Sugarglider - Jii-Wings - GS1

[Taz 0]

Hi Kids,
I did have some awesome jumps at Pepperell while I was stateside for a few weeks. Had several 2.5 minute freefalls--is the air just that much thicker at sea level? Lurch, if you want to fly with me, come on down to Africa! www.jsc.co.za here every weekend! Sorry I missed you--only got Rich lured away from tandems for one jump on his Vampire, but it was fun.

-T

It's the Year of the Dragon.

[lurch 0]

Whoa. Africa? It'd be awesome, but I unfortunately must be enough of a realist to admit to myself I'm not likely to be passing through that neck of the planet anytime soon. Disappointment is somewhat mitigated by the simple fact that theres now enough birdmen around that we actually have a flock, and today I went up with a certain Matt B, for his first wingsuit flight and it rocked! Got 2 docks on him although the second was more like a grabasstic shoulder check, it counted. New Birdman!!! Woooooooo!!!!!
I'm pretty sure I got in some flights with the dirty Russian at some point but the glare off that appalling yellow suit of his makes it hard to tell.
Went up with Murphy and got my first ever sustained dock, 100% rock steady relative for at least 5 seconds. For me thats a milestone, theres been so few times I had another bird to fly with, all I knew was slowflying. We keep this shit up we're going to be able to fly a 4 bird docked formation.
I got an awesome video of flying with Rich, could MPEG it and send it somewhere with his permission. I still owe him a copy. The vampire suit is unreal, Rich has the archangel look down solid. Rich seldom has time outside working jumps, he's had the thing for awhile now but only just got a chance to fly with him now. After the first flight where I demonstrated my intelligence by forgetting to turn on my camera and thus failing to record my first flight with him, a sudden fairly short notice sunset load became available. I'm like lets catch it. He's like nah don't wanna be rushed. I'm doing instant mental math, plane's not landed, actual gearup time, all our shit is right here ready to go... I'm like start right now we wont BE rushed. Hes like your right. Didn't take much persuading...Poof. He was instantly ready. Resistance is futile. Maybe its just me but I think he might be hooked.
And now we got birdmen all over the place.
Hell yeah.

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[Taz 0]

Okay, well--I'll probably be back in Boston before you get to Africa, so I'll keep you posted. It would be great to see MPEG of Rich flight. He's going to rock some world in that Vampire. Post it, or PM me.

It's nice to know the flock is growing out there. There was definitely a lot of interest as far as I could tell. Do you have BMIs or PFIs at any of the DZs in New England?

-T

It's the Year of the Dragon.

[kevin922 0]

Quote

Hi Kids,
I did have some awesome jumps at Pepperell while I was stateside for a few weeks. Had several 2.5 minute freefalls--is the air just that much thicker at sea level? Lurch, if you want to fly with me, come on down to Africa! www.jsc.co.za here every weekend! Sorry I missed you--only got Rich lured away from tandems for one jump on his Vampire, but it was fun.

-T

Maybe i'm confused, were you jumping a GS1, or how does this relate to the GS1 thread?

[Tonto 1]

It's called "Thread drift."

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[Taz 0]

Well--you're right, that was pretty much completely off topic of GS1. It was in response to "Taya is getting 44mph on her GTi". I personally am very excited to get my demo GS1 and try it out now that I feel I'm getting good performance out of my GTi. But that's the only connection. End of off-topic discussion!

-T

It's the Year of the Dragon.

[mccordia 73]

At about 2:00 minutes into the teaser of "Keen 'N Able" from jimmyhalliday there is some footage of an A' jump with a GS1 or sugarglider? Don't know if it's one of the new production suits??
Huge wingspan!

File should be online at skydivingmovies.com in a short while..(I cheated:P)

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[Tonto 1]

Saw John McKay's GS-1 this weekend. He was happy with the numbers he was posting (Mid 60's - he's a big guy) but was unhappy with the fit.
The suit tore when he put it on, and he ended up jumping without shoes as the suit was too short. I'd be interested in hearing what feedback you have on this.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[pierre3636 0]

big guy is an understatement

~ time is ~ time was ~ times past ~

[Tonto 1]

Well... he's not a giant!

He says the suit tore cos it was tight - but I know from experience as a dealer for another manufacturer that the measuring process in these things is critical. Although I've never had an issue with any of the measurements I've taken, I'm relieved to see that Birdman have moved to the simple "Height and weight" scale for the bulk of their suits. Tiny people (and I guess giant ones too) don't fit on their chart though. Taz is easily on the height side of the XS, but would have to put on about 40 lbs to get on the weight side, hence the need to retain custom sizes.

