IslandGuy

Don't know why you'd want to do that. Flying with my head turned just doesn't seem comfortable. Like you said, most of these formations are built of smaller pieces. To me, these are simply 2-man lines with people flying above them. Also, when flying base, the more solid you are the better everyone can form up on you and the better the formation. I've seen it with myself, and others much better than I, that when flying base and the cameraman or someone else gets under me, my natural reaction to try to stay with them (or avoid them) instead of concentrating on flying rock solid. So now, everyone above is trying to stay with the moving base. Not bad with just a couple folks, but if you have a stack, all those little movements get amplified. A classic example of the interference thing is when the organizer says, we're going to make a double row V and they want to fly it "tight" and they want your head at the guys foot/calf/knees. You can visualize the problem this creates if you take a double row line keep the middle 2 guys fixed (base), and move each side back making an increasingly more pointed V. At some point the folks in the second row have no room left. It doesn't take as much angle as you think for that to start happening. Exercise for the reader - figure out that angle.

Try closing your eyes and doing something different, like tumble/roll out of the plane, or doing a double roll or rolling onto your back. Tell us how it goes.

Brian, Looks good, I like it. Just one comment - in a couple of the formations, it shows the base in a position where others in the formation can't see him. (Vertical V and Vertical X). It would work of course if the guys below were on their backs, or just make one of the bottom guys base. I've put together my own book of formations - not nearly as fancy as yours though. I find that by using models that are proportionally correct, you get a much better idea of how the formation is going to look and if it is even possible to do. I've seen too many times, people trying to put together a formation that is impossible to fly because of wing-wing interference. Sounds good when you talk about it and seems ok in your mind, but when you lay it out with silhouettes on paper - it just doesn't work. Keep up the good work. -Mike Play like your life depends on it.

Hey Matt, congrats on your upcoming marriage. Hope she doesn't clip your wings though, want to see down here often.

Please let us know how it goes. Play like your life depends on it.

At least it makes more sense than the other sign. What does a steam locomotive have to do with going up stairs to the restaurant? Does that have something to do with the name of the place?? I'm sorry, maybe it's obvious to everyone else, but I just don't get it.

Awesome video Robi!!! You make it look too easy.

I'm with longer bridle, bigger PC, and PVC tube handle. I use a 9' footer and a 32" or 34" PC with a PVC tube handle. When you move the stows inboard, there is, 1) more force required to pull the lines out, and, 2) it takes a longer time for the line to be extracted from the stow. Just a gut feel, but I think the torque impulse on the bag would be greater (bad thing). Also, seems to me, those long loose loops of line that stick through the rubberbands are a baglock or line trap waiting to happen. I would personally not rig my d-bag like that nor recommend it to anyone. Not sure of any statistics, but it seems to me that I've heard more bad stories about too much line through the rubberband than too little. But maybe there is some other merit here that escapes me. -Mike Play like your life depends on it.

Damn Lurch, welcome back to life. You got to stop that chest trauma, tissue crushing shit... that'll for certain kill you faster than cigarettes. OK, two weeks then... see you at the boogie. Let's try for 5 minutes on a high-alti jump.

That is the thing, there are too many boogies :) and it is hard to decide which boogie is the one. It's nice to have so many great choices. Personally, I first look for good weather and that's virtually a sure thing for Z-Hills at Flock&Dock time of year. Second, is the DZ, Z-Hills is a big well established place with great facilities. Third, the birds. If you are coming to F&D, the entire week before the event, you can be sure that there will be lots of folks to flock with both locals and visitors. Great time to get your skills honed before the bigways. Then there is the boogie - as Scott and Matt indicated - the flock is certainly going to be bigger than last year, and almost positively bigger than anything else in the states. And talking economics, if you're coming a long way, show up the weekend before, buy yourself a 50 pack of tickets for about $1025 and jump your ass off. The savings in the cost of the jump tickets alone will defray some of the cost of the trip. Great airfares from Europe at that time of year too. Anyhow, just some things to ponder. Sure hope we see you at F&D. -Mike Play like your life depends on it.

Only time I really got out of control (tumbled and spun) was when I got nailed on exit and my goggles were kicked down over my eyes blinding me so I couldn't see which way was up. Had to fix the goggle problem first which wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be - arms and hands had a tendency to go wherever they wanted as the apparent wind kept hitting them from different directions. Mach 1 and lots of wing area. Once that was done I was able to get the flight under control rather quickly - can't really remember the specifics on how. I do remember that there was a lot more angular momentum and/or windmilling to deal with than I would have thought. It worked out ok and I was able to get back to the flock. -Mike Play like your life depends on it.

Geeze Steve - take care of that boy - we're going to need him at F&D. Wishing him well! -Mike Play like your life depends on it.

Scott has a bunch of cool (and challenging) jumps planned. I doubt there will be much time to do more than one distance challenge. The Challenge is usually held early in the day so you will be fresh. Plan on getting out 3-4 miles from the peas (depending on which round) and fly back over the DZ. Is it the horse or the rider? Is it the car or the driver? Is it the wingsuit or the pilot? Answer = yes. It's a combination of both. Don't expect a drag race at a formula track.

