VectorBoy

I bet they have improved the delaminating graphics at least.

Dude in retrospect I was sooooo lucky with my loaners. I never put anybody in a wingsuit that couldn't land their regular gear. If their legstraps didn't look clean I told them to come back when they had more jumps. I only really had one slight abrasion from an ass landing, accidental and one grass stain from a low swoop knee drag that was intentional ( the drag not the stain ) on two different suits. That shit that you went through with your loaners was evil. Way back in the day few BMIs had spare suits and relied on the factory demo box which was loaned to BMIs mainly for boogies. After the UPS uninsured shipping debacle BMIs were encouraged with discounts to maintain spare suits of their own. So back in 04~05, Jason my man, there is a possibility that you guys were the most "self equipped" instructors. I feel for some of my friends that have gathered a personal squadron of demo suits ranging from 5' to over 6' that are useless to them for anything but instruction. They have every right to charge a rental and maintenance fee. But I apologize this is off topic.

Sean did a few more flights with some other locals before heading off to see his family and I had to head off for some Rdub myself after the two. After the first flight he was very impressed and very pleased. I wanted to try the suit myself but no time. He'll be in Eloy next week so everybody can come up and flock with him there.

For his first CReW jump without having to land out and search for cut-away gear. Oh and something about a first jump on his own spanky new suit. I was too busy trying to tell the DZM what a sierra Hotel wingsuit instructor I am to get the full details of what the monkey was trying to say. Here is some grabs of the Purdy new PF. We'll post the exciting CReW pics later. That first shot is kinda how do you say swash~buckling.

My honest opinion is that Chuck ought to start a new rating system called "Wingsuit Instructor" that he involves other people in, and which is unrelated to any manufacturer. I agree, either that, or move to south Afrika.

Oh boy did I!! Close to a hundred overall. Most of them I still have video of. Did a handful of FFCs for Chuck and Lou at WFFC before the BMI program got steriods. Did a bunch for Matter when the M2 came to town. Rarely do them now as there is a good selection of respectable, mild mannered young instructors available. But if someone wanted one I would not hesitate.

Its not my intention to change anybodys opinion about unrated instructors. Just pointing out that an unrated mentor might be better than nothing at all. Although nothing at all seems to have done just fine also. I'm curious as to what negative consequences you are refering to in your post above. I've seen excellent flying from the self taught and what I couldn't regard as flying from rated , experienced bird-men. It comes down to the individual. But this is taking us back to dead-horse territory, years old and off topic which is: Would the unsupported BMI become a " betamax repair man"?

Jari, Kim came down for a big promotion. The lovely kim conducted the ground course for a bunch of us en-mass. We were weathered out that weekend so there were no first flights. Just about all my friends that had been sitting on their new suits for two weeks did not wait and did solos as soon as the weather cleared.I wanted to do things right and contacted a BMI and paid him two slots for the "in air evaluation" portion of my training. As we stepped off the Skyvan he went into a tight tumble and augered down at least a thousand feet. I flew the standard pattern in elation of my first flight, not even wondering if he would get back up to me. I still take a ribbing from friends about the money well spent on that one.

Actually I need more jumps on my new PF and I got a hankering to flock. I owe as much beer as he does for as few jumps I've managed to get on mine. Then there is the jet.

The days of letting a guy with over 500 jumps just read a one-page slip of paper on how to sew up a suit and then go give it hell without any supervision are over. That's irresponsible. Chuck don't fuck with me; I'm retired. Unless there has been some massive revision to the BM instruction literature that is exactly how its stated as recommended, its the minimum recommendation but its in there, page 4 paragraph 1. I think you wrote it. Q= Still irresponsible? Most people that taught themselves to fly a wingsuit around here did it on a borrowed classic. There were plenty of them unused hanging in team rooms and available in the ghetto. With minimal discusion and rarely any manual available. What is funny was that for some of those nuggets that wanted some mentoring, one on one not unlike the way the CReW dogs do it, it wasn't that easy. The witch hunt against unrated mentors a few years ago made it verboten for an experienced wingsuiter to mingle with someone who looked like they were about to go up for their first flight, unless of course the chosen mentor was rated. But unescorted they were fine based on the 500 jump rule above. I would agree that was irresponsible. That witch hunt is part of the whole BMI legacy. To me it falls under the shenanigans category. But this is off the topic of ( hypothetically ) what would become of the rating without the parent company and without any adaption by our governing body of system for wingsuit ratings?

