Gti or S3??

[Freakflyer804 0]

I am going to be buying a BM suit soon, And I am not sure if I want to get a gti or an s3... I have about 10 BM jumps and I fly pretty well... I haven't jumped the s3 yet...I have flown the gti. Is there a BIG difference?? Would I be able to keep up with someone else flying an s3? Your thoughts?

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What doesn't kill you... only requires brief hospitalization!!

[Deuce 1]

Yes. There is a big difference.

I have an S3, and did a dozen jumps on a GTi before getting it. The S3 kicked my ass on my first jump and scared the crap out of me. One of those "Oh, shit, I just dropped $1200 on this thing and that was absolutely no fun at all" kind of things.

The two other high-time Birdman flyers at my DZ, one with a GTi and one with a Classic both have flown my S3, and both of them came down pretty wide-eyed and beat, because it takes much more arm strength to fly maxed. One of those guys was MadJohn Dobleman, for those of you who know him. He said he'd think about flying it again after spending some time in the gym .

So, unless you've got several other folks to fly your S3 with, I think you'd be better off with a GTi. That is, if your ego will allow you to do the smart thing, rather than the most challenging thing.

I love my S3 now, and fly it pretty good, but I'm either flying with GTi's and classics most of the time, or doing rodeos.

Cool, though, huh?

[Freakflyer804 0]

Nice pic man.... Acctually I will be the only one at my dz with a BM suit... I was thinking about when I travel to other dzs... Which is quite often, as those who know me will attest... I am in pretty good physical condition so that isn't a concern to me...

I am thinking more about the difficulty and safety aspects between the 2... can a proficient GTI flyer stay with an s3? how often in flocks do people max out their suit?

and how do you launch the rodeo... what are the speeds like... anything longer than normal RW?

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What doesn't kill you... only requires brief hospitalization!!

[notsane 0]

It really comes down to how much you intend to fly the suit .. if you're intending to do a BM jump every once in a while, choose the GTi. If you're addicted (like me) go for the S3. The GTi is more forgiving and easier to fly well than the S3, but the S3's performance is much, much better when flown by an experienced person. GTi's and S3's can flock together ... when flocking you're usually nowhere near maxed out. For me a solo dive might be over 2 minutes, while a flocking dive might be around 90 seconds. Hope this helps.

[petetheladd 0]

I had the exact same question and ended up getting the GTI.

I dont Birdman full time so did'nt see the need to fork out an extra $500 dollars on an ego trip.

I'm getting around 2:20 freefall times doing solos and over >2.6 mile tracks from 14,000 grand pulling at 4500 and I am loving it.

Due to me parading around in a wingsuit for a while, I am starting to find people who have wingsuits I never knew had them and people keen to try a wingsuit out.

As I have access to a 2nd classic 2 I took 2 people BM'ing this weekend

I thinking the flock will start to grow this season.

See my similiar thread

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=763977;#763977

No, Not without incident

[Deuce 1]

If you've got the only suit at your DZ I would definitely suggest the GTi. Yes, the GTi can hang with the 3's, and somebody like SkymonkeyONE would kick my S3 ass in a Classic.

As to the rodeo thing, I have only started getting successful stable exits right out the door. I'm at a Kingair DZ so the door is tiny and we are HAULING when we bail. My instruction is just for the passenger to hang on and have faith it'll get stable. It's usually a barrel roll or two, and when I see planet I open the wings and VROOM! Off we go.

Haven't lost a passenger yet on exit.

[Tonto 1]

I'd go for the GTi.

I have around 50 wingsuit dives now, mainly on Classics (mine) and GTi's. (Borrowed) I have 4200 dives, and do around 400 a year at present, weekends only. I have 65 jumps so far this month, so I'm quite current.

I've ordered a S3, and in the 3 months it takes to build one and get it to Africa, I'll do another 40 - 50 wingsuit dives. I'll be ordering a Gti in July, and maybe even a Phi when they're released - and I'm not selling my classic. The vast majority of my wingsuit dives have been solo's - which was pivotal in my choice of suit.

Bottom line is I'm a little obsessed right now. If my AFF student is 5 min late - I'm kitting up for a wing suit dive. No need to "rush" those AFF briefings, you know!

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[Freakflyer804 0]

Thanks for all the input... I think I am going to go with the Gti.... Now arises another problem.... do I order a new one..... or do I buy used... I am 6'1 and 180lbs.... And if I do order new.. should I get someone to measure me.. or head to deland for them to fit me?

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What doesn't kill you... only requires brief hospitalization!!

[The111 0]

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Bottom line is I'm a little obsessed right now. If my AFF student is 5 min late - I'm kitting up for a wing suit dive. No need to "rush" those AFF briefings, you know!

It's nice to see someone with so much time in the sport still sound so enthusiastic about jumping.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[Deuce 1]

Check their site for stock used suits. Some great deals, and lots of color choices too!

