Today at the USPA board meeting in Dallas, Texas, the Competition Committee put a motion to the full board to recognize "Wingsuit Largest Formation" as a state and national record category. The full board just unanimously voted YES on this motion.
What does this mean?
1. We can submit state and national record claims in the United States for largest wingsuit formation as of today.
2. We have an officially recognized judging standard for wingsuit formation skydiving in the United States
3. At the next IPC meeting (January 2010), the USPA delegate will inform the IPC that the USPA is now recognizing this category of record, and place it on the agenda for the FOLLOWING YEAR (2011) for international acceptance.
4. On May 1, 2010 the next printed version of the USPA Skydiver's Competition Manual will come out. It will contain the new wingsuit largest formation category and standards.
5. The accepted materials and grid will be made publicly available through USPA, in some form, asap.
I'm at the airport right now, on my way home after a long weekend of amazing opportunities at the Board meeting in Dallas. Tomorrow I will post even more information. For now, here is the language I submitted that was accepted:
Proposed amendment to Section 12 of the Skydiver’s Competition Manual 11 July 2009 Taya Weiss USPA Board Meeting, Dallas
12-3.2 General
E. Records are categorized as follows:
Add:
21. Wingsuit formation skydiving, largest formation
a. Definition: A minimum of 4 Wingsuit fliers in proximate formation, without grips b. Completion is judged using a scalable grid of adjacent red and black diamonds. Each diamond has four 90-degree angles. Diamond sides overlap by 13.5% to allow each participant an additional margin of acceptable flying area. The grid is overlaid digitally on a still photograph of the formation to determine relativity of all fliers and completion of the formation c. Judges will place the grid over the formation in a way that attempts to fit all participants within their grid space (“best fit” method) d. The “best fit” indicates that if there is a way all participants can fit within their grid spaces, the grid will be placed in that orientation. e. To be judged successfully within their grid space, some part of the Wingsuit flier must be visible inside a line delineating their space f. The grid line is “out of bounds”
12-3.3 Procedures
Add:
D. Winguit formation claims shall submit for judging, in addition to the above:
a. A diagram showing the intended formation b. One still photograph of the completed formation with all fliers visible c. One video perspective of the jump from exit to breakoff to show continuity d. The grid will be available to download from the USPA website
Re: [Taz] USPA Recognizes Wingsuit Record Category
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First off, congratulations to all who worked on this. It's a monumental achievement.
That being said...I'm a little surprised about the specifics. Given the 40-some-odd pages of discussion about the 71-way in Elsinore (and the numerous 'The Emperor has no clothes' comments), I'm wondering about this grid thing. I recall there being numerous issues with the judging of the record, supposedly given the distortion of perspective when working with wide-angle lenses, etc. I eventually stopped following that thread after coming to the conclusion that I was never going to see a photo with the grid overlay that would prove that it was 'done.'
So apologies for interrupting the celebration, but I think this bears some discussion. Was the perspective/grid issue from the Elsinore 71-way ever resolved? If it wasn't, are we not putting the cart far ahead of the horse here (especially since larger formations will presumably involve even more distorted photographic perspective, given their massive scale)?
Will these standards ever be able to be upheld? Or will the next record attempt again result in a multi-page thread of excuses from the organizers?
Re: [LloydDobbler] USPA Recognizes Wingsuit Record Category
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In consultation with the USPA Competition Committee in Dallas this past weekend, I wrote the language that will go into the next Skydiver's Competition Manual (SCM). The USPA grid was designed by Jeff Nebelkopf with extensive R&D, including through the 71-way at Skydive Elsinore.
The USPA grid is different from the one originally envisioned as the judging standard at Elsinore:
1. Rather than a checkerboard of squares, this one turns the squares on their corner (to resemble diamonds) which are a better "fit" for the shape of a wingsuit flyer. This is the correct directional quality to the grid. (I promise I'm working on getting my presentation online - this is easier to present visually, I know.)
2. The diamond sides overlap by 13.5%, creating an additional accepted flying area for each participant (specifically, 32.45% more accepted flying area than if there was no overlap).
This last was extremely important because with large formations in any discipline, there is significant movement and asymmetry. Without grips, we were originally holding ourselves to a standard that far exceeded what is accepted for other disciplines. In large RW formations, when all grips are taken, the formation is usually asymmetrical and "messy" to some degree. The overlap in this grid allows for a similar margin of asymmetry.
The Competition Committee consists of the following people:
Bill Wenger (chair) Larry Hill Kirk Verner B.J. Worth Marylou Laughlin Lee Schlichtemeier Scott Smith Vic Johnson
The committee evaluated my proposal over several days and presented a motion to the full Board, which unanimously voted to include this particular grid standard. Amendments to the SCM are always possible.
In response to this:
Quote
Will these standards ever be able to be upheld?
The 71-way meets the current USPA criteria. From now on, USPA judges will decide whether a formation was successful or not. A minimum of four people is required to submit a state record claim.
Re: [Taz] USPA Recognizes Wingsuit Record Category
[In reply to]
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One question with regards to the sizes and overlap. Mostly out of interest.
Was this developed by reverse engineering the 71 way? Labeling it 'a valid record' from the start, and thus coming up with a way to certify it by having that as the startingpoint. Or was the criterea devloped seperately by looking at 'perfect' (maybe smaller) formations, and having the 71 way (lateron) also fit those criterea.
Remembering the pictures, one 'wing' of the formation looked a lot better that the other side. Technically, it would have only been a few more jumps to get both sides symentrical and probably fit the now accepted grid system with a lower % tollerance.
In short, is the 71 way what determined the current overlap allowance/tollerances? As taking the near perfect heart of the formation (36 way) would probably allow for slightly stricter tollerances in that case?
Overall, I just want to say that I'm really grateful for the support in this thread. It's nice to see people enthusiastic about setting records. I'm also deeply thankful to USPA and especially the Competition Committee for the recognition of our discipline.
I'm working on getting the grid overlay file available for download online - that way everyone will be able to "test drive" it.
Re: [Taz] USPA Recognizes Wingsuit Record Category
[In reply to]
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Taya, You did an outstanding, awesome job with the BOD in both Wingsuit Record and Wingsuit Instructor Rating presentations. You worked hard and it was obvious to everyone. Thank you for standing next to me (and holding me up) during the Sunday presentation. You were a rockstar for wingsuiting at this BOD meeting.
Re: [bdrake529] USPA Recognizes Wingsuit Record Category
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Here are two pictures of the 71-way: one without the grid and then the same picture with the USPA grid overlaid, as requested.
The USPA should be making the .psd grid file available for download on their website soon. If anyone wants to submit a record claim before that happens, PM me and I'll try to help.
I'm really looking forward to the future of wingsuit formation flying now that we have a clear and nationally recognized judging standard in the US. At Summerfest in Chicago, July 27-29, we will be attempting a state record. See you out there!
Re: [DSE] USPA Recognizes Wingsuit Record Category
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Spot, (and everyone who said nice things here) THANK YOU! I will proudly stand with you anytime. As an emerging discipline, we are taking the season by storm so far. As Spot will confirm, one of the greatest affirmations in the world is support and enthusiasm from people who have been in the sport continuously since before I was born. It's just awesome.
-T 
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