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The111

Mercury Rising: Photos of the new Tony Suit

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That was fucking awesome video. Seriously well produced. This needs to be split off into a thread of it's own so that everyone can see it. Nice job!
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I think he's putting the site names in still but yes Triston, how bout it's own post :-)
Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

tonysuits.com

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Thanks:)
I won't put any text in it, I just can't make it look good.
I will put it on skydivingmovies.com for everyone to enjoy. I'm still hoping James will give me his outside video of the last jump to get rid of the out of focus parts.

Tristan
Will you answer "NO" to my next question?

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To all those wondering how the Mercury leg matches up to the SM1,

After 18 days In Europe, then Flock and dock last weekend, comparing many versions of the Mercury to the SM1 ,

We like the Super Mach 1 better,

better speed, better lift, and more control with smaller input.
Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

tonysuits.com

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yes, it was somthing I tried to balance the suit, the bigger arm was ok on the arm load and were gonna do more testing somtime,
The SM1 was lighter on the arm, has just as much lift and is faster so thats that for the time being, I have to get to work and stop playing for a bit :)

Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

tonysuits.com

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But we do have a new air inlet on the arms , its two small inlets [like the reg back inlet] they face each other at the top of the arm, they seem to work good in all altitudes of flight and seem to be less drag over the arm itself,
I also did a quicky arm release on a test suit that I like, two arm zips, if one should jam then just undo the other. I don't go with the reasoning that you need to get to your rig as the one guy had a pilot chute in tow and it didn't cutaway after he released the main, no main will go when you cutaway a pilot chute in tow, it goes when you deploy the reserve, assuming your low when you deploy the main you don't need to be cutting wings away and messing with the container at that altitude,
So can anyone think of a good reason why 2 arm zips wont be a suitable system on wingsuit?
Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

tonysuits.com

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So can anyone think of a good reason why 2 arm zips wont be a suitable system on wingsuit?



I think undoing a zipper uses the fine motorskills in our arms/fingers/hands.

Where as janking out a cable is more of a rougher action that any cavemen can do. Where-as cavemen can roughly be the mental state of a person in a dangerous or stressfull situation where he needs to use the system.

Granted..there are only few situations where the release of the arms/cutting away of wings in either freefall or under a spinning canopy is needed.
But when the poop hits the fan, I think Id prefer having a big old cutaway cable to grab and pull without even looking at it, instead of fumbling with a zipper...
JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

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My understanding is that arm-wing cutaways are primarily intended for immediate access to canopy controls in the event of either:
-a pending canopy collision where you need to reach a riser to quickly turn
-a main "mal" that can be fixed if immediately dealt with (like a spin caused by a brake toggle release on deployment)

Other than these two, can anyone suggest another scenario where arm-wing cutaways are necessary?

I currently know of none, which is why I don't mind that I still cannot get the SM1 system to work reliably. I've tried following Jeff's written instructions (including the "look like a retarded T-Rex") to no avail. I've also had 4 other people now try the system with the same result. I look forward to Jeff showing me the correct method when I see him this weekend at Chick's Rock. I'm sure I'll feel like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner.

In the meantime, I jump a very docile 7-cell so I'm not afraid of needing to manage my openings. I get tons of separation on breakoff so I've never come close to a canopy collision on opening. But just in case, I've gotten quite practiced at quickly unzipping the arms and usually have one arm free by the time I get stood up on deployment.
Brian Drake

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Other than these two, can anyone suggest another scenario where arm-wing cutaways are necessary?



When you look up articles on the first current style wingsuit (Deug) the cables are often refered to as 'rigging cables' or 'the rigging system', and not as cutaway cables.

When you look at suits such as the S-FLy, the cable-release is actually quicker (and only a single move) compared to the useage of the zippers on the suit. Especialy when you need to reach a riser fast to avoid any type of strike..be it object or other jumper...

Zippers are tiny things. Granted, a spinning canopy or reserve may be the only reason for ever needing to unzip/undo the wings in 'full panic' mode...but when that happens, Im quite sure janking out the cables is a helluvalot quicker then playing with the tiny zips..
JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

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Im quite sure janking out the cables is a helluvalot quicker then playing with the tiny zips..



Completely agreed. Though the zippers on my SM1 have a tassel/tab that snaps onto the thumb loops, so it's not a matter of trying to find a "tiny zip", as all I have to do is reach for my thumb. I would still prefer a cable system for reliability, but the current system, with its flaws, is not a deal breaker for me.

And actually, I like the S-Fly cable-release system the best. I'm actually playing around with the idea of working with a rigger to modify my SM1 to use a similar system.
Brian Drake

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Other than these two, can anyone suggest another scenario where arm-wing cutaways are necessary?



What if your zippers jam and refuse to open up? Even if you don't have a mal, you won't be able to reach your toggles and you'll have to harness turn yourself towards a no-flare landing. For me, this is the ONLY reason to have a cutaway (neither of the two you listed are worries to me).

I've never considered a cutaway to be something I'd use because it's "faster" than zippers... only because it's more reliable. I've never used my cutaways once because my zippers haven't jammed, yet. I'd also never use my cutaways (or unzip my suit) in freefall.
www.WingsuitPhotos.com

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Interesting scenario Matt. But it wouldn't happen with the SM1 because even if the zipper jammed, I could manually rip the velcro apart and extract my arm. My complaint with the velcro approach has to do with its reliability in a seconds-count emergency. Given a few seconds of breathing room, I could pull the velcro apart no problem.
Brian Drake

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I jump a very docile Spectre 150, I had a bag spin on deployment (most likely Scott bland kicked my d-bag :P) and it gave me some nasty line twists...had me on my back in a spin. While I was fully able to unzip, it ate up a huge chunk of altitude and in hindsight, I should have cut the wings away..on a PF suit, it's real easy to do ... IMO, YMMV
That's THE time I think they would be needed.

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-a pending canopy collision where you need to reach a riser to quickly turn
-a main "mal" that can be fixed if immediately dealt with (like a spin caused by a brake toggle release on deployment)
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both these problems should be sorted just by reaching up and grabbing a back riser, its easy to do if you lift your knee on the bigger wings, something to practice on any skydive, in both the above case's you wont have time to cutaway I think
Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

tonysuits.com

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I can imagine a scenario where one arm or hand is injured and not able to help unzip the good arm. For this reason the pf and birdman type release cables would seem to have an advantage. The S-Fly style single handle system that can be reached easily with either hand seems even better.

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And actually, I like the S-Fly cable-release system the best. I'm actually playing around with the idea of working with a rigger to modify my SM1 to use a similar system.
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you'll lose the air lock in the arms if you do that
Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

tonysuits.com

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What if your zippers jam and refuse to open up? Even if you don't have a mal, you won't be able to reach your toggles and you'll have to harness turn yourself towards a no-flare landing. For me, this is the ONLY reason to have a cutaway (neither of the two you listed are worries to me).
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now as many people have never had an arm zipper jam on this jump you get two jam, chance's are slim, if that happend Id fly the canopy on back risers
Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

tonysuits.com

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