Skwrl

I demo'ed a Spectre 190 (six jumps), and I ended up buying a Storm 190 (now about 35 jumps). (I wanted a seven cell that would be less prone to linetwists given that I pretty much wingsuit exclusively.) Both opened nicely and on heading. I found the flare on the Storm to be stonger/more effective than the Spectre. The Spectre seemed to have a steeper glide than the Storm. The Storm seemed more responsive on turn/toggle inputs. Your results may vary. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Spot, I guess the question I have in response to your question is, "say something to whom?". If you mean, "say something to the jumper", then my reaction is everyone, not just S&TAs, should say something when they see someone behaving in an unsafe manner. Here's why: Call the unsafe jumper Al, and the observer Bob. It's possible that no one has ever told the Al that information before. Al might not know. Every moment in our sport can be a moment to learn. (I realize that is not your hypothetical.) Alternatively, if Bob told Al before, it can't hurt for Bob to say it again. Al might simply think Bob is being overly protective, and thus Al might be discounting what Bob has to say. Sometimes, however, people have to hear warnings several times before they click. Also, if other people hear Bob tactfully saying something to the effect of, "You freefly in that rig? Don't you worry about it not being freefly friendly?", others at the DZ might agree with Bob. If Al just thought Bob was a safety nut before, Al might rethink his position if others agree with Bob. Worse case? Bob sounds like a little bit of a nag. Big deal. Best case? Bob saved Al's (and potentially others') lives. (I know if I was in the free fly group that followed Al's free fly group, I wouldn't suddenly want to find myself on top of a surprise open canopy.) Personally, I consider that I have a moral obligation to say something when I see unsafe activity - even to those who know far more than I do. Skwrl's Third Law: Speak truth to power - no reason why that's any different here than it is elsewhere in life. Sometimes, I rationalize my feeling that we should all look out for each other as "skydivers are like a large dysfunctional family of mine." Some of my best friends skydive. Who would I get drunk with if they were gone? Other times, it's enlightened self-interest - every injury or death casts a bad light on our sport, and people doing something stupid might hurt someone I love (i.e., me). So, I vote for "Say something, always, wherever." If you mean "talk to the DZO or the local S&TA", my thinking becomes a lot more nuanced... Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Afraid of it? I love my reserve so much that I whip it out as often as I can. (3 cutaways in ~350 jumps) Seriously, though - get over your fear. I don't want to say "it's irrational", because if you've never jumped it before, yes, I could see how you might wonder "what if someone secretly replaced it with an anvil?". But remember - it was packed by an FAA certified rigger who really doesn't want you to die (at least as a result of his or her work). I propose that you should think of your reserve as your bestest childhood friend ever whom you can't wait so see, so that when your main is a mess you're not going to hestitate for a moment. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Of course, you are right on both counts. The "nobody watches" slashie-style comment was mostly self-deprecationg humor (or a bad attempt at it). I am pretty sure they would be watched if they were, you know, good. Anyway, to get back on topic, I have been amazed at how free the design left my arms. I have since had a minor modification to the wing that makes it a bit tighter, but generally speaking I can get my arms where they need to be when they need to be there. Your mileage may vary, but I think the Tonysuit team came up with a really nice solution to the problem. On the other hand, I can no longer use my Tonysuit in my bondage fantasies, so there are trade offs. /Crap. That last bit was supposed to be inner monologue. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Two line twists in an easy to reach Tonysuit wingsuit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxgDcCemkHw (First one at 1:32, the second one at 4:50.) Works as advertised, arms immediately free. /Further evidence no one watches my videos but the people in them. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Anyone looking to split a room? Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

But whackadoos are soooo much fun to taunt and I never go to Speaker's Corner... Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Probably less about the need for a "more secure chin strap" (as far as I can tell my full face fits more snugly to my head than my camera helmet) and more about the ability to cutaway as may be needed in the event of a camera/line entanglement. I also note this product http://www.boneheadcomposites.com/mantle.htm may be what you are describing. Personally, I like the feel of the wind on my face. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

No, Scotty means Andreea, a wingsuiter from Skydive Orange in Virginia, who posts under the username SuperGirl. If there was any single person who rallied to get the dropzone.com community to support Scotty's submission to the USA Today photo shoot contest, it's her. To answer Scotty's poll, I'd say pretty damn Super. Her, her, etc. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

I won't be able to make it, but I'm sure it will be really great event to honor a guy who put a tremendous amout of effort into educating new (and not so new) skydivers. Is there any way that dropzoners can donate to the event? Any sort of memorial fund or anything like that? Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

