The111

Jumping closer to home, working, saving money, bad weather, etc. I haven't been jumping much lately and I like Sebastian but it's far so I only go if I plan on jumping for the whole weekend. I'll cya again soon... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think you may be onto something here... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I heard that too... I'd be inclined to say that has more to do with size/scale than geometry... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think you guys are both thinking along the same lines as I was when I wrote (b), with regards to the geometry change. A solid body with "holes" in it probably doesn't fall the same as one without holes, even if they have the same weight and surface area, simply because the air moving through the gaps gets so disturbed that it contributes to the burble and the drag on the object. So maybe if there was a super huge giant that weighed exactly as much as 100 men, and had exactly the same surface area in freefall as the 100-way, he would still fall faster because of his geometry. Sad thing is I have about 10 aerodynamics books from college sitting in my closet, and I could probably settle this better if I ever had time to take them out. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I've heard often that it's because: a) The formation stretches everyone out flat and increases each person's surface area. But I've often thought that: b) Weight/area density is not the only thing that matters... as discussed in the other physics thread, "scaling" of objects does not create identical aerodynamics. Not that a 100-way is a scale replica of a solo belly guy anyway. So I guess geometry and scale have changed. Or is it: c) a and b d) something else... Ideas are welcome, but please don't try to explain something you don't understand. That happens way too much on these forums when aerodynamics or even basic physics becomes a topic... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think you missed kallend's and dave's point. For simplicity, air is often assumed to be a continuum, and in most cases this is a somewhat adequate assumption. But it's still an assumption; air is NOT a continuum, and scaling/size of the object does matter, since the size of air molecules stays constant. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think I'll probably go... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I've thought about this a lot. Unfortunately, it's not possible to fly in EVERY position imaginable, or at least to fall straight in those positions. The position I'm sitting in right now at my desk for example, even if I could make it stable it would have a huge slide in some direction I'm sure. But I do agree with you which is why I spent 50+ jumps learning sit on my OWN before getting a coach, I liked being creative and not knowing exactly what I was "supposed" to do, which btw is just what the experienced flyers have determined to be most efficient. But I value empirical learning above all else even if it costs me more. I'm doing the same thing now with HD. Obviously if you want to try stuff like this on your own you still have to understand basic safety things about freefall drift such as not holding an unstable out of control position for too long, and keeping track of the jumprun line in freefall to control your heading and drift. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Are these kinda things legal in the US (for "normal" people)? I wanted to get good at this skill once, just for kicks and to show off some time, but someone talked me out of it saying it's not really legal to own a kit. As if everything else I do is legal.. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

too funny... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

That's incredibly high in my experience. I regularly go for 50 jumps without more than a 45 degree off heading opening. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Sorry, but this struck me as incredibly ironic. Common issues, by definition, are common. So you will have more common issues. You might even have uncommon issues. They will be scary. Be prepared and expect them. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

SM1 (SkyMonkeyONE) flies a pretty heavily loaded Sabre2 for his WS jumps, ask him. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

One more time... My post was not about good, bad, fake, or real. I happened to use an example of a fake picture promoting bad feelings, simply because your question was posed in terms of "belittling beliefs". You made it sound ridiculous that a picture could affect how someone feels. I showed that a picture is a very strong way to affect someone's feeling. I could have used an opposite example, where an uplifting picture makes a person feel good. I have not commented on the Sun Path / advertising issue ONCE. I just responded to your comment saying that it's sad for someone to feel belittled by a picture. It's not sad. It's the way human senses (sight) and emotions work. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

The purpose of my example was not to emulate the situation being discussed in this thread. It was to show that a picture can affect the way people feel. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

If someone distributed a convincing (but false) picture of you committing a crime (which was also against your beliefs) to your friends and law enforcement, you would not only have your beliefs belittled, you would be in legal trouble. This example may seem irrelevant, but it answers your question. It's not sad. Sight is our most valuable sense. A picture CAN affect people. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Someone else was talking about not just blindly turning 180 to track. I have less than 200 jumps, so I don't know a lot, but I've been on LO'd 5-10 ways, with people more experienced than myself. When I turn to track the first thing I do (while already starting my track) is figure out where the others in my peripheral are headed. There have been countless times I've noticed a guy on my left or right headed right where I wanted to go. Don't know if it was my fault or his (I'm not able to say I for sure did a perfect 180), but it usually looks like he's not aware of it, especially since I'm usually a bit higher, so it's usually up to me to alter my heading to create more separation. I'm not trying to boast, but I was never trained to do this, it just makes sense. Awareness is the most important thing in a jump and being aware means looking where you're going at all times, and where everyone else is going. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I have wanted to do a balloon jump for a very long time now. Lake Wales had some a few months ago but I couldn't go. Does anyone happen to know of any coming up anywhere in FL anytime soon? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think that was pretty much ON topic... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I'm not trying to take this post off-topic, but I can't find any current "heated debates" on frap hats. Every thread I can find ended rather quickly after someone made it clear that a frap hat is safer than no helmet in any situation, something which is too obvious to be arguing in the first place IMO. Again, not trying to start that discussion here, but I'd like to see any threads about this that are still heated debates... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Nice choice... Another good one. Another... All Smashing Pumpkins rules, I agree with you about Siamese Dream VGS. In my playlist currently: Opeth - Damnation and Morningrise Mars Volta - De-loused in the Comatorium Porcupine Tree - In Absentia The Fire Theft - self-titled www.WingsuitPhotos.com

It disappeared quickly apparently... I thought it seemed fishy when I read it (maybe I just didn't understand it entirely), and now that it's disappeared I'm even more confused. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Any idea where I can get footage of that? (preferably for free on the web ) Sounds like it would really wow me... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Did he get away? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

No it is not. It's quite possible to get a step through on one side. I put in one once when I had cut the main to clean the cutaway cable. I'm assuming you unattached your risers to clean the cables, then when you re-attached them, you attached *one* of them with a twist in it. Correct me if I'm wrong. This is not a "step-through" as far as I'm concerned. True it does have the same effect (twisted riser(s)), but it does not come from *packing*. The original poster implied that he had a packing mal. If he had disconnected his risers prior to this mal, then that is possible. But I assumed from the post that he simply packed as normal, then had a mal under canopy where only one riser was twisted. Wouldn't it be impossible to twist only one riser by stepping through your lines on the ground? You'd either have to have 0 twists in both risers and a good canopy, 1 twist in both risers and a good canopy, or 1 twist in 1 riser and a twist in your canopy. Which I guess might be what he had since he said he had a line over or something to that effect. Which isn't a step through in my opinion. Step through implies you stepped through your lines on the ground, but when packing the canopy it still appeared normal (you didn't do a brake line check). A canopy with a twist in it would not appear normal when packing it. www.WingsuitPhotos.com