SkymonkeyONE

Not currently, but as all of the ribs are of the same "thicker" fabric as the rest of the suit I don't see mylar as needed. I think they might have sewn one prototype with some sort of rubber matting as ribs, but I may be mistaken. At any rate, that prototype didn't inflate or fly any better than what they were already doing. About the ribs, every one of them is double stitched to the wings. Chuck

That was amazingly funny, Ted!

"Inland North", not at all accurate.

Concerning training: spend your block leave here in Florida, down in Empuriabrava Spain, Eloy Arizona, or some other warm place and knock it out! Once you figure those leave dates out, post them here and we can provide you with plenty of options. Chuck

Is that a technical term?

I will never, ever agree with the argument that you "need" to have a long-recovering canopy in order to learn to swoop. If you are fucking around and banging turns at random altitudes in hopes of "figuring it out" then yes, you are going to be worse off with short-arc canopy. BUT, if you are working out your turns in a proven, scientific manner (which I have reposted over and over and over), then there is no reason why you ought to concern yourself with changing canopies. You guys that say that we older swoopers "had it all wrong" under our highest-performance-available Monarchs, Sabres, Excalliburs, BlueTracs, etc tickle me. No, you are not going to go 400 feet+ under an original Sabre, but you can certainly master every one of the skills needed to help you survive under a smaller, MUCH faster, longer-recovering main. It's my opinion that at least 90 percent of the skydivers I have ever met don't have any business jumping anything smaller than a Sabre 135. If you can't learn how to perform high performance landings under what you are currently flying, you certainly don't have any business downsizing for more speed and perceived "safety." Seriously. Chuck

"K" stands for Kurz ("short" in german). K series Javs are shorter top to bottom, but taller off your back at the main container than previous versions of the same size. Smaller Javs with longer yokes (C's and D's) and properly sized canopies have no problem with flaps coming open. It's the larger rigs where things get "flappy." A-yoke rigs have very short tuck tabs and are prone to coming undone and flapping. While you might equate A-yokes with only very-small girl rigs, all of the Javelins with adjustable harnesses (mostly student Javelins) have those short A-yokes and they all flap. Also, All of the larger Javelins I have ever seen which have larger canopies in them are prone to main pin-cover flappage. I like Javs (I have owned three, all very-small and "flap free"), but every single student rig we had at Raeford had flappy riser covers and main pin covers. They were ordered specifically for the size mains and reserves which are in them, so yes, they should stayed closed. The short riser covers were the worst problem. Once again though, if you are getting a small rig, it's got at least a "C" yoke, and the canopies fit snugly, then you won't have any problems. Chuck

That is not entirely accurate.

Meh, you're the least of his flashpoints, Squeak. Edited to add: why did you notice that? Are you "stalking" him? Ciels- Michele Actually, Michele, alot of people do that and it creeps me out. Anyone else on here prioritize or catalog all your old PM's and dropzone.com e-mails? I know at least one person who does and that really creeps me out.

Sure, so long as you agree that you would have a easier time communicating in freefall if you didn't have a doghouse on your head. What you lose by wearing that full-face most of the time, you gain by not wearing dark glasses under there. What I might lose on some jumps by wearing my Gatorz, I gain by my ability to "talk" to people. It's a fair trade. FWIW, I do own one full-face helmet; an original Factory Diver. I will never, ever wear that thing with a shield on though. If I need O2 I will wear my Gentex and a proper mask. Chuck

Because you generally wear a full-face helmet and you can't see the guy screaming at you: "hey moron, you took the wrong grip" in his open face helmet. I agree with you there to a degree, but it also really helps that I am able to scream at someone in freefall and get my point across, particularly when I am gripped on them. Anyway, your argument is only partially relevant.

There have been a number of jumper/aircraft collisions over the years.

I read that forum about as much as I do SC, which is to say "incredibly rarely". I never post there.

New sponsor......? Positively not. I pay for wingsuits these days and I do not own a Tony/Jeff suit, at least not yet. I am actually quite the thorn in Tony's side. He hates it when I pick on him. Seriously though, I am just relaying what all of us here see every jumping day since Jeff is on almost every skydive I am on. His suit, while very large, is incredibly fast as well. Chuck

I have seen that suit in the sky a ton of times. It's called the Mach1. In my opinion, the thing that really differentiates the two are the legwing. The legwing on the Mach1 simply "works better" in all flight modes and it definitely does not flap at all when you are stretched out. For that matter the legwing on the Mach1, when flown dirty, simply blows down. It's funny, but it does not flap. Both are tremendously large suits. chuck

Because, typically, that's exactly what they are thinking. I used to be that guy, so I can positively say it's true.