I haven't found a bitorrent for it to date. However, it can be downloaded for $1.99 from iTunes (do a search in the TV area for "The Works Skydiving" and it will show up). And if you were getting wasted Puerto Rican-style, that explains why you're just posting about it now! (Man, you guys know how to throw a kick ass party.) Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Thanks, but I think the dimensions on an FF2 are a little different than an FFX (but I'm not sure). Does anyone know whether that's the case? Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Has anyone been able to mount a CX7 inside a 2kcomposites FFX? (Note: not an FF2 or FF3; I know it fits in an FF3.) Searches for "FFX and CX7" (and variants) yielded no result. Thanks. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

By "tunnel right there" you mean after about a 40 minute drive, right? Pepperell is closer to the tunnel (10 mins) and has an Otter. However the weather in both places (Pepperell and Orange) will be crappy this weekend, it appears. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

The reason why I didn't add video is there wasn't much to see. The tail of the plane, followed by a bootie, followed by a couple of seconds of the camera re-setting itself...

...and I included the shot of you trying to burble me on the next jump... Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

At 1:40 in the following video you can see mine in action. http://vimeo.com/1796807 I love the thing. I've emailed Bill Booth about it three times (once for each cutaway). I think it's absolutely brilliant. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Mike! Please! Think of the kittens! Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

I made this compilation of a few shots I got this summer. http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=7278 (It's being posted to Vimeo and YouTube as well, but they are both taking their time to upload and/or clear the file.) Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

No, Steve. As a cartoon, he would have had an anvil as a main. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

You're correct on all of that. Clearly, they made a few mistakes - the position of the main/reserve was one my seven year old daughter caught. Having said that, though, I hope you'll admit that, when you consider the audience is whuffos, it was an incredibly positive message. There wasn't any "these people are death seeking mo-rons!!1!" or "they must all be idiots to jump out of a perfectly good..." It was pretty much a "skydiving is a fun, interesting thing" message. I'm gonna say whoo and/or hoo to that. As my non-skydiving spouse said, the whole piece makes us, as a community, seem much more credible than any piece we've seen in the general press in a long while. Technical errors are going to be found in any general interest show. I'm sure the show on beer made hop aficionados shake their little fists at the screen and scream "but chinook hops are used post-fermentation, not pre-!!!. Those idiots!!!" I propose we smile and say "cool". Or even "could have been better, but damn, that was fun."

Flock U at Pepperell, and somwhere in Florida, I believe. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

It's a show called "The Works." A lot of it was filmed with Flock University (the wingsuit school) in early June. It's not so much about "why people skydive, those wacky guys..." as much of a "how skydiving works and where is it going." Expect them to get some of the details not 100% right (we tried, but there are limits on our ability to get them to comprehend a lot - but they should be way better than the typical whuffo story...). Also, expect to see some really cool footage shot from a 206 with the host in the door of an Otter (while flying), as well as some nice flocking we did which was filmed by Scotty Burns of sky2productions. The wingsuit footage was filmed at Skydive Pepperell in Massachusetts, which is where Flock U is currently operating out of. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

That was sort of an inside joke. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

It's not the license that matters - it's the way the policy questionnaires ask questions. In other words, they will ask "do you skydive/scuba, etc.?" They don't say "do you have your skydiving license?" or "are you one of those wacky free-fliers or a boring RW person?” (I kid, I kid…) If you are mid AFF, you skydive. Period. If you say no, you risk cancellation of your policy and/or denial of payment to your beneficiaries. Same is true for a tandem. You skydive if it asks the question "have you skydived?". You don't need to be driving the bus for that one... (As an aside, you might be able to get a policy rider that says that you won't skydive again and/or if you die from skydiving or aviation accidents, your beneficiaries will not recover under the policy. But that's not your goal, I am guessing.) If you have taken an FJC (pretty much indicating you're going to skydive), and you say "no", I suspect that a smart insurance defense lawyer will argue that you materially mis-stated information (or failed to include material information in your application), and you end up in the same result - no recovery for your beneficiaries. In short - don't play games. Play it straight and consider the costs of insurance to be part of the cost of skydiving. Personally, I got my plan long before (I mean 5 years) I started to skydive. I got a decent rate - but actually not the best rate possible, because I was heavier back then (never exercised) and smoked cigars from time to time. I'm in much better shape now and don't smoke, so all things being equal I could have my rate revisited, but then I would have to disclose that I, you know, jump out of aeroplanes. So I stick with the policy I got as a fatty semi-smoker. /a lawyer //not an insurance lawyer ///definitely not your lawyer. Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork