Wingsuit-Friendly?

[kellja2001 0]

Hey all!

So I've just bought (well, sort of between submitting the order form, and paying the money) my f*rst wingsuit (beer!).

I obviously cannot wait to jump my suit.

My question is about my Rig (or a Rig I'm thinking about buying).

While I would say this rig is not "Freefly Friendly", are there currently any guidelines about "Wingsuit Friendly" rigs?

Just to clarify: I don't back-fly, and would not back-fly in this rig.

Obviously I never want a premature deployment, and would rather be safe than sorry, but anyone who has any input at all, I would be greatly appreciative of!

Please also consider that I am a lowly, poor University student, and I realize the safest option would be to spend money (after all, safety has no price), but constructive comments would be appreciated, as always :D

[LouDiamond 1]

As long as you realize it is not freefly friendly and have no intentions of backflying or doing acrobatics in it and its OK for normal freefall (have it inspected by a rigger), it should be OK for wingsuiting. This is assuming it doesn't have a PC leg pouch and or a bungee cord PC.

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[mccordia 74]

Id like to ad a few points:

Pull-out system is not recommendable. Throw out advisable.

Preferably no Hackeyball (or other heavy handle with a thing/single attachment point). Its the cause of many cutaways, as it can entangle with the bridle, and cause a locked up/knotted pilotchute. One of the most common reasons for cutaways, yet many people still choose to use them.
A freefly pud or similar handle is advisable.

Have the rigger especialy pay attention to both main and reserve flap.
In my personal oppinion, even with backflying in mind, have a rig that is freefly approved. You will be crawling on floors, seated tight, and be a 'special needs person' while navigating towards the door.
Its easy to accidently open flaps.

unstable exits and minor spins on your back may not be named backflying officialy, but in terms of airflow to/on your rig, definately worth concidering.

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[Skwrl 56]

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and be a 'special needs person' while navigating towards the door.

I go through my whole life like that. Big whoop.

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[kellja2001 0]

Thanks guys! That's really useful stuff!

Deployment is BOC, but I'll have to check the pilot-chute. I've only ever seen one of those bungee-ones (it scared me), cheers for the heads up :)

Its throw-out, but the handle is a plastic cylinder type - like most student gear. I think this type would be resistant to that "knotted pilot chute" malfunction (the plastic is light), but I could be wrong? Further information would be greatly appreciated.

I can always get it replaced for a freefly pud, I can't imagine that costing too much (~$40 for the pud + a little bit of rigger's time).

As I say, I have no intention of backflying in this rig. I currently own a Vector 3 with all the mod-cons, so if I was going to back/freefly, I would definitely use that ;)

I wouldn't buy a rig that I wasn't happy with moving around the plane in, although I appreciate the input, as I do regularly fall under the "special needs" category

Ref. the unstable exits, if I were to get into a flat-spin at near-terminal, does anyone have any information on how airflow is affected around the body? Can't imagine a much worse time for a premature

I would imagine that this would be the most dangerous time for a rig that isn't freefly friendly?

Just finally, I'd like to say thanks for the constructive comments, its really helping me make an informed decision :D

I will of course also chat to my rigger, but unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to do this yet

[mccordia 74]

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Its throw-out, but the handle is a plastic cylinder type - like most student gear. I think this type would be resistant to that "knotted pilot chute" malfunction (the plastic is light), but I could be wrong? Further information would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, its a combination of weight, and a thin (single) attachment point. Allowing a knot to be formed.
A freefly pud is more resistant to accidental extractions of a pilotchute in the plane, and is a (personal) recomendition.

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As I say, I have no intention of backflying in this rig.

As mentioned, do take into account, the unintentional spins and flips.
Its always the unexpected stuff that gets you, and when things go wrong, the speeds (and resulting airflow on/around your rig) can be quite extreme.

But even on old rigs, a bigger tuc-tab on the mainflap, and some mods here and there can make it a lot more secure already (we jokingly refer to it as freefly-tollerant rigs....not really freefly-friendly).

The better a rig is at staying closed, and only opening when you want it to...the more it increases the chance of always performing like you'd expect it to...

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[Zeemax 0]

Why not just jump your wingsuit with the vector 3 all the time?

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[kellja2001 0]

Thanks again Jarno, extremely useful, as always

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Why not just jump your wingsuit with the vector 3 all the time?

Ok, its a bit of a long story.

I'm going to be purchasing some equipment for my University's club. Being a University Club, we obviously have a tight budget.

95% of the time, my Vector will be online, useable, packed etc. and I will use it.

If at all possible, I would like to purchase equipment that I will be able to use on the off chance that my Vector isn't packed, or the reserve is out etc. etc. so I can make back-to-backs. Stuff like that.

Its basically a way of me squeezing every penny I can out of this equipment, rather than have it lying around if none of the other Uni students are jumping.

I'm really just trying to get a feel for its limitations etc.

I hope that explains it better? Don't worry, I know there are issues with size (both with our students, and with the fact that if I do this, I will be upsizing rapidly, then downsizing again). But I'll do more research into that once I'm convinced the equipment is suitable for the vast majority of our University Students.

I am after all, the exception, rather than the rule

[jakee 1,344]

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I hope that explains it better? Don't worry, I know there are issues with size (both with our students, and with the fact that if I do this, I will be upsizing rapidly, then downsizing again).

Nothing wrong with flying a bigger canopy from time to time, you're not going to suddenly forget how the smaller one works.

Shouldn't be anything wrong with an older container for wingsuiting either. I did my first 200ish WS jumps with a velcroed-up Vector2 with no problems (with a reasonable amount of backflying and acro, tho obviously wouldn't recommend that). Only mod was a slightly more secure pocket for the main pin flap.

People trust old containers to stay closed during zoo exits and massively funneled FS jumps, you're unlikely to unintentionally put it through much more stress than that on wingsuit jumps.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[moonglo 0]

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Ref. the unstable exits, if I were to get into a flat-spin at near-terminal, does anyone have any information on how airflow is affected around the body? Can't imagine a much worse time for a premature

I would imagine that this would be the most dangerous time for a rig that isn't freefly friendly?

Way back when I started flying my S.U.I.T. with a Vector2 that was not freefly friendly I had a long-lasting flatspin with no premi, just all the flaps and velcro open. I kept that rig's closing loop nice and tight and had all new velcro on the handles and a brand new boc installed when I started jumping that rig just in case... of course flatspins are much faster these days with the bigger badder airlocked suits so YMMV

My flatspin related premi was caused by using the leg pouch on my Vampire and getting bumped by a wingsuit newbie on exit; video showed the airflow inflating the leg pouch just as I recovered belly to earth