Professor

Some people leave their cables hanging out on purpose, so that they can give them a tug during their final gear check, especially on the back. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Darren, is your suit red and white? could you post a better pic of it? Or just post the pic in your avatar larger? Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Make sure there really is too much. Your cable will push down into the handle, which will shorten it up a couple inches. If that makes it short enough, don't cut it. The extra lenght allows it to move with you when you're moving around in the plane and in the air, without coming undone. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Any pics of the setup? I guess the camera is mounted on an arm that comes off your helmet? With a little wider lens or mounted a little further away, that would make for some sick flocking footage. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Well, OK, I don't personally have in my hands a Vampire, but I've (mostly ) paid for one, which someone, somewhere, should eventually have. And then I'll have it. Eventually. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Yeah, I'd feel comfortable doing anything but hardcore sit flying in it, and after I've jumped it some, I may even feel comfortable doing that. I also have two wingsuits and 1000 jumps The tough life of a tandem video whore. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

No way. The handle isn't going to accidentally go into the pouch, unless your BOC is totally wore out. I had a hard time pushing it in there on purpose. Totally agreed. I really didn't like that handle. If I'd had a hackey on there, I wouldn't have replaced it. IMHO, sunrise needs to take a look at how others do freefly handles, and get theirs straightened out. I had a flim canister sitting around, from taking pics of the mod. I was thinking about putting the freefly handle in there, but it was way too big and difficult to pack. I'm a videographer, so film canisters are cheap and easy to come by. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Actually, it's slightly more difficult to grab, and, I'd think, a little less secure. After having done it, though, it really doesn't seem insecure at all. As long as your BOC pouch is OK, it seems fine. The reason for doing this is to keep from having your bridle wrap around your hackey handle and cause a PC in tow. This mod is standard on BASE equipment for the same reason. Since this rig is my primary wingsuit rig, and I have another rig which I use for freeflying, I decided to give it a try. There's a thread about the PC in tow mal around here somewhere. Take a look at it for a little more info. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

It doesn't seem to hard to find on the ground, but the grip is a little different. I couldn't jump it due to weather, but hopefully I'll have a report for you next week. One other important thing: I wrote sunrise rigging about doing this and didn't get a reply, so you can assume this isn't a manufacturer sanctioned mod, and if you do it, you'll probably die. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Hey all, my rigger and I did a floating handle mod this weekend. Here's some pics of what we did, any feedback would be appreciated. The container was a wings with a freefly handle. freefly_handle.jpg - the handle before modification handle_detachment.jpg - cutting the handle off handle_removed.jpg - the handle, removed. stitching_bottom.jpg - stitch down the tape, within the pc stitching_top.jpg - the other side of the stitching stitching_outside_apex - the stiching as seen from the outside. fuji_film_container - what I used for a handle handle_in_PC - it's in there, not attached to anything The process was pretty easy, just detach the handle, untie and cut the tape in half, pull the tape inside the pc, and stitch it down, making sure to keep the tape position the same, so you don't artificially shrink your kill line. Then drop a film container in there and pack it up. It actually feels more secure then I expected, too. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Cleaning. It's all about sanitization. Make sure everything that comes in contact with your beer has been sanitized. Everything. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Cool. At this rate, they'll be on the SG4 by the time my vampire gets here Trust me, more bulk in his shirt is not what he needs He could use more bulk in his pants. We'll try to do that. Have you ever flocked with this thing? How did it work? Bob averaged 70 mph in it, so it'll obviously fall fast, but how is it flying with small BM suits? Maybe we can be the first people in the US to flock in a sugar glider. Anyway, the suit fit me good and Bob better, so it wasn't wasted sending it to us. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

So then what was "It's all you dude, you go ahead. I don't think I'm going to jump it." No, your ass is quite skinny. "Do you see how skinny my waste is and how big my belly is?" Anyway, it's not a very 'needy' suit in the air. If you lived through the S3, this thing will be a piece of cake. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Cool. Is the SG2 just a manufacturing upgrade, or a design upgrade also? It'd be nice to see the suit made from the same heavy duty ZP that the BM suits are made from, and maybe some nice neoprene for the back, like an SFly. And the zippers and handle thing, too. As for video, I've got some great vid of the ground around Salado, TX, if you'd be interested. Well over 2 minutes of it, actually. Hopefully the weather and AFF/Tandem students will hold off this weekend and we can get a few more jumps and some flocking on that baby. And some pictures. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

