The111

I still haven't figured out how to recover altitude without getting back on the plane. Slowing your fallrate though - that is doable. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Great, 43 jumps and you're already too good to talk to whuffos... Just because you skydive doesn't make you a better person than someone who doesn't. Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that you are... I don't think that not talking to whuffos about skydiving implies you think you're better than them. I am personally stubborn and love to blab about jumping to everyone even if I get made fun of or called insane. BUT, I do understand how tiring the same old remarks get, and I can see why someone might make a personal decision to stop talking about skydiving around whuffos. If I made that decision it wouldn't be because I think I'm better than them, but because I'm happier without those discussions. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Very nice reply. :) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

No one called anyone "stupid". The decision to catch the main was "stupid", not the person making the decision. Changing how something is said can change completely what was said. Sparky Whuffos call us stupid. Whuffos call our decisions stupid. I understand the difference, but it is not relevant to the point I made. However, if you must, replace "call us stupid" with "call our decisions stupid" in my original post. The point is that I don't think any skydiver has the right to call another's actions stupid, since we're all doing something that is stupid in someone else's (a whuffo's) eyes. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Doesn't qualify as remotely subtle for me. But maybe my sarcasm detector is better than most. :) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

This is the exact same thing ANY of my whuffo friends would say about me if I went in skydiving. The reason skydivers criticize whuffos so much, is because they call us stupid, and say we have a death-wish, just because we willingly, knowingly accept a higher risk level than they would be willing to. I'm pretty sure every skydiver has felt anger at a whuffo for calling him insane. It follows that any skydiver who calls someone else who takes greater risks than him (a BASE jumper, a swooper, a freebag chaser) stupid, is a hypocrite. I may be a baby in the skydiving world, but this discussion has become more about politics (freedom and personal choice) than skydiving. Regardless of how dangerous chasing gear is, there is nothing wrong for Bill listing the possible dangers, how to avoid them, and advising against it. We live in the land of the free, people - you would not appreciate it if anyone took away your ability to choose to skydive or take any other risks. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

He exited from a helicopter. http://www.salomontv.com/videos/322_big.zip www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Hmm, I'll try to put this thread back on topic. My first thought was about how fun it would be to throw Dr. Holder off of a bridge. Then I did a Google search for the name "Jay Holder." Amusingly, the first two things I saw were "the real truth about Jay Holder's degrees" and "Jay Holder, the father of all fake credentials". Good to know this guy's idiocy wasn't limited to his comment about BASE. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

You've got them all pegged, don't you? Generalizations rule supreme. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I just came across this site today... did a search for ready.gov to see if it had been posted before and found only this post. Check it out, it's hilarious... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

The market is there. How many times have you heard someone say they started skydiving just so they could fly a suit? I've heard it said several times and I haven't been jumping that long. The cost of a first flight is equivalent to a coached FF jump. What do you get if you spend $80 on one coached FF jump? Slightly better FF skills. Most people that pay for one of these pay for many more. What do you get if you spend that same money on a BMI jump? The ability to make 2-3 minute skydives for the rest of your life, and it's a one-time fee. Look how much money you just saved. The price is right for those who are interested. I don't think lowering it would massively increase the amount of new birds. The market is there. Most whuffos are more amazed by wingsuit flight footage than normal freefall video (well ok, that could have something to do with the fact that the footage I show them is usually Loic on the mountain ). Most skydivers think it's awesome too - if they don't do it it's because: a) they're tied up in another discipline b) they're uncomfortable with the perceived risks / constrained arms c) they don't have the money for a suit, which is different than what you're talking about I've heard so many sub-200 jump skydivers going on and on about how they can't wait to get 200 jumps and do BM, but I've never heard any complaining about how much it's going to cost. If one doesn't like the price for instruction, he can always log 500 jumps and do it on his own, or go up with a kind friend like I did. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

