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dropwannabe

Wing Jumping

By dropwannabe, in General Skydiving Discussions

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dropwannabe    0

dropwannabe
Hello

I am new to this forum and wondering if someone can help. I watched this video out of sheer luck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4U6T_BB1N8

I want to know

How can I learn to do WingSuit jumping like that?
Where is that?
How much does it cost to learn?
How long does it take?
Can I learn in the UK?
Is it expensive?

I have never sky dived before and I a complete newb to it all.

Would appreciate any feedback

Wannabe

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GatorNation    0

GatorNation
How can I learn to do WingSuit jumping like that?

Once you get a couple hundred skydives, and about 200 BASE jumps, then you can start about even thinking about doing those types of jumps.

Where is that?

Norway.

How much does it cost to learn?


How long does it take?

Depends on how much $$ you got. If you have tens of thousands of dollars laying around... start jumping!

Can I learn in the UK?

You can BASE in the UK... but you wont find cliffs like the ones in Norway.

Is it expensive?

Hell yeah!

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DrewEckhardt    0

DrewEckhardt
Quote

Hello

I am new to this forum and wondering if someone can help. I watched this video out of sheer luck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4U6T_BB1N8

I want to know

How can I learn to do WingSuit jumping like that?



Learn to skydive via the standard AFF (7 or 8 instructional jumps) program after which you're cleared for self-supervision and pre-license coaching program that will get you to a license after 25 jumps in the US.

After you've made about 200 jumps, are proficient at tracking, are comfortable with skydiving, fly consistent landing patterns, have good awareness in the air so you're not a danger to yourself and other people, and have enough capacity left over to deal with unusual situations learn to fly wingsuits starting with a few coached jumps from a wingsuit instructor.

After perhaps 500 parachute jumps, you've learned judgement including that there's a lot you don't know, you have good accuracy, you have consistent openings, can deal quickly with opening problems (especially in the wing suit), and you know something about rigging, take a BASE first jump course and find some more experienced local people to mentor you after that. I disagree with people who think just 200 jumps are likely to build a solid foundation for BASE (the biggest problem being that it's not enough time to learn how much you don't know so you stay unbroken) and did not do that until I had 900 skydives.

Some where in there you need to learn classic accuracy, because interesting BASE sites have small landing areas and modern skydiving techniques will lead to problems over-shooting into trees or landing short on boulders. I watched one skydiver (every one here would know his name) with over 10,000 jumps that didn't do that and had problems staying inside a generous 50' long landing area.

After perhaps 100 BASE jumps including a bunch of terminal jumps, you have no problems with still air exits, you can get a track going early to move away from objects, you have consistent openings, you can deal with problems, you have even better accuracy for tighter landing areas, and BASE jumping isn't to overwhelming you can start to combine them.

A tracking suit in between jumping in plain clothes and wing suits is probably a good idea.

Spending $25,000-$30,000 on lift tickets ($12,500), travel (this can get real expensive), equipment (maybe $6000 for used skydiving rig, used BASE rig, jump suits, helmet, wing suit. You'll spend a lot more on new rigs), and training ($3500 for AFF, pre-license coaching, and a BASE course) is probably reasonable.

Six years is probably a good time frame - in one year about 150-200 skydives and 30 BASE jumps (if you travel) are comfortable (the last year I counted it was 178 skydives, and 30 BASE jumps of which 7 were terminal and 8 others slider up).

After that you have good chances for making your first wingsuit BASE jump and repeating the experience injury free.

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dropwannabe    0

dropwannabe
OK. Why do you keep link basejumper.com is that SEO?

Why is it so important to learn base jumping - and why is it so scray and dangerous. Just jump off a building open your shoot and land. How hard is that?

6 years? Are you serious? 500 jumps? I hope the UK licence requirements are different. Can I not wingsuit myself without a licence?

Sorry if the questions are partronising..

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JackC1    0

JackC1
> 6 years? Are you serious? 500 jumps?

Minimum

> I hope the UK licence requirements are different.

They are, they're tougher. You'll need 500 regular skydives just to start flying a wingsuit.

> Can I not wingsuit myself without a licence?

Sure, so long as you don't want to do it twice.

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wolfriverjoe    1,371

wolfriverjoe
The link to base is automatic. It's a "sister" site.

Base is scary and dangerous becuase it's very unforgiving. No reserve, no time to correct any problems.

500 jumps. Yes. Seriously. 6 years is a reasonable time to do that in. You could do it faster if you want.

The requirements (some are only reccommendations, but they are there for a reason) are pretty similar all over. Sort of like a pilot license, the things you need to be able to do are the same, just some of the regs are a little different.

