Pendragon

If you're not a very experienced wingsuit flyer, the difference in flying would be marginal to you -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

What you'll probably find is that more experienced and aggressive canopy pilots seem to prefer the Sabre2; others the Pilot (if you can be bothered to read all the posts). You'll like the Pilot; it's good for newbies; I'm still alive. I got bored of it eventually and traded my Pilot 150 for a Safire2 129 (now the canopy I use for wingsuit flights) -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

This is a basic question that should be answered by an instructor or canopy coach. Be careful of forums; there's a lot of garbage out there and you need a basic understanding at least before you're in a position to make any sense of it. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Shame he's gone - he was quite an institution! Not sure it will be quite the same at Z-Hills without him around... -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Maybe Stane will chip in? He's got enough work building Trolls. I'm pretty sure it's what Unclecharlie is skydiving with right now. AFAIK, it has an elliptical leading edge, but the trailing edge of the canopy is only tapered, to help with heading performance on opening (and to avoid that funky throwing around and searchy thing you can get sometimes with fully elliptical canopies). Please correct if I'm wrong. Never tried one myself, but I've only heard good things about it from those that do jump it. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

That maybe so, but "pure" (i.e. no skydiving experinece) PG and hang glider pilots will not have any body awareness, so beyond S/L and PCA, much still needs to be learnt. You can't take a PG pilot with a couple of PCAs and no skydiving experience to a terminal cliff, for example. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Buy used if you can for your 1st. Given your weight, a 150 isn't that unreasonable in the future, but you'll need a few more jumps first. Remember, smaller canopies are more sensitive to control inputs in comparison to larger canopies at the same wing loading. Sabre 170 would be good (not the Sabre2, I'm talking about the original) Pilot 168, also a nice docile canopy Safire2 169 The flare for a ZP canopy is different to that of an F-111; ask your instructors. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

... and you did pretty good from what I remember. (no, I didn't do the ffc btw) Enthusiasm to fly wingsuits and putting in the necessary effort in a focussed manner (tracking dives, practice pulls) before putting the suit on can compensate for lower overall jump #s. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Apart from reduced drag (which I presume results in a slightly longer dive and a small increase in performance) are there any other benefits to HMA? Did I get my assumptions wrong? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Absolutely. I would never ask a skydiver (especially one with low jump #s) about ground launching. I would ask a fellow paraglider pilot. Oh look, Chris lives in Annecy () and puts in at least 150 hours a year under a paraglider. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

If you don't have your chest strap tight enough the harness can slip over the vents. It's also dangerous. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Thanks for the piccies, Scott. Damn I look good. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Actually some interesting reponses; I initiate a 270 on my xfire2 109 (at 1.8 lbs per sq ft) at 650 ft and a 270 on my Velocity 96 (at 2.0) at 700ft (actually more like 680ft using rears to plane out in the roll-out phase). 135 degrees at 400 ft and I think around 500ft for a 180. I start from half-brakes and use a single front riser (whilst leaning into the turn in the harness) to initiate. The reason why I said this was interesting was that, if you read above, you'll find exactly the same initiation altitutes for those canopies independently worked out by others. Out of interest, does anyone know whether the recovery arc (and initiation altitude) is predominantly determined by the canopy rather than the wing loading (which just changes the speed)? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Of course it is. Don't you know? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Nice one dude. Hopefully we'll meet up again sometime. Richard -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Someone (anyone) from Europe... plus Tom -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

In Switzerland, if you get hurt then, if your country has a recriprical health agreement, then you only pay a (small) contribution. If not, then you do pay. However, medical bills in Europe, whilst expensive, are nowhere near as outrageously expensive as they are in the US. Norway will be the same. I got hurt in Switzerland and, after showing my EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) all was good and they just did what was necessary. A bill for a contribution (c. 50 USD) came in the post about 3-4 weeks later. I get some reciprical coverage in the US; it wouldn't surprise me if you get some over in Europe. After all, we're nice people and not so maschochistic when it comes to free markets Also look at: www.ihi.com They do worldwide insurance from which BASE isn't excluded... although I think the caveat is that it has to be "legal". Not that it's really illegal to do much over here (the UK doesn't have a criminal trespass law - unless you deliberately damage something, e.g. cut safety netting, or it's military), but you'd be on "safer" ground (as far as the insurance companies are concerned) if you kept your activities to the well known cliffs.

A Sabre2 at that wingloading would be too aggressive for you; a Pilot is more docile... besides, if you're buying new, it's probably cheaper. I put c. 350 jumps on my Pilot 150 before selling it (they hold their value reasonably well too). They open without issue, albeit a little snively for some, and have a reasonable flare. Most of the talk you'll hear won't be much relevance as you don't have enough experience (yet!) to either realise or care. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Not the best place to do your first slider-up jumps. Lots of slider down experience will not help as much as you may think; some exits need good sub-terminal tracking skills and, if you've never done any terminal jumps before, don't expect to track anywhere near as efficiently as you do on a skydive. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Best outdoor shop is Peglers. It's not in London (it's actually Arundel) but the guys actually know what they're talking about and have an excellent mail order service. Dave Pegler is the guy I always speak to (and a very competent high-altitude mountaineer and ice climber), although any of the guys in the shops there are very current outdoor enthusiasts. www.peglers.co.uk -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Funny thing is, where dedicated technical BASE forums have been created, no-one actually reads or seems to post in them... I think this has been done to death - besides, the subject title usually says it all. You don't have to read everything posted! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Should be there with my Acro and V-1

Different manufacturers have different systems; your rig might have nice dive loops already fitted to the risers (and be newer). My old Javelin on the other hand... -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Similar to that, mine have one end unpicked at the top then re-attached to a ring that is itself attached to the slink. Easier to grab, and easier to pull down.

If that dotted yellow line in the 2nd was your flight, then you were definitely outside the 1.5nm radius permitted and playing with the jumbos inside London airspace. BTW - it is possible to make coordinated turns on any unpowered wing. Speaking of which, do I care? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13