bdrake529

I would have been game but for the whole broken leg thing.... Brian Drake

So that explains why my Troll is over a month late (past the upper end of the estimated delivery time)! Stane, get back to work! -written in good humor, though still impatient. Brian Drake

Do you have any pictures of it you can post? I'm curious to see it. Brian Drake

Not sure if this is the right forum to post this in. Apologies if it isn't. Also, I did a search for iWalkFree and didn't get any results so I apologize also if this is a duplicate thread. I broke my ankle (tib and fib, just above the joint) at the end of August while BASE jumping. It's interesting that once you're on crutches and have a cast, it's like having a sign that says "please, come tell me your broken bone stories". Hanging out with parachutists of various stripes, I was amazed to learn how very common this injury is. Since lower leg injuries are common in our sport, I thought I'd do a public service and let everyone know about the iWalkFree, the hands-free crutch: http://www.iwalk-free.com Due to the complexity of my injury (and the subsequent surgery), I've been condemned to 3 months in a non-weight bearing cast. After 7 weeks of languishing on crutches, I finally got this and it's changed my life. I highly recommend it to anyone with a lower-leg injury as it is vastly superior to crutches. I got it last Monday and by Thursday, I was playing tennis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpWQNryAQLk Ok, not playing great tennis, but it felt great to be somewhat active again. I talked to the inventor of this device and he's been struggling to get enough exposure for the device. So I thought I'd post here to help him out, and to help out any fellow jumpers who have been condemned to crutches for any length of time. Obviously the best advice is to avoid breaking your leg. But if that's not feasible for you, iWalkFree is the only way to go! Blue skies, Brian Drake

And another question: The "belly cam strap openings" option - is there any loss of pressurization/performance by having these put in? I love the belly cam perspective on proxy flying videos so definitely would like to have them as a future option, but not if there's any significant tradeoff in performance. Brian Drake

Another question: I've only briefly seen a Stealth in person (when you sent one out to Jeb to try) and neglected to inspect the cutaway system. Basically it allows you to put the suit on and off a rig as easily as a Tony Suit, but cuts away like a Phoenix-Fly/Birdman etc..., correct? Is this a last minute production model addition or were some of the V3 protos equipped with this system? In other words, has this cutaway system been thoroughly tested on the V3 in the BASE environment? If so, is there any difference from the "old" style in terms of performance/inflation/ease of use? With 6-10 weeks delivery time, I'm rationalizing to myself that an impulse order today is really an exercise in delayed gratification... Damn, this really is worse than crack. Brian Drake

Good, those look cool. Question, on the order form, the "3. Parapack" color option is shown to apply to the leading edge, the rear leg wing arrows, AND two diagonal stripes (fairly thick) on the front leg. But in your picture you have orange for the first two, but black where those diagonal stripes would be. Is this also a change from the proto to production? I'm not sure which I would prefer (stripes being body color and thus not visible, or the highlight color of the other parapack). I'm a black and orange guy myself so I'd like mine made like the one you posted (minus the fangs), though I'd be open to the orange continuing on the front leg in those stripes. Hm.... I guess I'd be happy either way. Thanks, Brian Drake

Damn, that looks great! Can't wait (but will have to) until mine arrives (putting in an order shortly). Though I must say, as a male wingsuiter, I'm not sure the idea of my crotch having fangs is desirable, or even makes sense. Brian Drake

Ouch! Brian Drake

Injury is just a state of mind... but yeah, when my leg heals and I can get back to jumping off stuff. See you next month! This cripple's gonna be there. You don't need landing gear to fly! Brian Drake

Acro, SM1, and hopefully a V3 soon(-ish). Brian Drake

I thought Patrick and Loic have both done this (fly back into a plane with a wingsuit). I believe I have seen video of both (respectively) but can't remember where I found that footage. Since everyone remembers the Patrick clip, I know that happened but maybe I'm misremembering the same thing by Loic. Brian Drake

