bdrake529

Hello, I'm sorry if this has been addressed before. I'm posting this quick before heading out for the evening and don't have time to do a thorough forum search. I've got a Spectre 170. My rigger said I need a new pilot chute, so I went to the gear shop to buy a new one. I have a 28" PC, so the gear shop guy sold me a 28" replacement. But the rigger said since my old PC was F111 and the new one is ZP, I should have a 26" PC. Unfortunately, they don't have any in stock. The rigger thought for a few moments and said "it probably will be ok". I pressed him further, and he explained that once the canopy is out of the bag, the PC doesn't make any difference, so the worse that could happen would be line dump or something to that effect by having too much pull on the PC. He gave me an ok to jump the 28" PC anyway, but I wasn't entirely convinced by his confidence in recommending this. I'll be jumping the new PC tomorrow morning and I'm 95% confident nothing will go wrong. Just thought I'd post here and see if anyone has a strong warning against this, or, as my rigger decided, it really won't make that much difference. Thanks, Brian Brian Drake

what is this "electricity" you speak of? Brian Drake

Interesting how it would have taken 10 seconds to download the Z-Wing order form to realize that.... but then no one would have had fun accusing Tony of being sexist. Brian Drake

Bonehead Mamba Brian Drake

I'm working on it. Too soon to say for sure, but it's a goal for next year. Brian Drake

I don't understand, are you fishing for an apology.... (joking) Guilty as charged.... and that's not the only instance You tell me. I'm not from Florida so I don't know how y'all roll down there. Brian Drake

thanks. nice suit there Tony. Brian Drake

Despite being clouded out most of Saturday and some of Sunday, Chick's Rock was great this year. On the wingsuiting front, the flocks were loose, but very fun. The scenery was gorgeous so my theory is some people were distracted by the sights. Thanks to Jeff and Scotty for shooting such exceptional video. The only thing better than great flights, is great video evidence of them. Skydiving Movies (higher quality) http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=6379 iPod format. Plays in iTunes or Quicktime. If you have problems, try changing the files extension from ".mov" to ".m4v" (SM.com won't let me upload an .m4v named file). Also, don't try to play this in a browser (just clicking the link), rather, download the file by right-clicking the link and selecting "save link as" (or something to that effect). YouTube (lower quality) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Nn5P4Wcz0 YouTube playlist of source videos (to see our flights from beginning to end): http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=54D6DFF5563A29E7 The EFSM in Zurich has rated this video 9.5 courics. Enjoy, Brian Brian Drake

Scott, What's up with the rapidly fluttering tail wing toward the end of the video. It's kind of hard to tell, but it looks like a Tony Suit (I think I can make out the design on the arm wings). Almost looks like a blown tail-wing cell or something. Any info? Brian Brian Drake

So the footage we saw above (crazy proximity wingsuit base) is in that DVD "Seven Sunny Days"? I downloaded the trailer for the DVD and saw no indication of this. I just want to make sure before I buy the DVD that this footage is actually on there. Brian Drake

I really think the best system would be a combination of the current Tony Suit system (shoulder zipper to attach to rig), with the S-Fly cutaway cable approach (but with separate cables for each arm so they don't have to be re-threaded unless they've been used). The only problem I see that needs to be sorted out is using the S-Fly approach without losing the air-locked seal of the wing. The S-Fly expert has a lot of open area in the arm wing due to the cable system. I don't know if the Pro-Fly has fixed this, but it should be possible to devise a way to prevent air leaking. But, perhaps the current SM1 approach (busting through the velcro) is best, since there isn't a less-refined motion (compared to zippers and pulling cables) than punching upward towards the risers. Now that Jeff has identified the system is basically inoperable if the thumb loops are too short, I look forward to re-evaluating the effectiveness of the system once my loops are adjusted. Brian Drake

Jeff determined the problem. My thumb loops are too short and therefore it is impossible to drop them, which is necessary to apply force directly to the velcro. Once that's fixed, supposedly it will work. Brian Drake

Anyone? Brian Drake

hehe...I quickly googled VOC and realized you probably didn't mean Volatile Organic Compound... Brian Drake

Interesting scenario Matt. But it wouldn't happen with the SM1 because even if the zipper jammed, I could manually rip the velcro apart and extract my arm. My complaint with the velcro approach has to do with its reliability in a seconds-count emergency. Given a few seconds of breathing room, I could pull the velcro apart no problem. Brian Drake

Completely agreed. Though the zippers on my SM1 have a tassel/tab that snaps onto the thumb loops, so it's not a matter of trying to find a "tiny zip", as all I have to do is reach for my thumb. I would still prefer a cable system for reliability, but the current system, with its flaws, is not a deal breaker for me. And actually, I like the S-Fly cable-release system the best. I'm actually playing around with the idea of working with a rigger to modify my SM1 to use a similar system. Brian Drake

My understanding is that arm-wing cutaways are primarily intended for immediate access to canopy controls in the event of either: -a pending canopy collision where you need to reach a riser to quickly turn -a main "mal" that can be fixed if immediately dealt with (like a spin caused by a brake toggle release on deployment) Other than these two, can anyone suggest another scenario where arm-wing cutaways are necessary? I currently know of none, which is why I don't mind that I still cannot get the SM1 system to work reliably. I've tried following Jeff's written instructions (including the "look like a retarded T-Rex") to no avail. I've also had 4 other people now try the system with the same result. I look forward to Jeff showing me the correct method when I see him this weekend at Chick's Rock. I'm sure I'll feel like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. In the meantime, I jump a very docile 7-cell so I'm not afraid of needing to manage my openings. I get tons of separation on breakoff so I've never come close to a canopy collision on opening. But just in case, I've gotten quite practiced at quickly unzipping the arms and usually have one arm free by the time I get stood up on deployment. Brian Drake

Is the "Mercury wing" just the leg wing? If so, what do you call that style of arm wing (with the blunt trailing edge). Was that a useful innovation in your opinion (will you keep it), or was it only necessary to balance out the leg wing? Brian Drake

I did 4 jumps on the Ghost at the Moab boogie. The demo suit fit me like a glove and I couldn't have done better if I had one custom made for my measurements. I'm very impressed by this suit. It was very easy to fly and flew very stable dirty as well as when maxing it out. A lot of people at the boogie complained that the suit was physically tiring to fly. I never experienced this. Quite the opposite. The arm pressure felt light and when I rolled my shoulders forward to max it out, the pressure never increased to a level of discomfort. Perhaps I've been conditioned by flying my Super Mach 1, or maybe some people just weren't finding the correct arm position. My first flight with it, I was a little too ambitious and decided to lead the flock on my back. Considering I'm still working to reduce my fall rate to flocking levels while back flying on my SM1 (and to a lesser degree, my Acro), this was not a good idea for a suit I had never flown before. So unfortunately I sank out. The suit few stable on its back, and I'm sure with more experience on it, I could find the sweet spot for lift. But on that first jump, after sinking out about 1000 ft, I gave up and flipped to my belly. I gunned the suit and was able to make it back up (off to the side of course) before breakoff. That kind of lift recovery really impressed me. Subsequent flocks, I led on my belly and that worked out much better. I was able to maintain a good speed (both forward and fall-rate) without getting too dirty, but on breakoff, I was able to punch it out and leave most others far below me. For a big-wing, hi-performance suit, I felt this was the easiest suit I've flown so far. I took to the suit immediately, unlike the much steeper learning curve I experienced with the SM1. Of course I'm the most experienced now than I've ever been so maybe that has something to do with it... So my only complaint/question: airlocks. If I understand correctly, this suit has airlocks. But I can't for the life of me figure out what they do. When flying dirty, the tail wing flutters quite a bit and even in "normal" flight, there is a slight tail wing oscillation. On my back, the tail material was not rigid and didn't seem to fly any different than my Acro. Also, there is no resistance when collapsing the wings. On my SM1, the airlocks are quite evident because I literally cannot squeeze the air out. I've heard similar reports about the Blade which is airlocked as well. I was expecting at least some "push back" from the pressurized, airlocked wings on the Ghost, but felt none. This also came into play at pull time. The giant wing on my SM1 is definitely in the way of my hackey, but due to the solid pressurization maintained by the airlock, it is very easy to bypass. But with the Ghost, the arm wing deflated as soon as I went to pull position and there was loose fabric in the way which wasn't as easy to get around. It only took an extra second or two, so I don't think this was life-threatening, but it was a consideration that makes this suit's minimum experience recommendation (50 flights) worth paying attention to. So what do the airlocks on the Ghost do? Incidentally, I don't really see this being a problem (even the tail flutter). The suit's performance spoke for itself and I still recommend everyone give it a try. Brian Drake

Despite the winds and tragic incident, it was a good boogie and I'm glad I went. Lots of fun flocking. And judging by the many Prodigy flights I saw, a healthy number of new birds have joined the flock. Here's a few pics Ori took of our last-jump-of-the-boogie (Sunday's sunset jump) tracking/birdeo/flock hybrid. The dive plan was for Kipp to ride my back, Jason and Ori to track with us, and Don and Mark to fly their suits in a dive to stay along until they tired of us and decided to fly off. The birdeo launched and flew fairly well, but I wasn't able to maintain a forward speed slow enough to allow the trackers to keep up so the whole group got kind of strung out. It's (the dive plan) a work in progress so we'll get it right eventually. We all pulled at 5k to afford us a little more canopy time to enjoy the breathtaking sunset. It was the perfect way to end the weekend. Brian Drake

No need to rub it in Chuck.... further reason for keeping my Acro...so I don't get cramps in my legs from never fully stretching them. Brian Drake

I'll be there. Brian Drake

Great vid. Good work. Brian Drake

Some pics from last weekend. Look at all that suit going to waste slowing up to fly with people! Brian Drake

On second thought, regardless of how many birds show, count me in. Brian Drake