dploi

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Everything posted by dploi

  1. Yeah, that's the newsletter I received that finally drove me to unsubscribe. Despite designing suits to keep you aloft, Birdman's reputation sure is falling fast.
  2. The BirdMan GTi right when it came out.
  3. Oh god, I actually did that with skydivers when it rained on a Saturday many years ago. Oh, to be a young and reckless... If you're curious, it totally works. Didn't pay a dime. Regretable now, fun we thought it was pretty funny at the time. Restless skydivers = trouble.
  4. Aren't these BirdMan wingsuit model names?
  5. Ideally, you shouldn't *need* rears to plane out. Rear riser input on landing *should* be just enough to angle it in a tad and get some extra airtime. Actually bailing to rears can = .
  6. I ask which way s/he is descending, then go the other way.
  7. I've thought about that, but have never seen it as an issue. On hop and pops, I usually leave with my chest strap already fairly slack and haven't really been able to envision a scenario, based on how my rig feels on my body, where it'd come off. To each their own.
  8. No CRW, in the traditional sense, as I'm on HP canopies. But plentry of high pulls. Correct. Not a fan of velcro on anything anywhere on my rig, though. Right, but it's a must for swooping to get the canopy flying like it should. Different strokes for different folks. Good insight from the CRW perspective. Thanks for that!
  9. Always release brakes last. Once you have toggles in hand, they should remain there, keeping your canopy in control until landing (with the rare freestyle exception). I usually do chest strap, slider, toggles. If a brake fires while taking your slider down/off (has happened once or twice), your chest strap is already loose, so you don't have to deal with it after getting your toggles in hand.
  10. I've done ~7.5 miles in a straight line in a S3 when the same thing happened, and I'm nothing special at these suits. The uppers were *screaming* down to about 3,000' and then turned into almost nothing. But that was in about three minutes from 14,000'+, pulling @ ~2,500'. The tailwind was high as 80mph at higher altitude. So the distance, while definitely a good one, is not at all unreleastic... and doubtfully the furthest flown from that altitude if you consider unofficial records. And 5'45" from 4500 metres (~14,000')... that's an average forward speed of 97mph including wind and a sustained fall rate of 25mph (assuming pulling at 2,000'). If the tailwind was really ripping like he says, then it wouldn't take much forward speed at all, given that much freefall time. Meaning he basically got out, floated, and the wind pushed him along. It seems extremely difficult, but not impossible with what some people are doing these days. And Ueli's obviously one of these people. Not to start another suit thread, but I can't help to think of what kind of distance one would get in less time in those same conditions with a more aggressive suit (in terms of forward speed). Hmmm...
  11. Why are the arm inlets in the wrong place on this Vampire? Oh, wait...
  12. Symmetry is key, both in packing and pitching. Leave the nose exposed when packing and make sure everything looks nice and even when packing. Fly your body symmetrically through the opening.
  13. I'd say skip the double fronts and try to nail your turn height with just a single, long, speed-building riser turn. In my experience, double-fronts don't build anywhere near the speed of a carving/diving turn on the KA, so aren't really worth the bother. Give it light rears a bit after planing out for extra distance.
  14. I would have to disagree here. It's all personal preference, but mine is the more intense flight.
  15. If you're going to go with non-SF-specific gear (ie, skydiving canopy/harness), you're better off getting an old BASE harness and cutting off the flaps. Easy to find for $100 or so. Much lighter weight than an old skydiving harness, which is important is those long uphill hikes.
  16. Based just on the numbers, I'd say a KA is the way to go. Read an answer to your same question here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2996424
  17. Isn't every SM1 actually a pre-SM1 prototype?
  18. Overweight jumpers with 200 skydives are now getting better glide ratios and freefall times than Patrick ever did. Sounds like progress to me.
  19. I still can't get past seeing "yuri_base", knowing this is not *the* BASE Yuri.
  20. Thanks! I also found this: http://www.speedfly.co.uk/
  21. Except that he's wanting a BASE-specific suit.