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frontloop33

Wingsuit flightplanning

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Hi,

I'm fairly new to wingsuit flying.
My flights so far have been at several "large" dropzones, where there is a lot of open space available.

Next weekend I'm planning to visit a smaller dropzone, and I'm a bit concerned about my flightplan:

On my FFC I've learned, that I have to keep out of the "red zone" (the zone, where other skydivers (ff, rw, and such) are flying).
To stay out of that zone, I have either to cross a river or to cross some power lines, a small strip of trees and an train line.

So, what do you suggest? Cross the river, cross the other stuff (trees, power lines, train line) or skip wingsuiting at this place?


Edit: On my FFC I also learned, that wingsuiter 1 goes "right", wingsuiter 2 goes "left" and so on (or vice versa), to get some separation between the individual wingsuiters.
On that dropzone, there are almost no "outs" across the river, whereas there are plenty "outs" across the train-line.
So, I would prefer to cross the train line, but how do I coordinate that with other wingsuiters on the same load?

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Don't wingsuit if you're not comfortable with it there.
But mightn't you end up over that stuff anyway on a non-wingsuit jump, if jump run goes over it?

Other wingsuiters at the DZ would almost certainly have some advice.

I regularly wingsuit over power lines, a busy freeway, dense bush and a rocky gorge with a river in it at my home DZ.

I would say if you're worried just deploy a little higher to make sure you make it to your intended landing area.

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:) Navigation also depends for a large part of where in the skies you have visuals to the ground. You need ground visuals. Say you plan to fly over there, but it so happens that over there it is suddenly very clouded, then you must have flexibility, even at the time of climbing to altitude in the plane to make alterations to that plan you just made on the ground and fly in another direction - coordinate with pilot and other relevant jumpers. Weather can change quickly. Also you should investigate winds aloft before you board the plane, so directions and speed of wind aloft may differ from what you see at ground level. Use the Windy site, it's easy: https://www.windy.com You must then cook all these parameters together with what you perceive your flying performance can be and create that flight plan. Then check to see if that fit's the load you are going to board. Never mind a river there and a power line there. Stay out of line of flight. Plan a good flight plan. Adjust it if needed. Communicate. And dive that plan. While flying, you will of course monitor your progress and if you are not on target, then cut a corner in order to get to the point where you plan to open your Canopy. With practice, it will become easier for you to nail it

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Here are some factors and things that I consider in my flight planning.

1. Know the jump run, direction. You might have to ask or wait until after the first load, but know the jump run to plan your path.
2. Know the upper winds, direction and strength. Just like planning the "spot" for a load, you need to plan for a deployment area. Your deployment should be somewhat upwind but might need to be over to the side because of the non WS jumpers.
3. Know how long you expect to fly. Being new, you might only fly 90-120 seconds, but have some idea what you will do.

Using your flying time and the upper winds, determine what you want to do regarding the time you spend on your downwind leg. If the winds are strong, don't set yourself up to overshoot the DZ. Keep in mind this all gets moved and shifted depending on your exact exit point. I always have a plan but look at how long the spot is before I exit. If the spot is short and/or the headwind is strong, I will fly slightly off angle of the aircraft for a bit, or if the spot is already long and the wind is light, I might turn out for my offset right away.

If you are good with computer data and like to mess with such stuff, the Flysight GPS record is great to see where you actually flew and did you follow your own plan. I have sent a Flysight with first flight students so we can look at their ground track to see if they followed the flight plan or not.

I often round off my two major turns and fly a big arc if there is no other WS out on that side of the aircraft line of flight. You can constantly adjust your distance from the DZ by changing the radius of the arc. Just be sure you can keep track of where the non WS jumper are relative to where you are heading. If I can stay upwind of the DZ and a bit more than 1/2 mile from the DZ, the tandems are normally not further than 1/2 mile out by the time I have flown my 2 minutes. There are of course exceptions, so I never try to get close to the DZ. I just stay upwind and come back under canopy.
Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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