Pull Time

[funks 1]

So I made my first wingsuit jumps this weekend. Questioned the thrill after the first one, but as soon as i got back up there for jumps 2-4 i realized why they call it nylon crack...the shit is awesome!!

However, I was seriously weighing the thrill of the jump to the pure hell i was experiencing at pull time and trying to determine if it was worth it. Is it just me or is pull time in a wingsuit terrifying as hell??

Is there anything that can be done to minimize the mental anguish and physical pain that comes along with pull time?

I dont think i was slowing down my horizontal speed enough to reduce the shock to a tolerable level. On most of the jumps i was pulling the second i collapsed the wings, so i know giving it some time to slow down will help a little...I think this was just due to being overwhelmed.

Plus, I am so used to reaching for my risers as I watch the snivel. That helpless feeling of hanging there like a rag doll was pretty eery. Slowly got use to it, but still pretty eery.

All in all, I think I am addictd. However, I am just trying to figure out ways to make pull time in a wingsuit a little more tolerable...any suggestions besides just slowing the horizontal speed down?

Oh yeah, one more thing..one of the openings was so hard that the riser slapped the hell out of me and i lost my damn protrack because of it...that kinda sucked, but oh well...

[ManBird 0]

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Is there anything that can be done to minimize the mental anguish and physical pain that comes along with pull time?

Relax. Pace yourself. That's it.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

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[LouDiamond 1]

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Is there anything that can be done to minimize the mental anguish and physical pain that comes along with pull time?

Could you elaborate a little bit more since I am not quite sure what it is your experiencing that could possibly cause such a response. First off, were you trained by a BMI? If you were it will save me some typing otherwise I'll have to explain it in detail which could get a bit long.

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

[The111 1]

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Plus, I am so used to reaching for my risers as I watch the snivel. That helpless feeling of hanging there like a rag doll was pretty eery. Slowly got use to it, but still pretty eery.

This is not advice, but I have managed to grab my risers WITH the wings zipped up. Only works if you grab before full inflation. You're sort of cheating by half-grabbing the mudflaps. BUT I think this is a horrible idea and the times I did it, it was probably responsible for the twists I got (I was actually able to get out of the twists without undoing the wings but again I was holding my mudflaps like a retard). My first few jumps were actually the best deployments I ever had and for some reason on those I was very relaxed and just let myself be a ragdoll. Then I started thinking too hard and trying to do too much with my arms.

I can sympathize with your fear of pull time because I sort of have it now, and it has made some of my recent deployments not too pretty, the worst one being a terrifying dropped hackey. :( I've never had a slammer though.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[namdrib 0]

One word for ya, bro, "Repetition"... I had the same problem, but the more I flew it, the more comfortable it was. Just comes in time. Like Manbird says: Patience!

Unknowing attempting to take out all 4 wheeled vehicles remotely close to the landing area!

[funks 1]

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Is there anything that can be done to minimize the mental anguish and physical pain that comes along with pull time?

Could you elaborate a little bit more since I am not quite sure what it is your experiencing that could possibly cause such a response. First off, were you trained by a BMI? If you were it will save me some typing otherwise I'll have to explain it in detail which could get a bit long.

I did receive proper training, i dont know if the person is a BMI but he is a VERY respected person in the skydiving community. All of you would know who he was if i mentioned him by name...it was actually his suit that i was jumping..

I think the hard openings could be from both not slowing down enough and body position. The body position got better on each jump, but the openings were still pretty hard...I think alot of what i am experiencing is also mental anxiety...the fact that i am used to throwing the pilot chute and now it is nothing much more than a flick of the wrist is somewhat nerve wracking...

I got flying the suit down pretty good by the 3rd jump..though i lost my protrack, my buddy i was jumping with guessed i was averaging in the 60's by the last jump...the feeling was awesome!!!

[LouDiamond 1]

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i dont know if the person is a BMI

OK, that very well may be why your having deployment issues( no ding on your friend). Of all the things involved with flying a suit, deployment is the most crucial as it can either make the whole flight a fun experience or something like what you experienced.
Here is the down and dirty on deployment. You do the following and you won't have any issues.

Your flying along and 5K comes up, you click your feet together 3 times (wave off). On the 3rd time you keep your feet together ensuring that your knee bones and ankles are touching( I am as serious as dick cancer about this). You arch at the hip, look up(this is important if you want to avoid going head low) and collapse both wings simulataneously as you reach for your hacky. Give yourself a second or two in this position to loose horizontal speed and gain vertical before you throw your pilot chute out.

The key is violence of action during your pitch. That doesn't mean fast and sloppy it means forcefully throw your pilot chute out into the air like a man. Ensure that you open both arms simultaneously when you pitch(keep your legs closed the entire time. You never open your legs back up) and do not dip a shoulder or look over a shoulder. As soon as you have released the pilot chute immediately collapse both arm wings. When you do this your hands should come down in front of you in the vicinity of your emergency handles and you should be looking at them. You will be just about sitting up right in the saddle by the time you get to this stage.

You are looking at your handles in case you need to use them later in the sequence. At this point remaining still during the deployment sequence is vital as you can cause twists by shifting in the harness or looking around,reaching etc. As soon as you feel your canopy fully inflate look straight up to see that it is open and square. If it is you immediately look back down at your hands which are stratigically placed right in front of you and by one another and you immediately unzip and go into post opening procedures.

If in the event you look up and your canopy has twists but it is square and stable(not diving or spinning up) you immediately unzip and deal with the line twists. Line twists with a canopy that is square and flying is not a reason to cut away.

However, if you look up and your canopy is violently diving or spinning up uncontrolably or you have an obvious malfunction, you immediately look back at your hands and go into your emegency procedures. Once your reserve is open you again go into post opening procedures.

I strongly suggest you practice this several times on the ground going over a normal deployment, line twists and emergency procedures and actually unzip and do post opening procedures like you would in the air. If you dick it up on the ground I guarantee you will dick it up in the sky. Ensure you arch at the the hips and look up while reaching back for the hacky. If you start to wobble of have stability issues arch harder and regain your stability.
REMEMBER, ALWAYS PULL STABLE.

People have tendencies to dip shoulders, bend at the torso sideways or other wise move to cause instability that leads to opening issues. There is no rush. Do at least 2 practice pulls once you are flying off of the line of flight while you have plenty of altitude. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. If you rush your wave off and practice pulls up high you will probably do the same thing when it comes time to pull for real. Staying still while in flight and during pull is key to having a good flight. Ever see a bird kicking it's legs or moving around spastically while it was gliding along in flight? There is a reason for that. Be like a bird

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

[funks 1]

Awesome! Appreciate the info and plan on putting it to good use!

[VectorBoy 0]

Is there anything that can be done to minimize the mental anguish and physical pain that comes along with pull time?

I dont think i was slowing down my horizontal speed enough to reduce the shock to a tolerable level. On most of the jumps i was pulling the second i collapsed the wings, so i know giving it some time to slow down will help a little...I think this was just due to being overwhelmed.

[mccordia 73]

The only problem I have at pulltime is that my dytter doesnt have a Snooze button...
I always pull at normal altitude, but when it's realy flying well...I'm always tempted to think 'ahh...just a few seconds more...'

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[ManBird 0]

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The only problem I have at pulltime is that my dytter doesnt have a Snooze button...
I always pull at normal altitude, but when it's realy flying well...I'm always tempted to think 'ahh...just a few seconds more...'

Totes. I tend to get "greedy" a lot, as well. I just started using an audible again. I don't like it. It nags and nags and nags. I just think, "Oh c'mon, just 10 more seconds!"

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

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[birddog 0]

Deal with it