birdynamnam

most experienced skydivers that I know of are loading their reserves high(ly). Some years ago it was considered something to strive after, to have an as tiny rig as possible (to be cool), thus having a super small reserve. I see that this trend is not that popular anymore and people buy decent sized rig's that can contain a reserve that will result in a wing load that at least is within the w/l recommendations of the manufacturer... There are exceptions but as a general rule this is what I see. Combined with ultra low pack volume materials that enable you to get "a one size bigger" canopy like the Smart LPV and Optimum, we are improving somehow. I have personally seen people die from head traumas because of landings with no steering inputs on their mains (either because unconscious or just not reacting). Those people where using open-face helmets and I think a full-face helmet would have helped in these cases. Another thing is that the helmets we use today, may have great shells; ABS, glass, Kevler etc, but in reality they do not absorb much if any of the impact force. For that you would need helmets with much larger diameter as they would have multiple layers of shock absorbing foam inside (think Motorcycle helmet). Tonfly ICE helmet seem to have some shock absorbing protection, but it is only available as an open-face helmet. Anybody have thoughts on this?

:) Navigation also depends for a large part of where in the skies you have visuals to the ground. You need ground visuals. Say you plan to fly over there, but it so happens that over there it is suddenly very clouded, then you must have flexibility, even at the time of climbing to altitude in the plane to make alterations to that plan you just made on the ground and fly in another direction - coordinate with pilot and other relevant jumpers. Weather can change quickly. Also you should investigate winds aloft before you board the plane, so directions and speed of wind aloft may differ from what you see at ground level. Use the Windy site, it's easy: https://www.windy.com You must then cook all these parameters together with what you perceive your flying performance can be and create that flight plan. Then check to see if that fit's the load you are going to board. Never mind a river there and a power line there. Stay out of line of flight. Plan a good flight plan. Adjust it if needed. Communicate. And dive that plan. While flying, you will of course monitor your progress and if you are not on target, then cut a corner in order to get to the point where you plan to open your Canopy. With practice, it will become easier for you to nail it

At Empuriabrava I was almost hit by a Porter diving right after my exit. Pilot thought I was descending faster and wanted to catch up "to have a look". He apologized appropriately. It is a good idea to have a chat with a pilot that you do not know, to get a feeling for if he has experience with wingsuiters or not. And if the pilot wants to hang out with you, it is sort of a good idea if both of you agrees to that "plan".

Eh? Am I missing something, what are you talking about and where is that documented? Sarcasm ;) shiit :D

Eh? Am I missing something, what are you talking about and where is that documented?

yes +1

Antoine you will find here: https://www.facebook.com/Rbaseg/?fref=ts and http://www.rbaseg.eu

Have you seen their official video?; all those flight modes are demonstrated https://vimeo.com/205430060

True. But also very logical :) Developments within advanced suits class have been quite frenzy for some time now and pace is not slowing down. So many people upgrade often and so that is why we see a lot of barely used advanced suits for sale; driving the used suit price down. Not a'lot development going on in the beginners class, few suits being upgraded at a slow pace, and just one entirely new one. These suits hold their value much better and they are a solid investment. Many people flying advanced also keeps their small suit for good reasons, so there are fewer small suits out there for sale.

PM sent

I will set you up. PM sent

If Tony doesn't (or did not ever) sell that suit, then it would probably not be in Klaus's suit database. But if someone insists on getting suit X into the database, contacting Klaus can make it happen (https://paralog.net/)

Flew with a Verso (Phantom sized suit). Very easy to de-power it. Plan is to do that much more going forward, FFC's and so on

This is like lending ears to soccer fans or hooligans. Who want to do that willingly.......... Come on guys this is so unwanted. And brings nothing good to the community. Just fly your nylon of choice from Slovenia USA Asia it doesn't matter. Okay? Grow the f..k up. Btw lead time at the moment for Pf is 15 weeks. High season. For the Squirrel guys who seem to be active in this thread don't know why it is also higher as it is 11 weeks. Now drop your cocks remove your fingers from the keyboards and go fly. For fucks.... sake. 15 weeks. 15 weeks :)

Been flying mine mine for a while now, mostly with people in bigger suits, haha I have them still :) I love that little suit, it feels so small, performs so big

You really need a non-elliptical canopy for wingsuiting. At no more than wl 1.4 optimally. Think about this: After having had "a blast" flying your wingsuit in awesome dynamic formations and enjoying the ultimate flying experience one can have in the air together with your friends, for more than 3 minutes, it is *not* time for panic and linetwists. It is then time for calmness, reflection and then to enjoy a safe landing. That said some of the new ZP wingsuit canopies out there are quite fun to fly and swoop :)

