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Hagen

Two stupid question to women experienced in wingsuit flying:)

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First is the following. I'm short (160 cm or 5'2" if I converted it right:). Will my flight in wingsuit be efficient? I mean that with my relatively small body area I obviously will have lower horizontal and faster vertical speed that some guy of average build. So, will I be able to fly effectively in groups with other guys?

The second is, how difficult it is to fly it?:) I mean, it is well seen on videos that bird-men have to experience unusual loads on some parts of body - say, arms. Is it very difficult for women anatomy?:) And what exercises - or exercises for what body parts - should do a girl dreaming about flying in a wingsuit?:)

I do understand that the questions are stupid:). But I have nobody here to ask them:(.

Thanks for you understanding and replies;-).

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I'm going to move this to the wingsuit forum, not because you posted in the wrong forum but because I think you'll get better answers there. :)

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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Don't be daft! ;):P

Of course women can fly well. It's just navigation that can be a problem :P [only kidding, obviously]

Seriously, I've seen a short, stumpy bloke outfly a lot of people in a V-1, which was the hot suit at the time. As is the same for everyone, you will develop your own flying style which will, in part, be a function of your shape.

I'd definitely get some instruction first. Do the sensible things - do a fair bit of tracking first, and practise the wingsuit pull (both arms reach back simultaneously to keep everything symmetrical at pull-time) on each jump to get used to it.

How best to train for flying a wingsuit has been discussed here many times before; a quick search will find the threads.

Happy flying!

--
BASE #1182
Muff #3573
PFI #52; UK WSI #13

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Thanks for your answer:)
Of course, I'm going to learn tracking first and then take a course with instructor... But the season is almost over here, so at the moment I have nothing else to do except of reading and watching as much as I can concerning the subject... And to ask questions that I've never found answered before:$...

The problem is that in my country only a few people fly WS - and no woman among them, as far as I know. That is why I dared to post my questions to this forum:).

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This weekend I had the pleasure of jumping with a guy that is a bit on the shorter side and quite light. He was jumping his new Phantom and he could smoke us bigger guys. Flying the right suit for the person is what matters. It's a lot easier for a floaty person to sink than us fatties to float. Being light means you have less weight to support with your arms. Being fit is what matters. After a day of hard flying, my arms are tired. The more flights you do, the stronger you become.

Get a few more jumps, some instruction and wrap yourself in the nylon. Once you try the nylon crack, you won't go back.
50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

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much like in tracking a persons height will determine how fast horizontally they can ultimately travel. You did not post your weight so it is hard to determine just where you fall in place with other jumpers, build wise. If you are height/weight proportionat, 5'2"- 95lbs to 110lbs you should easily be able to keep up with most flocking dives. In fact you will find your self a bit "floaty" on most dives. This is an advantage, because you can translate altitude into forward speed, not to say you will be able to "out fly" most taller people when it comes to horizontal speed, but vertically most people wont be able to keep up with you.

As far as arm loading goes, it is far easier than most people think to fly a wingsuit, there is roughly 5 to 10 pounds of force on you arms depending on what flight mode you are in (coming out of a steep dive you will feel the most arm wing loading, average flocks will be almost effortless on arms) If you are getting tired after 1 or 2 flights you are over flying the suit, it took me hundreds of jumps to figure out how much is to much, strength wise.

If you think you have weaker than average muscle strength try doing push ups.

The only stupid question is the one not asked for fear of sounding stupid.

Jeff Nebelkopf
BUY A WINGSUIT
My Website
Tony Suits
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There is a "wingsuit workout" posted somewhere but I can't find it right now. It has been posted in this forum before (I think it was originally on the flybirdman website which doesn't seem to be working anymore). I did find this post from "Birdwoman" that was from a few years ago. If you do a search on "Weight training for wingsuit flying" you can find the whole thread:

You've come to the right place. I have a lot of experience in weight training from my athletic background and also my soon-to-be college degree in Sport and Exercise Science. What the others have said is pretty close to what you want to do, but I'll give you all the advice I can.

First off, it can be more difficult for females to fly the suits, especially the S/S3. The larger surface area, combined with generally weaker upper bodies, can make for some difficult flights. It is important to work on the entire upper body with emphasis on the specific muscles, so keep that in mind. Another thing to keep in mind is that you want to do static training because of the mechanism of movement (i.e. holding one position for a period of time).

Here is what I would work on and how:

1-the specific muscles that the suit requires are the deltoids, mainly the middle and anterior portions. A)To work the middle delt: do lateral raises with a weight, where you start with the weight at your side and gradually raise it straight out to the side up to shoulder level. Don't raise the weight above shoulder height. Start by holding it there for 10 seconds, then gradually increase the time as you can. When you can hold the weight for 20 seconds for three sets, you can up the weight. DO NOT start with a weight that is too much; doing so can cause undue stress on the muscles that make the rotator cuff and thus lead to shoulder problems! B)To work the anterior delt: Do the same lift as above but move the weight slightly to the front (only about 30-45degrees).
***You can also work your middle/ant. delts by doing the seated shoulder press, either with a machine or free weights. If done with free weights, sit upright and start with the weights at shoulder height, elbows flexed and in at the side. Slowly raise the weights over your head and bring them together. The long count is raising, the short is lowering.

