unclecharlie109 0 #1 April 2, 2004 Hi, I'm looking for some advice from the experienced birdmen flockers out there. i have been flying wingsuit for a while but no matter how hard I try I just can't do more than 65sec freefall from 12k. i have tried everything... flying with my head down flying with my arms back flying de-arched flying real steep flying with the suit as tense as possible Nothing seems to help. I even tried hypnosis, watching birds and thinking "light" thoughts in freefall, but to no avail. Any help greatly appreciated, just can't work out what makes my performance suck... Blue Skies, J ps, check out my way cool funky suit Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kansasskydiver 0 #2 April 2, 2004 I'm no pro but I'm sure someone will ask you this: Weight and height and I'm assuming that's an S3 in the picture correct?<--- See look, pink dolphins DO exist! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TALONSKY 0 #3 April 2, 2004 I am not sure if I will verbalize this in the best way but your shoulders should be rolled forward (cupping your upper body, I even loosen my leg straps so I can move my shoulders as forward as possible). Your arms should fairly straight with an ever so slight bend in them (keeping the wing taught). Your hands should be holding the grippers. Your pelvis should be dearched (creating a cup from chest to thighs). Your legs should be spread wide and straight and toes pointed(to keep the leg wing taught). I think in perfect form your rolled shoulders hands and feet should be the lowest points of your body. In a Skyflier 3 this body position is very strenuous on the upper body. Just so that you know I weigh 220 lbs at 6’3” and can get into the 50 MPH range pretty easily and flying hard in the low 40 to just breaking into the upper 30’s, but that is after 80 wingsuit jumps and having to really try and go slow to keep up there with Manbird (Steve) Hope that helps Kirk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #4 April 3, 2004 Guys, I think you have just fallen victim to British humor. Please let me remind everyone that this is a topical forum and not talkback, so lets not let this get out of hand.(Did ya not look at the photo?)"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kansasskydiver 0 #5 April 3, 2004 Sorry I guess I took it as a topical forum thus figured I'd try to get some information. Just figured the picture was one of the Freefly Wiggaz or something oh well... i gotta go pack anyways<--- See look, pink dolphins DO exist! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,380 #6 April 3, 2004 I think you might have to cut down on drag just a bit. Perhaps flying feet-first would help. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jari 0 #7 April 3, 2004 Hi Scott, you mean that we shouldn't take people with wigs seriously? What's wrong with that? How about people with pink socks or a pearcing? I think the guys deserves an answer. Stop flying head down Jari "Hey, don't be afraid, ever. Because, it's just a ride." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
verticalflyer 11 #8 April 3, 2004 Uncle Charlie, I think you need to speak to Loser luke and take some inspiration from him he sorted his skydiving problems out with a few Tats and some cool edits! Nice video. How are you James, flying the suit pretty well from what I have seen. Hope Tiphaine is well. ( sorry no doubt spelt incorrectly. Cheers FraserDont just talk about it, Do it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meekerboy 0 #9 April 5, 2004 Nice photo James. Is that 65secs off Brento? Meeker Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
unclecharlie109 0 #11 May 7, 2004 Hi all, I would just like to say thank you to all those people who took time to respond to my original post. Your advice really paid off. (British humour mode -Off-) Last weekend I made a flight of 4m 25sec, covering approximately 7.5 miles horizontal distance over the ground. My exit altitude was 29,000ft so my performance wasn't so good but all things considered I am satisfied with my flight. (It was my first high alt. jump) If you're thinking this is another joke posting - nope, no joke, I'll send you GPS plot if you desire. I jumped an S3, but flew well below my usual performance (obtained at much lower altitudes!). 29000ft is a pretty hostile environment, that takes your attention away from your body position! My flight was not problem free, my visor was covered in ice for the first 2 minutes of my flight, so i flew the wrong way. I also experienced severe discomfort trying to equalise my ears. If anybody else is thinking about doing high alt ws flights with bailout oxygen and has specific questions for me - please feel free to ask. Either here or by email. Blue Skies, long flights James -Edited to add photo of myself and my team mates Michal and Marketa who both flew well over 3min using Mtr suits. Congratulations to Michal and Marketa for breaking the Czech National altitude record! (British humour mode -On-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManBird 0 #12 May 7, 2004 Very nice just to have done that. That is a pretty fast overall fall rate, but hell, it's 29,000'. Thin air, plenty of exhaustion, and probably the desire to get down from the freezing temperatures. And you still got a big, fat freefall. I'm going in the opposite direction. I want to do about twenty five or so wingsuit flights from 5K and just focus on consistently breaking 30s before 3.5K. Don't think I'm quite up for high altitude wingsuit stuff just right now."¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pbla4024 0 #13 May 10, 2004 How do you like their MTR-1? Fido Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
podl01 0 #14 May 10, 2004 hi unclecharlie, cool idea to get up a bit higher than normal to equalize your little performance problem gratulations to your flight! today troposphere, tomorrow stratosphere... take care! andi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
unclecharlie109 0 #15 May 10, 2004 Re. MTR-1 suit The suit seems very similar to the original Loic Crossbow design. Build quality is ok, I think with the MTR-2 the durability wrinkles have been ironed out. We made some practice flights together before the 9000m load to get footage for Czech TV. With my S3 I was having to brake to stay with them! But like with canopies a lot depends on the pilot. J Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
