SuperGirl

nice!! it will be a great opportunity for you to test your judging method on real jumps as well! go pops!

don't forget Paul and Elana, who were also getting similar great results, together with Scott, Justin, and whoever else was on that group (complemented by some really nice pictures from Skwrl!!) as for "almost" full jumps... Mike timed one of the jumps on Thu or Fri I think and we got 46 or 47 (can't remember) seconds worth of continuous foot dock. we got the foot dock right on the slide and only released because my dytter went off. Elana might have held an even longer one from what I've heard. Key point is that it's proof solid foot docks can be flown stable for a long time. We need to keep practicing and refine our technique. I sure know I'm doing some weird shit with my wings when I fly docked on that foot, and have discovered various little "tricks" in the process. Big shout to Mike for his backflying skills. Not only does he fly extremely smooth on his back, but he's also got great stamina! I know of very few people who can stay on their back jump after jump after jump after jump like that and not lose any of the flying quality by the end of the day. Mike also rocked at communicating with the rest of the group throughout the jump. As you'll see from some of my footage, he was constantly anticipating what his little movements might do to the formation and shouting things like "arch, arch, arch" before the rest of us even noticed the change in fallrate, which really helped keep the dock together. Take note, everyone! :D shhhh, duuude, what happens at zhills stays at zhills!! ah... there goes the whole what happens at zhills stays at zhills part... note to mike: gentle with the boobies, man! they're not the same as RW grippers, sheesh :D I guess I speak on everyone's behalf when I also extend a big thanks to you, Jarno, for all the hard work organizing, flying with and entertaining us all. I loved it when you grabbed my foot mid front to back transition and unzipped half my bootie, then didn't notice and tried to grab it again... also the double poop we held on that last jump was totally sweet big hug to all the organizers! Scott, Jarno, Monkey, Spot, Justin, Mike, whoever else was (officially or unofficially) getting groups flying together and sharing invaluable knowledge... I love you all! Same goes for Scotty and Kathy and all their ground efforts in making this such a successful event! It was one helluva fun boogie, I already can't wait for the next one! Also, anyone wearing camera who wanted to contribute to the boogie video and didn't already give me or Jarno their footage, send us a PM (or email, facebook message, whatever) and we'll tell you where you can upload your stuff so Jarno can edit a super cool event video like he did last year.

my hands were busy (drawing little picture on the board to describe your method) new goal for 2011: learn to type with my feet :) only then will I truly multitask!

Not sure ... the focus was on completing a diamond. I don't think we ever attempted the 6 way line... there was a lot of focus on the foot docks and trying to find that stable 4-way (or whatever) configuration that you could then build upon for bigger formations...

clicky - here are my notes from the meeting. Enjoy. There will soon be video to complement these. The only thing missing is the part where I spoke (obviously...)

From Mike's description it was easier to get this while backflying because he could see the people and adjust accordingly... so I'm not sure if extra points are necessary. I also agree with Justin that we should try our best not to overcomplicate things... the difference between a hand to leg dock while backflying or frontflying is not as big (imho) than the difference between hand to hand and hand to foot in terms of skill... Well, since we're all gonna be at flock n dock this weekend, we can discuss it further if people wish to do so... over a couple beers

excellent work, you guys!! and good job Mike for organizing and getting people to practice! can't wait to see people top that and complete a diamond or something Flock n Dock sounds more and more promising! edit: the challenge entry you submitted to FlockU has been approved and is now featured on the site: clicky

Only a few days left! wooohoooo!! it's docking time! now which one of you awesome flockers would be kind enough to give me a ride from Tampa on Tuesday around 5pm? pleaaase???

Lurch needs to win a free one of these, too... then we can see some bad ass comparison!!

game looks great! any chance for a demo of this early version at Flock n Dock?

Arriving Tuesday afternoon here. Can't wait to dock with everyone!!

headaches and blindness, huh? so what you're saying is that you're too ugly to look at...

