The111

Looks good Ray, how does it fly? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Then why insinuate them? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

In other words, what I said here. we have WAY more control inputs than a glider Actually, if you have the polar curve you have the glide ratio data you are looking for, and then some. However, I am not sure a polar curve for a wingsuit would be a "curve". I am throwing out a wild guess here, but I would bet that for a specific person in a specific wingsuit, instead of a 1-d "curve" you would have a 2-dimensional area, since for any given fallrate (most of them at least) there is an entire SET of forward speeds possible (this is a good thing, it is what allows large flocks made of different suits and different people to work!) This is true more in the "middle" of a suit's performance envelope. (Just bear with me here and assume it would be possible to actually gather all that data ) See the attached jpg with my amazing artwork. What do you think about this "2-d sweep" idea? Correct, with a small caveat: glide ratio is the most important measure of [glide] efficiency of a suit. Distance isn't the only reason for flight.

Ha! Ask him about the pieing he got at Rantoul this year. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

That's true Glen, but if we have Joe, Fred, and Hank all flying Classics and obtaining polar curves, and then Joe, Fred, and Hank all put on S3's and obtain polar curves, there will be a trend. While each flyer will have different polar curves, there will be noticeable similarities between all the Classic curves and all the S3 curves. It's still a worthwhile tool, albeit a difficult one to use. I already pointed out some of those difficulties (the main one in my eyes being we have WAY more control inputs than a glider). And of course performance would degrade with fatigue, but honestly we don't need data from a whole flight. We just need data from a static portion of the flight. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

James, I'm sure you know what polar curves are. I've always wanted to find a set of WS stats tracking fallrate and forward speed so I could construct a WS polar curve. I don't have a GPS so doing it myself is out of the question. But I did find this old post. It may be only one set of data from one guy, but it's all I have to go by, so I plotted the points and lo and behold they actually do seem to construct a pretty accurate polar curve. What are your thoughts about his assertion that fallrate for max glide is only slightly above min sink? Obviously this was for an S3, and each suit will definitely have its own polar curve. There are so many variables involved in flight, it would be really hard (for me at least) to try to get some stats like this. I've had jumps where I hover around 35mph for the first minute (time is all I have to go by without GPS) but feel like I must be sucking because it is not tiring. Then I get really tired and think I'm hitting a good position but I'm actually in the high 40's. I don't think I'm accurate enough in my flying to try to intentionally fly certain speeds for an entire flight, well and entire long skydive at least. BASE may be a better environment for measuring this stuff. Heads-up display would make it nice too. EDIT: Re-reading ManBird's post I realized he did it without actual GPS, but over terrain he knew very well. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Zach, I am not sure about international, but the few times I've flown domestic recently, if I try to look for tickets TOO far in advance, they are more expensive than if I wait a while. It seems the optimum time to buy is 6-8 weeks ahead of time. Before or after that time period, prices are higher. Someone correct me if I'm wrong... I am not by any means a frequent flyer but this seems true based on what I've observed recently. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I just went all out last year and paid $90 for a new Stearns inflatabelt. I've already used it more than once (well, I've carried it along more than once, haven't had to use it yet!) and it will last me for many more uses, so I consider it a fair price. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Does the Skyhook still use the snap shackle that traditional RSL's use? I have only had a cutaway on a rig equipped with RSL once, and the RSL failed to do its job because the shackle came undone for some reason during the jump, deployment, or cutaway (it was connected on jumprun). I made a post about it and Bill Booth himself answered here saying that the shackle was the weak point of the system. After that cutaway I took my RSL off immediately, since in my eyes it served no purpose any more, having failed me 100% of the time (no, I do not think that statistic is accurate in general, but for my experience it is, and we base our decisions on our experience in this life). I am usually one who would disagree with a topic like this, but I think in this case the original poster may have a point. Not enough that I would complain about it on my own, but I will chime in and agree if someone else brings it up. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I have a few large external Maxtor HDD's that I use for various purposes, but I do not trust them as a stable data storage medium. The fact that they interact with Windows on a regular basis means they are not static, and I've had data go bad more than once on them. Optical discs are truly static if you finalize them, and if you know which discs to use, and how to handle and store them, I consider them a better choice than a magnetic disk. Only downside is if you are trying to store a file > 4.5GB. I guess then you could RAR archive it. Based on the replies in this thread, I have decided to keep all my original DV tapes, but also back up raw AVI's to DVD-R's (my choice, vs a HDD). Thanks guys.

