Pendragon

Don't be daft! Of course women can fly well. It's just navigation that can be a problem [only kidding, obviously] Seriously, I've seen a short, stumpy bloke outfly a lot of people in a V-1, which was the hot suit at the time. As is the same for everyone, you will develop your own flying style which will, in part, be a function of your shape. I'd definitely get some instruction first. Do the sensible things - do a fair bit of tracking first, and practise the wingsuit pull (both arms reach back simultaneously to keep everything symmetrical at pull-time) on each jump to get used to it. How best to train for flying a wingsuit has been discussed here many times before; a quick search will find the threads. Happy flying! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Is this the same Aeros from the Ukraine that's being making hang gliders for years? Those guys made some good stuff. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Have you been taking humour lessons from me? Flock on, chirpy! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

You know, experienced canopy pilots always seem to have less trouble with this. It'll come with time - keep practising! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I understand what you mean, but I'm going to disagree with you a little: [to the person asking the original question] It's good to ask. It's perfectly fine to have a "stretch" goal (if you like) providing one understands it may take a lot of effort and time to get achieve... By asking for, and equally by listening to, suitable advice you'll get there... but it will take a few seasons, not a couple of months - and that's still assuming you put the jumps in! Right now, there's a bunch of stuff already mentioned in this thread that you should be fully competent in before using techniques to accelerate your landing approach. Well done for asking - but now go away and concentrate on those tasks for the next 150 or so skydives before moving on.

Short recovery arc => lower initiation altitude Take a canopy with a long recovery arc (e.g. Velocity @ 2.0). Depending on how tightly you turn, you can exercise considerable variation over the height loss (maybe even 100ft or so). On a short recovery arc canopy (e.g. Pilot @ 1.4), you don't have that variation. If you begin 10ft too low, you're likely to plane out 10ft too low. However, it requires someone quite experienced to take correct advantage of this variability - it also makes it less predictable for people learning (IMHO), and canopies with longer recovery arcs also (as you point out) don't dig out as fast. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Before trying any form of approach where you deliberately accelerate the canopy (double fronts, flare and recover, front riser turns of even small rotations etc etc), you need as a minimum (IMHO): 1) 200 jumps 2) The ability to land consistently on target 3) Able to land cross and downwind 4) Have worked on executing a pattern with defined downwind, base and final legs: so being at a certain point in the sky at a certain time (like 3D accuracy) 5) Understand how your canopy responds to front riser input whilst above 1,000 ft (length of dive - does it dive further and recover positively? What is the maximum height loss for a given turn? Can you do that consistently - same input each time?) 6) How does that change with toggles (e.g. how much you can influence the recovery arc by going onto brakes early) 7) Have been briefed by an experienced canopy pilot on all aspects of safety, preferably through a formalised course (e.g. Wingtips in the UK, Brian Germain's course in the US etc etc) Doing (7) should make you aware of the others. The suggestions for canopy exercises (3-6) should be done for the first time only after consultation with an experienced canopy pilot / instructor who knows you first. Hop n pops, preferably from altitude if you can, will allow you to learn a lot - more working time. Take it slowly... -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

First the disclaimer - be careful tracking on your back at low jump #s. It's harder to keep a heading and remain altitude aware. I would suggest to anyone starting to back track to go out with someone more experienced when practising for the first few times to make sure you're not going around in circles. As for not dropping out the sky, back tracking is a bit of a black art, and takes a bit of practice to get right. Optimal position is to have your hips up (like arching at the sky), and your head right back so it cups the air... almost like you're looking more in the direction you're going. If you look more towards your feet, then you'll bend at the waist and increase your fall rate. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

There's your answer. Sounds like the exit order wasn't so well planned - higher wingloadings / longer delays out first. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I know what you mean... I prefer Classics actually. I also don't think that the Prodigy should be used by sub-200ers either. It's a wingsuit... and shouldn't be underestimated. The PF tracking suit, OTOH, is a great idea at 150 jumps for someone looking to get into wingsuiting (but to be treated with respect, see below) For the record, it's not just about restriction of movement etc etc., it's about being able to keep in a straight line and not zoom around taking less experienced people out (I've signed people off for solos but not for group jumps before, and asked that they be reassessed later) and being able to fly a pattern rather than flying up/down jump run and frightening AFF and tandem students! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

If you can, take Chuck's advice. It's good to be current when you first start wingsuiting - makes the whole experience a lot less stressful. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Coolio.

