jdatc

peek

OK, I have been given some figures on how your dues are spent, in particular, Parachutist magazine.

About 25% of a domestic member's dues goes to providing a mailed paper copy of Parachutist. This includes payments to contributors ($10,000 per year) and to photographers ($14,000 per year). This doe not include staff salaries and overhead.

(Keep in mind that if an online version of Parachutist exists, that some of the costs will remain if the online version is identical to the paper version.)

So I would think that the question to members would be, would you be willing to forego a paper copy of Parachutist to help keep the costs of your dues from increasing?

Ahh, parachutist.... the magazine I never read but always got when I was active-

My wife was a business manager for several years for many outdoor magazines and a movie production company, so seeing this thread, I picked her brain as magazines and digital media are very much in her wheel house-

What I got out of it, was pretty interesting, but pretty much what you'd expect, and I'll make it quick-

1. There is always a certain resistance, against going digital, especially depending on the age of those in charge. The older the age, the greater the resistance.

2. Digital often, on small projects/subscriber number kills your advertising revenue compared to paper.

3. Everyone who doesn't want the magazine delivery, is a win for the maker of the magazine, since they probably only quote member numbers to advertisers..., and since you don't have to produce for newsstand, you know exactly how many you need to make.

4. Making a magazine isn't cheap. If you gave me some numbers, I probably could tell you what it would cost to make parachutist at my wife's former company since she's in the know, but they got preferential treatment with the publishers since they made so many.... book size. Number, etcetera, many terms I butchered I'm sure...

5. Shuttering a magazine isn't easy, and just going digital will probably cost you more money if the ad revenue dries up and the people (and salaries) of those responsible for creating it stay on-

That said, when I was active I paid the dues more cause I had to, but in reality it was more for someone to lobby with the FAA on our behalf...

In summation, Kill the magazine? If you want an analysis financially, I can get you a quote from my wife, lol. Though the first thing to go would be BOD face to face meetings if she was in charge of the budget probably...

_j

daytripper419

I have recently sold my crossfire 2 129 to buy something I feel more comfortable Wingsuiting in. I am leaning towards a storm. I was curious how people have found higher wingloadings(1.6-1.8)on a storm to perform? I am looking at a 135 or 120(would prefer). The biggest I can fit in my container(micron308) is the 135. My exit weight is approximately 215 which is the max for a 120. Any opinions on the wingloadings of these two sizes related to performance etc is highly appreciated.

I Own and currently fly a crossfire 119 and a storm 120, and wingsuit both. Both are fun to fly. I don't swoop, usually just carve in. If I could only have 1, I'd take the storm. My weight sans gear is 165.

Now that I jump less, I may even just sell my crossfire 2 rig. I like the storms performance, but it'd be a step down from the crossfire, but it has a high 'fun factor'


_justin

Quote

How are these people mounting GoPro's on their feet with a wingsuit?

looky here for ideas / suggestions -

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4226296;page=unread#unread

Quote

Quote

Apparently a Guinness confirmed record. High speed exits and no-one hit Otter tails.

(It could have been even bigger if the Elsinore folks had turned up.)

Some of the Elsinore folks were specifically asked to not attend.

Congrats on the 100 way. I saw it on our second jump of the day, a blog against the clouds...very nice.
Congrats to all the participants, it's a shame that it couldn't beat the 68 or 71 ways (with regard to the grid).
Was a grand, beautiful thing to see.

A congrats with a little passive aggressiveness mixed in. Beautiful.

_justin

I love my stealth 1.

That said, it needs a new zipper and has been out of action this year.

I find it flys slow (lowish descent rate with ease), but not with a lot of forward speed. Never pulled out my flysight to get a glide ratio. However it had a great range with ease unless you were trying to blast forward.

Decent inflation, not too hard, not too soft. Easy to pull.
Overall, I like it, and I really need to get it fixed.

That said, my other suits are/were phantom1 (sold), shadow, stealth, V2/V3/V4 and X2. I think the stealth 1 had the best mix of range, ease of flight of all my suits.

I really need to get out more. damn responsibilities, lol.

_justin

Quote

Wingsuit BASE jumps banned here


Given there are swoop ponds drying up, a DZ or two banning wingies, now a popular BASE site banning them.....

Wake up people. Jump smarter, learn more, die less.

Seems the "if we don't police ourselves, someone else will" expression IS true.

What?

Apples and Oranges... Well, probably far different then that even.

That's not a beginner site by any means. That jump is not your typical Kjerag, Swiss Disney Valley, or Italian Terminal wall.

Are you just trying to add sensationalism? If so, good job!

Edited to add, comparing base and skydiving is awkward at best sometimes. Especially site / DZ politics.

_justin

Own both.

Only base jumped the V4. but before based V2, V3 and phantom.

Preferred the V4 overall. Both are nice suits, the difference is speed and flying style. However for XRW, X2 is better.

Funny enough my new favorite suit; shadow.

