notsane

Scott, The much larger butt deflector really stands out. The material used is different too isn't it?

If you can't demo a suit, my advice is NOT to buy one. Fly it, like it, buy it. Don't listen to folks who tell you their wizbang suit is best and all the others are BS. Decide for yourself .. no-one else matters (at least to you) IMHO

I've got a similar attachment, but rather than tape I took some foam and wrapped it tightly so it fits snugly inside the pvc tube. A spritz of hair spray on it and it's there to stay. No more worries about getting your finger caught in the hole.

It was in the mid 80's in PR. The more black the suit the worse it was ... and that's in February. August in Florida or anywhere in the south is just unbearable with a black suit.

Those golf balls are notorious for cracking.

In that pic the PC looks exactly like how the packer rolls it up. I do like how it snugs into the BOC pocket and holds the handle against the lip.

Tube .. I repeat Tonto's warning ... beware high weight handles.

Mike was jumping a blue/black Mach 1. If you missed PR this year then you missed one incredible time. Great weather, non stop jumping, amazing flocks, docked 4 ways, 2up 2down stacks, beach flocks, free beer, free rum drinks, free food, great parties .. the list goes on and on. Gray Mike, Purple Mike, Professor, FlyinBob, Turtle, Danny, Shannon, Jean, Jeff N, Matt H, Scotty B, Scott and Gary Gray ... who am I missing? ... What a great time! I'm bruised, sore, tired and my liver aches .. let's do it again! Jason and Viviana did an amazing job getting the event together and made us flockers feel right at home. Jeff N. trained many students in his Tony Suits and made many sales .. new flockers!! Scott and Gary Gray plus MANY others ... Meanwhile Jeff N perfected his new "flying crotch munch" move using me as the victim while trying to hit Gray Mike with his "empty water bottle of death". His earlier "flying chewing gum" ejection claimed no victims. Matt "sd" Hoover and Scotty "HD" Burns took incredible photos, although with such good-looking subjects it's hard not to. I'm already planning on being there next year. WOO-HOO! Scott

I will happily contribute to the flower fund for anyone dumb enough to attempt this stunt.

PING! The PR Boogie is almost here ... I can't wait! Let's get the flock on!

Muff, Muff, asshole. You will be missed. Scott MB 3921

Just to update everyone on the particulars for the meet. There are several factors (in no order) influencing the direction: 1) The requests for smaller groups to pursue more technical dives 2) The requests for doing the big ways 3) No flocker left behind Logistically, the minimum size we can make the groups is about 15 so we can keep our video slots. The organizers, in order, will be me, James Boole, Rob Jones and Chuck Blue. So if 15 or fewer people show up, I’m the organizer for the whole group. At 16 – 30 James and I split it, Add Rob for 31 -45 and Chuck for 46 – 60. If more than 60 flockers show up .. we’ll deal with it. We’ll split up by experience levels for the smaller dives. The lesser experienced folks will be practicing basic flocking skills: flying relative, flying smooth, safe approaches, exit techniques .. that kind of thing. With 15 people we’ll be shuffling folks around so you’ll get to play in front as well as the back. Here’s the “no flocker left behind” part … in the formation or out, I don’t care .. you’re on the dive as long as you’re not a danger to yourself or others. We haven’t decided which organizer is with which experience level. For the more experienced folks; let’s mix it up. Plenty of vertical and mixed horizontal/vertical formations, some multi-point dives, vertical formations with open spots for “penetrators” to fly through and some docked dives (now would be the time to get those grippers sewn on your suit on the outside of the knees). Backfliers are welcome, especially those that can stay in formation that way (I’m thinking a 5 way backflying wedge with a 5 way vertical stack on the base flier and a 5 way belly wedge on the very top). We could do some “legs out” dives .. who doesn’t like 2 minutes of flocking? If we have 2 experienced groups that want to join together .. perfect! And of course the winner-take-all $20 put-up-or-shut-up “Z-Flock Challenge” dive on Saturday! Whoever goes the furthest wins it all. I’m hoping to shoot for 6 dives/day. If we devote the last 2 dives each day to big ways, then we’ll get plenty of big way stuff without burning out on staring at the same person all day. So the big ways will be the double-chevron (attached). The advantages to this formation are that each flyer only needs to focus their attention in a single place and it only has the most basic symmetry. This means we only need to form something close to a wedge to have a killer picture rather than a cloud of bodies. I want to spread this out more than we have in the past, so that individuals have some room to move around without forcing the person beside them to move out of their way. More experienced folks will be in front, lesser behind. This will give the lesser experienced folks only one person to look at, the more experienced person in front of them. If we arrange people in the aircraft as shown (attached), the lesser experienced person can follow the more experienced person all the way to their slot. With this arrangement, the lesser experienced folks are not relegated to the back of the bus. Those flockers who hold their slots and fly smoothly will be moved towards the center on the next dive. Those who move around too much will be moved to the outside. Unless you’re a danger to yourself or others you will NOT be asked off. If things are working out, we can do a “pull-away”. As base for the front chevron I’ll set my audible for 8000’. When it goes off I’ll start putting the gas on slowly while the front chevron follows me. The rear chevron stays in place. This should make an INSANE visual for both the rear chevron and the spectators on the ground. FYI – Matt Hoover is the lead video guy. The other video folks will co-ordinate with him. We will NOT have 2 or 3 camera people on their backs under the formation colliding. Let me know what you think. Additions, subtractions, suggestions, rants .. bring it on.  Scott

