First flight (wrote too much)

[Ronaldo 0]

Hi,
I did my first wingsuit flights a couple of weeks ago (didn’t have a chance to write about it until now). Although it may sound repetitive I would like to share my impressions of it. First thing to say... I liked it very much! . I did only 2 jumps (which is not that much) but were enough for me to get the feeling of flight and also learn a few lessons. I had little to no coaching prior to the jump itself. Many months ago I was taught how to gear up (assemble the container through the wings and dress the suit) by a very experienced jumper (his experience includes lots of BASE and wingsuit jumps). The suit is made here in Brazil by a fellow skydiver (I'm not sure if he has a name or model for that suit). The suit has large arm and leg wings with cutaway handles for both. Considering the surface area and expected performance this would not be a suit recommended for beginners (I’ll take the blame). Here are my impressions:
- Exited the plane (Cessna 195) facing the prop with arms/ legs closed and spread the wings slowly. I found the suit to be extremely easy to fly. The best words to describe would be instinctive or intuitive. Turns were very fast but easy to control… just look and turn (yeah, it really works).
- Flying the suit is easy but getting some performance from it is not. Only after seeing the video I was able to see how my body position SUCKED. I need to straighten my legs, body and put some tension in my arms.
Lessons learned:
- 1st: never jump the suit unless you have perfect visibility of the ground. Holes through the clouds are not enough. On the second jump it was so clouded I had difficult seeing the DZ. That was definitely the major stupidity of the day.
- 2nd: I was taught to deploy in full flight but I know that some others prefer closing arms/ legs for a few seconds before pull. On the second jump I experienced a PC hesitation for a few seconds. After throwing the PC I waited a couple of seconds and as nothing happened looked over my shoulder and saw my PC perfectly inflated above my legs but without enough force to pull the pin. I immediately hit my rig 3 times and straighten my body hopping to clean the air stream on my back. Right after that I felt the bag leaving and canopy inflating.
I always adjust my closing loop as tight as possible (within what is considered reasonable). On the first jump of the day the rig was already packed for a week thus most of the air inside it was gone and the loop was not that tight. That’s why I think I had the hesitation on the 2nd jump. Lesson learned: A new 30” PC with 9ft bridle are on the way.
- 3rd: There is a good reason why people recommend you start with a larger and docile canopy. Although I did not have any twists (my container has fully open corners), all this unsnapping/ unzipping stuff takes time and makes your canopy turn as you lift your legs. A fast canopy just makes things more complicated at least when you’re starting.

Here is a very short video of the first exit and some of the 2nd jump’s flight. My buddy has about 150 ws jumps but all solos. We plan to jump more and adjust our fall rates to stay closer. Unfortunately, wingsuit jumpers are extremely rare here in Brazil.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5420768944733274863&hl=en

Please feel free to comment and criticize anything you find wrong.

Safe skies!

Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

[VectorBoy 0]

The very remarkable part of your post was that you jumped a cessna 195. Those are classics here, pilots would be excited just to fly such a fine machine let alone jump from this bird. I envy you Ronaldo.

[Ronaldo 0]

It is definitely a classic bird but sometimes I envy you guys jumping from bigger and more comfortable aircrafts with larger doors. I’m 1,86m (6’1.1/2”) so you can imagine how difficult it is to zip the booties inside the plane with 5 jumpers on the load.
Pictures of our bird (I have better ones, just can’t find now):
http://www.skydiveresende.com.br/aeronaves/index.html
http://showusyourwow.msn.com/?id=6813

Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

[jakee 1,254]

That is a nice plane! Proper oil stains from a proper radial engine

Do you have any photos of the suit you were flying - looks kinda like a copy of a GTI?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[VectorBoy 0]

After watching your video I don't think your flights sucked, for your first few flights that is. You recognize what you need to do to get better and I'm sure you will. We have all seen a lot worse.

Is this the same suit design that Jao has been flying here and there while in the states?

[Ronaldo 0]

I’m not sure about which wingsuit model he used as a guide to develop this one. The only suit I had a chance to take a closer look was Birdman’s Skyflyer (which is the one my buddy flies).
I have attached a couple of pictures which may help those with more experience to evaluate the design and construction.
I have a little experience with sewing so it looks well made to me. Some of the materials used don’t have the same quality as the ones I saw on the Skyflier (i.e. the tapes used to pass the cables through). I paid less than $500 for it (custom sized) so I think it was worth the money.

Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

[Ronaldo 0]

Quote

Is this the same suit design that Jao has been flying here and there while in the states?

If you're talking about João Tambor, yes it was made by the same guy! I actually got his phone number with João.
Thanks, I'll start reading this forum more often to get as much knowledge as possible.

Blue skies!

Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted