How close is too close for a wingsuit to fly by when u r under canopy?

[Calvin19 0]

keep in mind how far away from the other freefallers you are when you are opening, and at what altitudes. keep in mind that wingsuiters have the dominant position... elevated and in control...

[AndyMan 7]

500 feet, at least - unless something was pre-planned.

Quite frankly, I don't see any reason why they should be remotely anywhere close to the same airspace as a normal jumper under canopy.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[Calvin19 0]

please note that devils' advocates usualy work for the devil

[funks 1]

I for one am glad to see this thread being posted. It has been quite a while since anything has been posted on this topic

[Calvin19 0]

do you people (voteing a quarter mile) have any idea how far away a quarter mile is?
it would take a wingsuiter more than 8 seconds to actualy collide with you if they were even on a collision course... seriously WTF? i wasnt even going to put it as an option... i did as a joke... wow... i hope the ones who put it as their vote are jokeing

[diablopilot 2]

No, I'm not joking. You ain't good enough to be that close without pre planing the "buzz".

What happens when someone who got out ahead of you and decided to practice their head down, acctually ends up tracking back down line of flight and ends up in the airspace you assumed was clear?

Oh, and 1/4 mile is just nover 1300 feet. Your eyeballs are going to have a margin of error, so don't bet on being as far away as you think. Are you SURE you know where all 22 other people on your load are? (Assuming something like a Twin Otter.)

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[ladyskydiver 0]

No...I'm not joking. Unless the wingsuit person got my permission on the ground to come near me, they had better not be near me! Period.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

One thing to keep in mind about unplanned wingsuit buzzes. Yes you are the pilot of the wingsuit while it is still flying and yes you are the pilot of the canopy once it's opened and you're in a position to fly it. But you are a total passenger between the initial PC deployment and once you can get a canopy over your head and some wing(s) collapsed to the point where you can steer your canopy away from any obstacle (like a person under canopy who wasn't expecting you to be in their airspace). Wingsuit passes can have some cool visuals. But they need to be preplanned and agreed upon ahead of time.

Remember if you like to pull in a track which uses up less vertical opening altitude, that a wingsuit also uses some horizontal space for it's opening and it would really suck to collide with a person under canopy while you're still a passenger.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Calvin19 0]

even when somebody is falling perfectly, they are still within 500' of other freefallers on the jump run.

(think about it... jump aircraft speed, delay between groups...)

[diablopilot 2]

Sure, they are. But they are not moving horizontally at 80 mph.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[Calvin19 0]

and did i say anything about buzzing? umm...no... i didnt.

[Calvin19 0]

nore are they watching where they are going, a wingsuiter is (hopefully) paying attention to where he is flying, not consentrating on who he just tracked away from and such.

Im not talking about buzzing, im talking about wingsuits flying toward the dropzone after a flight.

[diablopilot 2]

Buzz. Flyby. Whatever. 1/4 is a minimum.

There is no reason, no matter the flock type or exit order you should ever have to be that close to other jumpers.

Hell, at busy DZ's and boogies running multiple aircraft on parallel jump runs I've never heard of the jumpruns being and CLOSER than 1/2 mile from each other. At Perris on parallel jumpruns the A/C are at a MINIMUM 1 mile apart.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[NWFlyer 2]

If you thoughtfully consider a safe exit separation and plan and execute your skydive safely where your primary consideration of me is maintaining a safe distance from me, and I happen to see you, chances are it's not too close.

If you decide "Let me see if I can surprise her by buzzing her under canopy" chances are that it's too close.

As bob.dino said in the other thread "Don't involve me in your skydive without asking first."

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[diablopilot 2]

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Im not talking about buzzing, im talking about wingsuits flying toward the dropzone after a flight.

And it shouldn't be done. Wingsuit training programs advise flying parallel to the spot and then returning to the DZ once established under canopy.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[Calvin19 0]

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No, I'm not joking. You ain't good enough to be that close without pre planing the "buzz".

are you saying there are pilots good enough to do this?

or i am just a crappy wingsuiter?

[voodew1 0]

1/4 mile???????
Those votes must be all the old guys at Skydive Houston ----
You have canopies open within a 1/4 mile of you and you get all freaked out??

Maybe the wingsuit flyers should just call for a 4 minute go round on every flight so you old people don't get all freaked out ----
(we actually had to do that at Skydive Houston when some the tandem masters saw us open within 1/2 a mile)

And my vote is 50'

The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid

[skybytch 259]

If I'm reading your question correctly, then no closer than any other skydiver is to me at pull time.

While I can understand the visual appeal of a wingsuit/canopy buzz job, it's not okay with me no matter how big the distance is or how good the wingsuit pilot is. I'm not that good of a canopy pilot.

It's okay for me to take risks with my life. It's not okay for you to take risks with my life without my permission.

[diablopilot 2]

I'm saying there are, and I have no idea if you are or are not a good wingsuit pilot.

I'll go out on a short limb and say you probably are good enough, and more to the point you show you have the thought process to approach it safely. You start small and work in.....500 ft, 100 ft, 50 ft. But only when BOTH parties understand the risk and have planed the thing out to a "T". Otherwise give as large a margin for error as possible.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[diablopilot 2]

He didn't say canopies open, he said flyby.

50'? Not suprising from you. Why in the hell would you, claiming to be a "wingsuit instructor" post such stupid advice on a public forum?

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[diablopilot 2]

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If I'm reading your question correctly, then no closer than any other skydiver is to me at pull time.

The problem with that Lisa, it the foward speed the wingsuit pilot is carrying just prior to deployment, and the fact they are not instantly able to control their canopy to avoid a collision. In addition, the fact they were flying towards you while in freefall when it would be just as easy to turn away.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[voodew1 0]

Wow nice ego

Its great to have people like you around, it makes everyone look really good.

I am not afraid of having a wingsuit fly by me nor am I afraid to do the fly by, but then all of the flyers in our flock are very current and controlled
Maybe we could coach you -- oh wait your a wingsuit instructor who refuses to instruct if I am not mistaken

The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid

[diablopilot 2]

Ego? I'm not the one advising it's perfectly acceptable to fly a wingsuit within 50' of someone's canopy without their knowlage.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[skybytch 259]

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In addition, the fact they were flying towards you while in freefall when it would be just as easy to turn away.

Anybody who is flying at me at pull time, regardless of what kind of suit they are wearing, is going to hear about it.

I'd really question the skill level of any wingsuit pilot who is at the same altitude as a freefaller at pull time after leaving on the same pass if they weren't planning to buzz someone. I've only done a handful of wingsuit jumps, I was nowhere near maxing out my suit and I pulled at 5k on all of them. I still distinctly recall getting out last on the same pass and seeing everyone else, including the tandems, deploy under me before it was time for me to pull.

[The111 0]

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And it shouldn't be done. Wingsuit training programs advise flying parallel to the spot and then returning to the DZ once established under canopy.

And people who dump high and fly their canopy perpendicular to jumprun for a long time can get into the same airspace as our pattern. I keep my eyes open for this very reason. It happens. When it does, I am often much closer to canopies than 1/4 mile (which I agree is a ridiculous figure), but I am not buzzing them either.

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