Well its always interesting to read reviews from people who never tried... Anyway Anacroist is not far off. I agree that the suits seem to become thinner and adept to steep flying - which is great in IMO. I think the whole discussion centering around performance is not interesting when comparing. A suit is developed by test pilots having a certain mindset and certain requirements for that suit. That shows in the result. I think for me having flown a lot of different suits small and big, it is more that specific feel which is put into a suits design, that can make me say; this is a little cool or this is super cool. A remark on the small suits, Phantom/Shadow Edge best full stop. It is just one opinion. Locally we have people who have both Edge and Swift 2. It's a hard pick. I have flown both :) , and I can't say which is best really. I will say the Edge's are easier to learn as a student, the Swift2 packs more punch and can maybe satisfy your needs for performance better while still being a superb backfly suit. I did try the original Swift, did not like it. The Swift2; a whole different ballgame sir. Back to the ATC, I have put some jumps on it now. I have most of the range; including the Freak and Race models. Yes the Freak has more power than the ATC, but the large power range of the ATC is amazing, I have flown with small suits, it was S-Fly small suits - and it is super easy to depower the ATC for that. I did not open internal zippers or anything. I have also flown with a CR+ and we flocked nicely, CR+ flying normal no bent legs or diupped knees, but then again he could certainly fly faster for sure. Flarepower is there, I can actually climb in the flare, which is amazing for a suit that has same size legwing as Funks/Carves. Freak climbs more (I would say easier), as in the ATC having much less wing, you need to provide more and better timed body inputs to achieve it. Flying steep, the ATC is as fast as any suit out there. Rolling, backflying is easy but I would not say it is as easy (if you are starting to learn acro) as in the Funk/Carve type suits. ATC is positioned btw that range and bigsuits, but actually flying the ATC it feel more like a big suit. If the guys you flock with really punch it, then yeah you would have to work harder to stay in the group, mostly because of horizontal speed. It can hover vertically super good, so I see very slow vertical speed if I want to - like a Freak almost. I think the text Squirrel put up on the website describing the ATC is spot on. So that is really the better description you can have. If you want to choose btw the Freak2 and the baby Freak2: The ATC, well, it is simple. Do you want to mingle with Havoks/Funks and even smaller suits often? Yes? Get the ATC, else get the Freak2

Yes to all that. As for the reserve, it comes down to WL and it looks like that the WL is too high; expert level maximum would require that the jumpers naked weight be less than 150lbs. The suit weighs in also at 7 lbs. A wingsuit jumper have additional stuff to deal with and would be safer at a lower WL

I saw his latest version of that system - it looks very safe and probably safer!! than a normal suit with holes, if rig and suit fits the user perfectly. So I am not that negative towards this system anymore http://www.skydive-tv.com/1st-world-cup-in-wingsuit-acrobatic-flying-episode-08 forward to 16:50

it's with the OPT design - I see no advantage to have a sniveling reserve on my back as a wingsuit'er. I recently replaced my PDR with an OPT, didn't think much about it it other than reducing packvolume one size down.

Arrrghhhhhh, seriously? I have an Opt :-| Though bigger.... So mr. Masterrigger, would a Smart LPV be better less prone to linetwists? PDR I would not like the xtra bulk

Careful there. Don't think no RSL was the issue in this case and there are video's out there where the RSL really creates the problem. It really is up to people to choose and it is a very personal choice for experienced people like this guy.... It's great people upload these kind of vid's. Will help some people (re)think there own procedures, opening altitude, speed when deploying, the basic decision process; stay with it or not. That said jumper certainly did a great job coming out of these line twists. So what are the issues in this jump besides going a bit too low? 1) Works too long time on the non solvable problem burning precious altitude and 2) having a tiny reserve (126) as the backup plan? Is the reserve WL the issue here, anyone?

to each his own ;)

It's not complicated. The Epicene and the Horizon re-introduces f-111 type material. It will bring the following advantages that some of us know from years of experience back then so no new science here; more reliable openings, enable a design with shorter sniveling phase and thus less chance of getting line twists, while still opening soft due to f-111 characteristics. The downside is that wl must be very low. Again nothing new there, back then we flew 220-250 sqft for a reason. That brings landings to a acceptable level and also makes for a more dull flying experience. Plus it cancels out the lower packvolume advantage of f-111. Back to square one. Add to that a short lifespan. You will end up with admittedly more reliable openings than any zp canopy, more dull flying experience, and less comfortable landings even though canopy is bigger. They have a strip of zp material on top at the leading edge which improves landings and reduce size requirements though - that's the new improvement compared to the old days as I see it. I fly the Atair Winx150 (zp). I came from a same size PD Storm - and it was a great improvement over the Storm. Openings are zippy and perfect/reliable on heading. Still feels soft. To my surprise, flying experience, landings etc, also a big improvement over the Storm. Took some time to adjust to a more flat glide, at first I thought it was slower, but flying with the same group I quickly noticed that it also have the edge there. The Atair guys really nailed it with this one. I know a few folks that fly the zp Pilot-7 liking that also - only I heard it has brisk openings. In all I think it is really great for us wingsuiter's that manufacturers now care about us and create canopies customized for our needs.

Performance, so yes on all that. "ZP paved the way for an extreme form of parachuting called “swooping,” and the sport has never been the same.." .. and durability I would also add that F-111 and similar fabrics at 0-3 cfm wear out pretty darn fast. I know from experience. I have had many F-111 canopies back then, bought them from new, US made, French made, SA made. Some would have decent flare power up until 200 jumps, I had one that lasted to 400 jumps. I also had one also from new, that at 70 jumps, had about zero flare-power left. Back then 80es, 90es a main was as expensive as it is today, so imagine that...