The111

BUMP... did you or anyone else ever try this test? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Get your inertial sensors fixed. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think they should name it PHI. What do I win? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Very nice. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Should the regulation be based on jump numbers or demonstratable skills? I'm not advocating the decision, but one guy in this thread who received some criticism for his canopy choice said that he *could* do all the things on billvon's checklist. Myself, if I could do all those things on my current canopy, I'd quickly downsize, but since I can't/haven't, I won't just yet. Is it possible that some of these people who claim to be "ahead of the curve" can prove it? If they do prove that with 200 jumps they can complete billvon's list on a 1.5 loaded elliptical, can they move on to the next step without criticism? Myself, I'm way behind the learning curve on canopies and I wouldn't mind regulation of any type, as I'm already restricting myself pretty strongly. But for those prodigies out there (if they do exist), a merit based (rather than jump number based) regulation system seems most fair. Only downside is the amount of effort (and $$$) it would take to enforce those types of regulations. I.e. there would need to be an examiner/observer to watch the jumper demonstrate all those canopy skills each time he wants to downsize. Maybe a jump number regulation could be put in place (cheap, mostly effective), but for those who do feel ahead of the curve, they can pay out of their own pocket for an examiner who can rate them for downsizing early. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Hmm, I've had several people tell me not to rotate bag a full 180 (assuming you typoed

I do... and the other day my Spectre 170 @ 1.1 spun up so bad that it was no longer flying straight (I think there was some harness shift before the twists too). It started diving pretty hard and I chose to chop. I'm going to stay on this canopy but also try to minimize the occurrence of linetwists. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Spectre 170 and PDR 160. Main didn't open too hard, but it was spinning pretty hard before I chopped. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Do you mean grommet to pin or grommet to reserve tray? Not really, in 200 jumps I've had them a few times, usually only 2-3 twists and probably attributed to body position. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Hi Bob, yes I did my first WS jump with Chris Ash two weeks ago on a Classic, he said I was his best student ever and I bought a GTI right away. Have put 14 jumps on the GTI already, almost all were perfect openings, I guess I just started getting a little lazy on my deployment symmetry and got twists bad enough to spiral me. I also have no mods to my gear, which I am getting done immediately, and my next WS jump will be all about practice pulls. I found everything but the handles.

Not trying to be an ass... does this mean you don't have your corners modded, or you have the "no corner" (i.e. cut corner) mod? Just curious... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

It pays off. I have had to use them twice now. You can read about the first case here. Ray had some facts wrong, which I corrected him on. The important thing is that I executed my EP's horribly wrong. When I decided to do my EP's I didn't think too clearly about what I needed to do. At that point I had been trained with two handed EP's (two hands on red, pull, two hands on silver, pull) but I guess I hadn't drilled enough. And I didn't stay very calm. I panicked, looked down, put left hand on silver and pulled silver. I still can't explain why I did that, but in less than a second I was aware of my mistake and the implications it had (entanglement). I could literally feel the reserve PC firing off my back and thought "oh shit, I'm dead". Then in that same second I looked at my cutaway handle and thought "you can still pull it, and if you're going to now's the best time, before the reserve gets all the way out". So I pulled it fast, looked up to see the entanglement I was sure I had sentenced myself to, and got very very lucky. Main was inches above a fully inflated reserve, no entanglement. Since then I switched to one handed EP's and have DRILLED LIKE CRAZY. Up until then I had never believed drills had much merit as I thought I knew how to think clearly under stress. Well, all the hard work paid off, because when I decided to cutaway this Friday, even though I was a little scared and not liking the situation, I was still smiling inside as I looked at my handles because I knew exactly what to do. I even had the peace of mind to wait one second after cutting away since my back was to relative wind, arched hard, and then pulled silver as my belly hit the relative wind (thumb was in D the whole time). I have an RSL, which should have made that one second wait pointless, but the RSL actually didn't work (post in G&R about that), and I'm actually glad it didn't since I don't want shit coming out when I'm back to relative wind... I'm probably removing the RSL now because the only reason I had it was because I doubted my ability to stay calm in emergency, but now I know I can do that. I've "wanted" a malfunction for a long time so I could prove my ability to cutaway properly, and now I have that under my belt, and it will neeeeever happen again. [/sarcasm] I will continue drilling like crazy, and I will add two things to my EP's: (1) lock knees together (since I jump a WS and even if I don't it could help prevent something from going between my legs) and (2) arch hard while cutting away so I won't need to pause one second before silver. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Yeh yeh yeh, I was actually aware of that but didn't mention it because: 1) It's a very small difference 2) The difference in penetration was significant As far as I'm concerned the canopies are approximately the same size. But the main penetrates much better... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