[diablopilot 2]

I'd look into the MTR2 from Matter Clothing.

Its about the same price as a GTI, and has performance comparable to the Top BM suits, stability like no other, and a much less tiring upper body flight position.

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

[VectorBoy 0]

As far as " keeping up" goes just like canopy flying its not just the suit.
Its the pilot, that persons skill, their currency. And their desire to work at all of the above in this discipline and not just fly occasionally. Are you a match for the suit.

[Tonto 1]

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It's nice to see someone with so much time in the sport still sound so enthusiastic about jumping.

Thanks! I've hit a few flat spots over the years, but there is so much in skydiving that we can all find things we're bad at - and if we work at them - we get better! Being bad at things reminds us of being a student - and helps me relate better to my students.

I also like that there are "New Kings" in different disiplines - and as long as we respect each disipline - and the fact that we're all skydivers - the sport just looks better and better!
t

It's the year of the Pig.

[billvon 2,406]

>I'd look into the MTR2 from Matter Clothing.

But man! are they annoying to put on.

[Deuce 1]

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>I'd look into the MTR2 from Matter Clothing.

But man! are they annoying to put on.

Isn't that mostly because JP (SoCal) is the person you get the demo suits from, and his is really, really bright orange?

[skybytch 259]

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And if I do order new.. should I get someone to measure me.. or head to deland for them to fit me?

Have someone who knows how to measure for custom jumpsuits (or clothing) take your measurements - doesn't have to be the BM folks, a dealer who's been around for awhile or even a local whuffo seamstress/tailor should do ya fine. Have them use the measuring instructions on the order form.

[petetheladd 0]

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do I order a new one..... or do I buy used... I am 6'1 and 180lbs.... ?

Hmm .. again the same type of question I had. My issue was not wanting to wait

I decided to ring up the source give them my weight, height and build and ask 'do you have a new GTI lying around that would fit me'.

The answer was 'Yes' and As it happens Yari is about my size,weight build. As a bonus I had the man himself "Yari" model it for me.

This baby is now all mine and I got a stock discount to boot

schweet

No, Not without incident

[LouDiamond 1]

Buying a SF3 as a vanity purchase is a big mistake. As has been stated, a SF3 can whoop your ass if your not in shape and or have limited time in a suit period. If you jump on the weekends and at least one of your jumps isn't a Birdman flight then you are going to see performance declines from flights in smaller suits as well as even have a bad ride.

As for flying with others in a GTI or any suit for that matter. Flocking is about staying relative to one another so you won't be maxed out if your in a SF3 and you may not be maxed out in your GTI if some one is flying their vanity purchased SF3 like shit. Point being that any model of suit can be flown with others together. It's on the pilot to stay relative to the other flockers.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[The111 0]

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do I order a new one..... or do I buy used... I am 6'1 and 180lbs.... ?

Hmm .. again the same type of question I had. My issue was not wanting to wait

I decided to ring up the source give them my weight, height and build and ask 'do you have a new GTI lying around that would fit me'.

The answer was 'Yes' and As it happens Yari is about my size,weight build. As a bonus I had the man himself "Yari" model it for me.

This baby is now all mine and I got a stock discount to boot

schweet

How long ago did you get that? I jumped a demo that looked just like that on my second WS jump about 2.5 months ago.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[katiebear21 0]

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Buying a SF3 as a vanity purchase is a big mistake.

I tend to agree with you Lou but that didn't stop all the Raeford peeps from buying S3's on their first purchase or from you selling them. Knowing Scott, I think he'd be fine with an S3 as long as he'll jump it a bit regularly.

I will report that I had to "slow down" to stay with a bigger guy in a GTI this past weekend so I second your point about flying relative.

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Flocking is about staying relative to one another so you won't be maxed out if your in a SF3 and you may not be maxed out in your GTI if some one is flying their vanity purchased SF3 like shit.

Graham - dude, you could definitely hang in an S3 but like Lou said, if you're not going to fly it at least 50% of the time I'd go with a GTI.

Katie
Get your PMS glass necklace here

[petetheladd 0]

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How long ago did you get that? I jumped a demo that looked just like that on my second WS jump about 2.5 months ago.

About 7 weeks ago though it was claimed to 'not have a single jump on it'

No, Not without incident

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

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and As it happens Yari is about my size,weight build. As a bonus I had the man himself "Yari" model it for me.

I am sure you meant to type Jari, but I won't fault you for that. . I am sure you would be fine in an S3, but like everyone else has said, there isn't really any cause to buy one over a GTi if you have nobody to flock with or if all the other people on the DZ have "smaller" suits. There are many, many people out there who absolutely blister the sky in Classics, so don't think that buying the biggest suit is going to make you the baddest flyer. I rule the sky in my S3, but I love my GTi as well and can get away with cleaner back flight in it.

Chuck
BMCI