Gargoyle

We have been asked to let those who are attending the Z-Flock 1.5 know that we will have Phantom & Acro demos amongst the arsenal that will be present at the event. It looks like there will be a good chance to compare suits and their various applications and performance levels. See ya there. Mr. MoFo

Have Chris give us a call if his prodigy’s aren’t your size. We just received some additional suits. See you in the Hills Robert Morpheus Tech

Just to be sure that everyone has a head’s up, we are bummed that these two Southeastern WS events are clashing as well. We had a look at the Calendar of Events for the spring of 05 when we were planning this last year and didn’t see any conflicts. The Dublin Boogie listed an extensive list of events in Skydiving that didn’t include winging it. We are just excited that St. Patty’s Day and the Easter Boogie are so close together and figured it was a great time to have the event. I guess that it just goes to show how fast this application of skydiving is growing and that is a good thing for all of us. It seems as if there are enough good ws flyers to support both events. This time of year is very busy for most good weather winter DZ’s as it is the last big boogie before summer kicks in. Skydive City is also hosting big freefly & RW events; and of all things, a night pond swooping competition that same weekend. Dropzones all over the place have stuff going on and I guess that it would be hard to know when and what is going on unless it is listed in advance. We had to have definitive dates so that people from abroad including Robibird could make flight and Visa arrangements. Whether it be one of these two events or choosing from one of the other events that are going on around DZ’s that have good weather during this time, the end result should be the same for all of us… Having good flights and loads of FUN!!! Robert and Kathy MorpheusTech

Jason, Is there a certain point in the process where you would be considered registered even if you couldn't give cc details? I don't want to register twice. This could cause even more headaches. I wasn't certain that if it allows you to "Add to Cart" and reviews your info, that maybe it has been acknowledged.

Robert Pecnik, the R & D side of BirdMan, Inc. sent us these useful tips to help improve BASE wingsuit flight. We thought that maybe some of you might be interested. Mr. & Mrs. MoFo BASE WS Practice Techniques By Robert Pecnik (The BirdMan) For those of you who are planning to get into wingsuit BASE, or want to improve your skills, here are some things that you can apply to your flight when exiting from an aircraft. The most important things to remember when trying to improve your BASE wingsuit flying are: General: • During the flight bring the elbows up • Do not put too much tension on the trailing edge of the arm wings, give the forward speed to your body ( I like to say: Gravity is our only engine, speed is our only friend ) • Work on forward speed in the beginning. Do not be overly concerned with the time that you are spending in the air. • Play with the winglets and try to feel the suit. Feel the changes in your flying while varying the input and performing different moves. Legs: Sometimes, even when a person thinks that their legs are straightened, they are not. In every aspect of skydiving, our legs are the hardest thing to feel because we are accustomed to standing upright. The air causes a lot of drag and it is because of this that you can feel like you are in max stretched position. • Work on thinking about your leg position; look at your legs whilst flying. • Also take care to notice the position of your head. Forget about cameras and try to place your head slightly down and into the shoulders. • Do NOT bend or push your knees down (this is a trap that a lot of people fall into.) It will give you the sensation that you have reached a slow vertical speed. This is true, but it is because you are in stall! Don't forget this. Flying: • When you are jumping, concentrate on the first 30-50 second of your flight. Do not go all out for the maximum 2 minutes. It is pointless. • After exit, always make a slight turn to give yourself speed. Pitch the head down ( like with a BASE jump exit) and start to play w the wings. • As you are mainly preparing for BASE wingsuit flying, try to fly using the same principles when flying your wingsuit from the aircraft. (Whenever possible, try to fly a straight flight path and make long, gentle turns, etc...