2-You need to work the upper tricep as well, and this will also work the inferior head of the anterior delt. To do this, perform a front raise, where you raise a weight from the side of your body to straight out in front of you. Hold it there in the same manner as above for the delts.

3-To work your posterior tricep, you can do either tricep extensions or tricep kickbacks. The extensions can be done either on a machine or with free weights where you start with the weight behind your head so that your elbow is flexed, then raise the weight above your head slowly as to fully extend your arm. If you do the kickbacks, kneel on a bench with one knee and have the same arm for support on the bench (i.e. right hand and knee on the bench). Hold your left arm into your side while holding the weight up close to your shoulder so that the elbow is flexed. While "squeezing" your left tricep, extend your elbow so that the weight and your lower arm end up by your butt.
The long count should be while extending, the short count while flexing.

4-You can't forget about your trapezius. You can do seated rows (with a machine) or with free weights. If using free weights, you can do lateral raises. Using the same stance with a bench as you did for tricep kickbacks, let the weight hang in your hand straight at the ground, elbow extended. When you raise the weight, you are going to flex at the elbow as you perform shoulder adduction (squeeze your shoulder blade toward your spine). Try to keep the elbow in toward the side of your body. The fast count is raising, the slow count is lowering.

5-Dont' forget your pecs. Even though these muscles play a small role in flying as the majority is in your shoulders, they are still important. Push-ups, horizontal bench press or the military press will all work. If you do push-ups, you will also work your deltoids and laterals a little as well. However, don't let push-ups replace the specific exericises I have mentioned.

I hope this helps! If you need clarification on anything, or want more lifting workouts, please feel free to contact me. I feel like I have a lot to offer in this area and would love to help when I can!

Flock Hard-
Stacey
BMI

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Hi Lena. To answer your questions, yes you will be more than able to fly with other birds. Like anything it will take some effort at first but you will soon have no trouble flying with others. If anything, women have an advantage over men with their lower center of gravity, which gives them the benefit of lift easier than men.

As for how much effort is involved, I would say that most physically fit people do well. It does stress your muscles in a way your probably not used to so you may be a bit sore in the beginning but not for long if you fly a lot. Some people complain of arm strain but it is usually from people over tensing thier muscles more than is needed for the flight.

There are quite a few women who fly suits now a days and a lot of them are in Europe. On average, there is close to 10 + women at the AN-72 boogie in Cochstedt Germany. They come in all shapes and sizes and are able to keep up with the flocks. In fact, one woman probably shorter than you approached me last year about how to stay with the flocks and after a bit of coaching she was at the front of the flocks for the rest of the boogie.

So don't worry too much about your size, just get some more jumps under your belt and then look up a wingsuit Instructor(Rolf B. perhaps?) when you are ready. :)

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

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Agree with the other posts here. Like many of the instructors that have aleady posted here, we have all trained men and women that have been vertically challenged. Heffro - trained a student at SkyFest this year that was at or below your hieght and she did great.

Find a local instructor and they can hook you up.
WSI-5 / PFI-51 / EGI-112 / S-Fly
The Brothers Gray Wing Suit Academy
Contact us for first flight and basic flocking courses at your DZ or boogie.
www.thebrothersgray.com

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As a chick BirdMan instructor I can tell you this: you won't have a problem flying. Yes, it might be a little strenuous on your arms WHEN and IF you get to a more advanced suit, or if you start having helaciously long flights in a small suit. I remember out flocking an average sized guy flying a skyflyer when I was in my GTi. Like somebody already mentioned on here, more than likely you will be floaty of flocks; with time you will adjust and (mentioned again) make your own style of flying.

I went through all of my posts and found the wingsuit workout from a while ago. I will start another thread for this (again).

Stacey BMI-US007
"I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

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That may be good marketing for you, but I think it's condecending. Anyone can build the muscles to fly a suit better.
--------------------------------
oh no young sir

the body has a more feminine cut, and all our suit's put the "load" to the body not the wrist.
Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

tonysuits.com

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Quote

piece of cake, we make a suit, the lady Flyer, just for girls, tiny bit bigger leg, small arm, most of the wing going down the body to take the load off, less weight on your arms.



Good going Tony, I bet the women appreciate your thoughtfulness in designing a suit with characteristics that favor/fit and address their general builds.

No denying there is a difference (thank goodness :)
I believe that the long wing root also is used on not just the LadyFlyer, but many of the other models. I know that feature is used on the SM1 and even after 3 minute flights - there is virtually no arm fatigue - it's awesome.

I guess having daughters in the family helps raise your awareness to gender specific requirements. :)
Play like your life depends on it.

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I dunno, it does seem a bit condescending. It's like saying to the guys "Here, you can have the acro suit, the flocking suit, the max performance suit, whichever suit fits what you want to do!" and then saying to the chicks "Here, you should have this suit 'cos you're a girl.":P

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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Mike is right girls do have a lower C/G,

how can you guys get all het up over a suit designed for women with a women's body cut for a sliming effect, I do it with all the women's suits I make, its an industry standard, ok girls can go to the gym and beef up so she has as much mussel mass up top as a guy, but how many of us actually do that,

maybe this is the reason she didn't want this in an open post,
Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

tonysuits.com

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