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petetheladd

New Suit poser.

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Having jumped about 25 times on ye old classic birdman, I am pondering which suit to get.

A GTI or a SF3 ?

Now I reckon I could get by with either but I get the impression the GTI is a good all around suit and the SF3 is great if you are trying to fly the limits of slow fall etc.

I see the new suits people are buying most here appear to be SF3's even if they never jumped a suit before.

Why ? For casual flocking it would seem the GTI is a better pick ?

No, Not without incident

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The GTi is a PERFECT all around suit. Far too many people are getting the S3's just to "keep up with the Jones" in my opinion. The S3 is a very technical suit that if I have'nt jumped mine in a week I'll take it easy for the first jump back each weekend. Its very easy to get in over your head on an S3 and spend an entire skydive playing catch up, this is clearly not a good situation to be in.

I've only got a few GTi jumps but the performance potential above a Classic is very noticable and you can keep up with all but the better S3 flyers. The GTi is in my opinion a slightly more acrobatic suit too.

If I was'nt out doing 100 wingsuit jumps in 5 months I would'nt feel comfortable on an S3.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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I was able to get docks with an experienced flier my first time out on a GTi. (I have over 500 camera wingsuit jumps) I enjoyed every one of my flights with it. If I had owned it, there was a lot of room to tweak my performance in flying it. But since I was going to buy one, I got the SF3. I will fly the suit at least once every week, so I opted for the high performance. Tallguy jumps at my DZ, and with his build and him in an SF3, there's almost no way I was going to keep up with him in anything less without him flying really dirty. We both want to max our performance, so I got the SF3. DeBar has one ordered too, so we should be pushing the envelope together as we learn. Look at your flocking partners, if they are all in Classics and GTi's you won't be pushing your SF3.

-Big talk for a guy with no jumps on an SF3, but I went through the same decision process.

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>Tallguy jumps at my DZ, and with his build and him in an SF3, there's almost no way I was going to keep up with him in anything less without him flying really dirty.

I'll disagree here. He would'nt have to fly that dirty. I'm 6'2" 165 pounds and could keep my Classic vertically with all but Chuck, Jari, Scott, Glen and the Aussie guy in their S3's at WFFC this year. By Scott, Glen and Chuck scrubbing just a touch of their speeds we were all able to fly together. Horizantally they would leave me in the dust since the Classic just does'nt carry the forward speeds that the S3 does.

Anyone that can't keep a GTi up with all but proforming S3's is'nt flying the suit yet. Yeah its easier to pop up above a flock with the S3 then the GTi for photo's or roll overs, but its not needed at all if you are'nt going to spend the time on solos to learn the S3.

Here is a rough guide I've came up with for flocks that I did this summer:

Solo: ~52-55 MPh
2 ways : 60-62 Mph
3 way: ~65-70
Anything greater then a 4 way seemed to have speeds in the 70+ range.

Flying solo is the only way to push a suit to its limits. Flocking relies more on a group effort of flying with the faster faller/slowest forward speed flyer. Its extemely hard to push the limits with others in the sky if you want to fly with them.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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"Here is a rough guide I've came up with for flocks that I did this summer:

Solo: ~52-55 MPh
2 ways : 60-62 Mph
3 way: ~65-70
Anything greater then a 4 way seemed to have speeds in the 70+ range."

Just wondering,for which suit are those speeds??



I don't think you can just ask "what suits were flying' as with flocking it depends not only on the suit but also the pilot. If you have a pilot flying sloppy / poorly in an S3 then the entire flock is flying fast or you could have people kicking ass in a classic and the speeds be slow -- "you're only as strong as your weakest link" you'd have to inquire as to the experience level of the pilots as well if you want to compare see speeds on flocks.

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I did some flocking in My Classic2 and my S3. Honestly experience plays a huge role. I was lacking on a few jumps in my Classic and was falling back so the rest had to fly dirty to play. But I did notice that the more people you add the faster the flock is even if everyone is very experienced just due to needing to be 100% stable and on the edge of unstable at 40Mph is a bad place to be in a tight group. Speed seems to help even the weakest flocker stay stable.

