aeroflyer

Congratulations! How much extra weight did you use, and do you have the glide ratio for your jump?

It's -4C out today on the ground

Hey, so It's my birthday tomorrow and I want to plan a fun jump, so I'm looking for suggestions! I've got about 150 jumps currently. Preferably something that wouldn't have been in any previous milestones, but I got away without doing some of those

This is really long.. has anyone read it?

So, the rigger said my lines would last longer if my Pilot had come with coated spectra. Does aerodyne do this? I didn't see that option when I bought it.

It's $28 now

I think 100 jumps is probably a good time to start. The real difference I think is remembering your leg straps underneath the pants. There are several failure modes for tracking suits that I have come across from other's experience. 1. Zipper blows out (in one or both legs), resulting in a hard turn left/right 2. Waist belt is too loose, pants shoot down and trail by your ankles, resulting in a head low position. So, that might be an idea of what to expect if something goes wrong. Also, on the very large tracking suits, like the Tube3 and the new Phoenix fly pants, there is a possibility of the butt area interfering with your pull. I've never had a problem, but the material does get quite close when inflated. Flying a tracking suit is a lot different than normal tracking I have found.. the same body position you use in normal tracking may not be the most efficient position for the tracking suit. Most suits perform better being flown head low.

Ok, thanks for the info. I'll probably take it in before the weekend so they have time to do it... yeah, there is probably a huge lineup from tandem rigging!

How long should it take to replace the lower brake line below the toggle loop (where the toggle goes through) I have one completely frayed strand in the spectra and possibly another on the way, so thought I'd get it done. Is this generally considered "lower brake line replacement", or does it usually include that toggle loop?

I fly my suit palms up most of the time, I find it goes a bit faster and pro-track shows slower fall-rates? Although a good tracker used to palms down could probably have the same performance. I tend to try to fly palms up, but if I get unstable I instinctly switch to palms down for some reason (first training?). With the Tube 3 that I jump, if it is yawing left and right, you're actually supposed to use your shoulders to correct the turn, not arms or legs. Also, if your suit is tending to go unstable and you're doing 180's (or 360's), it is probably because you are flying at too high an angle of attack (not head low enough). I realized today that it's essentially the same as an aircraft going into a spin - one side stalls prematurely, and you turn. Apparantly sweeping your arms high above your back to give more speed / lower angle of attack can actually increase the glide, at least with the Tube 3.

Sorry to hear about that man. Condolences. That was a pretty good video. I'd like to take a base course in a couple years

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately, my car is actually insured in the great white north So, I guess I'll read the fine print and make sure I get replacement cost. I've heard that one may also need to declare high-value items or have a separate rider for them, in case their are limits on the categories (ex sporting goods). Some policies cover off-premesis and some don't, as far as I know. That's a good point about hiring a 3rd party to complete the claim.. I've never heard of that before. Anyway, if anyone specifically has a recommendation for a company, let me know, otherwise I guess I'll go with whoever can meet the requirements and is reasonable.

I've been trying to decide on an insurance company for renters insurance, and keep coming across horror stories for basically all of them (State farm, farmers, geico, allstate, etc) not paying up when a claim is made. What's a good company to deal with? I can't use the army/navy/airforce affiliated company, unfortunately. edit: specifically, I am concerned with insuring my gear, for replacement cost.

From your website, I see that you're not going for glide ratio but horizontal speed. It's interesting. To get faster, I think you need to focus on minimizing drag and more weight. I think the phoenix-fly suit (I though that's in your photos) is pretty good for minimizing drag. You could look at this helmet or something similar to get rid of the energy-sapping vortices from a normal helmet: http://www.pressurized.at/products/supersonic-helmet/ Or try a full-face, I think those are pretty good at pushing the air out of the way. Also streamlining would help, getting rid of the camera on your helmet and any other blocky things. It would be good if tracking pants had a butt pillow like wingsuits, too.. The butt pillow on wingsuits reduces the low pressure zone behind the rig, where air goes from rig to nothing with that big jump over the bottom of the container. It's an aerodynamic inefficiency. If you're just going for all out horizontal speed and not sustained, you could try diving and then pulling out into a steep track.. I'm sure you've done this already. I would like to do something similar but try to get the best glide.. 1.7:1 should be achievable with a tracking suit and skill. the real barrier will be 2:1, which i think will require more technology in tracking suits.

I think like said earlier in the US you need to get your A license, but in Canada you get Solo supervision license after PFF (like AFF). Then you can move around Canadian DZ's till you get your A. If you're in Canada I would recommend NouvelAir in Montreal, they have the tunnel close by and run a really great program.. I did my pff there in 2009. Super experienced and great facilities. Also, there's some good aff programs in the US. Personally I would recommend Elsinore, I had a great time although I was never a student there. Nice people though.

As a past reader of wingsuit news, I think Jarno's behind it.. hahaha

Well, I didn't get to jump, my week was packed, but I'll probably be back in the summer and check it out with my own gear.

They are not quite as bad in Canada, but it still happens. I think we don't have punitive damages though, only actual damages or something to that effect, so it makes it a bit harder.

Let us know how hollister is, when I visited it was under new management and had very bad load organizing, the staff were nice and the owner seemed nice enough but overall unorganized.

In my experience over the years, most dropzones don't do a gear check, they just ask to see your reserve card. Whoever they is, they did not ask for anything. Bill was friendly when I got my tickets though, I didn't mind him.

More angles and better video on the guy who jumped 150 feet off a cliff into cardboard boxes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px3FCk3zjRw&annotation_id=annotation_467727&src_vid=n7PxuTk4vPs&feature=iv He is well on his way to getting the first CARDBOARD BASE number!

I did a few jump at Lodi, you just go up to the counter and ask for tickets, and off you go. No gear check or nothing. I think though, if you looked like you had no idea what you were doing, someone would intervene. There are some good people there, the planes I have no idea. Probably somewhat limited my willingness to do many jumps there. You can get 50 jumps in Elsinore a week if the military is there. Elsinore does training for the British Military, and when I was there they were turning loads like crazy for the Brits. Maybe see when they are doing that and plan accordingly. I had a great time at Elsinore, the bunkhouse is plain but very adequate, the people really friendly, the dropzone picturesque, the landing area large enough. I would highly recommend it over Lodi. They also have 20 and I think 50 jump packages which brings the price closer to $23/jump. There is also a cheap food stand with good pork sandwiches! Clear choice in my opinion. Also, i found Elsinore to be much nicer than perris, especially the bunkhouse. I also like the small dz feel versus perris.

That is very good indeed, in fact I believe the best trackers in the best tracking suits can only do 1.7 glide ratio, perhaps edging in on 2.0 soon. Honestly, anything above 1.1 in a non tracking suit is pretty much on fire. Although I don't have tons of jumps, I have found that the vertical speed e.g. protrack is a good indication of overall tracking performance. My best tracks have been around 70-80mph (TAS not SAS on protrack), and you can really see your angle when you fall through the cloud deck. I'm getting a tracking suit soon, so I'll let y'all know how it performs!!

Thanks for the advice, I will explore these issues with a lawyer if I am to become a dealer.

Appreciate the info, thanks! I might check out mile-hi, unfortunately I forgot my logbook and just have my proficiency cards (I have an APF and a CSPA card), but Isuppose I could give my home dz as a reference. No doubt I will be back again though with my own rig! I have heard it is quite hard to keep your main clean around here.. sandy perhaps?