I wouldn't claim "deadly", but I've personally witnessed a really scary flat-spin that caused me to think for a second that my buddy might go in. He only had a few wingsuit jumps, but wanted to try barrel rolls (despite my disclaimer that he should wait a bit). He was jumping a classic at the time, but even then, I told him the biggest thing about the barrel roll is keeping the leg wing collapsed. Sure enough, he didn't collapse it and it caused him to spin while on his back. At first I thought he'd just spin a 180, or maybe a 360 before recovering (as I had done when first learning barrel rolls). But to my shock, he kept spinning, and spinning, and his spins began to accelerate. At this point, I went into almost a head down dive (to his side) to keep up with him since he was falling like a rock. He looked like a turtle stuck on his back and he just kept spinning and spinning. What stood out the most to me though was that I could see him trying to pull his arms and legs in (I had taught him to use the "ball up" recovery method) but it looked like he was having a hard time due to centrifugal force. He kept struggling and eventually was able to pull up into a ball which allowed him to flip to his belly and recover flight. Upon checking my altimeter I realized that we had just burnt up about 4k. Fortunately the spin started at about 10k, so we had plenty of alt. But if he had experienced that problem at pull time, it may have been "deadly". Neither he or I flew video at the time, so obviously I'm making this up and it never happened... But it made me wary enough that I always warn new pilots of the potential for flat spins. And it was scary enough for my friend that he wouldn't even attempt barrel rolls for another 40-50 wingsuit flights. I've had plenty of "flat spins" myself, when I'm trying some acrobatic move (especially with bigger winged suits), but they're always really easy to recover from and at most I get one or two unwanted revolutions before I fly my way out. So perhaps "flat spins" are only dangerous for very new pilots since it seems like once you're comfortable with the suit, it's not rocket science to recover instability. Brian Drake

I find it odd how this "tradition" has started even though it's a mistake and reveals a confusion as to the true traditions of this board. As a BMCI, Scott teaches a lot of first flight courses and as an active member of this board, he regularly announces to the rest of us when a new bird has joined the flock by posting shots of himself standing next to the first flight student. By and by, this style of shot (teacher with new wingsuit student) became known as a "Campos(TM)". Scott never posted pictures of himself next to a person with a newly arrived wingsuit so there's no basis for requiring Scott to be in these types of shots. Yet those who don't pay attention to details (a large number of those on this board, apparently) somehow decided, despite lack of any evidence, that a "Campos(TM)" meant a picture of a newly arrived suit including Scott. And since, as noted above, a genuine "Campos(TM)" shot only occurs in real life when Scott teaches a first flight course, Photoshop has been required to add Mr. Campos to these "my wingsuit just arrived" shots. Ironically, in trying to "preserve" this mistaken tradition, the actual tradition of requiring new suit shots to be taken at the office (and including at least one co-worker with a "WTF?!" look on their face in the background) has been slowly abandoned. So get with it people! There are 2 DISTINCT traditions that need to be preserved here: 1. Any shot of a first flight student must include Scott Campos' likeness in some form. 2. When you order a new wingsuit, you MUST have it shipped to your office and you MUST try it on during working hours and post a picture of the ritual. Is it really that hard a thing to keep these important things clear? ...just cranky that I'm in the office today working instead of outside jumping. Brian Drake

I second that. This is the only DZ.com forum I check so I had no idea of the contest until it was mentioned here. Scotty is an active member of our community and the picture is wingsuit related. What's the problem? I just voted for you Scotty. Great picture. Good luck with the contest. It looks like you're currently in a 3-way tie. Brian Drake

If you're in the US, Morpheus is the dealer for Phoenix Fly. When myself and 2 other friends all ordered our Acros in the same order in March 07, there was a 12% group discount. I'd check with Morpheus http://www.baserigs.com to see if they still have the same deal. Brian Drake

I've just sent my registration for this year's Moab boogie, who else is flying wingsuits there? I'll be there all day Fri and Sat, and most of Sun. Here's a novel idea, a list! (hey, if you can't beat em....) 1. Brian 2. Kipp 3. ... Brian Drake

But Spot, M-F that IS wingsuiting for most of us. Please don't deprive us of that! As for your post...uh "Spot" on.(?) Brian Drake