Swing by Perris with it dude. I wanna flock.Everybody is getting some PF.

Actually Chuck I'm not predicting (and not hoping for that matter ) of the vaporization of bird man int. My post is labeled Hypothetical for this reason. And you are right I don't pretend to know any companies volume of sales, not even PFs. It just seems that out here Cali to BC everybody is getting some pF. They're like hot cakes. To be fair I just heard of a cluster of local orders for some bM suits ,actually the first in about a year that we've heard about, but that really means nothing either way. But I don't agree with your post , without the parent company as a reference wouldn't being a BMI be just like being a "factory certified delorean mechanic"?

This is not the ages old dead horse topic about who can and who can not instruct in wingsuits. This is a hypothetical question fresh to DZ.com although its been hashed around the bonfire at some wingsuit gatherings. What would happen to the BM instructor rating if Birdman international ceased to exist? The question is based on the western regions belief that overall PFs offer more performance and the sales ratio (locally) of 20:1 ,no exaggeration, to anything else. On the forums it appears that Tony suits are saturating the markets elsewhere. Offering several models with more coming all the time, some customization and unbelievable delivery times. Even without their wingsuit sales they have a respectable chunk of the regular skydiving clothing market, which is larger than the demand for wingsuits. The same could be said about Matter. Wingsuits being a smaller portion of their overall sales. Although all kinds of used suits trade hands, mostly older BM suits and the classifieds have all kinds of suits even the S3 that we all love. I rarely hear of new BM sales locally. The latest high end bm suit S3S has been around for over a year, despite its newer repackaging as the S6 with delaminating graphics. BMs biggest volume product seems to be instructors and with this of course comes more FFC even though these nuggets may not get a BM suit over something else offered on the market for whatever reason. Without BM what would happen to the BMI and its rating?

Did she say "spin me like a top"?

with your suit?

Thanks Zach! Those that didn't hear the story from Reggie thank you.

Thanks Scott. Were there a lot of wingsuits that got damaged or just a few on the ego-speed pass that got requested?

Forty minutes later, I went into the bathroom and started barfing. It made me laugh until I hurt, which made me barf again. Of course that made me laugh even harder, so I barfed some more!!!! A few minutes later my co-worker came in and puked his guts out, which made me laugh hysterically! Walt Carefull now, famous rockstars with their whole lives to live for died choking on their vomit, at least authorities think its was their vomit as in those days there was no way to fingerprint the vomit.

I've been asked to ask those that were lucky enough to have jumped the jet in a wingsuit at WFFC what was it like? Painful, soreness, damaging to muscles and joints? Any pointers for those that will be considering the opportunity if it comes up. I've spoken to Reggie about his experiences but this is for the benefit of those that were not there and some who may be lurking this forum and thinking of hopping down to Perris if the chance to jump the jet comes up.

I doubt it. I have never been given shit for owning a V2 or any other brand suit for that matter. Be safe Ed You are not the BMCI, just one of a few other BMCIs.

Once again Chuck is not the enemy, I bet he gets shit from other BMI/BMCI about his Vampire purchase. What makes you think other BMI's haven't tasted the sweetness of the awesome power of the vampire and want their very own? And I concur, Chuck is not the enemy. He shouldn't have to defend himself constantly on this forum. It gets old, many people agree. More than a few of use owe him for his generosity and this is no way to repay that. Instead of arguing Chuck and Lou should spend time preparing for the commercial release of the highly sought after Jet-man product. Everyone with a generous credit limit will get one. Those two will lend the credibility to the initial release of this magnitude. Face it there is a thick manual to be written. What some of my old military instructors would describe as " chock full of shit gobs of instruction with plenty of structure". We got the lead team on this one right here in our community, so back off and give them the space to do a good job for us once again.

Oh I did, completely, You are right on man. The old thread reference where Cloudi tears me a new one was the best most direct ass chewing I've ever experienced on DZ.com. I really love that girl. I hope she is still as passionate about wingsuiting today as years ago.

What happened to Eloy for you? The wrong brand of credit card flyer miles?

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1304750; Riggerrob predicting the future. Check his post in this tread.

I'll be around bro. Ike a BMI out of Elsinore gets a group together now and then, his info is on the roster.