There really aren't any Base "licenses", so yes you could buy a wingsuit and a base rig over the internet and "Just jump off a building open your shoot (we call them canopies) and land". I'd give you a 10% chance of not dying (and that's pretty generous).

My best advice is to go out to your local DZ and do a regular tandem jump first.

Find out what it's really like to fly through the air.

Then (if you are anything like the rest of us on here) you will be completely, totally, utterly screwed.
You won't be able to think about anything else.

Then take the AFF course and become a real skydiver.
While "normal" skydiving isn't quite as cool as wingsuit base, it's far, far cooler than sitting in front of your computer watching videos.

Go jump. You'll love it.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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skybytch    259

skybytch
Fixed object jumping is scary and dangerous due to the amount of non-manageable risk involved. This risk exceeds the amount of non-manageable risk involved in jumping out of airplanes for a few reasons.

Number one, the exit point on a fixed object is generally closer to the ground than an aircraft on jump run. Closer to the ground equals less time. Less time means you better not fuck up.

Number two, the exit point on a fixed object often has an object behind it. Striking an object while in freefall or under canopy can be a very bad thing. Once again, you better not fuck up.

Number three, skydiving rigs have two parachutes, the main and the reserve. BASE rigs generally have one parachute. One parachute instead of two means you better not fuck up when packing it.

Wingsuits add complexity and additional risk to skydives made from aircraft, which is part of why it is required that you have at least 200 skydives before jumping a wingsuit in the US. Now add that additional complexity and risk to the already high level of risk involved in BASE (where they say it's not will I get hurt, it's when), and you may begin to see why it is recommended by many to have quite a few skydives and fixed object jumps under your belt before you go hucking yourself off a cliff wearing a wingsuit.

Why does anybody care if you go do it without training and experience? Because their ability to huck themselves off that cliff wearing a wingsuit - something they've put a lot of time and money into getting to the point where they can do it reasonably safely - would likely be negatively impacted by the impact that your body would make.

Jumping in the UK is regulated by the British Parachute Association and your government. Never been there, but I hear they are fairly anal about things involving safety in the air compared to the US.

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DrewEckhardt    0

DrewEckhardt
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OK. Why do you keep link basejumper.com is that SEO?



It's automagic.

Quote


Why is it so important to learn base jumping - and why is it so scray and dangerous. Just jump off a building open your shoot and land. How hard is that?



Harder than it looks. If you aren't relaxed (which comes from lots of experience - jumping off things isn't natural. Jumping off BASE objects 300 feet high is scarier than jumping out of planes because the reptilian part of our brains has an evolutionary memory of staying away from high places to stay alive, but it's never seen a drop of 3000 or 13000 feet) errors in body position will cause larger changes in canopy heading. If you aren't exiting level with your shoulders to the horizon you're likely to make the canopy turn on opening. If the canopy turns on opening on a BASE jump it often flies back towards the object. If you're experienced, you might be able to turn quickly or stall it and back it away from the object so you don't hit it. I've watched inexperienced muppets crash into cliffs and it sucks. Assuming you get that part right there's landing. Landing is easy. Maneuvering at low altitudes to get into a tight landing area without increasing your descent rate or flying into the ground is harder and the last guy I saw get it wrong on a BASE jump broke his cocyx, sacrum, pelvis, and one vertebrae. Repeatedly landing in a tight landing area without crashing into solid things is harder and the last guy I saw get it wrong broke a bunch of bones.

Higher jumps have different problems. If you have too much rotational energy you can end up flying towards the object or at least use up too much altitude getting stable. If you can't get moving away from the object, you're more likely to be too close at opening to deal with problems.

The last friend of mine that over-rotated on a wing suit exit couldn't make the landing area, landed in a freezing mountain river, and was being dragged down stream towards a potential drowning death when his canopy snagged on a rock.

The last guy I jumped with that had a bad exit from a big cliff and didn't get moving away from it hit the wall and dislocated his big toe (we were surprised that he didn't break more from the impact, or slide down the cliff face. I've watched a few videos of that and it really sucks - I think there's a first person example in Roland's tribute video here [URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNdRUQ_eUF8[/URL])

When you start skydiving first, you'll be relatively relaxed BASE jumping, know something about flying parachutes, and be able to get some distance away from objects. When you jump of bridges before cliffs you'll probably get your heading control issues (from pack job, body position, and pilot chute throw) sorted out before it really matters. When you do slider-down jumps (many of which let you can open early after a bad exit) before terminal your exits will probably be flat and stable.

Quote


6 years? Are you serious? 500 jumps?