Jari tells me that Blade wingsuits will be at Flock and Dock.

"Jari, Jari ... I am your FATHER!" "Noooo!"

When I first saw the topic question I was sure it was a troll. This question has been hashed over so much that it's pointless to do it again. The arguments usually degenerate into mine vs yours and manufacturer vs manufacturer. The there's the "I was smoked .." or "I smoked.." anecdotes. We've now moved into "GPS data is bullshit" ... Lets see what happens when we put those suit/pilot combinations in the same air at the same time in a fair fight. Tony's right ... "Money talks, bullshit walks". The gauntlet has been thrown! Let the Challenge begin! Scott

heh heh ... purple ones that smell like grape!

Man, that is the SHITS! The visuals must be insane! How much planning goes into those flights? You don't just go for it and hope for the best do you? Because when the skydiving wingsuiter hits a cloud they drive home with a nice story, when the BASE wingsuiter hits an outcrop they get driven home all gory. Big difference.

More trash-talking Glen? No-one mentioned that the challenge would involve GPS's and no-one said you can't put your $20 down and get on the load. See you there!

Blah, blah, blah ... More manufacturer bashing and trash talk ... I know I'm sick of hearing it. Let's see the best fly their own creations in the same air at the same time and see what happens. Have a flying start, aim for the runway and pull at a designated altitude. Neptunes keep everyone honest. If there's a clear winner you'll see it from the ground. Simple. It won't stop the bitching, though...

L.O.T.S.? London Omnibus Traction Society? Lionel Operating Train Society? The Festival of Lots? In any case .. there can be only one.

Of course this contest won't answer "Which suit is the best?" .. it'll answer "Which pilot/suit combination has the best glide ratio?" Swapping suits might be a little self-defeating "Hmmm, I'm in my competitors suit .. I think I'll relax just a tad .. maybe a tad more ..." Any great contest needs a name! How about "The Z-Flock Challenge"?? And ideas on what the prize, other than bragging rights, should be?

Wearing a black shirt when it's 90+ degrees and 80%+ humidity in the hot Florida sun just doesn't make sense. Kind of "death by fashion" .. or at least "heat-stroke by fashion"

I don't think that's true ... this is more like a sailing race where everyone has a running start. This is probably the best way to start since you can't get everyone out the door at the same time. I'll volunteer to be the base and spot the load. The flight path would be perpendicular to one of the runways. Everyone pulls up behind me and at 10K I wave off. That should be a fair start within a second or so. Everyone gives it there all towards that runway until an agreed upon floor altitude where they pull. Observers on the ground lined up with the runway should be able to agree on a winner. How's that?

Come and play! See you Sat or Sun!