When we first began working closely with Stane, the designer and manufacturer of the Troll, we had similar questions. We were accustomed to the generalized PIA standard method of measuring a canopy to determine its size as well. Stane prefers to use the "Fly CAD 2000" computer program to design and subsequently measure his canopies. It was developed by Michael Nesler who is a leading paragliding and wing designer, known throughout the world. http://www.profly.org/eng/index.htm When working with this program, several parameters are needed to formulate the outcome such as the wing plan form, the baseline, frontal canopy arc, the number of cells in the canopy, the rib system (diagonals, etc.) and the skin tension. To get the canopy size, the measurement still consists of Chord X Span, but with this method, both the chord and the span are measured by the bottomskin as opposed to the PIA recommendation of using the mean chord X span on the topskin. Stane feels that this method calculates a figure that is nearer to representing a flying canopy. The bottomskin is tensioned when measured on the ground and Stane feels that the measurement that is taken at that time most represents the measurement of the bottomskin when inflated. When using the PIA measuring method, we feel that people are led to believe that they are under a far bigger canopy than they actually are flying. This being because of the reduction in overall measurement of the canopy from the ground to full inflation. Once he explained this to us, we felt that there was great validity in his beliefs and have stayed with these measurements. However, we have tried to educate customers and let people know the approximate comparisons to the PIA method of measuring. We have always guided our customers in size recommendations for their wing loading and jumping needs. Regarding the PIA method of measuring... which was developed about 20 years ago is still quite open to interpretation. If 3 different people were to measure the same canopy with this method, those 3 people would come up with 3 entirely different results. If every canopy could be sent in to the PIA and measured by the same individual, it would come closer to achieving more subjective and consistent results. The late Ian Bellis wrote an interesting article when he was employed by Performance Designs. http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/packvol.pdf If anyone wants to take the time to read this, I think that you will be quite enlightened by the conclusions that have been reached by PD. Although Stane's method of measuring a canopy was taken from paragliding, it is felt that its application offers a high degree of accuracy in the sport of BASE jumping and we don't want to ask him to change this. At this point, there are so many Trolls out in the field that we think that this could cause even more confusion. Although paragliding spawned from skydiving; in its short lifespan, the sport has grown far more world- wide than skydiving and certainly more than BASE jumping. With this, the advancement in paragliding technology is stead lily providing more information and education to the skydiving industry in the development of winged flight as opposed to the use of a crude aerodynamic decelerator. Parachute design in general has come along way since the implementation of the PIA measuring system. In this way, we feel that the obvious widespread use of design programs in todays ever changing world is offering an accuracy and appreciation that was not possible 20 years ago. Maybe in the future, the PIA will revise their method. Virtually every canopy today that we are aware of is designed on a computer and although the PIA method of measuring can be calculated on a computer, the method itself was not created with the understanding of todays single wings. The PIA came up with the best method possible at the time with the knowledge that they had of those new fangled things called square parachutes. Stane has always been one to follow his feelings and beliefs. In this way, he researches every aspect of flight and methodology. We have a great respect for him as he has been in this and related industries such as hang gliding and paragliding since he was a kid. He built and flew his first hang glider at 21 years old and has a great passion for all aspects of flight, including BASE jumping. Agree or disagree, hopefully this information has shed some light on to why Stane uses a different method of measuring his canopies.

We personally do not think that the average jumper (including ourselves) would have the skill for this system to be of any use except under rare occurrences (i.e. when opening high and far away from the wall or object). Personally, neither of us has had a slider up line over. A very experienced jumper that we know has had only one line over that did not clear itself and at the time he was too busy trying to stop the turn and avoid the wall that he didn't even know that he was having a line over. He just knew that things were really bad and was simply reacting to the situation (avoiding the wall to the best of his ability). The best thing to do in the case of a slider up line over is counter the turn via the opposite rear/front riser or toggle (if countering the turn with the opposing rear riser or toggle results in a stall then you need to jam down hard on the front riser). While one hand is countering the turn, the other hand releases the brake and cycles (repeatedly jamming down hard on the toggle in an effort to make the line over clear). While you are doing this you need to avoid the wall/object as best you can and get your feet in between you and the wall/object if impact is imminent. If you stop riser/toggle input in order to release the toggle (via the release system) then the turn will accelerate while you are doing this and you will lose altitude faster and hit harder. Many of us usually open so low that if we had a line over, we would only have a couple of seconds at best before spiraling in. I know my automatic reaction during that time would be to stop/minimize the turn (through opposite riser/toggle input and cycling the offending line). My vision would be fixed on the ground or the wall during this time - not on a toggle release tab. I would hate to see people so fixated on releasing this tab that they end up causing more harm to themselves by not dealing with the immediate issue of a possible object strike. From the video provided by Tom A., we felt that along with his skill, he was very lucky to have gotten the canopy under control. He also had a good amount of altitude to work with not being low man on a multi way. From other footage that we have seen in the past involving line overs, the canopies were a lot more contrary. Not to mention the intentional line overs that we packed into skydiving rig to test our slider down line release mod. The video footage from that shows some violent spinning and loss of altitude in a short amount of time. Of course, the rig had a reserve and a front mount reserve as well. A little bit different than dealing with a single parachute system that has gone askew. People must realize that this is a single source solution to a single source problem. A person might be quick to point out that most systems have a slider down brake release mod; therefore it only makes sense to offer one for slider up. There are other malfunctions that are equally possible with the introduction of a slider that can result in similar symptoms as a brake line over. (Suspension line-overs and especially tension knots) In such a compressed time frame, it would be very difficult to determine exactly what the problem is. With our experience in rigging regarding skydiving, on several occasions we have had people come down from a cutaway that have absolutely sworn that they had a line over and after video review and upon inspection, some of the mals were clearly tension knots and in some cases even a bag lock. It just goes to show you that in a high speed, stress-filled situation, it is sometimes not that easy to identify the malfunction in a clear cut manner. This brings me back to the conclusion that this particular option would only be a benefit in situations where you are pulling quite high and have good separation. Hence, the name of our version… HP Big Grabs. The HP stands for High Puller. As you can see from our comments, they are not something that we promote. Our take on the whole thing is “Prevention vs. Cure”. We are working on some ideas to help reduce the chance of a slider up line over. I’m not at liberty to divulge any info at this time, but you will certainly know when and if we come out with something. In the mean time, obviously taking care when packing, especially ensuring that lines are not being drawn around to the front when cocooning the tail around the canopy can help in greatly reducing the possibility of a line over. Hopefully, this has shed some light on some of the possibilities.

