TALONSKY

Maybe I am missing something but why is it only Atair request using smaller than standard pilot chutes. I mean I do not see PD, Icarus, or PA requesting their customers to modify stock rigs. Farther more, if pilot chutes do have a big affect on deployment why did Atair not design their canopies to use industry standard pilot chutes to begin with. Kirk

Yesterday, I also had my left bootie come off on exit. I was doing a rodeo dive and on exit I lost my left bootie. We got of the plane fine but a few seconds later I had a pretty good turn to the left. I tried to correct for it but with a passenger on the back I could not. I ended up doing a barrel roll and losing the passenger, at that point I was able to gain stable flight. I definitely could not punch it out but it was stable flight. I was thankful that it was the left bootie because after deploying I tried three times to get the left leg wing unzipped and could not, I ended in using the LQRS. A while back manbird had stated to me on his next suit he was thinking of getting the LQRS on both legs for that reason (after yesterday I would agree on that) Without tension on the zipper it is really hard if not impossible to unzip. Glad to hear you got out of it fine Kevin I do not know what evryone else does but I have found it to be a real pain to try and get zipped up in the plane. I now just zip up my leg wing before getting on to the plane. Kirk

I totally agree. From what I have read about Atair canopies is they have some issues where one will open great and the next will slam you. I do not know if you have tried a Crossfire but they are a really great canopy. They open softly and fly very nice with a huge flare power band. The Crossfire 2's are even more incredible. Wish you well Kirk

I am quite sure with the just right pack job and the just right pilot chute and you can't forget the just right pull position you can get most any Cobalt to open nice. I am also pretty sure that after openning they are a good canopy, but in my opinion if you there is no reason to have a canopy that needs that much special attention in order to get good opennings. There are alot of great canopies out there that do not require a degree from the how to fix a canopy that opens really hard in order to get great opennings. OH to Jyokster have you tried openning in a track. That I believe is one of their fixs for their problem canopy along with the smaller pilot chute and the just right packing. Kirk

Skydive Oregon has a really nice swoop pond. It has been featured in a few articles this past year in Parachutist, plus I believe manbird posted a video of the carnage round from a swoop event there. Kirk

I have always heard the best way to get a Cobalt to open nice is to get rid of it and buy a Crossfire 2. Unless you want a lesson on how many ways it is not the canopies fault it open's hard. Kirk

Unfortunatly Manbird (Steve) has been banned from this forum for some comments made about Lou Diamond I believe. Anyway, He has nothing but praise for his Sabre 2. It opens great even considering some very sloppy packing on occasion. I fly a Crossfire 2 loaded at 1.85 to 1 when doing birdman suit jumps. Although it is not recommended to be flying an eliptical canopy, I love my Crossfire 2. The opennings are great, I love how it sets you upright then finishs openning. You can unzip before you have an fully open canopy. I also love that I can steer myself with my hips while unzipping to get myself pointed where I need to be. Kirk

It sounds like you have your mind made up on an S3 as your first suit. I just wanted to add that if one is not careful with the S3 he will find the suit flying him instead of the him flying the suit. I know that sounds strange but wait until you start jumping the S3, it is a fun and great suit but it can very easily take control of flight if you are not careful. I have about 60 GTI jumps and about 60 S3 jumps and it seemed that when I stared jumping the S3 and when doing acrobatics with the S3 sometimes it will start flying me for a few seconds. What ever your decision be careful, have fun and welcome to the flock Kirk

I am not a BMI but I think Lou’s advice is great and I really think it applies to all skydives of any kind. That is if you notice something that may be a potential safety issue on that skydive whether it is a freefly, RW, wingsuit jump, the jump is over and you need to get the attention of the jumper who has the issue and let him know about it so he or she can deal with it while time allows. Kirk

OK, I agree if you do not push is the stress is not huge but it is there. However, I workout every week I can dumbell press the 85 lbs dumbells and shoulder shrug 240 and I definitly can fell it when I am pushing over 2 minutes of freefall and can say there would be very few that would not. I is more like doing a push up with your arms fulliy extended into an almos ironcross possition(that is if you are in a S3 and pushing it). I did not feel near as much stress on my arm in my GTI.

