early viper impressions.

[flipwithit 0]

250+ p2 jumps
300+ apache/viper jumps
~50 jumps on everything in between (x1/2 colugo rebel blah blah blah)
ill start off with i havnt received mine that i ordered but did pick up one that fits about the same as my apacheX (fits tight) that i throw around like a rag doll, maybe just a tad tighter fit.

i feel like i need to post this because this is honestly the only suit i have ever been scared of beyond the first flight (out of the airplane that is.) my first 2 jumps on this suit were out of a balloon which were dead air to max glide flights with a gradual 90º turn here and there, which the nature of this suit was very apparent after those turns. the suit did not seem like it was anything crazy though and could not wait to take it out of a plane...however the next 5 jumps out of the plane were nothing but a handful. things got out of control a couple of times. only for a few seconds at worst and more than recoverable, but the suit did not do what intended as my experience with the same inputs given with other suits im very current and not current on.

the first plane exit with the suit was just like any other first jump on a suit. exit closed and square and open symmetrically. everything went fine. the terminal exit felt funny though and after making a 90 off jump run and going for max glide, for whatever reason i could not hit the glide ratios i was getting out of the balloon my first 2 jumps. and did not sustain the glide ratios i was sustaining out of the balloon on any of my plane flights.

the first flight was all glide ratio nonsense and second jump was intended game on with wingsuit shenanigans. this is when shit got scary. after exit/inflation and initial flight up jump run, i hucked this thing into a turn super hard like i were to carve around some awesome terrain and instantly the tail whipped around on me like throwing a rear wheel drive car into a turn and finding black ice. no control, no grip, no nothing. i had to use as much arm input as possible while applying a counter turn with the tail to gain control. the tail had no "grip." so about 5 seconds and however many feet of head town tail spin later i started to gain control. my nerves were a bit on edge after that because i have never experienced anything like it. in my apache, my favorite thing to do at brake off, when flying with friends, is to flare the crap out of the suit and then wing it over into a head down corkscrew, in full control and knowing i can pull out of that maneuver whenever i please. the rest of the second jump became diving the suit hard and maintaining control....that was interesting and even after hard dives, i could not get sustained glide ratios that i got out of the balloon.

3rd and 4th skydive i worked on less aggressive turns using my same technique i have used with every other suit i have flown with good results yet still feeling very washy with the tail. i felt after initiating a turn i was forced to immediately start countering the turn without achieving the style turn i wanted. was feeling a bit better on the fourth jump and went for an aggressive turn, but not as aggressive as the one in the second jump and it still sent me into an unintentional wing over - head down spin.

5th skydive i took some advise from another and more experienced viper pilot. i started entering turns with my shoulders while inputting a counter turn with the tail and finally felt enough stability to make faster turns, but nothing i would consider aggressive. but i was seeing the light. i have been told turning with your hips works as well but havnt tried that yet and was told it will not put you into an aggressive turn.

my last jump on the suit was a balloon jump from 2000 feet. i pulled high because i was making my way towards houses and power lines i did not feel comfortable pulling over. given the time under canopy, and a 20 feet per second descent rate under canopy (info from neptune 3 from doing hop n pops with the canopy,) i pulled at 800 feet and still had a 32 second wing suit flight. my flysight is set at 3.5 and it was pegged the whole time after finishing the start arc til i reached my hand back for the pc. achieving glide performance i never could match from the plane...blows my mind but whatever. im use to flying my apache x which has a much thinner air foil.

looking forward to hearing more experienced pilots thoughts. they arent joking about 400 big wingsuit jumps recommendation on the PF website for the viper. i know its a handful for every other viper pilot i have talked to (shit, look at the footage of miles daisher flying past the jesus statue....holy shit) and then a big name going in wearing this suit, supposedly unstable to impact. do your're homework with this suit before BASE people. my apache and havok will be my base suits until i feel as comfortable in the viper as i do those suits, and i expect that to take much longer than any suit i have BASEd

[olee 0]

Before jumping the Viper I put about 25 jumps on a V5 to get comfortable with the tail. In addition I had a friend inflate the suit with a leaf blower so I can do a few practice pulls and "feel" the suit on the ground.

It is a big suit, so as usual it's important to be relaxed, let the suit fly you and give very, very small inputs. I've had no issues turning (I turn by pushing down the arm & leg a bit) and no instability issues, just fatigue in the arms after a while. Like the V5, the faster the better and the more fun it is. The pull is no problem, but I recommend to do a few practice pulls on the ground as described above.

I usually only jump the suit at the beginning of the day when I am 100%. I have not jumped it from a Balloon as I want to make sure I know the suit really well before I do so. In my opinion the Viper is for people who already know how to fly their body in any axis & orientation, just having jumped big suits is not enough in my opinion, but I tend to be on the conservative side.

[flipwithit 0]

so i took the time to figure out how much i should lengthen the suit with a rigger buddy and we came up with 3 inches! i was jumping this suit without shoes on or in those vibram 5 fingers and still a tight fit.

after adding the 3 inches the suit is night and day difference...the initial post can be tamed down quite a bit but its still a suit i have a bit more respect for than any other suit ive flown.

[johnmatrix 21]

That's all very interesting, thanks for the review.