QuietStorm

"nignoggery" wtf is dat? Some kind of ebonics? Packing up the truck with all the gear and hound dogs now. I'm way overdue to jump! Haven't jumped since Easter and the S-Fly boys brought their toys! See ya there!

Hey Spot; In your experiments see if you can reach out into the skydiving network / community to any active Naval Aviators or former Naval Aviators who are also skydivers. Naval Aviation operates over the ocean; and has a long history of pilots and parachutes going into the drink since WWII. They don't use wingsuits but there is darn good water survival information to be gleaned from this community. Some militiary "field training manuals" are made public; some are not. So there might some other published information readily available on surviving parachute landings into the water. Have fun !

My fine feathered friends; great discussion! Thank you Scott Campos and Chuck Blue; IMO military has a long running history of training and preparing soldiers, pilots, and airmen of going into the drink with a parachute.....and surviving. What they teach and what you have stated has proven to work! Scott and Chuck; thank you for your contribution of this knowledge to the civilian parachuting community. From my personal experience EVERYTHING Chuck and Scott have stated in terms of getting out of parachute gear after a water landing is DEAD ON ACCURATE and takes me back 20 some odd years ago to the water survival training I recieved at Mayport, FL Naval Air Station. Nothing Scott or Chuck have stated is different from the training the midshipmen recieved. Here is what I can "back" based on my personal experience. That Pro-Tec helmet has a lot of styrofoam in that shock absorbing shell; much like a pilot helmet. Amazing how much float that styrofoam gives! We had to "survival float" in a pilot helmet, flight suit, and boots in the pool for one hour after climbing out of a parachute harness and canopy that was thrown over us. We got hoisted over a pool by a crane and dropped a good 20 FT into the water. It sucked! Those boots sucked! They pulled you down; but we had to wear them for the "exercise" Yep, get rid of your shoes if your going to be in the drink for a while! That flight suit was like a soggy blanket pulling me down; heavy clothing will do that. But man o man....was I AMAZED at how much "float" that pilot helmet had in helping me keep my head afloat. After 45 minutes we all got tired and started to struggle but the floatational properties of the styrofoam in the helmet really made a difference. I think the skydiving helmets we typically wear now would be useless if you ditch in water; Protec helmets seem to be a "relic" of the past. Back in 2006/2007 before the Rocky Point Boogie; my wife and I picked up a few inflatable/belt style PFD'smade by Stearns at West Marine boating store. My wife was not into wingsuits yet, and wore the "belly pack" outside her jumpsuit; no relative wind issues in moving the PFD around. I was wingsuting and found that the belly pack fit rather flat and unobtrusive under my Firebird I was flying at the time. Not as nice as Chuck's UDT vest; but for us jumpers who may travel to one to two boogies a year near a large body of water....well worth the investment! They ran about $50 each. IMO you are a fool not to have one on if you are jumping near the ocean or really, really large bodies of water like rivers or big rivers with a fast moving current. SPOT; Great discussion about the particulars of crawling out of a wingsuit attached to a rig if you ditch in water; yeah....all this discussion was running through my mind when jumping in Rocky Point and Cabos San Lucas years ago. Plus I was thinking; "dude....your in Mexico...not the U.S; and the urgency to respond may be delayed and way different....better think this through if you land in the ocean" I certainly hope that if any of us ever has to land in the water under a parachute that's its close to shore, the emergency situation is obvious and help will come quick. Its truly an emergency situation with lethal potential! Otherwise the long term water survival skills come into play and worse yet the hypothermia situation brought up by Scott's post. Oh in 80 deg plus water temp your stay time is not indefinate; the local sharks in that warm tropical water will determine your outcome. If you really want to go "Boy Scout" and "Be Prepared" you could stuff a sea dye marker in your pocket. Also there are small life waterproof life vest strobes that you could put in your pocket too. You can get them at West Marine or google Safety of Life at Sea materials. If you are out in the ocean or large lake or river long enough for your parachute rig to eventually absorb the water and sink; you got big, big problems. You will very difficult to see, even relatively close to shore. So that neon green smear of sea dye on the surface of the water or blink of a strobe might make the difference between life and death so you can be seen and rescued. And what if it all happens on the "sunset load" with night approaching fast? Something to think about. The "pants technique" works by tieing off the ends of your pants at the ankles, zip up the zipper, and secure the button. Flip then down over your head in front of you trapping air just as the waist opening hits the water. It will trap air but it will escape eventually through the clothing. You will have to repeat; the more tight woven the fabric...the longer the air will stay trapped. Good point about the hook knife use or the potential to need one.....the Jack the Rippers are big plastic....that Floats! I also keep hook knives in my car just in case. SPOT Funny you mentioned Lake Elsinore; I have always been more worried about what if at 1,500 Ft or lower the Otter had to ditch in the lake, that somebody in the back would remain calm enough to open that back door so it would jam on impact and that 22 folks could get out calmly.

To all; I really don't post here that often so I can't quite figure out how to cut and paste your comments/replies so I can address each one....Sorry; so here is my best attempt: @SUPERGIRL: Excellent Points; I understand there is dialogue in the wingsuit community in terms of developing a mutually agreeable student curriculum; and you bring up an awesome point of RECOVERY FROM INSTABILITY; just like we do for AFF students. Now it may be hard to "grab and turn " over somebody in a wingsuit like we can freefall students. We have no "wingsuit license requirements" But all of this brings up a a good idea of a "progress check point" of instability recovery. I have tried to backfly SOME and barrel roll SOME in my smaller Firebird and Blade years ago; key word -SOME and not "keep trying and practicing till you have it perfect"; with limited funds and limited opportunities to fly in groups I just sort of concentrated on group flying, it was just "easier and more fun to do...than the harder homework. But all of this makes me take a step back in re-evalution of my overall learning. Kinda like going back and taking a class you squeeked by with a "C" but there is now something inside of you that wants to go back and earn the "A". Was I "taught" to be afraid of aerobotic maneuvers? Definately NO! In retrospect should there be an emphasis on instability training; ABSOLUTELY! Any "fear" and "avoidence" was self generated in my own head. I have a lifelong history of being the fool to go walk where an angel fears to tread; so If I am already doing something I darn well know dangerous to begin with I tend to "shy away" from making things more dangerous than the really need to be. @ BIRDYNAMNAM AND JARNO: Jarno excellent points! I have also participated in getting 23 wingsuiters out of on Otter FAST and WELL. Its not so much fast, as it is quick, deliberate, defined, presise , and smooth. Once you have a group that has flown together jump after jump and "clicked" so to speak; the teamwork aquires a sense of self timing. But when you put throw new people together at a boogie what BIRDYNAMNAM does happen; been there done that. Honestly; I put the pressure to get out fast completely on myself and not by anybody else. NOBODY "pushed on me" so to speak; I did it to myself. I have learned that sometimes situations just present themselves and that I just have to "get it done and make it happen". The organizer and his group were flying FAST right off the door. I have been involved with so many post dive briefs with many people saying they need more of this or less of that; multiple times over. I didn't want to be that person or anybody the organizer needed to "manage". I just didn't want to complain, bitch, or moan about anything; I did not want to be the "cause" for somebody behind me not getting to thier slot. I just kept my mouth shut and did my best to do what I was expected to do by the organizer. @HJUMPER: You filmed Matt's MOAB flat spin correct? If so the value of this for training has been awesome. What I wanted to do in my original post is basically describe the FEELINGS, EMOTIONS, AND THOUGHT PROCESS; of what might be going through somebody's mind in a situation like this. I wanted to describe the EXPERIENCE. Hopefully flyers can take my account, the MOAB wingsuit flat spin video, COMBINE THE TWO, AND thus increase thier knowledge and confidence to go forward knowing that it is a survivable situation to be met with caution and deliberate actions and not fear. IN SUMMARY: This "event" was very motivating and exciting for me; I had backed off wingsuiting for a while to pursue other things and now this backspin recovery really has shown me that there are new and challenging things to learn. Give me a challenge...I'll great it with joy.

