mccordia

Advising someone looking for a smaller sized (wing) wingsuit, I'm not sure 'don't do it because others fly a bigger suit' is the best advice. Trends (like fast upsizing) mainly started because 'everyone else is doing it too'. There let your own comfort level and progression dictate what suit size you choose. Not (unintentional) peer pressure. That said, I've flown with (and in) just about every suit on the market, and if you want to fly together, you can in any suit. But of course the bigger suits will need to always adapt downward to make that possible. Mono-chamber is the new magic word, but in general, suits with a lower cell pressure (ease of pushing the air out, so you can close a wing during rolls/transitions easier) have been the norm in acro from the start (most wingsuits pre-2015ish had very low cell pressure standard). There its perhaps a bit re-inventing the wheel, after years of pushing for harder and harder inflation. With regards to suit choice, a smaller suit doesnt always need to have a flocking purpose. I fly around 3/4 of the skydiving (and base) jumps I do in a big suit, but still grab the small suit often when learning something new, or doing creative 2 ways, as its a much easier and faster learning platform for skills (to then immediately apply to the big suit). As said, Ive flown and coached people in every suit on the planet over the years, and I don't think there is a single wingsuit that doesnt allow you to do one thing or the other. The differences are minimal, and to most a personal preference they will be loud and agressive over, for no reason. Fly what you like. I could give a lot of reasons to choose a havok, but someone who prefers intrudair or squirrel could probably do the same for the similar offerings in their line-up. So do take all the 'this brand is best' tooting with a grain of salt, and see its often people earning their sponsorship, discount or just airing their like (or hate) for brand X There's not too many bad choices on the market at the moment...and there are a lot of choices.. If acro is your thing, Id mainly say pick a smaller suit, and even if big suit acro is your thing, the small suit will come in handy for many years to come as 'old faithfull' to learn and try new things with.

I modded my GoPro 7 with a 3rd party lens (was just a matter of unscrewing the standard lens and replacing it). It took some effort to get the focus perfect, but it cropped the view quite a bit). Downside is that its a mod you do permanent, so you'd have to dedicate a camera to it. on the GoPro8 and onward, the lens replacement is less easy (or so I understood from the websites selling them), and a mode expensive modification is needed..

As said before, I think any modern unit with a variant on 'mesh' will be good. We have used the Sena 50s units in our team for a year now, without too much fuss. The new 'spider' is seemingly an even better (and slightly cheaper) option from the Sena line-up. But Cardo or Senna, both seems to be ok. We have the units a bit more towards the back of the helmet, as riser strike seems to kill quite a few units, regardless of brand. So place them wisely thinking about both snag and loss..

Even at flatter angles, most wingsuits should have no issue keeping the legwing inflated. Flutter/Lack of pressure sometimes is just a suit issue, with the intlet not doing its job in keeping the wing pressurized..

Over the last 18 years of flying, I've posted various educational coaching material available online on flying technique in form of writing and videos. During the lockdown period in 2020, I finally took the effort to collect and rewrite all of that in a cohesive and structured book, called 'the flight manual' For those interested in getting into wingsuit flying, I figured it would be an interesting resource, and for those already flying there should be a lot of interesting information on performance, acrobatics and gear that might be of assistance in your progression. The book www.flylikebrick.com/book/ Reviews www.facebook.com/mccordia/reviews/

I have (had) a Hunter which had around 800 Skydives, a good 100 WS Basejumps and 400+ hours in the wingsuit tunnel, and thats still flying around, currently owned by someone else... There is some degradation in terms of fabric porosity, which might affect full flight performance by a single digit percentage, but in general flying, no real issues should arise. Some older (old, old) suits do tend to get in trouble with inlets collapsing, and fabric not holding air well, and as a result, legwing or armwing flapping. But all of that is usually when talking about 500+ jumps on a suit minimum..

Incorrect...proof was a short film that Fandango was based on. Truman Sparks is the same actor/person in both.

Old thread, but: Atair uses the same method as PD, essentially 'projection' and not corner to corner / sidewalls included..

To the best of my knowledge, the first wingsuit tandem with a real passenger was done on Texel, Netherlands around 2004 for a TV show called 'Jules Unlimited' the host was the passenger, both TI and passenger wearing a wingsuit (birdman classic). No idea/memory of who did the 'stunt'. I've seen many variations over the years, most with experienced skydivers/wingsuit pilots as the passenger. I think the recent one Vincent posted are all experienced skydivers too as passenger as well. All variations (2 x WS, Passenger in WS, TI in WS) are probably not smartest thing to do with real passengers due to potential complications...

DB Cooper on Marvel Series 'Loki'

That is around 150% of the actual price of flying (including coaching). Sadly the tunnel is steeply priced, but the quoted numbers here are around $500 per hour more than reality. 40 minutes per day is also roughly the max what most customers can handle. Flying 90 minutes during 'a morning in the tunnel' is something Id be keen to see. The skill, precision and progress achieved in an hour of coached flying ($1000 +-) would get you only 20 coached skydives (2 slots) if you are actually getting the coach for free. Seeing most coaches charge around 250$ for a day, you'd be looking at 15 very rushed jumps, if you match that budget of 1000$ with a lot of things not possible to match in skydiving with regards to speed of learning in the tunnel. Looking at a realistic day in the tunnel being 30 or 40 minutes of flying, you would equal only about 6 or so coached 1on 1 WS skydives on the same budget. But I would love to jump at the dropzone where Id get 60 x 2 slots for that price and a coach for free. Nobody is forcing you to go to a WS tunnel, but thinking you get more progression out of 60 solo skydives, is perhaps also a tad too optimistic. A bit of tunnel and a lot of skydives are a more optimal combination. Depending on the dropzone you go to, perhaps also not an accurate reflection of reality. I have no insight in bookings beyond our own, but we're coaching at indoor wingsuit through our own team, only one week a month (8 to 10 camps per year) and so far are always fully booked/sold out, flying around 30 hours of customers per camp. The views on wingsuit flying as a group of people with no goals in skill or competitive disciplines is something of quite a few years ago, and we're seeing many teams and individuals with a similar drive as often visible in freefly / tunnel who are coming back to the tunnel for multiple visits a year. As young as the tunnel in Sweden is, just looking at our pool of customers (our = just one of several freelancers) we have a large group of people who are pushing beyond 20 hours of flying, and still learning and eager for more. It's a steep price, around 900$ for the time without coaching, which I also wish would come down. But proflyers are a good share of the market. The first time experience there also seems to always be a positive one (not something I/we offer, but we do see a lot of them coming through the tunnel and loving it), so for sure there is a lot of potential there with the right marketing. Youtube and WS base have created a big monster in terms of interest, which can be used for sure to promote and pull (first timer) customers in...

Ifly seems to have banned freelance / visiting coaches and camps now, as I read in some well known freefly coaches (frustrated) instagram stories. seems to also not be a great / strange thing if increased business/ time sales is what they want...

Just things I hear mentioned here as reasoning for difficulty in securing financing/funding, not subjects Im at any level an expert in myself

There are currently 4 or 5 locations worldwide in EU, USA and Russia where future Wingsuit Tunnel projects are planned. To be clear, we are active as ws coaches with a good 1500 hrs flying/teaching experience but are not owners or shareholders in the company, and our information on the USA tunnel is based on what we read online and the scarce info that is shared with us from IWF. The USA tunnel in FL timeline seems to be: 2021/2022: Find Investors / Arrange Permits etc 2023: Build and Opening Depending on how easy or hard it is to source financing in a post-covid world, with in the USA a struggling IFLY on the edge of bankruptcy as an example, it could end up even stretching towards 2024, or even a risk of it not happening at all. We of course hope to see our working grounds expanded to USA as well, but are aware it's not easy times to get such a project financed. What the actual timeline will look like, no idea...but optimism seems to be needed..

Noting you're also a basejumper, do you think the length of (often longer shaped) BASE containers, and being used to those from frequent jumping, might have something to do with the trouble reaching? I know I always need a few jumps to get used to my (long) skydiving container, as its still noticeably shorter than the thin/long container I use for basejumping. Always making the first few jumps after not jumping for a while, feel like it's quite a reach... Not implying that's the issue, but merely asking, as (though I never had a problematic pull) it for sure is a thing I always need to be aware of with the switch. Similar to going from a 285 sq/ft to a 150 sq/ft canopy, on subsequent days where I go from BASE to skydive.

Not vertical, but should anyone have questions or requests related to the inclined wingsuit tunnel in Sweden, I'll gladly be of service..

