Redline Aerosports - New Wingsuit Manufacturer - Partial Review

[Skwrl 56]

So I was down in Puerto Rico for the boogie, and I saw a wingsuit manufacturer that I’d never heard of setting up a table to sell his suits. Figuring that they were going to be complete and utter crap (I’m a skeptic at heart), I walked over and started talking to the guy behind the table, who turned out to be Walter Dec. Walt was the founder of Redline Aerosports, a new wingsuit manufacturer based in Tampa, Florida.

I took a look at some of his suit designs and build quality. Some of the very large suits had some funky features that Walt said he’s still working on (so I won’t get into those). The large (but not super large), medium and smaller suits looked similar to what we all know and love from manufacturers like Tonysuit, Phoenix Fly, and Squirrel (I call those guys the “Big 3”, because in the US, those are the three manufacturers that dominate the market. (No offense intended to other manufacturers – I just don’t see as much of your products near me).

The mid- to large- range suit (comparable to a Squirrel Funk or a Phoenix Fly Carve) were more or less similar to those products, with a couple of tweaks in their shape here and there. The build quality looked very good, at least as good as the Big 3.

The idea of a new kid on the block was interesting, but I wasn’t really interested in jumping one – I had stuff I wanted to accomplish in my jumps (photography and video), and I didn’t want to be screwing around with a suit that I didn’t know. (Ain’t nobody got time for that.)

At that point, Scott Callantine wandered over and mentioned that he’d jumped one of the suits, the “Swurve”. It was one of the suits that I mentioned (similar to a Funk or a Carve), and his only comment was “you should try it out.” Scott sometimes knows what he's talking about, so I figured I’d give it a shot on a small group where – worst case – I might lose out on a few good photos.

I was really glad I did.

In short, the Swurve flies fucking phenomenally. It had amazing “pop” (lift to get over and around flocks), more than I found on my Carve. Forward speed was comparable to those other products. It backflies as well as a Carve or Funk, but it was a lot easier to transition than I’ve found with the Funk. I didn’t have any “innie-outie” problems with the suit design. Overall, I was surprisingly impressed with the suit – for me, it gave me everything I wanted for flying a camera. I had the power I wanted to get over and around a flock, the agility that I wanted for backfly transitions, and a solid backfly performance. This very well could be the suit that causes me to retire at least some of my old ones.

Having said that, there’s a lot I don’t know. Redline is a new manufacturer, and I haven’t yet ordered one. (Walt offered to send me an updated demo model of the Swurve to see if I prefer that, and since I’m in the great white northeastern United States, it’s going to be a while before I get a chance to jump it.) I can’t tell you what delivery times will be or what my experience ordering one is like (since I haven’t), but so far Redline seems to be very accommodating and willing to help convince skeptics like me.

It will be interesting to see if the market can support four manufacturers, whose sales Redline might impact, etc. In my opinion, Redline definitely needs to work on its marketing – unlike Squirrel’s launch (which was pretty slick, fun, and drew on a large network of people who had already been conditioned to get excited about the launch), I knew nothing about Redline until I bumped into them at the Puerto Rico boogie. My impression is that it’s mostly operating in “stealth mode”, and saving the powder for a big launch to come (I might have let the cat out of the bag with this review, I dunno.)

In any case, they’re worth checking out; I’m glad I did, and I fully expect that I’ll be adding a Swurve (or whatever the new prototype is called) to my arsenal. The suit is that good - at the very least a potential option for those looking for a very powerful flocking suit that can still handle lots of acrobatics.