So why do you think my PDR 160 was moving backwards at 1000 feet and coming straight down at ground level, in the same winds that my Spectre 170 was getting moderate penetration at both given altitudes? It's not larger. I would imagine and hope it doesn't have a steeper trim. ??? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I've honestly forgotten (and changed) a lot about the procedures I was taught. I know I was taught two handed, but have been drilling one handed for a long time and this is what I used the other day. I am definitely going to start my drills now with: legs together, arch hips, THEN peel and pull as necessary. :) Will work fine for WS and freefall jumps. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Ok, you're right that forward speed is key. In my specific case, the forward speed of my reserve is less than the forward speed of the main, but not because it's larger (it's slightly smaller in fact, main=170, res=160). I'm guessing the forward speed of the reserve is less because it has a steeper glide angle than my Spectre. That is why I mentioned glide angle, but you are correct in that forward speed ultimately matters. But I think if the canopies are close to the same size then glide angle can be used to characterize penetration, since it will determine forward speed. Glide angle and forward speed are very closely related... for the sake of the following illustration assume a round canopy has no forward speed (I am not sure this is true, but I think it's close). Q: Why does a round canopy have no forward speed? A: Because its glide path is a vertical line!

Care to elaborate on your "wicked PC throw" issues? Was there anything more to it besides the fact you were tired? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

And DAMN I never realized 170 sq ft was so big! Yet another reason to aggressively downsize. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Dude, you are so spot on it's ridiculous. It was Home Depot, it actually was clothesline (wire-reinforced)... the only thing you missed was the little metal clamps I screwed into the wall and the stud finder I already had. :) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

In my normal tradition of worrying too much, I took pictures of my hanging canopy contraption I created in my apartment (still trying to dry it out). Just making sure this isn't hurting the canopy. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Also... my reserve doesn't get nearly the same glide ratio as my main, meaning no penetration on a very windy day where the main is only slightly penetrating, as I found out the other day. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

For clarification, still referring to pulling handles on ground at rigger's... The handle came to a stop before my elbow locked, but the PC *did* come out and the pin was pulled. I understand some of your other points but I'm not worried about them since I'm removing the RSL altogether, thanks for your input.

Yes, the vector3.jpg picture shows my setup. And I didn't think mine would cause a kink either. Here's the thing though. My velcro isn't worn out. The rig is brand new. And when *THE* RWS rigger observed my concern over the "ripcord stop" in his loft, he said it was normal. Why do you think the "ripcord stop" is so bad? As long as the pin gets pulled, everything's ok, right? Since I need new handles anyway and am probably going to remove my RSL I guess I'll get a "normal" reserve cable/pin. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I wasn't aware that WS jumpers used larger PC's... I only knew of longer bridles and cut corners. How many others use large PC's? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I'd make this a poll but multiple choice answers suck. This question is prompted by my recent cutaway, and I'm curious if with skill, linetwists on opening go down a lot or if it's something that still happens frequently and you just have to deal with it by kicking out of them before they deteriorate into a sprial. I'm looking specifically at people who have a lot of WS experience, and know they are dumping symmetrically. Do you still see linetwists at all? Or just once in a blue moon, like on freefall jumps (freefall I see linetwists 1/50 jumps at the very most)? As I said in my other thread, in my first 14 jumps I have had 10 perfect openings, 2 cases of a few linetwists, and 2 cases of a LOT of linetwists, the last one needing a chop. www.WingsuitPhotos.com