Where are you looking? I'd be hardpressed to find a DVD burner that doesn't do both formats. They're cheap these days too, I got a Lite-On SOHW 1633 (I think) from NewEgg.com a year ago for $65. Sorry for being a grammar nazi, but this statement caught me off guard and made me laugh out loud. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I said: 3 DVD-R's can hold the equivalent of 1 DV tape You said: Thats at least 3 DVD's per DV tape. I think your math was backwards I don't get it... how was that backwards? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Probably cheap media. Read this. I store LOTS of data (and I mean lots), for various purposes, on DVD-R and CD-R. I use Taiyo Yuden blanks and I burn the important stuff twice. I haven't had any bad discs since I stopped using Ritek blanks years ago (half the media you find in retail stores, in USA at least, with a variety of different brand names on the label, is actually made by Ritek). I'm not sure about that. The best DVD-R's are $1 and will last forever (practically). To the best of my understanding, 3 DVD-R's can hold the equivalent of 1 DV tape in uncompressed video. High quality DV tapes are more than $3, and the tapes won't last forever. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Can't seem to find this info anywhere else, probably because the questions are too basic for anybody else to ask. How do you store/archive your video footage? DV tapes? Do they decrease in quality with repeated plays? Uncompressed AVI? (is this what people mean by raw video?) Master to DVD? Is video still 100% quality after being mastered to DVD? Any info is appreciated...

No waaaay! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think you are dead wrong Scott, we all know the only logical reason to parachute is for airborne insertion behind enemy lines. All these fucking "sport" parachutists are wasting their time... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

A post I made last year asking the same thing.

I just bought a 0.3x lens and am experimenting with how far I can zoom in before it blurs. I have heard people say, "I use a 0.3x lens but zoom out to about 0.45x, right before it loses focus." First of all, am I missing something, or don't they mean zoom in to 0.45x? And second, is there a way with Sony cameras to tell what the camera's zoom level is? I know my camera (HC90) can do 1-10x, but all I have is a bar showing me I'm somewhere between 1 and 10. I wish it would show "1.5" or something, so I could multiply that by 0.3x and see where I am. Is this reasonable logic? I searched my instruction manual but am afraid it seems there is no "display zoom level" capability. I'm hoping there's a slim chance I'm wrong and someone on here will tell me so. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

ever seen a turbine idling at 75'000 RPM 20cm from your nose ?? And would it produce any thrust at all while warming up? May make it difficult to stand still. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Hey Scott, out of curiosity, why did you leave this loop skipped (see attached) without the rig in? Force of habit? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

That's the same Hog Flop ('03) where I met Perry! I had about 80 jumps, and I remember a strange man sitting next to me on the CASA, in a wingsuit, looking me square in the eye, and saying "I am NOT going to get kicked off another DZ today for hooking it in." I said, "um, that sounds like a good idea..." After I landed I noticed all the spectators staring into the other end of the LZ, and I looked over there to see Perry get up off the ground and start hopping around on one foot. As he limped by me I said, "what was that you said on the plane, man?" www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Congratulations? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Perry, did I ever tell you about my idea called the Hog FLOCK? Two flockers take a hand dock, break and each do opposing barrel rolls, then come back together and take the dock again. Just like the Hog Flop, only tailored for 2-way wingsuit teams instead of 4-way RW. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

See the main post in the events forum. The Skydive Sebastian Keys Boogie is Nov 10-13 and it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL from the air down there. You are really missing out if you pass up this chance to fly your wingsuit over paradise. Come out, let's make some good flocks, take some good pics, and put wingsuits on the cover of Parachutist for once! Scary Perry, Norman Kent and others will be there. It will be a blast. Registration is open at http://www.skydiveseb.com and I think there may be a limit on how many people can attend! Attached is a picture of the pattern I flew last year on some solos in my old GTi (yellow=wingsuit, red=canopy). I was showing this to my whuffo friends to try to describe why I drove all the way to the Keys to skydive when I can do it here. Do not misunderestimate how cool of an opportunity this is! Oh yeh, and I need someone to split an overpriced hotel room with. Edited to add attachment. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

You mean there's real people on this website? www.WingsuitPhotos.com