Pendragon

I agree with you, although I think wingsuiting as a discipline - and the skills of the flyers - is still evolving rapidly. The truth is, flying "fourth row" is really quite hard; flocks "breathe" and that oscillation gets quite significant the further back you go. Not only do you need excellent flyers in the base that really don't move, but you need excellent flyers at the back too. What often happens is that the less experienced flyers get the back slots because, if they don't make it in, it has less impact on the formation as a whole. This isn't ego-driven, just practical whilst we (as a group) are still working it out. When we've got 70+ good precision flyers (which is v different from great wingsuit BASE pilots, slow-fallers etc) then we'll make it. We all know the wedge is the most likely formation to work as it has the most points of reference to keep people still, yet has a single base. That said, this is still a rapidly evolving discipline - and there's no harm in trying stuff out... providing it's done safely and the organisers involved are allowed by all to take the lead, with some discipline in the "ranks". -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Jay was talking me through his setup on a coaching session: he starts his base leg 500ft above his initiation point, and his downwind leg starts 500ft above his base leg. So the same as Ian. Seems to make sense - you get some idea of wind drift, and the time is the same. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I saw some of those on the table being made in PD's factory a day or so ago. How does it compare to the other speedflying wings you may have flown? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Is that Darren Kellet with Chris on the cover? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I know what you're saying and understand why you're saying it, and there is some merit - not everyone is, nor should be treated equal. HOWEVER, it is proven human nature that we all believe that, individually, we are "ahead of the curve", or whatever. It is those who seek to get independent verification of that, through coaching for instance, and realise that they always have more to learn, will most likely do better - and be around longer - than those that don't. Well, at least that's my theory. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

From what I remember being told, the Radical is elliptical at the front, but only tapered at the back, to give better heading performance. Can't remember anything else. James always got nice swoops out of it; I think he was jumping a 99, so nicely loading it. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Well, I'll see you next Saturday (or maybe really late Friday night) then! Might even be up for a wingsuit jump too. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I fly my pattern in half-brakes... just like any accuracy approach. It's the same really, just trying to be at a specific point on the ground at a certain altitude, rather than on the ground itself. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I'm heading over to Florida in a couple of weeks: anyone know the current state of the pond in Lake Wales? I've heard conflicting information; one that it's half drained and the other that it's perfectly fine! How's the Z-Hills pond too? ...and am I blissfully unaware of any other decent ones? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

That'll be you then, caused by the dozen or so Birdman Top Gun logos you have on your rig and wingsuit, as I only have a single streamlined PF logo on the rear-deflector of my wingsuits. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I believe it was because, immediately after pitching, he looked under his wing - maybe to see what was happening (possible hesitation?) You could front-loop by doing that... -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Oh you're a funny guy. Shall we start a logo-wearing competition? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

In general, you can go for a slightly higher wing loading on a larger canopy size as you won't have the same trouble with lift. Besides, Icarus recommended to me 1.8-2.0 as ideal, so you shouldn't worry about it.

Hey Scott, I love it when you post those photos... especially the third one. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Are you trying to tell me something by showing up at the first holiday boogie in 4 years I intend not to be at? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Yup. For example, the lines might be microline - these shrink with heat (generated by friction). The brake lines shrink the most - due to friction between the line and the guide ring as you pull the toggles, which the other lines don't get. It may be that there is no slack in the brake lines when your toggles are completely up, in which case your canopy is flying slightly braked, and the flare will suffer. Depending on how many jumps are on the lineset (and the lineset itself), it may just need the brake lines extending, or a complete reline. Check with a master rigger. F-111 type canopies don't have the same type of flare (or power) as a ZP canopy either, and will land a little harder anyway. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

A few, but varies from year to year (from my experience of the last 3) 3 years ago, there were about 10-15 (although not all jumping wingsuit all the time) 2 years ago there were hardly any 1 year ago, about 8-10 FWIW, I think most were out in Florida -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

The only thing I'd add is that, having put a decent amount of jumps on a canopy like a Katana, Crossfire2 etc at about 1,8, try the Velocity... but it's okay to feel that it's too much for you and come back to it later. The openings are certainly interesting: if you're not completely comfortable with opening without being chucked about on a highly loaded elliptical, you're not ready for a crossbraced canopy. Do stick with it though; the transirtion isn't easy but it is worth it. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Agree totally. It is worth pointing out that the right answer on how it works may be counter-intuitive to many at first, hence the need for coaching, which is the point (I hope) the original poster was trying to get to... -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I know where you're coming from... but the problem with Eloy is that it has the lift capacity but not the landing capacity. During the boogie, you can have one load coming into land less than a minute after the previous load. IMHO I think that direction should be designated in case of light winds (eg, East to West only all day) rather than allow the landing direction to suddenly change (which is the real problem). Then it would be easier to everyone to join a stack, determine landing order and thus turns greater than 90 would be much less of an issue. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

We've recently established a progression system in the UK. It's a good start, and there's a manual describing the theory and practical progression exercises here: http://www.bpa.org.uk/safetydocs/cpmanual.pdf I'm sure you could adapt something from there. There's also a more basic set of requirements for canopy handling as a pre-requisite: http://www.bpa.org.uk/safetydocs/chmanual.pdf Hope this helps.

Yeah... but at least I pulled high! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Recently moved to a Xfire2 109 @1.85, but was a Safire2 129 @ 1.6 for ages. I would point out that I had 220 wingsuit jumps before going elliptical (and several hundred jumps on the Xfire2) Since I've rather taken to jumping crossbraced canopies now, I may move to a Xaos 96 that I recently acquired... If you want to fly a higher-performance canopy with a wingsuit you can, provided you have a decent amount of wingsuit experience, are used to the canopy and are willing to pull higher... which is why Jarno sticks to a Spectre! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

No, I'm not that stupid. I'd just like to see what took 40 mins to download on my (nominal) 8Mbps ADSL line. I'll try what Ray suggests. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Any way I can view this file without it crashing after 15 seconds? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13