Anyone own a Firebird-R?

[jumper410 0]

What kind of performance are you getting out of it? I seem to be getting longer hang time and slower vertical descent in my GTi. I am new to wingsuit flying and I am now wondering if my GTi is a better flying suit or if it is me. I only have 7 flights on the new Firebird-R though and it feels much more sensitive to any input. It seems fast and I can really see the ground wizzing by quick but I don't understand why not getting below 70MPH much vertical. I was maintaining flight in the lower 60's and upper 50's in the GTi and digging the long flights. Any suggestions?

[phoenixlpr 0]

Quote

It seems fast and I can really see the ground wizzing by quick but I don't understand why not getting below 70MPH much vertical.

Bigger wing area does not give longer flights automatically. Flying a Firebird as you fly a Gti might not be the most effective way. Different suit can have different balance between arm and leg wings. What is your goal? Slower fall rate or max distance covered? You might not have them both in the same time. Fly more and think less about performance and try different ways of flying.

[mccordia 73]

Its quite common to have a bit of performance loss when you go from one suit to another for a few jumps.

It takes a while to get used to the new balance/wings.

Though bigger suits help, fallrates up to the high 30s, have been done in just about every suit, ranging from Classics to GTis to S3s, Mach1s Vampires, Blades etc.

Its mostly a Gábor sayd, bigger wings dont automaticly mean longer freefalls.

The most common 'mistake' is trying to cup air, to go as slow as possible.
At that point, you start using a wingsuit as a camerasuit, and not as a flying wing.

Try and aim for flying faster forward, and you will notice freefall times also getting longer.

Experiment a bit with different (steeper) angles of flying

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[phoenixlpr 0]

Even just taking the grippers other/wrong/weak way can make significant difference.

[jumper410 0]

ok, thanks. i did get to do 19 jumps in my Firebird last weekend. i'm getting more and more addicted to this. especially wizzing through the valleys in the clouds jamming with my ipod. i got it down to 51mph on one jump and managed to do all my PRO jumps too. i figured why the hell not since i was jumping by myself the whole time and last out. so i guess this means if i ever do a PRO demo, i will have to do it in my wingsuit, LOL.