Prodigy Thoughts

[LukeH 0]

I finally got around to making a few skydives on my Prodigy, and this suit kicks ass.

The performance is quite amazing. I had suspected that the Prodigy could out-fly a GTi, but was quite surprised with how easily. I have made about 30 cliff jumps with the Prodigy but every time I went to the DZ there was always someone else that wanted to try the Prodigy so I ended up jumping the GTi.

Well a couple of weekends ago, I finally got a chance to take it for a skydive. A two way with a guy (also with 100+ GTi jumps) in his GTi. It was very easy to flock together but when I poured on the power he just couldn't stay with me. I flew up up and away. We jump together quite a bit and are usually quite well matched in performance.

Later that day I took a new bird for his second flight in the Prodigy. He was trying to fly maxed out, I was back in the GTi and just couldn't make any ground on him!

This is obviously not a scientific measurement of either suits performance, but it does appear that it's far easier for a new or average pilot to get a higher performance (higher forward speed and lower decent rate) out of the Prodigy than a GTi.

[moonglo 0]

I own both Prodigy and GTi and have found the same-I can fly further at a slower decent rate in the Prodigy. But on long flights I find the GTi to be much easier on the shoulders! (and it probably helps that my Prodigies are almost new, while my GTi has 150+jumps, lost most of it's lining, and has a few patches)

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Jen and Luke,

Can you tell me if you fly with a bend at the elbow or a straight arm? I will post pictures of what I mean by this when I get home.

Kris.

[LukeH 0]

By straight arm I assume you mean is there a straight line from the shoulder to wrist when viewed from above.
For me no, I push my elbows forward and don't put much tension on the wing grippers. The elbow does have a bend.
I try not to get caught up in being too technical and just fly the suit. I've found that the Prodigy naturally put's me in a good flying position without me having to do too much work
I reckon this is the way to fly all suits (except the Acro) designed by Robi. (Not that I have flown all of them)

BTW: I'm starting a charity for poor people that can't afford a V1 (I'm a firm believer that charity starts at home). All donations greatfully accepted

[KrisFlyZ 0]

If I could fly, I would not be technical either .

Here is what I mean by a bend. I am assuming you do that.

Kris.

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Here is a prodigy pic without a bend in the arm.

Kris.

[moonglo 0]

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Can you tell me if you fly with a bend at the elbow or a straight arm?

Bent elbow, but not quite like your pic. I roll my shoulders more forward, so the elbow is pointing more towards my head than my back. Makes for a very light grip on the wingtips as I'm flying mostly with the upper part of my arms.

-Jenn

[KrisFlyZ 0]

That pic is just(about 5-7 secs) after a still air exit (with another person in the air)....the body position changes quite a bit afterwards but there is a bend at the elbows.

I remember that while flying with straight arms, we can still allow the wing to inflate properly. I have not flown the V-1 like that but in the S3 it seemed to give me more forward speed.

Kris.

[LukeH 0]

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Here is what I mean by a bend. I am assuming you do that.

Ah Kris! Now that is a poor excuse to post a blow up of your Avatar. (just kidding), but you assume wrong. i mean more like what i said, my arm is fairly flat along the wing span, the bend is in the leading edge.

i suspect a bend like the one in your picture would make the wing act more like a braking device (cupping air) than a wing and make it harder to fly quietly.

having said that i'm no aerodynamics expert and have never flown a V1, so perhaps it works well.

[KrisFlyZ 0]

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Ah Kris! Now that is a poor excuse to post a blow up of your Avatar. (just kidding)

Here is the colors of the prodigy I ordered. Guess who is in the picture .

Anyone else want to post prodigy thoughts?

Kris.

[LukeH 0]

nice shot!

it's also a perfect example of the position i'm saying you don't want in flight. i've found that rolling my shoulders forward during the early stages of the exit takes me steeper than i would like (as does bending your head down). for a good flight i would also suggest straight legs

nice colours for your suit. with this purchase will you own every suit in the PF range?

[KrisFlyZ 0]

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nice colours for your suit. with this purchase will you own every suit in the PF range?

I don't own a Acro and don't think I will own one. I am not interested in acrobatic flight at the moment. If I was in the U.S and jumping a lot(read about 7-10 times more jumps than I did this season in the U.K). I would be three suits short
I did about 30 jumps this season compared to 350 or so last season.

And speaking of great exits...here are a few pics of Doug.

Kris.

[Trae 1]

They really are great exits.... proper launches ...even looks like he's taking off and going up .


Good energy

[voodew1 0]

Doug -- that tool..... we hate that guy!!!!!!!!
(I am assuming that is the Doug D. from Texas that is trying to sell his s3 right now who never comes out to play with us)

We would like him and not call him a tool if he would come out and play with us like the good old days.
I would even give him a place to stay and a ride to the DZ

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

[KrisFlyZ 0]

The last time I flew was on September 26, 2005 that made this the longest break I have taken from skydiving ever. It felt so good to be back in the air, even though the temps were freezing.

Did three jumps on my Prodigy at Headcorn the exit altitudes were between 2600 and 3600 and the longest delay was 21 secs so not much flying..but I did get it going on the last one before having to turn back....(for those of you that know Headcorn, I was well past the tracks and flying away from the DZ).