Jarno: You are correct on many accounts. Perhaps "progress" was not the right term I should have used but I know we have all seen the "lust" from fledgling wingsuiters for something bigger, badder, and faster judging questions and request for "am I ready" opinions you and many others respond to on this forum. I'm 6' and usually my weight stays around the 200LB range; in 2008 I found the "wingloading" on my Blade wingsuit too heavy to fly in the flocks I was trying to participate in; I grew very frustrated with myself as I strained to stay up. Unless that flock was moving really fast forward speed to generate the lift I would gradually find myself sinking out. So I had to gradually keep moving up in wingsuite size until I had "Rightsized" my wingsuit for my body. And I learned that weekend too! Previously I would normally have to fly my SMI "dirty" somewhat in an arch, legs bent, wings all the way out. But the S-Fly boys from France where flying REALLY FAST and "pinned out" What amazed me was that in the flock, my legs were totally pinned out, toes pointed, and leg wing fully extended, no "flap"; BUT I did not have to hardly use any wing at all; matter of fact I had most of it tucked up on my back and just the slightest presentation of wing generated a lot of "lift" and "pop" over and above where I needed to be. On approach, I had my wings completely folded in...and could stay on level; I found that interesting as previously I would find myself sinking below. I took everything I had just to "drive in" to the formation using my body. Suffice to say with this style of flying I probably could have "dialed the wing down?" and put on my Blade and flown in these flocks with arms wings fully extended out. But I opted to just stay in the same suit; my SM1 and learn a different performance charactaristic that I had never experienced before. I also really enjoyed one flight in a S-Fly ProFly; but once again dedicated my weekend opportunity to flying with a group rather than taking off in another direction by myself with a new suit. I had always wanted to try out a MonoBody Wing and did pretty good with too on time, speed, and distance wise. So I agree with you that its a good idea for folks to "RightSize" thier wingsuit and urge upcoming wingsuiters to take advantage of as many opportunities to fly different manufacturers of wingsuits with different wing surface area and find the right "fit for their body"; because "bigger is not always better or progress" My wife who flies a Tony Intro quite well now would never need anything more than possibly a Blade, Wraptor, or Ghost. Putting her into a Stealth 2 or SuperMach would just border on the ridiculous and is most certainly not "progress" at all. So your comments make good sense.