Yes. Just to start wingsuit BASE. Proximity flying is more involved. You can hear my wife screaming in the video of the guy dying with his legs coming off from an object strike ten feet away.

Quote


I hope the UK licence requirements are different. Can I not wingsuit myself without a licence?



You can skip as much of the training and preparation as you want but we'll make bets about the sort of injuries you'll suffer. If you do manage to get enough experience to learn judgement before that we'll be happy for you, but will probably end up using you as an example for others and spend a lot of time talking about the stupid things you did and how you could have avoided breaking yourself.

I told this guy [URL]http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3612705[/URL] he was going to hurt himself if he didn't listen. I'd reference the dead guy I told to shape up on-line but can no longer remember his name.

Fortunately most people don't die when things go wrong, they just break bones and spend time in the hospital. That's usually enough to teach judgement (I only know one living jumper that I've had to visit twice in the hospital).

This is what I did when I didn't look at where I decided to land before I jumped (although I had jumped off that object a lot of times before):

[URL]http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=84302;[/URL]

The X-ray doesn't show the nerve damage which hurt more than anything else except when they bent my leg on the X-ray table. The bone graft two years later to patch a hole also sucked (mostly the slice in my back where they cut you open so they can drill a hole in your illium to scoop out live bone).

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wolfriverjoe    1,371

wolfriverjoe
If you look in the "Wingsuit" forum, there's a "sticky" of FAQ.

The FAQ has a link to a "So you want to wingsuit base" page.

You'll see everything said in this thread (and a lot more) in there.

It's a lot harder than it looks, and the consequences are very serious (there's a list of jumpers killed doing wingsuit base in the page I mentioned above - look at their experience level).

You wouldn't expect to ski an olympic class downhill race your first year would you?

What you see on that video are some of the best in the world.

And a couple have gotten killed this year.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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davelepka    4

davelepka
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I have never sky dived before and I a complete newb to it all.

Would appreciate any feedback



Look friend, you admit you're new to it all, but you really don't seem to appreciate the time and effort that others have spent to give you detailed answers, you just question every point as if they're kidding.


Wingsuit BASE jumping, and doing it right next to cliff, is the absolute edge of the sport as it stands now. To participate with anything close to adequate preperation, you need to have years upon years of experience in skydiving, wingsuits and BASE jumping. You will need to dedicate your life and a good deal of money to the persuit of the skills and experience needed to achieve that goal. That's how all of the guys in Youtube got there, and that's what you'll have to do to get there. No shortcuts, no express lane.

If you can stick with it for five or six solid years (which means no getting hurt, which can set you back years at a time), and invest an honest $15k to $20k per year, you can absolutely be right there, making your own Youtube videos.

Good luck.

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evilivan    0

evilivan

Blimey, not seen one of these in a while.... :P


Hello wannabe

OK, look at it this way:

You want to be a Doctor? Cool - going to take about 6 years minimum to get the knowledge and experience required. Sure, you can not bother with the training and set yourself up with a website advertising your services; chances are you will be in some court soon enough.
Ditto a lawyer or architect or whatever (don't believe the movies now, Catch Me If You Can was an unusual case).

This may seem to be a glib and unrelated analogy, but the fact is if you want to have the required knowledge and experience to wingsuit BASE off cliffs you really are going to need to put in the appropriate effort - that is (as someone said above) if you want a good chance of repeating the experience. And even then it really isn't very safe and there is a good chance you could be horribly injured or die.

I kid you not.

Good luck with it! :)

"If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation."
David Brent

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piisfish    136

piisfish
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You want to be a Doctor? Cool - going to take about 6 years minimum to get the knowledge and experience required.

6 years ? are you kidding me ? take a knife, open a body, replace a heart, close the body... Et Voilà... How hard can it be ?

Does my training as a kid count already ?
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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jtnesbitt    0

jtnesbitt
You know what I don't get? Why do whuffos think this shit is so easy? That just anybody can do it? The Olympics are going on right now....I think I am gonna find a skiing forum and ask what I need to do to successfully launch and land a 1440 on skiis.

I dont get it. People know with other sports that it take time, hardwork, money, dedication, and a certain level of natural ability. Why is it so different with skydive and base? There is a post like the OP here on the BASE forums about once a week. I just dont get it.
"If this post needs to be moderated I would prefer it to be completly removed and not edited and butchered into a disney movie" - DorkZone Hero

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monkycndo    0

monkycndo
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Quote

Sangi I think this is the very first time I have ever agreed with one of your posts ;)



+1:ph34r::ph34r::ph34r::ph34r:

Sangi got it!:)


Only took 2 years on the site and 590+ posts. I guess even a blind squirrel eventually finds the acorn.:o:D
50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

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