WS base pull in flight

[KT22 0]

This is a question for wingsuit base jumpers.

Has anyone had a problem with pulling in flight??

I am looking to hear about actuall occurences, not theoretical ones.

It is my inclination to just pull in casual but more or less full flight. i do not like to change up the whole program and go into the ball type position that some WS basers reccomend.

I have not had a problem with this on any skydives, and not on my two wingsuit base jumps. It is my natural pull. I am not in full on max mode, but I just decide to open the parachute and go ahead and do it.

I have seen plenty of other wingsuit base jumpers do this.

please let me know of any first hand accounts of this being problematic in the base environment.

thanks

Frank

[dploi 0]

I always pull in full flight and lose almost no altitude because of it. With the low pull trend that's resulted in so many close calls and tragedies, it's apparent that the reduced fall rate can throw off your "visual altimeter" a bit.

The only "problem" I've had, in general, is that if you get asymmetrical at pull time with a lot of forward speed, off-headings can be really pronounced and throw you a line twist. It happened once on a BASE jump when I had a somewhat tough pull from the BASE PC pouch. But if you stay symmetrical through the opening, it will usually give you better heading.

That's my experience, anyway. Your mileage may vary.

[SullyFlyer 0]

I'd be happy to share my experiences with you if you let us know who you are. Fill in your profile or PM me.

My advice to a stanger is to find an experienced jumper that knows you and ask them what they do.

Be Safe.
-Bill

[unclecharlie95 3]

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Has anyone had a problem with pulling in flight??

Hard openings, whiplash and line twists.

BASEstore.it

[dploi 0]

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whiplash

Wah, wah, wah. ;P

Oh, yeah... that, too. Had the wind more or less knocked out of me once, followed by a few days of a sore neck. Was packed for sub/near-terminal slider up, but was weathered out. WSed the next jump with that pack job -- could have used a couple extra wraps of tape and a slightly smaller PC.

[outrager 6]

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I always pull in full flight and lose almost no altitude because of it. With the low pull trend that's resulted in so many close calls and tragedies, it's apparent that the reduced fall rate can throw off your "visual altimeter" a bit.

The only "problem" I've had, in general, is that if you get asymmetrical at pull time with a lot of forward speed, off-headings can be really pronounced and throw you a line twist. It happened once on a BASE jump when I had a somewhat tough pull from the BASE PC pouch. But if you stay symmetrical through the opening, it will usually give you better heading.

That's my experience, anyway. Your mileage may vary.

I second that. I always pull in full flight with BASE gear (great openings and better heading perfomance).

In skydiving environment, however, i now tend to slow down and collapse somewhat - with a skydiving rig, even modified for WS, collapsing seems to produce more comfortable openings.

bsbd!

Yuri.

[FIREFLYR 0]

I am new to wingsuit base (like 15 jumps,)
One thing I noticed was that I was gripping the thumb loops (Birdman classic but I imagine holding grippers could have the same effect) very tightly so when pulltime came my hand was stiff from the cold and gripping so hard. The action of releasing my grip griping the pilot chute and tossing it was very slightly retarded, I now try for a relaxed but firm grip.
As an example make a tight fist and hold it for 20 seconds,then try to open and close and open and close it quickly....it's a little awkward.
Maybe not what you were looking for but it's my 2¢
~J

"One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
"There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

[The111 1]

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One thing I noticed was that I was gripping the thumb loops (Birdman classic but I imagine holding grippers could have the same effect) very tightly so when pulltime came my hand was stiff from the cold and gripping so hard.

How do you "grip" a thumb loop? You don't need to make a fist to max out a Classic. If anything I'd think it could work against you if you are flying too tense.

But, you do have a point about making sure your muscles are relaxed for pull. On suits with grippers and long (2.5+ minute) flights, this can be a more valid issue.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[obi 0]

Go with what's natural for you. Just be sure to have it really dialed in before taking it down low (which can happen very quickly).
Like James said, sometimes you get hard openings from pulling in full flight and if they come with off-headings they can be a bit nasty. So a couple of years ago I rolled the nose - until I had a snivelling 270 on a lowish pull. Pretty scary. I decided to never roll the nose again for ws-Base. I pack for a fast and clean opening and just flare the suit a little bit before pulling to take the bite out of the opening. If I need a canopy really fast I don't flare.
The problem with not having enough power left in your arms after a really long flight doesn't depend on the way you pull, but is definetely something to keep in the back of your head.

[notsane 0]

If you're pulling on those thumb loops during flight you're probably deforming the wing pretty badly. The thumb loops are there to help when you unzip,

[FIREFLYR 0]

>>>How do you "grip" a thumb loop? You don't need to make a fist to max out a Classic. If anything I'd think it could work against you if you are flying too tense.
~You are right about the classic, it was a bad habit I stopped, I was more refering to it because of the grippers on other models.

>>>But, you do have a point about making sure your muscles are relaxed for pull. On suits with grippers and long (2.5+ minute) flights, this can be a more valid issue.
~Unless people are getting 2.5+ minute BASE wingsuits and I hadn't heard (are they?) I'm more worried when 1 extra second will kill you. not at 2k on a skydive.
~J

"One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
"There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

[The111 1]

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>>>But, you do have a point about making sure your muscles are relaxed for pull. On suits with grippers and long (2.5+ minute) flights, this can be a more valid issue.
~Unless people are getting 2.5+ minute BASE wingsuits and I hadn't heard (are they?) I'm more worried when 1 extra second will kill you. not at 2k on a skydive.
~J

That was my point exactly. Since you aren't getting those super long flight times on BASE jumps, I wouldn't think you'd have to worry about forearm cramps (unless your endurance is worse than mine, and mine sucks!).

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[Buried 0]

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unless your endurance is worse than mine, and mine sucks!).

I know, now tell your g/f to quit complaining to me about that! I dont care!

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

[outrager 6]

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That was my point exactly. Since you aren't getting those super long flight times on BASE jumps, I wouldn't think you'd have to worry about forearm cramps (unless your endurance is worse than mine, and mine sucks!).

This may be an issue. I had a very scary weak pull after 2+min BASE flight on my old S3 prototype. That suit didn't have rigid grippers, and holding wingtips in a maxed out position for a long time put a lot of stress on fingers.

Nowadays 2min base flights are becoming quite common.

bsbd!

Yuri.

[KrisFlyZ 0]

A proper full flight(head low angle and going full speed) pull will be unwantedly hard even when the Nose is rolled. I jump a Vented canopy(BlackJack) so 5-7 loose rolls of the outside cells of the nose are needed. Otherwise the openings are too rough.

Of my 21 WS BASE jumps, I have had line twists 2 times

1) Jump1
Packjob details: Nose left unrolled
Pull was more or less in belly fall
Hard opening and one or half line twist.

2) Jump 15
Packjob details: Nose rolled 5-7 times
Pull was in full flight( full speed and head low...don't ask why I did that...and no I was not too low)
Really hard opening and one or two line twists...but the opening was so quick it did not give me time to recover from looking at the PC...so I almost expected the line twists as I felt the canopy began to pull me(asymetrically)

Here is a video of me( Yeah this post is just a ruse to post a link to my video ); The flight and deployment can be seen clearly. This looks like a full flight opening but is a normal gentle opening.

Kris.

[Buried 0]

31 base jumps. 21 of them are WS base jumps? is that right?

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

[KrisFlyZ 0]

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31 base jumps. 21 of them are WS base jumps? is that right?

Oh the sheep......

Your post has nothing to do with the thread in question if you have any concerns please PM me.

Kris.