I have been asked by Scott Campos; "Lou Diamond" to post my experience this past Sunday at the Eloy Easter Boogie regarding a flat spin on my back for training and learning purposes and add to the knowledge base that has been collected on this forum. I'm not the first nor will I be the last to experience an uncontrollabel flat spin on the back There have been posts on this before. This is nothing new but might make an interesting read. I am simply offering one more "account" to add to our growing knowledge base garnered from others experiences. Fortunately a fellow wingsuiter flew above me because my spin was so ugly; like a car wreck you just had to slow down and stare. He wanted to make sure I was OK. Unfortunately we do not have video on this flat spin on my back. I'm glad we do have video documentation from a flat spin at the Moab boogie. By my fellow wingsuiter observations my flat spin was a bad one. So I guess the best I can offer is an explanation of how it happened, what I felt/experienced, what went through my mind, and what I did. I would like start off by saying that I gradually moved up from a Firebird, then into a Blade, then into a Super Mach1; my training and experience measured and progressive. Several hundred jumps on the Super Mach 1 before this flat spin happened. I have about 700 wingsuit jumps, 1015 jumps total; and this was my first time for a flat spin and a sense of being completely out of control, ever.....in skydiving. By watching flat spin videos, knarly pictures of blood shot eyes, attending seminars, hearing vicious ugly stories of the flat spin and the potential results and dangerous; I always went well out of my way to try to avoid one; shying away from aerobatics due to the fear of instability and a potential back spin. Enough "warning" had been put into the back of my head to generate enough "survival fear?" to not go out looking for this situation due to the potential consequences. But at the same time...we all kind of want to have one so we know how to "deal". HOW IT HAPPENED: 12 Way was exiting the Otter and I was near last out. In 2008 I was trained to "get the Flock Out" FAST, any hesitation in the door screws the guy behind you and strings out the flock. All the flocking the previous day was SMOKING with all legs pinned out with fast forward speed and long flight times which I liked. But it also meant that there was no time to mess around out the door, on the hill, as I had to start my dive fast. This "urgency" to GET THE FLOCK OUT did not escape me. It did not help that we did not get the starboard bench up and that two "fallers" spazzed out in the back and decided to go after us. So the approach to the door was not optimum. It was just difficult to get out clean with all the obstructions and that led to an asymetrical exit. WHAT DID I PHYSICALLY FEEL / EXPERIENCE: It all happened so freakishly fast straight out the door of the otter. There was no tumbling horizon line. All I could see was blue skies above me. I tried to "muscle" my way over face to earth but I felt like the suit had me under its control. The next thing I saw was the overhead clouds going into a circle and with each rotation picking up speed, each rotation just "seemed" to double in speed. I felt enourmous weight/tension/pressure building up in my extremeties of my head and arms. It felt like I was on the "recieving end" of centrifugal force. Exit was at 13,400; Neptune shows speed at 111mph at 12K and 93mph at 9K. It "sounded" like freefall. But what I vividly noticed was the amount of force that was being applied and the amplitude by how much it kept increasing with each rotation. WHAT WENT ON IN MY HEAD LOGICALLY, PSYCHOLOGICALLY, AND EMOTIONALLY: I most definately felt the "Fight or Flight" neuro-physical response hit me. At the time and in retrospect I'm still amazed at how fast our brains cna process so much...so quickly. I really don't think I felt "FEAR" at first but I wasn't exactly a happy camper in that moment. By what I had read, watched on video, and had been taught my brain could definately tell me I was in a flat spin; by logic even though I had never experienced one. I was able to consciously / emotionally recognize that if I did not correct my situation; the bloodshot eyes, blackout and possibly worse were heading my way....soon. And that part is what "got to me some"; the knowledge of what bad stuff was heading my way soon that initiated the tinge of FEAR I elt; "knowing" what could be coming up next. I already knew I was totally out of control; that did not get to me.... its the knowledge that also gave a little fuel to the PANIC monster that was at my door and pounding it down hard trying to get into my head so to speak. Ignorance is bliss? Hmmmm..... WHAT I DID: The only thing I knew and was trained to do. BALL UP, pull in my knees to my chest, bring in my arms and shut down the wings/surfaces that were causing the problem. Damn it was hard to do! At that point the spinning was fast and the presssure on my upper body was intense. I couldn't do it on my first attempt nor second, FEAR set in, and PANIC got half its foot in the door; I can honestly say this is when I started to get scared; and that's what it took to yank my arms and legs in. I got into a ball but I could still tell I was spinning on my back but all the pressure on my arms , head, and upper body went away. THEN....I had a sense of calm; but I still had the rotation to deal with; but without my wings out stretched from the centrifugal force spinning me like a Frisbee. So I tuned over onto my belly but the rotation left over made it difficult to symetrically get the wings out again. At that poing I can't remember what I thought....I just "DID" ; no thinking .....you just do and go by feel from what hundreds of jumps before had trained your brain to do.....fly birdie....just fly. I flopped and flailed and must have resembled a duck that just got shot midflight but somehow got flat and level and then had to regain my bearing of where the DZ was and of course 180 degrees opposite my flight path. In the course of the flat spin, recovery, flail, etc. my left bootie came off and my leg wing unzipped up to just above my left knee; creating more non-symetry. So to compensate I just pointed my left leg out, locked up my knee and pointed my toe hard like in a good tracknig dive and raised up my right leg enought to "trim things out " so to speak. I think all the recovery got resolved between 9K and 6K as my vertical speed at 9K was 93mph and at 6K was 80 mph. 6K is when I rembered trying to fly home with a "trimmed out leg wing" and deploying at 3,700 to make it back under canopy. AFTERTHOUGHTS: Arching as an RW student is taught to regain stability would not have worked; my body is the rigid frame; the wingsuit...the fabric wing. Arching would have just pushed my belly toward the sky and in comination with the wingsuit just made my body a spinning airfoil/wing; just like the fabric "soft fribee" I throw for my dog. I would have remained on my back ....and spinning. I went on a friends 500th belly/hybrid dive a few weekends back; it felt so freaking wierd to not being in a wingsuit; its like I had not control surfaces, any "inputs" that I made belly flying or transitioning to sit did not affect my flight as dramatically as a wingsuit. It felt like I was swimming in air on that dive. What applies to belly skydiving in terms of stability recovery just does not apply to wingsuiting; they are two entirely seperate entities. The Super Mach 1 is my THIRD wingsuit that I built up into. Listen,heed, and obey your instructors who urge you to start in a smaller suit and gradually progress. A suit way too big for you can be a monster to control if it gets out of control. I kinda wish this had happened to me hundreds of wingsuit jumps ago.....on a smaller suit; and happened to me repeatedly on a smaller suit; to gain skills earlier on how to deal with this. It was not fun; I'm glad I got this out of the way. I now have more confidence that I can survive this. I am now INTRIGUED. I know that the "next level"of where I want to go next of controlled backflying, transitions, scary rolls, and bailing out the door on my back; is going to most likely get me unstable again until I figure it out through the trial and error of practice. With this behind me...and I'm not as scared and worried about really getting out of my comfort zone as I used to; but I'm going to transition down to a smaller wing before knowingly putting myself into unstable flight. I will work on those skills first in a smaller suit.