Jii-Wings would be wise to get someone experienced to measure people for their suits.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[cateT 0]

Thanks for pointing out our shortcomings here Tonto.....we really appreciate the advice as well. I just hope that next time we have an embarrassing revelation that we can make it ourselves!

We are very upset to hear that John's suit is too small - but they are made to "fit" well and obviously his just fitted more than a little too well! We are talking to John and hope to sort it all out very soon and address whatever caused the problem in the first place. All our work comes with a full money-back guarantee.

John's suit was the second production model to leave here and we hope that by the time we get to making your demo we have sorted all these problems out.

As far as experience goes.... I think Maria's 20 years in fashion and tailoring stand her in good stead.

We are looking for a press officer if you happen to be in the market for a new job....

[Tonto 1]

Quote

Thanks for pointing out our shortcomings here Tonto.....

Did I say there were shortcomings? You may well find the suit was built 100% to the measurements given. If that's the case, then the fault surely lies with the person who took the measurements.

As for being your press officer.. the only people who make no mistakes are those who do nothing. We're all on a learning curve, and there is a great deal of anticipation around the GS-1 both locally and worldwide.

I've recieved ill fitting gear before, and know of no one who's got everything right, including the master monsters like Tony suits. It's all about the response.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[SimonM 0]

Hey Tonto,

Quote

He was happy with the numbers he was posting (Mid 60's - he's a big guy)

John is around the same size as me (maybe a bit heavier) so I am sure he has a lot of room for improvement from mid 60's.

Simon

[Beverly 1]

Well his mid 60's is already a huge improvement.
He has come off a base of mid 80's.
So his flying skill has improved radically.
Will be nice to do a jump with him again and compare to the last few we did.

I think true friendship is under-rated

Twitter: @Dreamskygirlsa

[Tonto 1]

John is really pouring his soul into this right now.

He was back to backing wingsuit dives this past weekend. I'm pretty sure you can lay the credit for an instant weekend improvement of 20mph at the door of the GS-1. Once he starts to fine tune he'll improve more. This is the first mono wing he's jumped and was happy with it's responsiveness.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[lurch 0]

Brief sidetrack...
WOOHOO!
I just got 44 on my own GTI. Neptune claims a 198 second freefall but I think its fucked in the head cause the video comes up a few seconds shy of 198. Still a kickass flight. Taya, if you stop by here again I might be able to give you a good run for your money. We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread hijack.

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[SimonM 0]

Quote

Well his mid 60's is already a huge improvement.
He has come off a base of mid 80's.

Numbers arnt everything (or anything really) but I am pretty sure he will get into the late 40's pretty soon.

Sounds like you guys are doing lots of wingsuit stuff, I must come jump sometime soon.

Simon

[Tonto 1]

Yes... You must!
Taya is doing small flocks, up to 4 - on Saturday pm.. I'll be joining her when I'm done with my AFF.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[pierre3636 0]

yeah simon .... come play! im there too on sat doing few with tonto taz and bev!

~ time is ~ time was ~ times past ~

[mccordia 73]

I see more and more people are recieving their GS-1's

Anyone flown it yet? First flight impressions? Freefall times/speeds? GPS data? Body-fluids spilled?

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[voodew1 0]

Saturday morning will be the maiden flight for me

The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid

[mccordia 73]

For those in the Benelux area interested in trying.
We have a GS1 in our demo-fleet...drop me a line if you want to give it a try...

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[mccordia 73]

My excusses to those who PM and mailed more about bad taste and what not...

I didnt want to start a new thread, so I did a search for earlier GS1 threads and appended to that. I missed the name of the person who started the thread when I did so.

Tonto made a big contribution to this forum, in form of many (over 6000) posts. All of curious, informative and constructive nature.
Chances are you will see his name pass here every once in a while when people get back to older threads.

My sincere appologies if this naive action on my behalf caused any grief..
Believe me when I say no bad taste or ill intentions where part of doing so...

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[pierre3636 0]

its the way he would have wanted it mate

~ time is ~ time was ~ times past ~

[Taz 0]

No one has done anything wrong. Lots of things that remind me of him still make the world skip a beat, but what he did and said belongs here even though he's gone.

-T

It's the Year of the Dragon.