_justin

Quote

Ive owned an s1, s3, V2, V3, P2, and my bastache. I have sold all of them but the bastache because I never flew the others. Id personall get rid of the stealth and the v2/v3. X2 basically the same as stealth, and V2

I still fly the Phantom, but shadow should replace that.

V2 is a nostalgia suit. 1st suit I really learned to base jump on. It comes out about twice a year.

Stealth is down for repairs, but just kind of my play around suit for all around.

V3 is on loan to Cowboy for long term, but also if I take a header in the V4, and rip it up, no base trip is ruined.

X2 is just my suit I bought to do some XRW with my friend Marko

I don't really need to get rid of any, but I am thinking about dumping the phantom, V2 and V3 at the end of next season... No big loss, but then again for the money, it's almost like I may as well keep them. It's not like resale is that high on anything besides the latest / greatest.

Also it helps I have enough rigs to rotate suits out.

_justin

I was just wondering. What do you guys think, for an individual?

I just mailed off my order to my dealer for my 7th, a PF shadow. Of course, I never mastered any of them, just continued to upsize. Isn't that the way?

Progression, since 06-ish, in order of their arrival...

Impact Track Suit -> Phantom -> V2 -> Stealth -> V3 -> V4 -> X2 -> Shadow

Oh, I don't instruct, I don't coach, nor do I believe any of the wing suit hype that seems to be everywhere now-a-days. I still own the first 6 too. Maybe I should sell a couple now. But oh the nostalgia of putting on that V2...

_justin

Quote

Hah! I just ordered an Apache also for just one purpose, competition dragster. I'll load it so lightly it'd be good for nothing else anyway, but it ain't gonna feel mushy, the speeds I'll be hammering it at. The poor suit is going to feel confused... "You bought the biggest most advanced suit you could get, and you're gonna use me for...freeflying?"

What modification are you going to make for your handles? I have heard some interesting ones, and some not so successful ones.... I'd be interested to see pics, as I feel you'll probably work it out for the better.

_justin

Quote

Quote

Therein lies the problem. How many young jumpers are aware that gear has chnaged, or what it was like when the 2k line was drawn in the sand?

How many of these young jumpers are pulling at 2k? Very few if any that I have seen... Hell, they will not get out of a plane lower than 4k.

Agree. Can't we all be big boys and girls for once?

I could see 'perhaps' raising the C license minimum, even though I disagree with it, but by the time you have a D license, you should have a pretty good understanding of how your gear works, how long it will take your main to open, etcetera. If you don't, well that's just sad. What did you do all those jumps? Were you a pilot or a passenger? I'd like to think that as a "Master parachutist" we have some kind of credibility.

FWIW, I often pull at 2k, but only on 1 of my rigs, and with a wing suit, and even an AAD. But then again, I have a few hundred wing suit base jumps, and specialized skydiving gear, so I am not the 'norm'

_justin

Quote

Two of the DZO's that haven't publically reported their tailstrikes indicated along the lines of "If I see anything about this posted on DZ.com, you'll never jump here."

Wait, so they banned wing suiting, but don't want it publicly known? I don't get it. Or they are allowing wing suiting but have asked you to spread the word for everyone to be more careful?

Wouldn't a better post have been XYZ and ABC banned wing suiting due to people not respecting the rules and the aircraft, then?

Why can't people ever just say what they mean? I need my fucking decoder ring sometimes to read this forum.

_justin

It's a bad poll.

Very few (if any) people have flown both suits extensively enough to probably get a feel for which was better. I am willing to bet even fewer own both suits (if any). And if they did, it may depend solely upon their flying style for what they get out of the suit.

Not to mention, don't you think X2 vs Venom would have been a better poll?

_justin

p.s. both of those are pretty advanced suits, but you probably already new that.

Quote

Birdman Impact

Calling the Birdman Impact a wing suit is an insult to wing suits.

I own a POS bird man impact, worst tracking suit ever made. My friend gave his away.

_justin

Quote

Got it. "We" are the people that can't recognize that sometimes systems don't work as intended.
"ME" is of the opinion that the right arm was unzipped, and it's very clear (to ME) in the video that it was attempted to "reach the brakes" (your words, not mine) but that didn't happen. The hand does not ever get above the 3ring, until we see a bare arm.

On the whole, it doesn't really matter; he lived to jump another day. Except that "we" are teaching selling newbies that they can rely on a system that isn't reliable.

*that* is me point. Then again, WTF do I know? I don't fly paragliders and I don't base jump, so I'm one of those lesser-than-we people.

No. I think it's very important to recognize that these systems don't always work. That's one reason I like cutaways on my suits, as zippers aren't flawless. Then again, sometimes cutaways don't work either, right?

If you wanted to state that, state it. Don't beat around the bush. If you are going to be cryptic, expect responses as
such.

As such, 'We' apparently are the people that can't easily decipher your message and meaning.

And the comment about paragliders and base jumping is just silly.

As for the original poster, there is a base rig (not one that I have jumped) that allows you to reach your toggles no matter what suit.