Putting my son on a plane at 0700 tomorrow; then I can get back to living my "unresponsible" life!

Here is a nice one! Photo by Scott Callentine

Following FLYING RIDERS will be present: Squirrel Space Cadet Adderall Beer Dragon

I found myself flying BASE a lot; at first reluctantly....then willingly and wantingly. I discovered and learned many things....and got some "appreciation and respect" for the base. I found it stimulating and fun from the challenge of having to do everything perfectly, consistently, everytime; starting from exit on. I learned that I had to "program my mind" what body position yielded the best "average fall rate" so an entire range of wingsuits and abilities could fly together as a group and flying a very smooth arc or straight line back to the DZ and opening point. Pinning it out in a SM1 made no sense and neither did "bent knees"; so my fun was in the challenge of something I previously used to take for granted .....or bitch about. Hmmmmm....kudos for Purple? So it was nice to be able to provide some formations that newer flyers in smaller suits could get into or be challenged enough to want to try again...and not be discouraged. FINALLY; I was able to Get Higher than the Skyvan on a high speed pass and pull off my longest distance and time flight ever; kind of reminds me of running again.....competing against myself and trying to do better each work out. Many thank to all who joined me on number 1,000 and into my 19th hour of freefall ( Thanks to Wingsuits ) Now that I got that behind me.....I can begin to learn.

Current 10 Day WEATHER FORECAST for Eloy, AZ: Chance of rain: 0 % Crystal Clear Turquoise Blue Skies - Come to the Sun Daytime High's: Mid to Upper 60's Nightime Low's: Mid to Low 30's Cold, crisp, dense .....flyable air! TIPS for Skydive Arizona Newcomers: If you are thinking; "Arizona....desert...HOT....don't be fooled!" AZ desert gets COLD at night in the winter and keeps the "chill" in the air till about noon; it warms up slow...but cools off fast. Expect temps about 30 degrees cooler at 13K Ft plus factor in your wind chill during flight. Bikers fight the cold and wind for hours; as skydivers we only have to endure for a few minutes. Here are some motorcycle products I have found that are working extremely well for me with skydiving; Lately I have found the Frank Thomas "Anti-Freeze" Baklava, thin, light but VERY EFFECTIVE in keeping head and neck warm by blocking out wind; it is working well with both full face and open face helmets. The "Anti-Freeze" glove liners are working well and keeping dexterity in the hands while maintaining warmth under Square 2 Instrument Gloves or Neuman Gloves. Warm face and cold, cold air = fogging goggles; any of the antifog solutions I have tried from local ski and outdoor stores are working well. First Gear's "Technical Riding Gear" base layer has a windblocking material on the front of the chest area and legs, very thin and light under your clothes, wicks...does not aborb sweat; and has proven to be warm and non-restrictive under skydiving gear. You can find these items at Cycle Gear. If you are camping there will be plenty of firewood but don't forget your down sleeping bag and a warm coat, hat, gloves for hanging out. I assure you.....the desert gets cold at night even in winter. If the bunkhouse and team rooms are booked and camping is not your style; the Red Roof Inn has been recently remodeled ( after a fire ) so its not the rattrap it used to be. Finally "civilization" came to nearby Casa Grande with a huge "Big Box Store" shopping complex in case your forgot or need something. Blue Skies!