We used to jump with a doctor who's last name was Coffin. Actually, it may have been spelled Coughin, which is almost as funny. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Yeah Paul, Kathy told me 4 weeks from last monday, or 3 weeks from today, so mid April sounds about right. Based on some other stuff she told me, though, I wouldn't be surprised if that date slipped too, though. As for the Sugar Glider, interesting suit. Voodew was scared to jump it , so I had too, and now he wants to. My first impression of the thing wasn't very good. I don't feel it holds up to the construction standards set by other manufacturers, and some obvious things are missing, like snaps to hold up the leg wing, and any logical place to stow the excess cutaway cable. The suit was easy enough to rig up, but I'd like to see the back zippers mounted inward, alla the SFly, for easier access. The only truly scary thing about the suit was that slightly small rigs seem to have a chance of the reserve and cutaway handles 'submarining' into the suit. This happened to Voodew's rig when both he and I put it on. It didn't seem to be a problem with Bob or I's larger rigs. Also, the zippers were crap. On to flight. This suit is simply amazing to fly. On my one jump with it, I had my slowest free fall speed ever, 42 mph! I jumped out, opened up the wings and it felt like I stopped . The rest of the flight was the sensation of just cruising along. Forward speed was not too bad. I was able to keep up with Bob in his GTI, while falling 20 mph slower than him. Physical strain is considerably less than in an S3. Imagine just holding your arms straight out for a couple minutes, and that's about it, except in the front of your shoulders, not the top. The suit seems pretty stable, definitely less demanding technically than an S3, but a little less stable than the GTI. Anyone comfortable with their GTI will be fine in a Sugar Glider. Amazingly, the wings don't obstruct the pull at all. I was able to access my hackey easily on the ground. In the air, the rear deflector got in my way a little, but nothing bad. Body position on the suit seems to be very forgiving and intrinsic, you pretty much just stick everything out. The suit feels very 'rigid' in flight, and you can really feel all the wing area. Playing with body positions (dearching, shoulder rolling, etc) seemed to have little effect on flight performance. I really had the sensation of being 'inside' the wing, instead of having wings attached to me. Overall, very fun suit to fly, with great potential. Easy to manage in the air, and easy to fly. If I had to land a wingsuit, this would be the one I chose. This is a great suit for just bebopping around in the clouds. Materials and manufacturing could use cleaning up, though, but this may be because the suit I have is a little 'pre release'. Also, the submarining handle issue really needs to be fixed. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

I've noticed the same thing. I think that it's due to the anhedral of the canopy decreasing when you loosen the chest strap, which makes the canopy seem to not 'want' to turn as much. I notice better bottom end performance, as well. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

No, I think they really are disagreeing. Chuck's view seems to be that no one should be giving wingsuit instruction to jumpers with less than 500 jumps unless they are a BMI. Voodew, and the USPA, seem to think otherwise. Other than that, everything you said is pretty much right on. Liability and risk are on the head of the instructor who doesn't meet the letter of the manufacturer's recommendations. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

One of the casualties of Tom's edit was Glen saying that I couldn't agree more. Wingsuiting IRL is literally 'all love'. All the people who do it love it, and love jumping with each other. These sorts of fights just aren't present when there's actual jumping to be done. Look at who's in this thread. With the exception of "Diablopilot vs. Vectorboy", all the divisions are regional, and mostly 'large, densely populated DZ' vs. 'small, out in the sticks DZ' arguments. It's "You greed prick/You ignorant hick" style fights that are going on. This sort of stuff could be applied to skydiving in general, actually. IRL, this crap doesn't happen. After a few jumps, the details of a training program used by someone 1000 miles away just doesn't seem to matter. So, Matt, don't worry. This thread's contents aren't indicative of where wingsuiting is going, in the real world. In the real world, we're all just happy to have someone to flock with. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

None. But I know plenty of people who do mostly or exclusively paying jumps, and I know people who live off the sport. I'm sure you do too. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

And that's the point. Ed may be a shining example of "doing it for the love", but not everybody is. Many are just doing it for the money. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Ed, you can't seriously tell me Dennis Miller is having a hard time mustering up an ego Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Yeah, sunday looks like the best bet. Hope to see you then. If not, then we'll see you in 2 weeks. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Well, we got four jumps in today, 3 WS, and no GPS was needed. Hopefully tomorrow will be as kind to us. I hope to see some of you there. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Hey man, I got that spectre 170 specifically because it would be good for pick up CRW. And wingsuit. But mostly CRW. Ted Like a giddy school girl.