So putting the legs on the ass at the right time, or giving them a brief stretch in a freefalling formations is worth concidering. And tall guys will probably become populair base-flyers for bigways (sorry mike). solid base flying skills will always be more important than height. you can put the tallest dude as base, but if the base flies all over the place, good luck having a nice formation! it's a process that takes time... a clean slate may not necessarily be needed. ultimately it is up to us as a community to figure out what we want as the best judging mechanism, and when we've figured that out ourselves, it will be easier to have the governing bodies accept that, too... Just because we're not trashing the current standard doesn't mean it can't evolve into a completely different type of system over the months/years. But first we need to fly more and test our various hypotheses. One of the biggest things we accomplished at this BOD meeting was eventually getting all parties to talk, exchange ideas, negotiate/collaborate, and find common goals to work towards. We still have a long way to go, but we're taking baby steps in the right direction.

not only can you suggest it, but as far as the videos go you *have* to paste a link to a video hosted elsewhere. You can only embed pictures. The rest is text and links. I'll have a little submission FAQ thingy up one of these days...

that is so wonderful! I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that you found it and are an honest and nice person willing to return it!! thank you thank you thank you. email is on the way...

Remember Justin's post in the thread about docking? Here at Flock University, we like to keep our word. Therefore we now made it official: The Flock University Docked Challenge! The rules are simple. Docks have to be real docks. No sneaky accidents. 1 point for hand to hand 2 points for hand to foot/ankle Go fly, dock, build lots of points, get creative and submit your formations! Let's see how far we can push the discipline this summer! Enjoy and fly safe!

Matt, thank you for all the brilliant pictures!! Lookin great! Can't wait to see your video...

we all got the hand docks working pretty well, so I will only refer to the foot docks. One foot dock... yea, we got it flying a looong time. 2 foot docks on the same person - in the pictures with Purple flying base, the docks were kept together for about a second if I recall correctly. On another flight with Scott Bland as base, I have my video showing at least 3 or 4 seconds of both me and Justin docked on his feet, although it was a bit wobbly and I was bending Scott's foot quite a bit. Note to all those attempting this in the near future: The faster forward you fly, the more stable the foot docks become. So keep those legs straight, as father Yuri often likes to preach us... I'll hopefully get to edit all that video soon and you guys can see all the docks from my perspective... still waiting to see if my hard drive turns up (someone grabbed the wrong "rums of PR" black/red bag from the packing area... with my stuff in it!!!! including a drive with all my footage of the first day. grr. luckily I backed up the rest of the footage elsewhere)

hehe... thanks to everyone who pushed back!! :D Justin and Scott did a great job organizing (as always)!

What an awesome boogie! one little thing though... Anybody happen to grab the wrong red/black Rums of PR bag?? I had mine lying somewhere in the packing area and when I landed from the last load it was gone... I'm assuming someone might have grabbed it by mistake. So if you have it... and there's a little red hard drive inside, a bunch of gopro mounts, sunscreen, I dunno what else... please please please let me know! I will give you a reward! I just want some files off that hard drive... like all my footage from the first day of the boogie, for example.

what's interesting is that 2 people on that line only had 30ish wingsuit jumps... the line didn't complete but with more practice and more forward speed we could do waaaay better than that. already looking forward to flock n dock to try some more! oh yea, and nice shots Skwrl!

niiiice! thanks for the update, Yeyo would that be possible? I know a bunch of us have been thinking about it... how would be go about getting back from the beach each time? Cause I surely agree!! beach loads after beach loads after beach loads! see ya real soon!

u talkin about the s-fly access?

6-way line launched together already docked out the back of the skyvan!! wheeeee!!! see who can hold on! (better yet, make it a high speed pass) or how about double docked rodeo exit out the skyvan!!! Purple Mike, what say you?

watch out, I might get there early and eat all the stroopwafels before anyone else gets there