Jump 999: ClusteFlailSpeed Hybrid with stable base out the door with "hangers" early so head down flyers can dock. Jump 1,000; Wingsuit of Course Jump 1,001; Wingsuits out of the DC-3 at midnight on New Years Eve and swooping the Beer Line. Last years jump with Cate and Brian....EPIC!

Stu: Awesome! Then you will be on my 1,000th jump on New Year's Eve Day! Neptune now reads jump 977 with 18 hours; 35 minutes;28 seconds of my life in freefall. ....but I'm most proud of NO INJURIES and NO CUT-AWAYS on all my jumps.

Scott: I put my kids on a plane back east on Dec 26 at SkyHarbor ; then head directly down to Eloy with wife, hound dawgs and motorbikes to party, howl at the moon, and fly my ass off through January 3rd. So "locally" here is who I expect: Anne and I (two birds ) Ken ( who just bought my Firebird ) Frank ( who will most likely fly ...and buy my old Blade) Sean ( who'd better not Chop....again ) :-) Libby ( who just got her new Acro ) Rolph ( he is on the DZ full time till spring ) So by my count we are at 7 plus 2 previous posts for total of 9. I think you should have a good turnout at your tent for FFC and demo's as a "Permament" wingsuit presence at Eloy is finally beginning to build. Glad to have you back at SDAZ for good ! Represented is a wide range from "beginner" who wants to fly in pairs and threes to practice and improve skills......to more experienced capable of more; flying a wide variety of wingsuits from all the manufacturers. Last years midnight flock with Cate and Brian out of the DC-3 remains one of my most memorable enjoyable flights. Repeat? Oh yeah, and we are up to how many planes now at SDAZ? 7 Otters....5 Skyvans? I lose count on Larry's private airforce. Morning and Evening balloon jumps with Burner, High Altitude Jumps, Party and BEER! Let the RW's and Freeflys have their tunnel; give me airplanes! Looks like good times ahead!

Dear Santa; And I want..... The jet engines that go on the legs and hi altitude oxygen set up.......and..... Turbo Charged V-Rod with Nitrous Oxide push...and...uh....mmmm; cash!!! Lots more cash this year...yeah cash to jump more!

Thank you for all the pictures over the years. Thank you for all the videos of the years that inspired me to put a wingsuit on to begin with. Thank you for the "calibration" with your insight and opening my eyes. Thank you for my world wide web public bitch slap; it was well deserved. I earned it....and deserved it. I doubt our paths will cross again so I wish you well and all the best Matt.

Just bought the following from motorcycle gear store; might have good skydiving application : First Gear - Cold Weather Base Gear Now as flyers or riders; you take strong wind speed/chill to the chest or front areas of legs. Product packaging says" Outer nylon shell on front panel of long sleeve shirt and pants stops moisture and cold air from coming in. Breathable middle membrane and inside fleece lining for warmth. Moisture wicking fabric. Product appears that it will do well under jumpsuits, wingsuits, or riding gear....will have to see how it performs. I hopefull as its designed to help you stay warm when exposed to wind chill for extended periods of time. Polar fleece still lets the wind in...under a wingsuit; I'll have to see how this product performs as the air cools down up top. Other "tricks" I have used are Baklava's and a they charcol type handwarmers from my old duck blind days; keeps the hands warm through your gloves before exit, just tuck it into your jumpsuit. I have also noticed that a full face helmet rather than open faced helmet with goggles makes a big difference too. Another buddy of mind found that nitrile rubber exam gloves, either one or "doubled up" under his regular jump gloves kept his hands warm for the few minute duration of flight. They're cheap and he was just put on new pair before each jump. Hope this helps! I cringe wondering where this thread may take off at the mention of nitrile rubber exam gloves.

