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Chris-Ottawa

Opinions on next suit

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I'm looking to get a new wingsuit and I'm looking for some opinions/advice from the guys who have had an opportunity to fly some of these suits.

My experience.
I was taught by Jeff Nebelkopf a few years ago on the Intro suit. Did 6-8 jumps with Jeff. Bought myself a Raptor as a first suit. Was definately a bit bigger than I expected, but did 20ish jumps on it. before selling it to buy a new container. Couple of years ago, I bought a Phantom2 and have done about 150 jumps on it. I absolutely love this suit for general use, but I want to get something that I can use strictly for max flight, distance etc. Something to play with for solo jumps.

My Size
I am 5'8", 120lbs. I realize a big suit will make me ultra floaty, but that's what I'm after in thsi case. It is not desired for flocking etc..

The suits I'm talking about
X-Bird 2
Vampire 3/4
Venom

Basically, I'm trying to discern what the difference between these suits really is, which one would be best suited to my interests, is the vampire series more suited to Base over the other 2. I am not intending to do any Base jumping with them, this is strictly for skydiving use looking for max glide and/or slowest freefall.

At this point, I think what I'm looking for is more of the X2 or Venom. The V3/4 seems to be focussed on high forward speed but not necessarily high glide (even though it will be heaps better than the Phantom2).

I'd love to just go demo these suits, but that's not a possibility while living in Canada.

Any opinions/discussion is apreciated.
"When once you have tasted flight..."

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But what could go wrong? (joking)

I do realize it's a huge step, and a lot more involved but realistically a wingsuit is "generally" a wingsuit. Yes, more wing, more burble, more potential for issues, but the same thing applies on the P2, just less likely to occur. I can understand if I had 15 jumps and wanted to upgrade, but +/-200 jumps is a fair bit of experience. If it was for proxy flying...I'm certain I would not be looking at the X2/Venom etc class for my experience.

I'm all ears though, feel free to school me (Seriously). Is there anything that I'm not considering that I absolutely wouldn't be able to handle with 200 wingsuit jumps experience and jumping to a "mega-suit"? I can't accept "you just can't do that" as an answer, but if you give me some valid points, I'm very likely to reconsider my options and go to a mid-high range suit instead.
"When once you have tasted flight..."

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you can do that, but it is not a wise choice in my opinion.

Something like a Ghost3/S-Bird would be far more reasonnable . I changed from V2 to Ghost 3 after a more or less 200 jumps on the V2, and it was the same difference than going from a freefly suit to a Sfly Expert.

Waiting for my X3 now after around 200 jumps on the Ghost3 :)

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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You might also want to consider a Havok - this is a great all round high performance suit similar in nature to a Ghost 3.

Jarno is getting some serious performance from his, why not shoot him a PM about it :)

Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE
Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies

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S-Bird's a good suit, combo of float and speed. If you just want float, look into a Ghost.
Before all of this, I challenge you to max out your P2 first. I'm 200lb and can do 2:45 on a P2, I'm sure you can probably milk at least 3:15 on a normal jump. I used to think I wanted a different suit from my P2 when I had about your experience, but I couldn't even break two minutes then. As I put more jumps on it, I changed my mind.
Brian

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it seems that my opinion is shared, but hey, it is just opinions... you can do whatever you want with them. They have just been thought out through years of cumulated experience :)

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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Thanks for all the info everyone.


@voilsb: 200lbs and getting 2:45 on a P2 is pretty impressive, but it depends on what altitudes your using and your height etc. If you're exiting at 15k, going down to 2.5k, and are 6'6", yeah, you're gonna have a MUCH longer flight.

I'm getting roughly 2m 20s flights getting out at 11.5 and deploying around 3750ft. My Neptune showed my descent rate as 33MPH this past weekend. I'm 5'8" and 155 lbs (exit weight). I also haven't ever tried for a max flight right from exit. I typically roll out the door, recover and start flying, so my flights are likely from 11 or slightly below. I'll test it out this weekend...a full flight, max airtime flight, right from exit.

Something else to keep in mind is that I'm not trying strictly to upgrade. I'm buying suit to play with and keeping the P2. The P2 is a great suit and gives me plenty of range, but I want something that i can go mess around in when no one else is around to jump.

@Piifish Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you opinions. I simply asked "why" you advise against it. For now, aside from progression, people have just said it's not a great idea. I'm not out here to compete with the best, and I don't "need" to get the most performance I can out of the suit on day 1. Frankly, if I feel like spending the money, and there's no glaring safety reason why I shsouldn't, I'll likely do it anyways. I definately wasn't seeking approval by posting, I was asking for impressions of the suit to determine which suit I would want.
"When once you have tasted flight..."

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i fly an Rbird, i am 155lbs and 6' tall. my best time on it has been 3:27... exit at 13.7 open ay 3050... i can average 32-33mph and get a min of 17mph out of it. i also think an Sbird would be a logical step in the right direction.
Flock University FWC / ZFlock
B.A.S.E. 1580
Aussie BASE 121

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... I want to get something that I can use strictly for max flight, distance etc. Something to play with for solo jumps.



V4.
Speed+glide+max fly pleasure

Not for dead leaf fliyng with big airtime and slow fall speed.
Somewhere between scud and peregrine falcon

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100814072007/uncyclopedia/images/c/c0/Peregrine-falcon.jpg

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Just my $.02 but I learned on a T bird then went to an R bird after about 10-15 jumps. The R was VERY tiring compared to the T and therefore I saw a serious loss of performance. Don't know if this even pertains in your case but there it is.
"If I can't be my own, I'll feel better dead." Layne Staley

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That's what the Neptune said as average speed. I realize it's not horribly accurate, but it's likely pretty close.



All you need for average speed is exit/deployment altitudes and flight time. Using the numbers you gave, the real average is closer to 38mph. Still very good in a Phantom.
www.WingsuitPhotos.com

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Like everyone's said, that's pretty decent in a phantom. I still suggest playing with it more, though, there's a lot more to flying a suit than max hang time.

As for my variables, I'm 5'10" 200lb (230 exit weight), exiting at 13,5 and deploying at 3,000. But 2:45 is my MAX flight time. I average a lot less than that, because I'm rarely punching it like that. Usually only on sweet clouds, and then I usually get about 2:20-2:30 on flights. When flying with other people I usually average 1:55-2:05, and when doing acro or a lot of belly/back transitions I usually average 1:40-1:50.
Brian

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