We are absolutely devastated. Such a tremendous loss to our community. Such a tremendous loss of a friend. Our hearts are with the family. Karin, our thoughts and prayers are with you and if you need anything, please don't hesitate calling. Slim, we are here for you. Good-bye Twinkle Toes. You are "One of a Kind"! Love, Kathy and Robert

We have always assumed that advertising was considered to be taboo on this forum. However, we feel the need to clarify a couple of things. First of all, the design that we have labeled “Dynamic Corners” is something that we originally created specifically for the Gargoyle. This option is not offered on our Velcro container and never has been. There were a number of different prototypes designed before reaching the final version. Many of which were much easier to manufacture, but not as effective as what we consider to be the finished product that we have now. One of which was a design that looks to be very similar to the pictures that are provided above. That being where long tongues/tabs are attached to the sides of the bottom flaps and slot into slits of the sidewalls of the container. (Say that three times fast) We tried a couple of different forms of rigidity but one concern was if these tongues/tabs came out of their respective slots during deployment, they could flap back and forth in and out of the tray and could cause an issue as the canopy is feeding past. The biggest concern with this design was in recreating a “not so perfect situation” such as being on the edge preparing for a low jump or any hand deploy situation. If somehow a bottom pin were pulled, the canopy would dump out. The design that we have now can greatly reduce this possibility as long as there is some tension in the side flaps. The design of the dynamic corner is such that if only the top pin is in tact, the weight of the canopy itself is not enough to allow the canopy to drop through the bottom flap. The bottom flap holds its shape until both pins are extracted. We feel that this is also helpful in some of the scenarios that were discussed previously. i.e. bottom flap floating around with a partially opened container. Regarding aesthetics, the pictures above show a very clean and neatly folded canopy. This can definitely help in making any of the open corner designs look aesthetically pleasing. One tip that we give to any Gargoyle owner with this option is to ensure that the bottom fold of the canopy is placed against and not on top of the Dynamic Corner, thus helping to sandwich it between the canopy and the side flaps. In reference to the wrap around corners, we have tried many different sizes and have found that anything larger than what we are offering now would not allow the Dynamic Corners to open out fully. The entire purpose of having them is to allow the bottom tray to open up cleanly so as to have the best opportunity for an uninhibited deployment. Robert and Kathy Jones Morpheus Technologies

Regarding this thread... Dexter, you are correct in reference to the bridle. Back when we first started the website, we had some photographs taken by a professional at a friend's studio. For aesthetic purposes, they folded the bridle back on itself. We agree that there should be continuity between our website pix and our manual. We will be replacing them in order not to cause any further confusion. Sincerely, Kathy Jones Morpheus Technologies