After nearly 300 wingsuit jumps(200 of these on big suits), I am looking forward to an exciting season of Prodigy flights and not being a big airbrake .

Kris.
Edited to add: It was hard to believe that there was nothing else to do after opening other then releasing the snaps. Being used to flying suits that require several steps after opening, I was brain locking for a few moments before realizing that there were no more steps needed.

[chris74 0]

Hi Kriz,
last year i only jump my Prod and flocked easily with the others ( S3, Sfly etcc ) .Even i plan buying an Acro i will keep my Prod for my fun dumb jumps (we have no money but great ideas ) because it is the more versatile and safe WS :if it leaves for bollocks, u have nothing to release.With Prod only pros no cons.
Blue skies
Chris

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Hi Chris,

The prodigy has its share of cons...I will be writing a detailed review once I get to put a few more jumps on it. I was just excited that I got to jump and wanted to share.

Kris.

[chris74 0]

Hi Kriz,
For sure , nothing is perfect. Prod is an awesome versatile WS but It's not a rocket ! We have to compare only thing comparable.Prod is surely not a S3 or a vampire .
Blue skies
Chris

[KrisFlyZ 0]

I love the performance(even though I have only 5 jumps that the Prodigy...two of these I did not even fly it correctly(IMO) ) provides. My cons are mostly related to the fact that it is a two piece suit and wonder if these can be solved(you know in a two piece design).

For example: If you have to sit on the floor in a plane, the pants slide down and the shirt comes up. This may be due to me being new to the suit or inherent to the two piece design.

Kris.

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Did four more jumps on the Prodigy today. The issue I was having last week was...sitting down on the floor of the plane caused the jacket to slide up and the pants to slide down and a very cold spot on the back where the cold air was getting in.

Doing the jacket under the legstraps and really tightening and tying off the cinch cord, solved this problem.

As far as flights go, I have no data that makes sense except people on the ground saying that you were really moving(on the 3400 ish exits with 14 and 20 sec delays). One of the jumps was an exit at 8k flying against the wind in a straight line, but I cannot post any meaningful data.

When I flew a demo Prodigy in September, my shoulders were really beat up. I don't have that issue now. This is based on the one flight from 12K and another from 8K. As I put more ump the prodigy more, I will update my thoughts on this.

Anyone flying a prodigy with Hanwag shoes? Unable to put tension on the bootie due to this, does it matter much?

Kris.

[LukeH 0]

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Anyone flying a prodigy with Hanwag shoes? Unable to put tension on the bootie due to this, does it matter much?

yup, i made about 30 jumps on the Prodigy with Hanwags. i've since put a few jumps on it with my chucks - i don't notice much difference.
never seemed to have a problem tensioning the suit with the Hanwags either. must be the luck o the irish 'cause it sure ain't skill

did i mention that the Prodigy is a mighty fine Wingsuit. i love it more and more with each use.....

[base689 0]

KrisFlyZ, LukeH,
Has any of you got a GPS track of your BASE/skydive Prodigy flights?
Or, (way easier) have you got the average efficiency for a Prodigy flight?
I just received my Prodigy and just started doing the first 2 wingsuit flights, but knowing the average efficiency experienced Prodigy flyers can get would be a target for me (next time I wil be doing wingsuit flight (=skydiving) with my GPS on my helmet).

Stay safe out there
Blue Skies and Soft Walls
BASE #689 - base_689AT_NO_123_SPAMyahoo.com

[outrager 6]

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Or, (way easier) have you got the average efficiency for a Prodigy flight?

Not sure what "average" L/D here would be. It must vary a lot for different people, and will degrade as you keep holding it past a minute or so - Prodigy is a bit hard on the arms when maxed out. My best in it (on the 5th flight) was 1.7+ on a minute-long flight. I haven't measured L/D after that, as it never was a goal of consequent flights.

bsbd!

Yuri.

[LukeH 0]

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Has any of you got a GPS track of your BASE/skydive Prodigy flights?
Or, (way easier) have you got the average efficiency for a Prodigy flight?

hi,

i haven't used a gps to collect data. perhaps the following can give you some indication if you are familiar with the locations:
1) Kerjag exit point 6, my first prodigy jumps where here and after a few jumps i could make it a little past the lighthouse and still pull at 400ft.
2)La Mouse - easily able to fly over the river and well into the next field, pulling 300-400ft
3)ITW - flying to the left I was able to pop over the climbing wall about 2/3 of the way up the ridge clearing the ridge by a reasonable amount (i'm talking reasonable to me, not Loic reasonable!).

I would expect much better performance if you have decent upperbody strength (i don't 'cause i'm lazy) and have more jumps on the suit.

if you have figures from a GTi, you should be easily able to better them.

for skydive flights, i guess the upper winds are going to make meaningful comparisons difficult....

[KrisFlyZ 0]

I would say my skill on the Prodigy is below average at the moment. However, I will be flying it(and the phantom) a lot this season and GPSing the flights as well.

I will post my findings/GPS tracks here(don't have a GPS yet).

Kris.