notsane

I haven't seen any equations yet ...

The only reason that the smoke would be up near your hands is that it's within the turbulent area over your back. That would indicate that you're not really flying, but actually in a near to full stall with no airflow over any part of the top of your body. Jarno's pics show someone who is obviously flying for forward speed. Note that the arms aren't fully extended, but the legs are. The body is in a slightly cupped position. A faster forward speed will create more lift and ultimately allow very long flight times. It all comes down to flying, not falling as Yuri has often said. PF has an article on exactly this ... http://www.phoenix-fly.com/articles%20stvari/performance_flying_1.pdf Go up and try it out for a few jumps. You'll find that the load on your arms is much, much lower and the flight times/distances can be impressive. Scott

In this case, laminar flow refers to the uninterrupted flow of air over the wings. For a real aircraft wing in normal flight the flow over the top of the wing is fairly smooth, and there is no turbulence at any point. If you increase the angle of attack to the airflow, as you would when pull up on the stick, the airflow will detach from the wing, starting at the trailing edge. The higher the angle of attack, the more the flow over the top surface of the wing becomes turbulent. At some point, the flow over the top is fully turbulent, and the wing is no longer flying, but is merely displacing air, like a barn door, with its bottom surface, and is in a full stall. This is why there are many different wing shapes ... each tailored for different speeds and expected angles of attack. Us wingsuiters fly at a pretty high angle of attack, and the flow over most of our wings is pretty turbulent. Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtQP1h_CPGE. Most of the time it's pretty hard to see the angle of attack difference, but at 2:49, it's pretty clear. You can be sure that the glider wing is flying and is cleanly into the airflow. The wingsuiter (Loic) isn't. There are also videos of wingsuiters with smoke that show the airflow direction pretty well. Compared to any aircraft wing, our wingsuits are pretty low on the performance scale. Scott

I don't think that I'd challenge either James or Robi to a low-pull contest. But, between the two of you guys, I think James just won the prize. I'm glad you're still with us, James. Get well soon, and wipe that smirk off your face. The Grim Reaper hates it when you smirk! Scott

I open the arm zippers half-way for backflying. When the zippers are fully closed, the arms snap open really hard during the transistions. Opening the leg wing zipper helps too, since in most Tony Suits, the leg wing is too large to allow to fully open during backflying. The zippers are more about allowing air to escape when you want to collapse the wings. In normal flight, there is so much air coming into the wings that the little that's escaping thru the zippers is nearly irrelevant. Scott

I watched Paul Cain jumping a Stealth after breakoff at FnD5. Like you mentioned, Jarno, he was just hanging there, descending at about the same rate as my open canopy. The only time I've seen someone best that was the time I watched Jeff Nebelkopf go from below the horizon to above the horizon. I was under canopy and he was in an XS. I have to agree with your comment about large suits and flocking. People should choose a suit that can actually be flown, rather than flapped, while they're flocking. Maybe this means they need two or three suits, but so be it. If the heavy-weights wearing large suits can't stay with everyone, then why are we calling it flocking? Scott

As I remember, that was a 128 second flock. But, even though it looks like it in the photos, I'm not pushing the suit at all. In fact, I'm in a very relaxed position and letting the suit do the work for me. Apparently, the leg wing inflation pushes your knees into a straighter position ... I'm not exerting any downward muscle force with the lower part of my legs. On a later dive I tried to slow up more aggressively (photo here). Even here with my knees bent almost 45 degrees, you can see that the leg wing is still in it's full flight position. My legs alone are affecting the forward speed. Scott

Let's remember that the glide ratio can only be determined by the forward speed by the downward speed through the air. A GPS measures the speed across the ground. GPS data can be adjusted to account for winds aloft, but this isn't a true measurement of the actual airspeed. Since wind speeds and directions vary by altitude, even flying a "racetrack" pattern wouldn't guarentee that the winds aloft have been compensated for. I think Yuri had a setup for making the proper measurements, but it's not easy to do. Scott

I've got about 70 jumps on the updated Phantom (the 2.5). This is one awesome suit and will basically do anything you want it to do. The suit has the over the arm zippers and internal cutaway system like the Stealth, but also has several additional modifications. There are no inlets on the front of the arm, which is now smooth and low drag with an internal foam stiffening material built into it. Front flying inlets are at chest level on the wings and near the crotch on the tail wing. Back flying inlets are similarly located. All inlets are air locked. The leg wing is slightly extended and the butt-deflector has been integrated into it, forming a very smooth surface (see Matt's photo http://www.matthoover.com/gallery/skydiving-photos/2009-02/2009-02_p07.html#navbar ) Inflation is quick and solid in any orientation. The flight characteristics are amazing, especially for such a small amount of overall wing. I weigh 180 pounds butt-naked and I've been able to hold freefall speeds in the low 40mph range with minimums in the mid 30's. Forward speeds are up there with the best, as anyone who was near me on the Flock and Dock breakoffs can tell you. Backflying is a breeze and the arm/legwing ratio is such that you can easily max the suit out. You can stretch the legwing to its limit without going head-down. Transitions are similarly easy because of the small legwing. If there's any downside to the new design, it's that the suit doesn't slow down without active input. When I fly base, I generally just relax my legs to slow the forward speed and present a reachable target for the last person out the door. That doesn't work for this suit ... even with my knees slightly bent, the legwing remains in its full flight position. So slowing down requires you to actively "ask" for it ... which is not necessarily a bad thing. So, to summarize, this revision of the Phantom can be your go-to suit for most anything you want to do. Unless you're a real heavy-weight, you'll save the large wing suit for those days when lloonngg flights around the puffy clouds are calling your name. But if you're looking for a great performing, all-around flocking suit, you can't go wrong with this one. Scott