I will pay $20 extra for a "Special Limited Edition" Run; personally signed by Matt Hoover. WITH NO PICTURES OF PURPLE MIKE IN IT!

I'm just going to keep Matt's videos I burned onto DVD running on the desktop PC; the ones that have provided so much pleasure and inspiration over the years. Matt; you rock. You are quiet, humble, and simply let the your work speak for itself. You put the points on the board, you win; with no sideline or end zone antics....so to speak. The preview looks great; unfortunately several appearances of Purple Mike in the previews is bad enough and to me a future predictor of more to come....why bring repeated images of Purple Mike into my home and on my coffee table. Dont' get me wrong; You have created a beautiful photographic masterpiece. It warrants a showing in a gallery!

Nope.....not really anonymous: A-10154 B-13739 C-20111 ( Earned long before Al Gore invented the internet or DZ.com; or many people even put on a parachute ) D-28724 USPA # 58225 Current Rated USPA Coach Home Drop Zone: Eloy, AZ Just not into "this scene" like I used to be, many reasons why. Started to explain but decided not to. I just monitor what is going on, exercise a lot restraint, and only let something "peep out" when I feel absolutely compelled and it would clearly help. Otherwise I have basically "checked out" Can't delete the DZ.com profile....otherwise I would. Stay Safe.....and ENJOY!

Well..... My phone rang off the hook for several hours. Calls from friends and people I have not heard from in a very long time. Words to the effect of " OMG....we knew you did this; but we never really knew what you did or what was involved" Finally....appreciation and understanding from the "wuffos"; important in my life. My mom called; said...."Now....I understand". Fighter Pilot Big Brother called....said; "I'm proud of you....we never really knew, didn't understand.....now we do" Somebody please hand me another Kleenex.....

No worries; no intention to "poke". Yeah, anyone would be in shock and its one heck of an adrenaline hit in UNFAMILIAR surroundings; a new DZ at a boogie. Its a lot to process in nanosecond of time. You did good. Your video contribution is PRICELESS for training! Personally I have found myself "pulling high" when my wingman Sean chopped his Spinetto; so I marked a point where his main landed; freebag not recovered. I pulled high and followed my wingman Nuclear Nick when he managed to have two out, slightly entangled putting him into a nasty spinning downplane. He managed to get the main away but it looked ugly, he would have landed off DZ like a falling safe, and I figured somebody better be there fast to at least do something....might as well be me. I had a new wingsuit student from Canada decide to fly off to Coolidge and not Eloy. Visitor to unfamiliar DZ, landing off the DZ; better that I follow her, get below under canopy, set the pattern, rather than land in easy grass. These were just situations that happened and what my mind processed to do in that moment. I could face moments were time is short without luxury to think a few moments. I'm glad you hung in there and got the video. You kept a cool head. Collectively as a group; fellow wingsuiters in Utah went on a "search and rescue" mission on foot, motorbike, and truck when a fellow wingsuiter did not muster but was spotted in the air "possibly unresponsive". Another single wingsuiter who was on the same load sat on his ass and had lunch. He makes my "black list". To not look after yourself but choose to look after another is a personal decision. Not everybody has the same set of shared values...not everybody was educated the same. OK.....So WTF is my point? MOST of us are civilian...SOME of us are military or ex-military. But together...WE ALL ARE AIRMEN! We are flying in airplanes and getting out with parachutes; an inherently dangerous operation; civilian or military. Our "origins" are paratroopers; never forget that. Much has changed; but somethings about getting out of planes with parachutes has not. Take a look at any airbase or carrier operation. Even when flying the patter or DLQ's you always see aircraft in a PAIR...TWO; a wingman. If something goes wrong, you bail out....at least you got a buddy to circle overhead and pop smoke. Now we don't have to go BAT 21 in terms of some sort of Paramilitary Search and Rescue Mode.....but we are getting out of planes with parachutes. Best to look out for one another as best we can as airmen. DSE raises a good point about cell phones and EPRB's.....and giving yourself the tools to be PREPARED for the UNEXPECTED. In every jumpsuit and wingsuit I have tucked into the "goggle / kerchef" pocket one of those small life vest whistles and signal mirror. Damn those Boy Scout habits die hard! LOL. For night wingsuit flights/jumps I tuck in an extra cyalume stick or better yet a SureFire flashlight in addition to the whistle. If you land....and bust yourself up; you at least have a means of signaling to the people out trying to find you when you literally are not able to get up and walk back to the DZ from landing injuries. Like it or not...we are AIRMEN; getting out of airplanes using parachutes. Look out for one another......and BE PREPARED!