This is being developed right now. I am unsure if it's going to end up being a database that you can access by hitting a link at the top of this forum or simply a big, locked, sticky post that will remain at the top and be edited as I receive notification from qualified individuals. Just a quick note about that. "Qualified" is a very nebulous term when it comes to instruction and coaching in disciplines which are not regulated by your nation's governing parachute organization. There are quite a few people out there who are fantastic teachers with other "real" ratings, but have never competed in canopy competition in any of the at least three sub-disciplines: swooping, classic accuracy, demonstration accuracy. I am not going to put CRW into the group right now as there is a separate forum for that. There are also people who are competitive pilots (all disciplines) who could not teach you how pick your nose even if they had an instruction manual. Being able to do something yourself does not mean you are able to articulate to others how you are able to do so. Likewise, just having an AFF rating and being able to swoop a beer line does not necessarily qualify you to teach anything other than basic and intermediate canopy skills. Further, there are at least two categories of people currently teaching: those who primarily travel and do seminars (like Brian Germain, Scott, and Jim) , and there are people who instruct and coach from their home dropzone training center ( like Dusty and Fruitcake at Eloy, Jimmy Tranter, myself at Z-hills, Sonic at The Ranch, Hans at The Farm, JC and Jonathan out west, etc.) Ultimately, one ought to be able to pick and choose the right instructor/coach for the mission. If you want to learn competition setups and course navigation, then you will want to choose a guy with competition experience who also chooses to train others. If you are just wanting to learn how to land your Sabre2 150 in a specific spot and stand it up every single jump, then you will have plenty of other options. Choose the right tool for the job. It's my intent to compile all those qualified, reputable sources and make that list available, by region, on this site. When we get this better thought out, I will start petitioning those of you out there who feel they are qualified and have a training sylabus in place to send me your info. Don't do that right now. Chuck Blue D-12501

I don't know why it would be a big deal. The GLX is just a larger version of the canopy that Jim jumped in the first world meet of canopy piloting.

There is nothing stating that you cannot wear your camera in the course. I use mine on every single AFF jump (with a .3 lens) and it gets everything I need for debriefing.

There are a bunch of pictures of the suit in the "tony suit development" thread

Since we were looking at pics, I thought I would post some of some of the other models. Compared are the Eagle and Nebula, and the Mach1 and the Aerobat. All of the pics I posted were taken in exactly the same spot at the same range. Clever people will be able to compare any suit previously posted. If not, then just ask and we will take comparison photos. Scotty Burns' V2 is available if anyone thinks the V1 photo is not telling enough. Likewise, we could easilly post pics of Scott Bland's GS-1 beside the Mach1 if anyone is curious. It was amazingly windy here today, so we wasted our time drinking beer and taking pictures. Chuck

I mistakenly deleted Mark's post when I went to respond. Anyway, yes, there is a cutaway system for the arms. It's maybe not shown clearly enough in the photos, but I will explain what you are looking at. The Arms are sewn to the body right down to the point where your hip juncture is. From there there are two modes of use. If you run your legstraps through the access hole in the side of the suit (which zippers shut when you are not using it), then you simply run the zipper slide to the top and hook it up, then zip it down. It's secured at the bottom, to the suit, with RSL shackles. There is a cloth loop on the RSL shackle that is also sewn through the zipper slide. To disconnect the wings you simply reach down and grab the loop and pull up. It unzips fully and disconnects the entire bottom portion of the wing, allowing you to reach up and grab your toggles. If you are using this "legstraps inside" method, the only gap between the wing and the suit on the front of the suit is the small space where your hip juncture/legstraps go around. The zipper is mated all the way up to that point. If you choose to jump your legstaps on the outside, then the only difference is that the top about six inches of the zipper is unmated from it's velcro sandwich and that portion of the zipper/wing attachment lies over your legstrap. Jeff says that the suit feels/flys the same whether his legstraps are inside or outside. I certainly can't notice any difference in his performance when I am flying beside him in either of my big suits. As some people will prefer to fly with their straps inside, the suit comes ready to fly either way. It's pretty clever. At least one of the pics I posted is a rear shot of the suit rigged both ways. One legstrap inside, the other outside. Chuck

That is correct. It's actually a big zipper that is attached on the body side by a velcro sandwich. No, it's never blown out.

Kris asked for photos, so here they are. We took side-by-side photos of Jeff (Heffro1) in his production Mach1 and me in both my V1 and my S6. Front and back. Also, pics of the Mach1 with legs in, and legs out. Chuck