1. Scott B. (Notsane) 2. Mike M. (Gray Mike) 3. Sean H. (Monkycndo) 4. Scott Gray (The Brothers Gray) 5. Chris Gray (The Brothers Gray) 6. Justin Shorb (Flock U) 7. Ryan Desjardins (Soon to bee Canadian Flocker) 8. Bob Futrell (FlyinBob) 9. Mark M 10. Phil Peggs 11. Matt Hoover (111) 12. Mike Rinehart (Missingparts) 13. Frank Boluk 14. Scotty Burns (scottygofast) 15. Robert Kelley (ROK) 16. Jeff Nebelkopf (Heffro1) 17. Tony Uragallo (Tony Suits) 18. Chuck Blue (SkymonkeyONE) 19. Todd S (DaMan) 20. Michelle (EmLo) 21. "The" Le Roy (leroydb) 22. Dan M (arai) 23. BJ Alexander 24. Tyler (jumpinfly) 25. Mark (normiss) 26. Lurch (Flock U) 27. Crip (affalcon) 28. Kevin O (kevin922) 29. Travis J "Chunks" 30. MexTony 31. Katee (rkymtnhigh) 32. Katie (katiebear21) 33. Paul (Pilot Paul) 34. Nick Rugai 35. James Lovaas 36. Tony Dommer Play like your life depends on it.

Is there a price for this device? I couldn't see it anywhere. I just did my first wingsuit jumps a few weeks ago and really wanted to know how far I went. I estimated about 1.75 miles on the last jump just using a DZ photo and locals telling me their guess. I will be getting my own wingsuit in the next few months. Try: http://www.buygpsnow.com/qstarz-bt-q1000-32ch-32hr-bluetooth-gps-data-logger-travel-recorder-q1000-32ch-waas-auto-on-off-free-vent-mount-865.aspx I've gotten a couple devices from buyGPSnow and got good service and the best price I could find. They generally give you some promo stuff with your order too. Welcome to the flock! -Mike Play like your life depends on it.

The video showed, as far as I could tell, more of a twisting-tumble. Sure, there were some turns in there, but as far as my old eyes could tell, he seemed to be spending about as much time face to earth as back to earth. I've always considered a spin simply a fast rotation - no tumbling. Great video shot. If that dive was done during the Olympics and you were wearing a Speedo instead of a wingsuit, you'd have gotten a "10".

Jeff can always fly underneath and spit his gum at Scott when the point is complete. No, don't you remember, Jeff beats you with a water bottle attached to the end of a pull-up cord to get your attention. And, if you are out of range, he just lets go of it so you can run into it.

Scott, Will your radio system work with regular FRS radios? Will anyone tuned to the channel be able to hear the chatter? I think it might help if everyone could hear the keys, at least, the more the better. Very kind offer, the radios - they might help out a lot in some of the proposed dynamic formations, or even in the plane if the spotter needs to communicate with the pilot, or, between planes, if by some stroke of good luck, there is a second plane. -Mike Play like your life depends on it.

Very nice Scott - well done!

I've never done one but I've chased them.

Get a Tony Suit. They fly great - as good or better than anything out there. They are built solid. They are priced right - good value. Buy one, put 50-100 jumps on it (and it will still look like new), then sell it for what you paid for it and upgrade to something more challenging and higher performance. With a Tony Suit, you won't be replacing broken zippers, fixing torn booties or busted seams (like I have with my other non-Tony suits). You asked - so there's my 2 cents. Play like your life depends on it.

Ya, and cavemen played with fire 500,000 years ago and Hero played with jet engines in the first century AD, but what's that got to do with common rail diesels and afterburners??

Doing a rotating 4 way diamond is quite fun. We did a lot of those in Castellon with the TG team. If anyones interested I can upload some of that footage to the net.. Please do, would definitely like to see that. Sounds very much the same. Alway looking for new and fun stuff to try. Thanks! Mike Play like your life depends on it.

I am no expert but here are some thoughts. Are you using the latest version of Time Machine (TM)? They just released a greatly improved rev around end of June and an even newer rev just yesterday. http://www.wintec.com.tw/en/support_detail.php?cate_id=11&support_id=65 Open up TM and click the HELP button (upper right). You can use most of the settings as explained there. Under GPS Setting/SBAS, I check "Enable", "Apply Integrity Information", "Apply SBAS...", and "Ranging...". Also, "1 Channel", and "WAAS". (Click "Set" when done.) Under GPS Setting/Navigation Setting, I select "7 - Airborne under 4g", and, "3 - 3D only". I do not check "Allow Almanac Navigation", but do Enable RAIM. (Click "Set" when done.) Under Log Setting, Select "Time" button and set Cond 1 for 0 to 2000KMH. and Cond 2 to 1 sec. (Click "Set" when done.) Under Device Setting/Track Point be Marked..., I set that to 0. Note: I haven't installed yesterday's release of TM so some of the above may be wrong. The Google Earth plots I've been getting look good. Hope this helps. Mike Play like your life depends on it.

Perhaps a 16 + person 3 or 3 point dive. ----------------- I'm definitely up for that. We did a morph dive at Skyfest that turned out cool. Started with a square, on key, everyone turned 45 degrees left, maintianing their relative position, and formed a diamond, then again on key, another 45 deg left and formed a new square. Emulated what real birds do in a flock when they change direction. And also, as we've done before, we flew pieces, breaking one formation into two chunks and flying those into a new formation. With a combination of those two things there are lots of new challenging possibilitites. Let's do it. And, ??? Any reason why Chuck B and Tony U are not on the list??? Play like your life depends on it.