Wow, Matt. It's hard to believe that you can get better, but these are your best yet. Number 40, with the sun reflecting off the gulf in the background, is just insanely good. It was great having you back ... we miss you! Scott

Unless you never, ever plan on back-flying; order the back inlets. I've haven't had any good experience with mylar inserts ... they're just something else to break, and break they do. I'd avoid them like the plague.

Great shots, Matt! The clip at 2:32 really caught me offguard ... I couldn't figure out what I was seeing for the first few seconds. Awesome shot. And there was a suit in the formation around 2:40 that reminded me to check what time it is ... it's time for that person to get a new suit that doesn't flap them to death!

I'm looking forward to meeting you and your pony, Jarno! Scott

At least something doesn't suck in Texas, huh? And you know that you're only encouraging PM, right? I think that makes you an "enabler". Scott

We've just have some strong storms pass through here in Florida, dropping some desperately needed rain, but the weekend is looking absolutely terrific. Pack your shorts and sunscreen for the days and maybe a light jacket for the evenings. WooHoo! I can't wait! Scott

I think that's your best video yet, Matt. I love the mix of ground and air shots. That camera od yours really makes the colors pop too. Do they have an "unsharp mask" for HD video?

The Wintec WBT-201 is cheaper, lighter, smaller and has a more sensitive receiver.

If James does indeed have superhuman abilities, will his offspring have these abilities as well? I find this quite disturbing ....

If you haven't already done so, please go to www.baserigs.com and register for the event. Kathy is trying to sort out the T-shirt numbers. Scott

Robert has a lovely lady? What's his name?

Beautiful, Matt!

Jason, I still think you're just trying to stir it up again ... there's quite a history of that. And I'm sure you're laughing your ass off watching everyone thrash around. No amount of reasoning or impassioned prose will stop the antics until everyone just plain gets tired of it and moves on. So here I am, tired of it and moving on .... Scott

Jason, I never know when you're screwing with people or really looking for a new perspective. If anyone has the idea that the wingsuit photographers are making a buck on everyone's back, then they just haven't done the math. (it's pretty simple, folks) If the photog gets the slot for free from the DZ ... you're not paying for it ... you get your video debrief for free (aren't you lucky?) ... if you want pic, printed or digital ... you buy it from the photog. After all, they risked their necks and thousands of dollars worth of equipment to give you that opportunity. What did you risk? On the other hand, if you pay a buck to the photog to cover his slot, you get the video debrief. You get to see your wonderous self doing cool stuff on video. He might even firewire the video to you. But as far as the stills go, see the previous paragraph. How can paying $20 for a print of your cool ass be an issue to someone who just paid $25 to jump, $6 to pack and is wearing $6000+ worth of gear to do it? Please, educate me how you've gained the right to the photographer's efforts? You did bring up the load organizing (LO) aspect, and I'll happily chime in there too. The DZ always covers the LO slot, so the jumpers don't. Why? So the event can be advertised having a safe, experienced organizer ... thus bringing more people to jump. What do jumpers get for coming to a boogie where there's an experienced organizer? They can attend an event , enjoy themselves, and for the cost of a jump ticket .. feel safe in the knowledge that the LO has placed people where they belong, exited the plane where we all belong and guided us all to where we can open and land safely. An LO who is worth their slot takes all this shit as serious as a fucking heart attack. There are 5, 10 or 50 lives following the LO, not looking at the terrain. LO's who are worth their slot don't back-fly and pay no attention where they are going, guiding the flock into the swamp. They don't exit miles out to sea. They don't hand off leading the flock to a noobie and fly camera far above. Anyone who follows me out the door knows that I'm doing everything I know how to make this fun and safe. Hopefully that's worth a couple of slices of pizza to anyone who flies behind me. If none of the above makes sense, jump without a photog or LO. No one's forcing it on you. Or strap a camera to your head and have at it. That doesn't make you a wingsuit photographer any more than strapping on a spacesuit makes you an astronaut, but have at it. But, I still think you're just trying to kick up the shit ... Scott

Everyone ... make sure you get on www.baserigs.cpm and register as soon as you can! we're about 4 weeks out ... woohoo! Scott

I've only seen arm wing cutaways pulled once in freefall ... during a very nasty flat spin. It did work, he recovered from the spin, and the arm wings were not a control or pull time issue. This would be a similar situation to an emergency exit from the airpane. If we're low, I'm not taking time to zip up ... that's for sure. You should certainly be able to recover from a flat spin without using the arm wing cutaways. After all, it's not the arm wings that are spinning you up, it's your leg wing. But, as a last resort, I'd like to have the option of pulling the cutaways ... and I don't see a problem if you do. I've pulled the arm wing cutaways twice. Both times were when the damn plastic boogie bracelet got jammed in the arm zipper. GRRR. Scott