help flying S-Fly Expert

[palejo 0]

i just receive my S-FLY Expert and have done 10 jumps with it. I'm still struggling with my body position, going to step low angle. I'm the only bird in my DZ so no video reference. The only reference I have (no GPS yet) is my video camera timer. I'm doing about 65-68 seconds from 13,000 to 5'000.
Tips out there on how to handle this suit for better angle and glide.

Alex

Alejandro
B27585

[LouDiamond 1]

Based off of the times you posted I am assuming you are not fully extending and locking your legs. You must also fly in a relatively flat, no arching, body position. Your arms need to be in line with your torso, not below or behind it and they need to be extended until the arm wing is taut, plams facing down. Use your hips to influence the direction of the suit. It's going to take you several more flights to find the sweet spot on the suit but when you do, you will quickly know. Enjoy

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

[palejo 0]

Thanks Lou. I recall trying to lock my knees and keeping my legs straight. I susppected I was going or too steep or falling out of the sky due to the duration of my flights until a couple weeks ago when I went to Clewiston and did a two way with someone with an old Classic. He said from his perspective I was sinking too fast and my body position was little too steep. In a couple weeks I'm going to Z-Hills and will try to get some learning over there

Alejandro
B27585

[skyjumpsteve 0]

In a couple weeks I'm going to Z-Hills and will try to get some learning over there <=====Forget about "trying".....if you make it to the Hills you definitely will learn a ton! Have fun.

[palejo 0]

more people flying S-flys over there that I can learn from?

Alejandro
B27585

[piisfish 135]

Will be difficult to check without video.

Make also sure that your head is straight (looking down) and not looking "in front" as with the head bent backwards.

Remember your basic body position (with this suit) is FLAT.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Quote

more people flying S-flys over there that I can learn from?

No, but there are several of us here who have enough flights in the suit to show you how to fly it correctly.

I can tell you how Loic told me how to fly the suit at Deland a few years ago:

You turn the INSIDE of your elbows straight up and push upward with the insides of your wrists

Zach had a new one here at Flock and Dock 3.0, so I got more opportunities to fly the suit (as did a bunch of others). I didn't have any problems at all flying the suit with confidence, front or back, holding my arms like I described above. I don't know how Omar held his arms, so maybe he will pipe in as well. So, to answer your question, yes, we can definitely help you out here at Z-hills.

I actually really like the suit except for the stupid center-pull arm release. If I owned one, I would rig it with seperate left/right loops that you didn't have to fuck with everytime you took the rig off or put it on. The zipper system on the new versions is super clever and the rare-earth magnets are plenty strong.

Chuck

[Buried 0]

you wont find many people in the US flying an expert, let alone flying a monowing suit. but yeah, i brought down a sfly for zflock. some people took some flights and chuck can help you out with some fly things. it does tend to get a little chippy if you fully strech out in max position. think 'hug a big ball' to float/pop too.
make sure on your sfly that the center vent are fully cut open. mine only had a slash in each vent and we cut them open during zflock. much larger gain in performance and fwd speed.

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

[palejo 0]

Chuck, did you flock the S-fly with another BM suits? How was the compatibility?

Alejandro
B27585

[palejo 0]

Did you remove the material completely or just two cuts to allow to open more with the wind?

Alejandro
B27585

[palejo 0]

You turn the INSIDE of your elbows straight up and push upward with the insides of your wrists

I can turn my elbows skywards but the inside of my wrist skywards at the same time. Can't fisically do that. Do you mean the top of the wrist (where the altimeter goes) pushing skywards?

I think I better get to the Hills and you guys show me

Alejandro
B27585

[The111 0]

Quote

You turn the INSIDE of your elbows straight up and push upward with the insides of your wrists

I'm pretty sure by "up", Chuck meant down (down being toward the ground in belly flight). Loic also showed me this body position.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[palejo 0]

OK I was wondering. now makes sense, that way you are pushing down into the relative wind and the elbows upwards help with the tension on the suit

Alejandro
B27585

[palejo 0]

it does tend to get a little chippy if you fully strech out in max position.

when trying the max position I felt like moving on the yaw axis (to the sides). Is that what you meant by chippy

Alejandro
B27585

[Costyn 0]

Quote

Chuck, did you flock the S-fly with another BM suits? How was the compatibility?

Alejandro of Team Fly Like Brick flies an S-Fly Expert. Compatibility is fine, no problem at all getting the suits to flock together. Hell, Jarno and Alejandro swapped suits (Blade for an S-Fly) last weekend and they were flying around eachother, making docks, flying on their back, etc. The S-Fly is a pretty good suit.

See our website gallery for more pics.

Cheers

Costyn van Dongen - http://www.flylikebrick.com/ - World Wide Wingsuit News

[mccordia 73]

Thats a positive!

Easy and fun to fly.
Never flown an S-Fly before, and straight from jump one there was flocking, docking and we where a rockin'!

Just make your body into one flat, flying pancake, with the fabric slightly tensed up by pushing your legs out, and your elbows/wrist up (out), and then work it from there..

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Quote

Chuck, did you flock the S-fly with another BM suits? How was the compatibility?

I flew it with Vampires, Mach1's, an S3S and various other suits which happened to be on the load. No problem staying with the flock and I had a lot of range in it. I was actually surprised how much range it had on it's back (without back venting). It definitely flys differently than my other suits, but I found it very intuitive. The only wierd thing that I encountered was a side-to-side chipping max-float glide mode.

Chuck

[VectorBoy 0]

(without back venting). It definitely flys differently than my other suits,
Chuck

[Buried 0]

Quote

Did you remove the material completely or just two cuts to allow to open more with the wind?

leave the mesh, just cut the body color fabric almost to the vent seam. Chuck can help you with that probably if you are unsure.

Quote

it does tend to get a little chippy if you fully strech out in max position.

when trying the max position I felt like moving on the yaw axis (to the sides). Is that what you meant by chippy

yup and kinda up and down.

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

[palejo 0]

Quote

(without back venting). It definitely flys differently than my other suits,
Chuck

Those holes were the suit eats the laterals are back vents

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Quote

(without back venting). It definitely flys differently than my other suits,
Chuck

Those holes were the suit eats the laterals are back vents

[VectorBoy 0]

In a comparison between my backvented s3, production s3 and matter when I owned them the matter fell somewhere between the other two in backfly capability. Real close to the backvented S3. One of my buddies @ San Diego would back fly the matter magnificently the entire flight. Not too shabby for passive vents.

Of course the the Acro surpasses all of the above and is our choice of backfly or batics of any kind these days.

[OmarPR 0]

"I don't know how Omar held his arms, so maybe he will pipe in as well." -Chuck

All I can say is that I flew it like I would fly my Acro since they were very similar and it was a sweet ride. For years I have been wanting to try this suit because it made sense to me (for my personal needs and flying style). Not that I am into this sort of thing, but that thing can glide like noboby's business. I gave a small review in the Flock & Dock thread.


"I actually really like the suit except for the stupid center-pull arm release." -Chuck

What I didn't like about that was that the release doesn't stay on when going head down .


"If I owned one, I would rig it with separate left/right loops..." -Chuck

Me too.


"The zipper system on the new versions is super clever..." -Chuck

They are air tight (a kinda cool thing).


"...last weekend and they were flying around eachother, making docks, flying on their back, etc." -Costyn

Jarno sent me a preview. Awesome stuff guys.

"Of course the the Acro surpasses all of the above and is our choice of backfly or batics of any kind these days." -Vector Boy

I second that opinion .

WINGSUIT ACROBATICS team O zone
ZF#5 , HISPA#70
Blue Skies...
...Big Fat Clouds