Why? Because the FAI says so? The bottom line is that a world record means an achievement unique in the world. If you actually did run a 100m in 5 seconds, and no one in history has done that, you've set a world record, whether anyone saw you or not and whether anyone believes you or not. What we're really discussing is not about setting a world record, but in being recognized for that accomplishment. Some of us consider the personal (and communal) knowledge of doing something never before done to be reward enough. Others need a pat on the head from people they've probably never met before (I've certainly never met anyone in the FAI) who have declared themselves "the authorities". Oh horrors, without "authorities", people would run around fraudulently claiming world records left and right (as you sarcastically implied by your 100m claim). Uh... so what? For one, frauds don't have the personal satisfaction of accomplishing what they claim (since they know it is a lie). As far as impressing others. Gullible people will believe anyone and the rest of us will require some form of evidence. If the evidence holds up, I'll give that person congratulations for what they've claimed to do. The fact that the wingsuiting community is as tight as it is (probably 1-2 degrees of separation), means we can quickly evaluate the validity of formation record claims. No, I'm not talking about rule by consensus, I'm merely referring to the fact that if anyone claims they've been in anything bigger than a perfect 16-way, enough people here know enough people to know if such an event did or did not take place (which would confirm any presented photo/video evidence or expose it as digital fraud). Brian Drake

Provide evidence (such as Avery did), and I'll believe you. Brian Drake

Is there evidence that anyone in the world has flown a bigger, slot perfect formation than the one you participated in at Lodi? If not, congratulations, you're a world record holder. Or does that only count if I'm from a governing body? What difference does it make? Feel good that you're part of a group that has done something that no one else in the world has done to date. Savor that feeling quickly though since I have a feeling the birds in MA will be stepping it up this weekend (unless of course, you're going to be in MA too). Brian Drake

Wow. This is DZ.com and the wingsuit forum in particular, so I should have expected this. But my simple question was never intended to start such a ruckus. Scott, I think you're getting hung up on semantics ("record" vs "largest flock"). I couldn't care less about FAI or some organizing body. What is the biggest, slot specific flock to date...period? Seems like the Lodi 16-way is it (for now). Much respect to those involved. That flock's a thing of beauty. And I know we're all indoctrinated since birth to only think what those in "authority" tell us to think, but come on... are you telling me that if we put a 71-way together (slot perfect), that it won't be a "record" since the FAI or some other arbitrary "authority" won't recognize it? The wingsuiting community will reject its historical significance since some group of bureaucrats won't answer our phone calls? I don't think there is anyone who seriously disagrees that there is room for improvement in flying performance on flocks. There's a small group of us at Elsinore that share this sentiment and do a "maxed out" flock whenever we get the chance. But when you're dealing with mixed experience levels (and body types/suits), it's just an accepted fact that you've got to find a middle ground. Isn't that the point of these invitationals? We'll only push the envelope when it's a select group. Any "come one, come all" event will have to compromise quality. For the record, I think Scott is a fun guy and I think his debriefs are fair and not berating. And bickering amongst the groups aside, I highly respect both Scott and Jeff and I'm really looking forward to both events this November. In the words of that great philosopher and humanitarian... "can't we all just get along?" Brian Drake

Thanks Matt. I think it is indeed the same event Sara was referring to because she mentioned Loic being there (and her flying next to him, which you can see in the photo). Looking at that photo, I would personally only consider Scott, Chuck, Ed, Loic, and Ian to be "in their slots" by the standard of that 16-way I've seen. But that's just me. Brian Drake

With the upcoming "world record" at Elsinore and the subsequent "big way" event at Eloy increasingly topics of discussion, one issue I've not seen a clear answer on is: What is the current record? From what I understand, the FAI has not yet certified any record, so "officially", there's nothing to beat (and will the FAI even certify what we do in November?). But among the community, is there a consensus on what the current top flock is? I've heard of gigantic zoo loads in the 50s or 60s, but I'm under the impression that the 2 events in November will be stressing quality, not quantity. Declared slots, judged on proximity, completed formation or the load doesn't count. So by stricter criteria, what's the current boast? I've seen pictures of a perfect 16-way diamond. Was there also a perfect 25-way recently? Sara told me she was in a slot-perfect 35-way about 5 years ago in Florida. Anyone have details on this? Thanks in advance, Brian Brian Drake

The past two weekends, Sara (sans her butterfly suit) was out at Skydive Elsinore qualifying people for the upcoming World Record attempt. Here's the footage: Low quality (though there's a link on this page to "View in High Quality" which is better) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWiFPLzC9jo High quality http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=7192 Brian Drake