A real hook turn I believe originally was a snap toggle turn (90°, 180°, 270° or 360°) which is preformed at lower altitude allowing the canopy to dive and build speed and come out of the dive right above the ground so you can use that extra speed to fly parallel to the ground (done right). That is how the name came about since then people have realized it is very dangerous to do snap toggle turns low to the ground so those kind of landings are not done any long. Now a days these are preformed by using the front riser for the input control or a harness turn with high performance canopies again diving the canopy toward the ground (building speed) eventually the canopy will come out of the dive and fly parallel (this refered to as the recovery arch, the length it takes after initiating a front riser dive for the canopy to return to parallel flight). Most people now prefer to do a more gradual turn or a carving turn (which builds more speed and allows for more outs if needed), all of that builds more speed and in aviation more speed equals more lift. Which means you can fly parallel to the ground for a longer period of time. These kind of landing are refered to as high performance landings as well. This is not something any beginner should ever attempt doing, because if you misjudge the height of the turn you can hit the ground really hard( the reason more fatalities are caused from low turns). Kirk

I use a Sunnto Vector. They state that they are not for use with skydiving but it is just as accurate if not more so than my anolog one. About the only problems I have ran into is 1. it is semi easy to bump another botton and take it out of the Altimeter mode and 2. Since it is a wrist watch my freefly jacket sleeve covers it up in free fall. So I use it for landing setup or any RW or birdman suit jumps. Kirk

Oh and to add to the sizing thing, do you know that if you have a Safire 1 (not the second generation) it is actually smaller. I had a Safire 169 and compared it to a Sabre 150 and found that the Safire was just a touch smaller. Tomorrow I will repost a letter from Simon at Icarus on the sizing issue with the Safire 1. Kirk

Yes wing suits have been around for a very long time, but what I meant was only recently has it become accessable by the general skydiving community. Kirk

Ah yes, your right. However, not very many have been published in a format that will get across to a large group on nonbirdman as this one. My opinion may be bias(being friends with Steve) but I think this article explains wingsuit flying in a manor that the rest of the skydiving community (at least the one's vaguely interested in it) may be able to relate to(it lets them know how to get started and where to get start, plus what the benifits of wingsuit flying are). Most of the nonbirdman(that come up and talk to me about wing suits) find wing suit flight intriguing and I think that just may be we will add a few more members to the flock over this article. I am not saying this is the greatest thing ever all I am saying is Steve and Kevin put alot of time and energy into that article and instead of criticizing it I think they should be congradulated fo getting it published in Parachutist. And for those who still want to criticize it put your money where your mouth is and write one better. Kirk

I just reread the article last night and I think it is great to see an intelligent well written article on wingsuit flying. I think the ones who critique it for minor content may have not read the article thorougly and should try and write a better one. DAMN GOOD JOB, Kevin and Steve Kirk

I personally did just that when I wanted to get into wingsuit flying, I talked to the S&TA. He had done a few jumps and gave me input on my abilities (at the time I had 400 jumps). I did end up talking to the late great Dwaine Weston about it when he would come around my DZ prior to getting a suit. Then I did my first 5 jumps using the collage of information from the manual, the S&TA and Dwaine. I really think that the birdman suit manual has a good explanation of how to start flying the suits, although with out instruction getting proficient at flying the suit would be hard. After my first five jumps I was able to hook up with Dwaine and get some very helpful info on my flying. So in the end I think that is a great idea to talk to the S&TA about it if there are no birdmen around the DZ.In the end the S&TA had alot of helpful information and sugestions, which I benifitted alot from. Kirk PS: I was wondering if you use to jump out here at Skydive Oregon? In the end the S&TA had alot of helpful information and sugestions, which I benifitted alot from.

Steve was going to order one until he ran into a wire transfer issue with the company and then I think he is now pondering the idea of getting a Crossfire 2(after putting some jumps on mine) instead of the S-fly. Kirk

Reading the article the December’s issue of Parachutist about the invasion of the Skyflyers I noticed something when looking at the pictures of the S-fly and comparing them to birdman suits(GTI, Skyflier…etc). The S-fly’s wings just look like a very stretched piece of fabric, but when you look at any birdman made suit the wings resemble more of the shape of a RAM air parachute( meaning that they are inflated and holding a contoured shape). I would assume this is one of the reasons why birdman suits seem to perform better (at least by all the reviews I have read anyway). Kirk

I just wanted to say excellent feature article in the December’s issue of Parachutist, Manbird & Kevin922.

There are alot of reasons why wingsuit flying is not the most popular form of skydivig. Alot of people have a fear of the wings (not having full range of motion). For others it may be the cost of the wingsuit. Mostly I hear people voicing the gear fear side of it. Oh and you can not forget that wingsuit flying really just got started only more recently I think 1998. Kirk

I live 1 mile from the DZ and 40 miles to my job. The commute to and from work is so worth being this close to the DZ. Kirk

Or do you mean Bodysport USA. They are based in Oregon Kirk

I have not had a reserve ride yet, but I did call PD up and get a demo of the reserve size I downsized to. I demoed a PD 143 loaded at 1.46 to one and it flew great and landed nice. If you are inquiring to gather info on downsizing reserve I would highly recommend calling up PD(I am not sure if other manufactures of reserves will let you demo them) and getting a demo(it only cost if I remember correctly something like $40 plus shipping). Demoing the size I went down to gave me lots of confidence in flying the reserve Kirk

You can down load the manual on their web site http://www.bird-man.com Kirk