1. Go tracking. Learn how to do it well; go with someone that can. You'll work out a good position and, hopefully, understand how to navigate so you know where you're going 2. Once you've got 120-150 jumps, find out what a "wingsuit pull" is, start doing it on tracking jumps and think about a tracking suit, like the Phoenix Fly tracking suit (or BM Impact, if you prefer) 3. At 200, approach an experinced wingsuit instructor for advice and first flights (actual requirements vary between countries, personal preference of trainers and local DZ rules) Flock on!

I don't think you'll have much problem finding people with Phantoms at Netheravon this weekend; Liz is organising a wingsuit weekend this Saturday / Sunday (22nd/23rd) ...

Experiment with 45 degree front riser turns - and quite a few times at that - before progressing to 90s. Build consistency in your input; much harder at first than you think! My personal recommendation would be the Safire2. You may find the Pilot/Safire2/Sabre2 less responsive on the toggles - but they'll dive more on front riser input. You can't have everything in a design! Quickness on toggles isn't exactly high on most people's priority list nowadays... and I'm not really sure how desirable it really is. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

It's all possible... and everyone goes at their own pace. Sitflying is relatively easy to get the hang of, but head down is relatively hard. Think: standing up is easier to balance than on your head! If money isn't an object, go to a wind tunnel. Start going now if you like; they'll have their own safety protocols and progression sytsem. A little time there will benefit your AFF progression. The other thing you can do to help - once you've got your licence, go somewhere warm (like Z-hills in florida) for a couple of weeks and put the jumps in. You learn faster if you stay current. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Just be aware that doing what jdatc described when using a high performance canopy is going to result in a wild ride! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I whole heartedly agree with that. I'm going to be in Florida this year instead... -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

You'd notice more of a difference between the Xfire2 / Safire2 in a 270 degree turn - especially if you use your rears to help plane the canopy out. I can't believe the safire2 holds in the dive longer; my Safire2 129 planes out a good 100ft higher than my Xfire2 109 in a 270. However, the height loss during the turn was increasingly similar with smaller rotations. I do agree on the heading performance comment. Highly loaded Crossfire2 + wingsuit = fun! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

"Breadhead" is right. Don't confuse airspeed with groundspeed. "Balling up" reduces overall parasitic drag making flight more efficient (in the same way moving to thinner HMA lines or removing bag/slider also helps). Your canopy does not know which way the wind is blowing - or where the ground is for that matter... -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Provided your rig is sized correctly for your canopy (i.e. you're not trying to stuff something really too big for it in the main pack tray), you shouldn't have any gear-related issues. Use a slightly longer bridle by all means - but not too long or you can get entaglement issues. I never have lengthened my bridle for wingsuit skydiving and haven't suffered in my >250 wingsuit jumps. I generally use either a Safire2 129 or a Xfire2 109 which have always opened on-heading. In my experience, most newbies should concentrate on getting their body position right, rather than trying to blame their equipment. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

"... in a headwind" is what I should have added (to make yourself 'smaller' and reduce drag) -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

As an aside, I've seen a number of variant methods used in BASE packing, like those you describe. Doesn't appear to change much. Likely reason for preference: The way you were taught / always done it! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

You're around 1.2 lbs/sq ft. now. I presume you're in the UK (who else uses stones? ) [14lbs = 1 stone, for the non-UK readers] The 340 would be to put you just under 0.75 lbs/sq ft. to satisfy student requirements I'm guessing. If you're happy with your present size - and so are your instructors - then it'll probably keep you going until jump 300... at which point (if your canopy skills are up to it), a 190 may be reasonable (but no smaller). I can't envisage you going any smaller for a long while (it will most likely take a few years for you to build up the jump numbers unless you become a jump hog ) Buy a container that would fit a 210 and a 190 main (and a large enough reserve for you!) I would expect a Spectre to pack up a little smaller than a 9-cell of the same size like a Sabre2 (less material). -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Do you ever go to work? -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13