The111

Forecast is improving slightly... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think I'm going on 65 or so... WS jumps in a row (i.e. not removing the suit from my rig - well except when I was switching from GTI to S-Fly and then to S3). Let's see if I can hit 100. Should be easy since I don't know how to freefly anymore probably (as if I ever did). How far have you gone? I think the last freefall I did was at the Hog Flop, because I had to. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

And Ed wins. Nice to know someone can keep track of what suit I'm flying, when. (Kidding, of course Chuck...) Had my GTI for the DeLand bigways. Got my S3 a few weeks later and jumped the hell out of it for New Years. I have not seen Perry since the bigways (been goin to Zhills mostly) so he didn't know I have an S3 now probably... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Weather is forecast to be shit on Sunday and not much better on Saturday... Probably will still try to get there early Saturday morning and hope for best... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

He implied it was a gainer... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Heh, those head-down guys look funny with those helmets... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Nope, but I have flown with my feet on my ass to stay with a flock. :) I also like diving out of the plane last and swooping down to the flock... my times are often 20 seconds shorter than the people who got out first since I spent so much time in a dive. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

You still planning on doing this Perry? How many confirmed birds we have coming? It sounds like fun but I end up in Zhills more often than not these days... always a good flock there, it's closer to me, and I have other "personal" interests in the area. But if you think there will be a good flock turnout at Sebastian you still may be able to convince me. :) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I can't say from experience, but if I had to guess, big wave surfing (BIG) sounds like an extremely large adrenaline rush. Something I want to do one day but also something that has more pre-requisites than most variations of skydiving even... so I'm not sure I'll ever make it, without abandoning the rest of my interests at least, which I won't do. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

The ringer on my cellphone is a mp3 clip of "I want your skulls". www.WingsuitPhotos.com

"...products to be used both in the air and on the ground" (???) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Out of curiosity, what browser were you using? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

The funny thing is that flocking has helped me understand the suit and my body better, and now when I max out I feel more solid. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I held 42mph in my S3 last weekend for an entire minute... but not for the whole jump! :) I think slower is possible but I was not trying to take the suit near stall, just a good flying speed. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Both of those spins looked pretty scary. It's weird, I've been bumped twice on exit in my S3 and put into a spin, and they were not NEARLY as intense as those looked, although they lasted for several revolutions and 10+ seconds I'm guessing. I was a tiny bit scared but mostly pissed and tried to stay relaxed, and somehow just rolled right out of it without balling up. Not sure if I did something right to prevent it from getting bad or just got lucky. I'm pretty sure I arched really hard and put my feet on my ass. I don't think your leg wing has very much power when you do that... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

There were a lot of really good pilots in that flock who I wouldn't be so hasty to rule out... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I really don't know how right or wrong that statement is, but I will say that at the DeLand bigways, I watched the breakoff a couple of times from the ground. A few of the best pilots near the front always seemed to put on the gas and it almost seemed like they were competing to see who could get the furthest. Loic was always the last one open and the furthest forward (he was also probably the lowest to be fair ). The other pilots that opened before him, further back, were VERY good pilots in S3's. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

How tall are you? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Interesting how bent your legs are compared to the other guy... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Most flocks I've been on have been in the low 70's (mph) range. I still think ManBird's claim of 69mph avg on the track suit is amazing. If the PF suit sank out on your flock fast, it must have been a pretty slow fallrate for the flock (relative to flocks I've been on) or the guy wasn't able to fly his suit as slow as MB claimed to. I do find it hard to believe a suit can do that, which is why the 69mph claim is so amazing to me. That fallrate would work for almost all the flocks I've been on... though I'm not sure about the forward drive. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Yeh, I get what you're saying Chuck and I expected a reply like that which is why I said the two could flock together "without too much effort". What I meant by that (though maybe didn't get across) was "without the WS flying too ridiculously dirty". Again, I'm basing this all on other people's reports, but Manbird made a post on here about getting a 105s (avg 69mph) jump in the tracksuit which a very nice forward speed. That is much more like a Classic than it is like a "normal" skydiving track, IMO. I talked to two somewhat-WS-newbies at Zhills (although they had some good experience with "normal" flocking that same week) who tried the whole tracksuit-wingsuit flock thing. I think it was Gunnar in his S-Fly and someone else (maybe Jonathan?) in the PF tracksuit, and their report, if I remember correctly was that the vertical speed was very easy to match, both were flying at a comfortable potential (i.e. not too dirty or maxed out), but the WS did have noticeable more forward drive. So I guess there's a bit of subjectivity on how dirty you can fly and still be called flocking. I've had to fly my S3 pretty damn dirty on some legitimate WS flocks I've been on, based on my body type, capabilities, and fast fallrate of the flock. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

It's funny, in my GTi I could barely grab the mudflaps on deployment but it seemed to make me more prone to twists when I did so I just let my hands hover. In my S3 I can actually get my RISERS half the time (which I didn't think was possible) and my openings are great when I grab flaps or risers. Risers are the ultimate bonus because any twists that are forming (docile canopy, keep in mind) are gone before full inflation. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I don't care what tracking attire you wear, you are not about to stay up with someone flying any wingsuit efficiently. A nitpick, but flocking is not flying efficiently. I have heard firsthand (though I haven't experienced firsthand) that a Classic and PF tracking suit can flock without too much effort. Not sure if it's true or not, but I've heard it said... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Agreed. The pilot is important - and the lesson to be learned there is that you should not critique a suit you don't know like the back of your hand (at least not without admitting you haven't fully explored its potential yet). The flipside is that we should not assume the pilot is EVERYTHING. The best pilot in the world couldn't make a Classic (flown by him) outglide an S3 (flown by him). There is a degree of objectivity to what a suit can and can't do... but we don't usually get to see those things until a pilot figures out how to do them! :) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

No comment on my question Ed? www.WingsuitPhotos.com