Here:

http://www.flyyourbody.com/en/online-shop/base-jump/base-jump-rig.html

But again, that's advanced, as is most of this topic for your stage in the game. You wil learn through progression what will be right for yourself.

_justin

Quote

we are all wondering what point you are trying to make here spott.

You can include me in the 'we' as well.

_justin

Quote

I think the two could learn a lot from each other.

I Think I got it.

1st We blame the ski manufacturers for allowing people easy access to these fat skis without checking their experience level when they sell them to them.

2nd We blame the Rental shop for renting them fat skis without checking what skis they were on before.

3rd We blame their ski instructor, saying they didn't give them proper training about fat skis and when they should put them on.

4th We blame the Resort for letting them on the mountain with such fat skis

5th We blame the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association for not providing proper guidance or not publishing solid guidelines on experience levels for small, medium and fat skis .

What we don't do, is blame the ski-er, who made poor gear choices. He's not culpable or responsible for his decisions. He's not responsible for anything at all!

And then you can change fat Skis, to Small Canopies, Big Wingsuits, etc, and argue all over again!

_justin

Quote

Ok, the plane will be a cessna 172 with exit at complete stall, and I wont tell you what vent is closed. But im a pretty shitty wingsuit pilot to begin with, so I wont even agree to attempt it.

Oh and just to spice things up, we'll make the exit altitude the same as the video, 450 meters ;)

Everybody is a great wingsuit pilot 13000' in the air, having plenty of airspeed with 2 parachutes, an AAD and no ledge to clear....

Don't feel bad, I am pretty shitty too.

_justin

Quote

Perhaps you're right. In our little macrocosm we see a lot of people come through here wearing big suits, low WS experience, that are heading for LB or similar.

I spent 5 weeks in LB in 3 trips last year, and 4 weeks in 2 trips this year (injury cost me 1 trip). It was more a rarity to see an in-experienced jumper in a big suit.

More common was big wingsuit skydivers in big suits with low base experience. I've seen that quitra few times.

LB accidents seem to be tracking, or experienced guys. But then again I am just going by my impressions.

_justin

Quote

Fair enough. Wanted to remove the experience level as part of the causal conversation. So many guys putting on big suits at low wingsuit experience, it's a valid question. Thanks for answering.
More suggestive of wing-relevance than operator relevant.

I think that's more a skydiving norm then Base from what I have witnessed out jumping.

Also, there is a giant difference between a still air exit and malfunctions at speed. Symmetry is much more important on a base exit if you desire to go straight.

I have seen people turn 90-150 degrees on exit because 1 second in they started kicking their feet, and weren't symettrical. Quite interesting to watch. Probably why normal base experience is reccomended in base jumping, so you are a little more
Comfortable on exit and able to handle the blown one or any other crazy shit that can happen....

_justin

Quote

Seeing the avg. skill level on some of the 'performance only' skydivers and basejumpers I see, they could use some of that as well (tongue in cheeck, before certain people get their panties in a twist again'

God I know! Look at these people! They suck! Most of them probably couldn't get past Level B!

Scotty-Bob

Justin

Matt


(tongue in cheeck, before certain people get their panties in a twist again!!!)

_justin

Just curious what the fix was / is?

I got my V4 early May 2011.

_justin

Quote

In view, its roughly the same as a footmount (though less wobbly when you make a lot of steering corrections) and also relativly simple in use and clear from snagging issues with regards to the pilotchute.

My ankle mount isn't wobbly at all, even with quite aggressive fast maneuvers, barrel rolls and the likes.

I think this comes from the fact on my ankle mount, there is a heal cup (part goes under the very back of your heal under your foot and the other on the back of your heal), 2 metal side stays that go along your foot prior to the bootie, and a wide strap that ratchets down.

I like mine because it requires no alteration to the wingsuit, and the angle is quite flexible. Facing up, or down, or right off the toe.

It gets good canopy shots as well. I stole the design off a Base jumper from the PNW.

_justin

My ankle mount is a chopped down snowboard binding, with a ram mount (http://www.ram-mount.com/Products/CameraMounts/tabid/109/Default.aspx#/wizard) bolted to it with a go pro tripod mount adapter.

It is quite steady, and with the ram mount, it gives you a choice of angle and length of arm. The plastics are lightweight, and it doesn't detract much from flying. Also, it doesn't impair my footing launching it base jumping.

Downside. It has no cutaway. You fuck up bad, you die.

Remember left ankle, not right. I'd say ankle mounts are generally for more *experienced* pilots depending on your risk tolerance.

Typical Screen grab enclosed. Mount picture enclosed as well.

_justin

Quote

I was able to walk around freely without being worried of dragging the trailing edge. It was fun to see one of my friends in his brand new V-4 walking around like a lady in long skirt.

See, that's funny, cause my X2, the leg wing fails to retract enough and drags (Measurement was done by Tony Himself), where as my V4 with the magnets work well.

I like the base soles option, however, they were different then the picture, but should hold up well with me walking around in them...