Those speeds were for me flying either my Classic or S3 with people in Gti's or Classics's and had 5-35 Wingsuit jumps.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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I will fly the suit at least once every week, so I opted for the high performance.


After you get the suit, you may find that once a week may not be enough to find yourself comfortable with it, and may want to concider jumping it more than once a week?

Quote


Tallguy jumps at my DZ, and with his build and him in an SF3, there's almost no way I was going to keep up with him in anything less without him flying really dirty.


I have flown with Tall Guy and also assumed his body size to great for slower fall rates. Though he has an S3, his fall rate would be easy for someone in a GTI to stay with. His forward speed maybe abit faster than someone in a GTI, but he definatly will not have to fly "really dirty".
So, in my opinion the GTI is the best all around suit for the person that only does 1 jump a week on a wingsuit.

Ed
www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

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A few months ago we had an all bird-man skyvan 14-way load. It had regular birdmen who had done a bunch of WS jumps that day. A factory rep and wingsuit instructer. Five or six canopy pilots fresh from the proswoop tour held that afternoon, who have been concentrating on swooping for the last few months. So it was fair to say maybe not to too wingsuit current. And some friends and instructers who had just done their second wingsuit jump of their life. Many were on borrowed suits that may not have been the best of fit for them. Some S-3s, some GTIs but many many classics than not, to include some classic #1s.
We held a base or rather two bases of semi-wedged formations with hardly any stragglers. Everybody was damn near in it. It was sunset and it was undescribable with simple words. I heard it described by some as the best jump of their lives. It will stand out in my memory also.
Suits of all sizes and types and we all played. What you brought didn't matter, what you took home was most important.

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I make no argument with anything that has been said here.

Eddie, I plan to jump the suit once a week, many more times that just one. Like a Sunday when no video shows up, I'm in the superman suit.

I was not arguing in favor of getting an S3, like I said, I enjoyed every one of my GTi jumps on the suit I borrowed from Mad John.

I want to take my flight to the highest possible level, so I got an S3. I won't be there right away, but the suit won't be the limiting factor, I will.

Cheers!

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I love my S-3. Had no intention of getting one as we were hanging with everybody out there in our classics, they are twice as expensive as the classic .And I had just bought the classic the year before. I didn't believe that there was that big of a difference as most of the S-3 ers out there were getting into the average mid 40's. We were getting into the average low 50's on the old classics and if we flocked it was 60's,70's and 80's regardless, worse if we played harder.

I did have a curiosity to try one. But at the time Bird man inc didn't have DEMO S-3s, But they did have one of Jari's personal used S-3. I tried it and fell in love with it, bought it, and use it. I will do anything that I did on my classic except take it as low as I have been on my classic. The only time I get to max it out is at break off and track away. Or on two way dives that we predetermine there will be maxing out for a given reason.

If you are a pig in flight, you will be a pig in whatever suit you get.

What suit to get? Get the one you can afford, the one that you will jump because you do not fear it ( not that there is a reason to fear any of them ), the one that wont sit in a closet, the one that you will flock with friends with. Some people have been known to sell theirs if they have nobody to play with. If it is an old single zipper and duct tape affair but it works for you..... It will work for me and we will flock!
The suit to get is the one that gets you into the flock.....don't miss out.

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That reply is all that is special about Birdman. My first and probably all-time favorite flocker will always be Paul, who also did my first two-stack rotations. He jumps a classic and is as encouraging and positive as you are.

Noice.

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Hmmm.... Putting expense to the Side, I still think Many people get the SF3 because it has the 'highest performance' aura and hence the I'm jumping the coolest gear effect.

Are most SF3 people breaking the limits of Wingsuit piloting -- prolly not...

On the Whole, I think. I'll break with the current trend and get a GTI and wait for the SF 4.5 turbo B|

No, Not without incident

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