* * *

My disclaimer – I’m not sponsored by anybody. I pay full freight for all my suits, with the exception of a fleet of Phantom 2/3 suits that were purchased at a bunk discount that I co-own with four other people through Northeast Bird School. I didn't know Walt before this weekend, and I'm not getting any special deal from him. I’m not a “friend of” any wingsuit manufacturer, but I call Tony Uragallo “old man” from time to time on his Facebook page and he makes fun of me for being a “lawyer” (quotes intentional). I own an Sbird, Xbird, Carve, Funk, a Mach 1 that dates from an earlier geologic era, and the co-owned fleet of Phantoms I mentioned before. I’ve jumped many of the suits sold by the Big 3 and couple by Alien suits, but have never jumped an S-fly (not because I don’t want to, but because I just don’t see many of them around here). I’m a Leo who likes long walks on the beach, romantic poetry, and porn.

Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

[jpengel 0]

http://www.redlineaerosports.ws/home.html

looks like they snagged the domain for Samoa as well ... or just went with the wingsuit domain hack

[Lethal1ty17 0]

I met Walter a number of months ago at Deland and had the chance to jump with him several times, and still chat with him frequently. I've flown the Swurve for probably 20 jumps now, and liked it so much I ordered a custom one from him. Earlier this evening he sent me a picture of my completed suit as I had requested. I simply cannot wait to fly it this weekend! Pic below.

[michalm21 0]

Walter is a fantastic guy! I've met him when I first stated wingsuiting as he was the resident expert on the dz. He always tinkered with wingsuit mods and gave me many good flying tips.
I'm really happy he started redline and looking forward to try out his suits soon. I was goin to order the Carve but honestly, I'd like to go down to FL and fly his suits and likely buy one of them.
Walt has a great attention to detail and very innovative mind. He also has a degree in aerospace engineering I believe.
Again, really thrilled he started building suits!!!

[Hopps 0]

Thanks for the review, their tracking suit looks interesting also.

Another WS company not mentioned that has some really nice products is Intrudair. They do well in the performance competitions in Europe:

www.intrudair.hu

[hillson 0]

If anyone is in FL at the end of Feb it looks like Redline is going to have some stuff setup for demos etc at Lake Wales. Plus, helicopter.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1773407519551541/

I don't WS...but figured it was at least within a nine iron of being relevant.

[sdctlc 0]

Jeff,

Nice write up on the suit impressions. I wanted to toss some info I felt with the suit. After doing a few jumps on the "Swurve" (I think that is it) and trying it in a number of situations, flocking, camera (on top and on back underneath formation), playing with transitions and pushing it at the end it left me wanting to play with it some more. I agree with what Jeff noted that there is lots of power and when asked to "GO" the suit responds. Felt like there was a huge envelope for doing what I needed it to do despite the arms being about 2" too short on me. It was very intuitive on its back and the transitions did not feel hindered and were actually pretty easy. Arch it out on its back and you could feel the ride up.

Construction is not lacking and there were a number of fabric options from Lightweight to "beefy".

Walt was awesome to talk to and you could tell his passion for what he was doing. As Jeff noted the "Launch" is what I would call silent/soft as he is doing the pre-steps of getting his duck in a row which is smart.

I am very interested to try one of the suits that actually fits to see how it flys. I always say that there is no one suit that can do everything but my initial impressions on this is that it covers of lot of bases for a all around suit for sure.. I will look forward to the opportunity to fly one that fits and explore its range a bit.

I did not get a chance to play with the "performance" line of suits but hope that opportunity presents itself as some point as they are impressive.

Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[Lethal1ty17 0]

Here are a few pics of my Swurve that I got today shortly after opening the box it came in.

[bucketlistpilot 1]

Long delay in posting due to having so much fun on this suit

After reading this post months ago I contacted Walt who graciously agreed to send a demo Swurve all the way to little old New Zealand. After putting 10 flights on it I ordered one on 22nd April. The next day Walt was back in touch checking some minor details. He communicated every step of the process. Suit was cut on April 28th, and shipped on May 6th. Redline's service was great and the final fit and quality are outstanding. Can't thank them enough.

If you get the chance definitely take the Swurve for a spin, it's an awesome suit.

Ian Purvis
http://www.loadupsoftware.com
LoadUp DZ Management App
[email protected]