EXCELLENT! This is good stuff, haven't seen it in a while! Matt you did well; you kept a very cool head, processed well under pressure, and came up with the right decisions with the ground coming up and time running out. We have: 1. Detailed first hand account of the experience and decision making process in the incident. 2. Detailed eye witness account with video account of the experience from wingsuit in flight point of view. 3. A PICTURE of the "after effect"; WOW! 4. Excellent "technical" discussions and contributions of causal factors, what, how, and what to do by many ranging from 6 years experience to 25 years plus in skydiving. 5. Excellent documentation that the experienced wingsuit community can show to skydivers who want to get into wingsuiting for training purposes and to emphasize that lots of jump experience AND a cool head under pressure are necessary before a newbie gets any where near a wingsuit. Charley; its great that you hung in there with video with the thought that your friend was "going in". Unlike bellyflyers....a wingsuiter just can't swoop in and "save somebody"; when it goes bad in a wingsuit you have to save yourself.....nobody can do it for you. Charley; I have a few questions about what was processing in your mind and your decision matrix. Perhaps as a group we are missing something or another learning point.......beyond the "technical." Matt spends 28 seconds from time 00:54 till time 1:22 in a viscous and nasty flat spin and deploys at approx 6,000 to 5,000 FT AGL with freebag release and reserve canopy inflation at time 1:28. You are worried that your friend is going in, is in a bad situation, and your running film; I salute you for processing a lot emotionally and to keep flying. From time 1:28 at Charley's reserve inflation at approximately 6,000 AGL to 5,000 AGL you fly onward toward the DZ under wingsuit for 22 seconds and deploy your main at time 1:50 Given the nasty flat spin on the back, Charley's physical condition was unknown, possible unfamiliar dropzone and rough desert terrain. By observing Charley's reserve deployment mean in your head that he was 100% OK? In your decision matrix did you consider deploying your main once you saw Matt's reserve inflate and flying over to check if all was well? I don't mean to be critical; I was not in your shoes, I was not in your mind. I'm just curious if these thoughts crossed your mind given the adrenaline that has flowing. Everbody walked away; great job to all!

Sure! Anne is "getting tired" of just flying with me as a pair of birds and says she is ready to take "the next step" and learn how to fly in a flock. Also I am trying to contact Shawn McLaughlin throw the ASL intrepretor to let him know as well as sending a text. Scott Campos is returning from a business trip; he may need a little rest but I'm sure he'll join. I'm trying to wrap up work this Friday on the computer, putting beer on ice, and packing the car. Your crew is welcome at our RV if you would like to grill some steak, burgers, etc. at our place. John and Anne

No better yet..... Apparently lines have been drawn, sides chosen, allegience pledged over the past few years. So I guess its now time for "COLORS" in wingsuiting? Time for Prospects and earning "Full Patch" Time for Territory? Us vs. Them? An occasional fight at a boogie or two to "settle things" once and for all. Seems to me wingsuiters are fast becoming the 1% ers of skydiving and we are heading in this direction. There seems to be some very hard feelings out there and it doen't look like its going to change. Maybe we don't have to get along anymore. Maybe we need to stop trying and just end the discussion. Maybe we need to accept that too much damage to good will and trust has been done in our little "wingsuit civil war"; and it won't get fixed. Too much ego and pride. While try to reconcile the irreconcilable?