Which Wings

[arcane 0]

Hi,
am looking to get my first camera jacket to help with me with extending my range. Was thinking about the Tony Suit Multijacket with the C Wing. Any opinions or recommendations.

Am about 5ft 8inches tall and weigh 15stone (210lbs).

Thanks

[VTmotoMike08 0]

I love my tony suit C-wing jacket. Just be aware that you will have to find what works best for you personally in regard to clipping in the wings. I had a ring sewn onto the matching freefly pants that I clip mine into. Many others sew a ring into their harness. IMO, get the RSL clip because it is much easier to use than the cheap fastex clip and worth the $30.

[PharmerPhil 0]

I agree with Mike. I have the Tony Suit C wings jacket and I love it. I have rings sewn into my rigs so the attachment point is always in the same place. Works great, but makes it tough (not impossible) to borrow another rig.

[DSE 3]

At 210 without gear, you'll probably want bigger wings for greater range. You can always close wings down, but it's difficult to add more in the air. When you're with that small TI and small student, you'll wish for big wings at times.

I second the mention for the RSL vs Fastex.
I'm a fan of them clipped to harness vs leg, as being clipped to a leg means your leg changes the dynamic of the wing. However, a lot of great flyers fly the leg-snaps too.

[keithbar 1]

I'm like 6 foot 3 and 250 lbs. so I'm heaver than you but also taller. we would prob. fall good together but you wouldn't be sorry if you get " the biggest wings" you can find. like dse said you can allways shut them down. but when you need it you need it. trust me i've been jumping camera for years..

i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .

[idrankwhat 0]

Quote

I second the mention for the RSL vs Fastex.
I'm a fan of them clipped to harness vs leg, as being clipped to a leg means your leg changes the dynamic of the wing. However, a lot of great flyers fly the leg-snaps too.

Attaching to the harness also makes the gap that's right in front of your hackey smaller. It seems like a slightly smaller wing though.

[arcane 0]

Thanks for the advice guys. Any recommendations for a bigger wings?

[davelepka 4]

Quote

Any recommendations for a bigger wings?

Where to buy them? Any good suit manufacturer will offer a range of sizes for camera wings. Tony, Bev, Flite Suit, etc all make good stuff. Finding a set of big wings is one thing, flying them is another.

Things to think about -

You may not be able to buy a jacket. The largest wings will all attach below the harness, down on your leg. You might be able to strap them to a pair of freefly pants, but that would be a mistake. Get a full suit, and get the booties. Your a bigger guy, and will be able to use the drag/drive of the booties.

If you do get a jacket with wings that attach to the harness, you will be giving up a lot of wing area, and the booties as well.

Beyond that, you need to keep in mind that a suit with big wings and botties will represent a MAJOR change to your skydive. Your range, and the speed at which you can move around within that range will be much different.

Start off by donning your suit and rig on the ground, and have an experinced camera guy help you set the length of the swoop cords, and any other adjustments available. Make sure you do this with the legstraps/cheststrap tightened down in jump configuration.

Next, do practice touches, and pay attention to how the wing interacts with your arm/hand/hackey during the process. Note the 'hole' in the wing that goes from below the rig's lateral down to the lower wing attachment point. You need to be sure that your pull technique is such that you are always careful not to reach through that 'hole' when you grab your hackey. That situation will quickly turn into a nasty pilot chute in tow, or horseshoe malfunction.

Repeat the procedure with your emergency procedures. Note how the wings could interfere with your handles. You may not even be able to see them at all depending on the postition of your wings at the time.

Look at the wing attachment points, and figure out how to unhook everything once you're under canopy. You'll need to take the swoop cords off, and unhook the wings. Not doing this will negatively effect the flight of your canopy.

Now you need to do a few jumps with the suit. No camera. No other jumpers. Spend your time doing practice touches, and practicing your emergency procedures. Note how you have to collapse the opposite wing of the hand you are using. You cannot reach for your hackey with your right hand, and have your left wing inflated. It just won't work.

Do some solos where you work the range of the wings. Just get used to the feeling of opening them up and floating, and then tucking them in to speed up. Going slow is easy, just like with out a suit, big open body position. Speeding up is a little different, more or less you touch your elbows to your ribs. This will fold up the wings and keep them out of the wind. Every speed in between is just a matter of pulling your arms in or out. Don't make the mistake of trying to speed up by arching harder with the wings out. You won't win that battle. Keep a relaxed arch, and tuck the wings up to go fast.

Do a few jumps with one, experienced jumper (1000+ jumps). Have them lay a base, and you can work the suit in front of them to see what it looks like in relation to another jumper. Also work on swooping down to them with the booties and see how they make you go, and how the wings can make you stop. These jumps are still without a camera.

Now do a couple jumps flying the camera slot for a small RW group. 4 way or smaller, and all jumpers should be more experienced than you. Stick with this until you can fly the slot, in control, from exit to opening, still without a camera.

Now strap on the camera (video only) and stick with the small RW groups until you can produce a solid video from exit to opening.

Now you're ready to set yourself loose on the rest of the world. Understand that the suit is a major factor, and one you need to account for. It will take you 8 or 10 jumps to move through the progression I've outlined above, but it's well worth it.

[davelepka 4]

But wait, there's more...


Make sure you leave extra time in the plane to check your wing attachment points, swoop cords, and that everything is properly routed. On the first few jumps, when you don't have a camera, use the time you would use to check your video gear. Once you bring the camera back, just plan on the extra time.

Swoop cords ALWAYS go over gloves, never under. In truth, I don't even like them over gloves because the gloves can make them harder to slip off when needed, but if you must wear gloves, swoops always go on top.

On that subject, when you set your swoop cords, make sure you can reach up and grab a riser, or even a toggle with them still on. If you have a brake fire, and need to counter steer or unstow the other one, or if there is traffic and you need to make an avoidance manuver, you need to be able to reach your risers immediately.

Many large wing suits will have an adjustment at the lower buckle. If you find that you cannot reach the risers with the swoops set long, try to lengthen the lower adjustment until you can get to them.