Wingsuit and upperbody strength?

[Blackregiment 0]

Greetings all! First post, good to be here!

Having three jumps under my belt, I'm looking to get back into skydiving after a decade long absense due to prolonged medical treatment. Now that it is over and I'm stable, I'm ready to try to get certified again, but have a concern. I saw the "disability" board but thought my question would be better suited here as it pertains to wingsuits. Basically I'm unable to support the weight of my left arm above my left shoulder, and if I do keep it raised (I have no trouble grabbing and holding) it starts to get numb after a few minutes. It is also generally weaker and fatigues more easily than my right arm.

As my ultimate goal is to eventually fly a wingsuit, what I'm wondering is: how much upper body strength does flying it entail? I've been watching many videos on YT, and from what I can see it looks to require consistent forward force to keep the wings extended. Also (I'm obviously no expert here), I assume glide slope can be decreased by bringing the arms in closer to the body and increased by doing the opposite? True? So how fatigued would I be after a flight? As I understand it they can last for a few minutes. I am unable to hold my arm straight out to the side, it's always slightly hanging down, but doesn't seem to be enough to impede suit flying.

So what's the deal? Is there any hope for me? Thanks!

[ifell 0]

Hi there, I had a similar issue with my right arm (bouldering injury). The main concern was the canopy flight, holding the toggle up so high got my arm numb so I grounded myself till I got it all sorted out. I could not have cut away a mal so maybe you need to look at that. I am a really new wingsuit enthusiast and do find my arms get pretty tired but nothing to cause concern... now that my arm is better that is

[Blackregiment 0]

Quote

Hi there, I had a similar issue with my right arm (bouldering injury). The main concern was the canopy flight, holding the toggle up so high got my arm numb so I grounded myself till I got it all sorted out. I could not have cut away a mal so maybe you need to look at that. I am a really new wingsuit enthusiast and do find my arms get pretty tired but nothing to cause concern... now that my arm is better that is

Thanks for the reply. :)

I'm also concerned about canopy control also. I can get my arm up with help from my right, but like I said it quickly gets numb. What's exactly required to cut away? As I remember it from my first two AFF jumps, the cut away handle is on the right side of the chest and reserve deployment is on the left? I wouldn't have any trouble pulling side to side, or down, just up.

[Trae 1]

in replt "I'm also concerned about canopy control also. I can get my arm up with help from my right, but like I said it quickly gets numb."
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I'm sure you could get more specific and helpful advice in the disability forum. Many skydivers get along well with what appears to be severe physical disabilities.

It seems as if you'd be in a similar position under canopy as a one armed person at least until you got both toggles.
Being able to activate all the handles with your strong arm in an emergency would be advisable/necesary so perhaps you'd need a left deploy main boc or a rig with a ripcord for the main.
And yes the required direction of pull is downwards and outwards for both emergency handles.

Flying the wingsuit is another matter.
If your arms get tired wingsuiters default position is just to put your arms back . This releases most loads but can increase your freefall speeds significantly.

You could practice the movements required for a wingsuit flight easy enough on the ground and in the air on a regular skydive.
One step at a time and you'll know if you can do it.

Nice challenge you've given yourself.

[helxen 0]

I would be more concerned about canopy ride than about wingsuit flight, tbh.

With a medium-sized wingsuit (say phantom) your flight is about two minutes or less and canopy ride being considerably longer.

I broke my right shoulder two years ago and was unable to fully extend hand to reach toggles.
To release toggles I had to pull-up myself on risers, then quickly grab both risers with left hand, then quickly release both toggles. Not a wise-think-to-do, honestly, but there was jump abstinence syndrom :)

Also, due to overall hand weakness I was totally tired by the moment of landing.

Anyway, If you are serious about going back to sports and even wingsuits, I bet you'll get an answer to your question sooner or later while jumping your regular skydives.

IMO, if you can manage effective flare after 3-5 minutes flight under the canopy, you could fly wingsuit without serious limitation.

Though that's from personal experience, not a recommendation.

[helxen 0]

Also, http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3565607