You know I wasn't implying WS in tunnel, right? I was referring to the price of freefall coaching, which is off-topic as I admitted. Too, I have flown in tunnels (not WS!). (non-traditional grammar courtesy of Arlo) More off topic: WS in tunnel *has* been done. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

sorry.. i already posted that one... repost... look again I did a search and didn't find anything. Where did you post it? As far as the idea, it is not a good one IMO. Hitting a 120mph column of air when you are going 120mph does not mean you will stop instantaneously (besides that the air at the top of the column would not make a finite jump from 120->0mph). You will decelerate over a VERY long distance (1000ft?). So this idea would only work if you had a wind tunnel that the column of air was still full power (120mph) 1000ft above its base (no pun intended), and the column would probably extend for several hundred feet more above 1000ft as its speed decreased smoothly. I think this is impossible, unless the air was wall-to-wall (contained in a tube like SkyVenture). So if you really want to BASE jump into a 1000ft tube, go ahead. I mean, first you have to build it though. ;) And when you jump, don't miss. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Slightly off topic, and I'm not arguing with you (since tunnel does not equal sky), but for non WS coaching I personally think the tunnel beats all. Note I haven't even RECEIVED any tunnel instruction, and only a few coached skydives, but as you pointed out the average cost for a coached skydive is 400% the price of a non-coached skydive (~$72 vs ~$18). Tunnel coaching, on the other hand, 125% the price of non-coached tunnel time ($750/hr vs $600/hr). Considering all this, I don't know why anyone would choose sky coaching over tunnel coaching (the only downside if tunnel prices are much better in large time quantities). www.WingsuitPhotos.com

And, c'mon guys, give us some props for carrying two "parachutes" on our backs, in case the first one don't work! The wording isn't great there, but I really don't see anything grossly inaccurate in the parts you highlighted. You are experiencing the force of gravity in freefall (you're also experience drag to balance it out). AFF instructors do advise you what to do on a jump (though not DURING the jump, as the text vaguely implies, although they do give you hand signals). A level 1 AFF jump *does* cost +$100 more than a tandem. And there's nothing wrong with the word parachute. It's a legitimate word. Although I do dislike the abbreviation "chute". And any talk of "pulling cords". www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Well you can always bookmark a search. Long before the "check mark on threads you've posted to" was added (and subsequently removed), I had a bookmarked search of posts I've made. So I can go back and check the recent ones and see if anyone's answered. You've probably already thought of this, and it's not exactly what you're looking for, but I figured I'd throw it out there... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

This is a joke, right? Or at least, referring to tandems. I can't imagine a 4 yr old jumping his own rig. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

one guy wrote: a different guy wrote: The fact that you're losing altitude shouldn't be the deciding factor in whether or not it's freefall. Canopy flight is characterized by this as well. The thing most unique about skydiving (the "freefall" portion of it) that is not present in any other sport is that you are flying your body (as well as your clothes, jumpsuits, booties, etc, which are all directly controlled by your body). The same is true of wingsuit flight. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

What is up with you ending every post cryptically? I still don't understand the relevance of the Knight Rider comment... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think perhaps the word freefall is outdated. If it means moving downwards under the influence of gravity, then canopy flight is freefall. If it means body flight, then it should be called body flight. Canopy flight, wingsuit flight, body flight, etc are all skills that are built on their own exposure times. I guess what makes this trickier is that some body flight skills transfer to wingsuit skills, and probably vice versa even since in both discipline you are flying with your BODY. Under a parachute your mostly just flying with your hands, even if you are using your body (harness turn), you are not shaping your body to redirect airflow, which you do in both body flight AND wingsuit flight. Under a parachute the airflow over the parachute matters. With a wingsuit, the airflow over YOU matters, just like in "freefall". So yes, I think it counts as freefall. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Ok, you lost me there... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Best one by far, second to Steve understands internet technology. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Dude, reading your posts I always knew we had similar minds, and once I saw you making up acronym definitions, that just topped the cake (is that a real expression?). I do that all the time. My favorite is to make acronyms out of someone's name. It's almost as nerdy (but not nearly as difficult) as Lisa Simpson's anagrams - "rearranging the letters of a person's name to form a description of that person". Incidentally, an anagram for Waylon Smithers is "wants him sorely". Soar Up In Twos www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think you're replying to the wrong post again, you mean Ed. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Acronym? What for? www.WingsuitPhotos.com