0
west33freefall

How hard is a wingsuit?

By west33freefall, in Wing Suit Flying

Recommended Posts

west33freefall    0

west33freefall
I was just wondering how hard it is to fly a wingsuit? When I first started thinking about skydiving the wingsuits were one of the things that go me very interested. Obviously I am not up to par enough to jump with one right now. But I definitly want to learn as soon as possible. What are the little difficulties about wingsuit flying? Whats hard whats easy? Things I should practice or think about as I jump more?

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

scootstevens    0

scootstevens
Hey man, glad to hear you are interested in pursuing some new disciplines! I just got my first wingsuit a month ago and have done about 10 jumps with it so I figured I would share my experiences with you. First of all, it's not as easy as i thought it might be. Small movements from your body will make a big difference in the way you fly. Its hard to find the sweet spot and hold it. Jumping from a Cessna demands your full attention on exit. You need to be aware in freefall of your surroundings, location and altitude. The deployement process takes some getting used to, and it's pretty difficult to stay stable when trying to pick up more vertical speed before you dump. Additionally, emergency procedures are more complex and more steps are required to land safely when compared to a normal skydive. A wingsuit flight is not an ordinary skydive. Keep jumping, ask questions, read books, pull.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

mccordia    73

mccordia
Wearing and jumping a wingsuit is not hard...
Making one actually FLY is one of the most underrated skills.

A lot of people spend more time looking at how a suit makes you fly, and why brand "X" suit is better then brand "Z".

But its the pilot that makes the suit fly.
And the skills that pilot has, give him the awareness and feeling he or she needs to turn a piece of cloth into the most wonderfull piece of flying equiptment there is...

You dont need a lot of experience to survive and make a wingsuit jump...but in the first flight students Ive witnessed..more experience definately showed better flying. Not that a lot of experience automaticly means good flying.

But if I was a betting man...(which Im not, as you need to have some money for that first) my cash would ALWAYS be on the more experienced person...
JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

ROK    0

ROK
Things I should practice or think about as I jump more?



I'll give you some that I believe have helped me...

1. Learn to fly and land your canopy well. Make certain you are skilled in accuracy and landing in tight spots. Your odds of landing off in the beginning will increase. Your odds of landing off will increase again after you discover cloud flying. Landing off can be bad.

2. Learn how to spot and how winds aloft effect your flight. You'll cover a lot more ground very quickly in a wingsuit. You'll still need to make it back under canopy after you open. I'm not just talking about getting spotting signed off on your card either. Know before you leave the ground where you want to open in a best case scenario. Expand that place to include the fringes of where you know you should be ok. Take into account the safety aspects of everyone else on the plane going for that good spot too. Be prepared with a plan "B" if jump run changes. Don't be afraid to ask the pilot for corrections if it doesn't look good.

3. Pay attention to everyone on the plane and learn what they are flying. Know who has big floaty canopies, and what altitude everyone is supposedly opening at. Keep in mind that you may be doing everything perfect and by the book, but there's a damn good chance that someone else on the load isn't.

4. Spend a lot of time learning to fly formations with other people. Diving down to them, flying relative and comfortable, turning points, etc.

5. Become good at tracking. Let your body feel the little changes you can make that cause you to fly faster, slower, smoother, farther. After you become comfortable, track with someone experienced and learn the dangers of high speed close proximity flight.

6. Pay close attention to how the relative wind effects your exits. Be comfortable recovering when you're tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind. Recovery should be second nature and not something you have to concentrate on at the moment. Feel the hill. Learn how to turn on it while remaining stable.

7. Study and practice your emergency procedures. This mantra is impressed upon you all of the time and it's for a reason; to save your life. Train until you can perform your EP's in your sleep. Make your decision altitude a hard fast rule. Things get out of hand f-king fast in a wingsuit emergency. The natural responses you make with your body can turn you into a flailing mass of limbs and material in less than a heart-beat. Don't just know what to do, do it without wasting precious seconds.

8. From the time you exit, until the time you land, stay out of your head. Look around and know what's below you, above you, and on each side. Stay in the here and now, even if you get unstable.

9. A big difference between anvil jumping and wingsuiting is that your odds of "in flight" emergencies are much greater with a bed sheet attached to your body. Talk to other wingsuiters about 7000' flat spins on your back, zippers breaking, potential aircraft tail strikes, pilot chutes bouncing around on your back, how fast you can flip over at pull time by making one small mistake, instant line twists, and the complications that are added even after you're under canopy.

10. Hang with the birds. Listen to the stories, and read everything you can about wingsuits. Ask questions. Research the suits and manufacturers, and seek out the wingsuit instructors.

11. Go slow. There's a reason for requiring a minimum number of jumps before squeezing into that wingsuit. It's not just about successfully completing steps and mile markers, it's about a mind-set that takes time. You'll find yourself going through psychological changes as you progress; changes you can only acquire through time in the air.

I only have about 100 wingsuit jumps and I'm still at the infancy stage of learning to fly. Is wingsuiting easy? Perhaps for some, but I believe it depends on what your goals are. It's going to take me a lot longer to master flying my suit properly, but every second I spend with those wings on is an awesome experience.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

BenediktDE    2

BenediktDE
Great list!

One more: Become an instructor or watch students closely. You will be very likely sharing the pattern with AFF students or low exerienced canopy pilots! Know their typical mistakes and knew the will sllways invent new ones.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
0
Go To Topic Listing