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bushtuckerman

Pilot Chute Size and Bridle for Wing Suit Skydiving

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Hi

I am about to buy a new bridle and pilot chute for my rig and wanted to know what size pilot chute to buy?

Also what about the distance from the pilot chute to pin?

I have heard for wing suit skydiving the sizing of these items are a bit different to normal

I am mostly into wing suit skydiving and have dynamic corners on my rig.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated, Thank you

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I am not an expert, but I had this same question when I first started flying my wingsuit. I was told that all of my current gear would work.

My wingsuit owners manual says that for Skydiving, there is no need to get a longer bridle or bigger pilot chute. I believe the book Wingsuits: Skyflyers in Motion says the same thing. (Every beginning wingsuiter should have this book, in my oppinion)

I would imagine that it would be different for BASE jumping, but I have no BASE experiance.

I have never had any trouble with my normal pilot chute and bridle, but definately get some good advice. I was kinda also wondering what people were using out there...

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I would advise getting a WS length bridle, which is about 2' longer than standard. I had inconsistent openings with a standard bridle. After changing mine, my openings were much better. When I ordered my new container with WS options, the bridle was longer and one size larger than a standard container. ChutingStar has a great price on PCs.
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first couple of hundred jumps I made in a wingsuit where on a Vector2, with a Bridle that was as short as they get, no container mods or anything.

Never an issue.

Only when you get into insanely large wingsuits, and you're not collapsing wings/going back into normal freefall before deployment, can some mods be needed (mostly bigger pilotchute/longer bridle) IF you start experiencing opening issues. For most people, it wont be needed.
JC
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Does anybody have a preference of ZP or F111 Pilot Chutes ?

Also, if you are using a specifically ordered PC size, could you post that, along with your canopy size ?

I use a Spectre120, and have been playing with 24/28/32 ZP and F111 PCs. Still cannot decide what I think works best.

tnx

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FYB (S-Fly) recommends a minimum bridle length of 2.5m (100”) I spoke with SunPath and bought 129" bridle w/ 33" pilot chute. Has worked cleanly and consistently.

Also, some go for the "cut-corners" mod to the container, but I don't think it’s needed if you flare properly just before deploying. However, some flyers don't flare at all and the corners will help them.
"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

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Jumping a Blade, Phantom, and Firebird with a 7', 26" PC was no problem. When I went to the M1, I had hesitations out the wazoo.

When I bought my new Voodoo, I went with the recommended 9' bridle and a 30" ZP PC. No issues anymore.

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Thanks for all the posts, it has been a great help.

I am jumping a vector 3 with dynamic corners cut in the container and a Pilot 168 canopy,

I have mostly been flying the prodigy for approx 80 jumps and now am going to upgrade to the phantom 2,

based on the information posted here I may look at buying a:
28" or 30"pilot chute and a 9' bridle,

Is the 9' bridle the measurement from pin to pilot chute? or the total length of the bridal?

Thanks

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9' from the bag but if you put your arms back out after deployment, that can still cause the pilot chute to hesitate,



its a formula ...if you sit up to slow forward speed then throw your pilot chute into the air of your big arms then it might hesitate, base guys pull in full flight for that reason as someone just said,



Pulling the arms in after deployment is the key
Life is a series of wonderful opportunities,
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

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tony, when i saw my new x-wing, the first thing i did was go to the sewing machine and make an 11" bridle....just to be sure.
i hope i remember bringing the arms in, cause on the v3 i just do a quick one handed pull, followed by arching slightly.
i somehow doubt this will work on that moster you made me. it's HUGE.

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This little clip has both a regular speed deployment and one with 1.7 seconds of hesitation. You can see that the pin is pulled but the bag isn't being extracted. I don't know what a "long" hesitation really is, but it sure felt long at the time!!

http://www.vimeo.com/8014299



Simon, do you have opened up corners on your rig? If you frame by frame it you can see that the bag isn't extracted until the bridle/pc is vertical to your harness/container/body.
"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

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Quote

Quote

If you frame by frame it you can see that the bag isn't extracted until the bridle/pc is vertical to your harness/container/body.


Do you mean orthogonal?



Yes, but most people don't know what that means unless they look it up.
"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

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There are no cut corners on this container. After this event I went back to shutting down more and I haven't yet had a repeat...not yet..



Small/tight/cool rigs seem a bit more prone to have the bag 'lock' for a few seconds on half to full flight pulls.
The direction the pilot chute is pulling, pulls it into the bottom of the container, instead of lifting the bag out.

To ad to what Scott points out in the video, the moment the direction changes (due to loosing forward speed), the angle the pilotchute is pullling changes, and easily lifts the bag out of your container, and initiates deployment.

Canopy size vs container size (tight fit or not) can be of influence. A bit of a loose fit (canopy/bag in the container..NOT talking loop/pin tension!) helps a lot.

Ive seen similar delays on some (deep) mirage containers. Twisting the bag 90 degrees from its normal orientation (packed 'grommit to pin') seems to fix the issue on most containers. Though not all rigs allow for this style packing. But it moves the attachment point up, making it easier for the bag to be pulled out, regardless of pilotchute orientation/flight angle.
JC
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