props he'd get for having the balls to make the jump. Anybody notice the canopy the solo jumper deployed and the tandem canopy have reversed colors? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Hi Joni, I will be there in December for the Xmas boogie. I will have BirdMan demo suits and other products, and will be available for first flights, coaching, and organizing some FUN flocks. I'll post again about it when the date is closer. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Catch-22, you need a computer to get first hand experience... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Out of curiosity, what sort of fallrates (roughly, good body type) are possible in an S3 on your back? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Yeh, how did I forget him? I am not sure what camera he used in Rantoul on a wingsuit jump we did (he did hand mount it like you said), but it was putting out pics with 14 megapixels, I believe he said. The detail was unbelievable, he was zooming in on tiny logos on people's rigs and they were still clear. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I'm just now learning to backfly, in an S3. Attached are frame grabs from two different jumps. Here's the weird thing. In the first one, I was able to get my legwing almost all the way open, and the fallrate was in the 70's. This is the only time I've ever hit this position/fallrate. In the second one, my legwing was only halfway open or so, and if I tried to open it more it sent me into a dive. This is the position/fallrate I normally get when I try. My body seems pretty straight in both pics. You COULD point out that my head is higher in the second pic because of where the cameraman is, but I don't think that is it, because earlier in the jump he was over me and the fallrate/leg position were the same. I also tried pushing my hips and chest up, but it just sent me into a dive too, and in the first picture I was not pushing hips/chest up. My theory: in the second picture, my arms are not fully extended (outwards). I was focusing so much on pushing them DOWN that I was forgetting to push them OUT. And without enough arm extension you won't be able to get full leg extension, right? That first picture is from the only time I really felt like backflying was clicking in my S3, and when I compare it to others it does seem like all my wings (arms and legs) are further out in that one. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I just started jumping video and might be able to make it that weekend... but I haven't started shooting stills yet. Maybe Perry will be around that weekend. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Where'd you see that? Seems kind of strange to me... NEVERMIND... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Me too, I keep jumping out of these airplanes just to get my parachute UN-packed. I wish I could find an easier and cheaper way to get that thing out of the container... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I don't listen to any radio, but I do listen to good music and this was a great song from one of the greatest rock albums of the 90's. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Actually yeh, when I bought my float gear from a skydiving gear store I assumed stupidly it was a skydiving-specific thing. From the packaging and manual it was clear it was designed for boaters and watersports. So there are probably many places you can find these things for sale, probably cheaper. Just did a search for Stearns Inflatabelt (what I paid $90 for last year through a skydiving gear store) and found this. Cheaper and smaller than the big bulky one I have. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

No, it's not, really. If you've jumped enough suits and have enough wingsuit experience in general, it's easy to identify major flight characteristics and target user groups with minimal jumps on a suit. That is different from knowing the suit inside and out. I added the caveat (one jump on the PHI) to make it obvious my opinions were first impressions as you stated yours were also. My very first jump on the Firebird was a tight flock followed by chasing a very experienced V1 (leave the brandwar aside please, everybody, I'm just specifying high performance) pilot through some awesome clouds at breakoff. I have quite a few jumps on the Firebird, FWIW. I disagree that the leg pressure on the Firebird is high, compared to any other entry level tri-wing suit. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I have an idea for the wingsuit challenge called burble bombing, it will be really fun, I promise. No burbling your opponent below breakoff altitude. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I don't think he was advocating destruction - you wouldn't be able to use it if you destroyed it! More of an "intact borrowing". HOTELS I just did a search on Google maps. Follow this link and you will see all the results. On the bottom left, below the first 10 results is a little blue arrow, you can keep clicking it, there are PAGES of results. Some are good and some seem bad (i.e. not what I was looking for, like an RV park or something). I just basically called a lot of them and looked at the websites if they had one to see if they had pictures of the place. If you click on any entry you'll get contact info and a website if it exists. The two that I remember are the Sea Dell (the one I chose) and the Sandpiper... both of those places were under $60/night, looked decent from the pics, and 1-2 miles from the DZ. Like I said though, there are MANY results to be searched through, maybe there are better deals to be found if you call more places than I did.

I wasn't even looking for flotation gear, but I just stumbled on this by accident... looks like a good deal and maybe it will help someone. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Hey Billy, a bunch of flockers (wingsuits) from Zhills are planning on coming to this event because we are excited to jump from the tailgate, and we like the DZ. Will the Casa be totally booked up for your record jumps or will there be fun jumper loads in between too? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I've jumped both but only got to try the Phi once and didn't get to try much backflying or acrobatics in it. I hope to put some more jumps on one soon. I will say this though: "right-side-up", the Phi is definitely higher performance than the Firebird, I think. It felt a lot like my S3 in terms of arm and leg pressure, and I looked at the numbers from when I was swooping a cloud near the end of a jump and I was doing in the mid-40's, not really even trying that hard. I think the Firebird is more suited for a beginner/intermediate all around suit, and would even serve an advanced pilot for most of his normal flocking needs. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Exactly! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Ever heard of a childhood memory? It is a memory OF your childhood. It does not imply that your childhood is a memory-having entity. My point is that the term "muscle memory" does not imply your muscles have a memory. You inferred that. It describes a phenomenon that has to do with both memory and muscle control. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I've never missed an audible alarm from my ProTrack or ProDytter, even in very slow, long solos. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

C'mon, everybody knows the proper way to post pictures of a new suit is with you in it, standing up straight, spreading your wings, and generally looking foolish. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I'll offer to fly video for anybody who wants to try it. If we could get a couple 2-way pickup teams it would be fun. We'll see what kind of bird turnout we have. www.WingsuitPhotos.com