The111

How "not for novices" is the surf? I consider myself a novice, but I also recently spent a week in Costa Rica with regular 6ft+ waves (THICK) and 8-10ft sets. I didn't do great, but I survived and caught a few waves (and broke a few leashes) every day. Also, when is all this happening? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I TOLD you Zhills is a blast! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Hmm. Flying with a strong tailwind, if that wind drops suddenly, you should effectively feel like you ran into a wall of air and you get massive amounts of "flare power". Under a canopy that is fine since you'd much rather have too much lift than not enough. I guess it's possible that with a wingsuit, that much lift could overpower you and cause you to lose stability... but I have no idea what this felt like to you so I don't know if I'm anywhere near the right ballpark. The only time I feel instability is when I fly very near a stall (and I'm still learning a lot about flying), and then I start washing side to side. I wonder if a sudden surge of lift could cause you to come near a stall? But even then I've never totally lost it and tumbled from a stall, I just arch a bit to gain stability again. I guess the only other possibility is some true "turbulence" which I'll admit I don't fully know what that is, but I'd imagine it's some swirling chaotic air that you don't want to fly through... :) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I don't know how weather and wind work, but if there was a large finite jump of wind across a short distance (wind shear is the term I think), then it is feasible that would mess up your suit's flight/inflation. I've seen similar discussions about canopies encountering wind shear. Basically if you are flying your canopy into a strong headwind which promptly disappears, you are left with much less airspeed than you need for your canopy to fly. It will lose inflation to some degree, you will begin falling downward, the canopy will surge forward and dive to reinflate. Since a wingsuit requires a LOT more control to keep stable than a canopy, it's possible that instead of simply diving and surging, you went massively unstable instead, when presented with much less airspeed than you needed to fly... So to test my theory, I'm curious, were you flying into the wind (upwind) when this happened? OR... were you flying downwind in the upper winds, but the ground winds and uppers winds were in opposite directions? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Well crap man, I don't even wanna go that bad if it's gonna be that cold... I'd heard it was nice during the daytime. No biggie though, I've already got my tickets so I'm committed. I *am* from Florida, but I'm also tough and am always underdressed in the winter, compared to other locals. So maybe it will not be so bad. I just really hate wearing gloves, and especially now that I am flying wingsuits I really like to be able to feel my hackey with my actual fingers... Thanks for the replies... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

How cold is Eloy during the day? I absolutely hate wearing gloves (well, I've only tried Neumanns and I don't like how much tactile sense I lose) and I'm hoping to be able to go without them... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I did Zhills last year, had fun, and would do it again this year except I'll be in Eloy... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

The vids are too big for me to download at work... but the song playing in the background of the page is by the Mars Volta, who are incredible btw... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

There are probably 5 different threads in this forum right now about the PF suit. All of them are right at the top of the forum, so they're hard not to miss. I asked this exact same question here. And it was answered by unclecharlie here... even though, oddly enough, no one asked it in that thread. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Will be in the Keys... but www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Geez, from camera angle #2, when the canopy gets cut away, it looks like it almost hits Chris. I'm assuming he's to the side a bit though. It is insane though how fast that thing disappears out of the frame once cut away... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Well, I got my inflatabelt in the mail... it fits under my suit but it is freaking huge. Makes me look like I have a gut and makes me wonder if that will affect my flying? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

From the back it looks like it won't be possible to use BOC... is this a true assumption? Cool pics! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I have much more "slack" than shown in the pictures, and the last line addressed that - "for those with longer excess steering lines you can position the excess so that there is an even amount on both the top and bottom loops"... but I'm not sure I fully understand. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Q. Is the V-1 appropriate for someone with 50 jumps on a GTI? This is more curiosity than anything else. I have an S3 on order and feel it will be more than enough for me right now... I also don't feel comfortable enough with wingsuits in general to jump something that is brand new to the market and hasn't been real-world tested. But I am curious, as someone else asked, if the S3 would be recommended as a "stepping stone" for the V1. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I got mine from Para-Gear, was something like $90. Not cheap... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

That is literally unbelievable. I can't wait to see it with my own eyes. Any word on the fall rates that will accompany that glide, or is this still top secret? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Where did you hear that? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I have an efficiency room with two beds, kitchen, and bathroom reserved for Friday and Saturday night, with no definite takers. If anyone wants to split the room with me for sure, PM me... it is $65/night total for the whole room... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Wow man, that is very impressive work on the trailer. I hope to somehow see the full thing sometime even though I wasn't there. Maybe I can find someone local who was there to burn me a copy... :) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Wow, you're so much more elegant about it than all the "OMG I'M POSTING DRUNK!!!!" people. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

My interest is sparked. Already planning on attending... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Tell Harry to bring his wingsuit! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I never met Chris, but he was at the Titusville Leap Year boogie doing tandem WS jumps (I knew who he was), and near the end of the night when everyone (including him, I presume) had had quite a few beers, I remember him running up out of nowhere, hugging me, and then running off. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Note to all the people who thought I was worrying too much... I've done about 10 jumps with no helmet now, and already came VERY close to losing my goggles on a 180 off heading opening as the risers scraped the side of my face/head. I did not have dytters on them, so it would have been no big loss, but they got pulled all the way up to the top of my head and somehow magically stayed on just slightly long enough for me to grab them. :) So it can happen, easily apparently... www.WingsuitPhotos.com