Ive been using a WinX for a years. Smooth/Soft openings. Designed for wingsuit, but its opening characteristics make it supernice for regular freefall / camerawork

Those lists, and much much more have been available for more than 10 years. The problem sadly is one of attitude, shortcuts and instant gratification. There is a huge community in all disciplines eager to teach and share knowledge, just not everyone is as interested in doing something with that..it's a very small percentage thankfully, but it does happen..

Youtube etc. seems to also have created an influx of AFF students who seem hellbent on wingsuit proximity flying. Problem is that these people usually only see skydiving as a hurdle they have to pass/get over in order to do what they really want to do. This leads to people who just want to quickly get the jumps done, without showing to much care or interest in actually being part of the sport, or actually picking up a discipline. 200 ish jumps planking on solo tracking dives, and then quickly to wingsuit and wingsuit base. It's thankfully not a big portion of students, but you do see it more and more often. And it's always very hard to motivate and get people to care and show interest in what they are doing when jumping from a plane. It's perhaps 'too normal'....I don't know... Im still enjoying every single jump as much as the first one, and always interested in learning more...

The Swedish tunnel is currently quite a 'rough' setup. It's a full horizontal tunnel from 1935 (used to test cars, airplanes etc) that's been converted to an angled tunnel, after a testing phase in 2017. It's functional, but at the same time is missing a lot of the luxury and practical modifications that could be done to speed up customer flow. Currently, they operate with a fantime of around 40 minutes per hour when dealing with first timers, and around 45 to max 50 minutes per hour for proflyers with rotation. In case of proflyers, that can be pushed more towards 55 minutes per hour, with a change in the door system (as currently its normal doors that manually need to be opened/closer. But for sure it's a bit more time consuming for the first-time/tourist-trap customers. We do see most of the first timers are already so excited to wear 'a real wingsuit' that the added time, and slightly higher price-point for a first time experience do not seem to be to much of a negative thing. Though the cable-assist system is there for the full experience with regard to first timers, it doesn't really limit or take away from the flying experience. Mainly because its something not in your own field of view, and it really only limits a person at the point where it would have been a wall-hit or fall on the floor. The 'disconnect' from the ropes, is for first timers (in feedback) not really an essential element from what I've seen/heard. I've been involved in the prototype phase, and setting up the coaching in 2017/2018 and from there on been working as a freelance coach, organizing camps together with my teammate. We travel once a month from Switzerland (home) to Sweden (tunnel) to coach. The comments/feedback I've written here comes from coaching in the WS tunnel around 1500 hours, together with around 80 to 100 hours of own flying/training. Sweden...

I hope you do realize there are other disciplines next to flying in straight line with a GPS shouting in your ear. If performance is your thing, 100% you will get more out of a skydive, as you can't really train the dive/flare in a tunnel. That could not be more incorrect, but understandable coming from judging based on videos alone, which provide little to no sense of angle or reference. It also mirrors exactly the same critique with regards to how tunnels would be 'bad' for freefly and FS when those initially started becoming more of a regular thing. If I was overseas and the tunnel was not within reach without already needing to spend a good 1K on travel and hotel alone, Id probably be equally skeptic. The speeds flown at in the tunnel are identical to the speeds outdoors. Only steep angle flight (where you do fly higher speeds in the sky) are not really doable, mainly due to safety concerns (a 250 kmh headbut into a wall headfirst is potentially suicidal). But all the high AoA and other urban legends about indoor ws flying seem to mostly come from people who have not been there. There I hope (for fun's sake) you get to experience it at some point yourself. There is not a single reality in this world where a bigger understanding in terms of control, maneuverability, precision and learning the the upper and lower ranges in flying speed while maintaining glide, are a bad thing. It's always going to be easy to try and find some argument against a new thing, but in the end, I would say...give it a try yourself, and you'll see its indeed a valuable addition (not a replacement) I personally way prefer skydiving over tunnel. More space, better views, fresher air. But looking at the feedback the actual tunnel itself provides with regards to level, movement, and (for people coming as a customer) getting 1 on 1 coaching for every minute of flight, and being able to get a good 60 acro flights worth of airtime per day, there is no real replacement. Training as an acro team for worlds, looking at doing a good 500 to 1000 jumps worth or airtime, there the tunnel definitely tilts financially in favor of indoor training, if you look at the time and number of trips needed to the DZ. Also for those in the learning stages, or coaching on a DZ, the tunnel is an incredible tool with regards to creating more understanding for movement, inputs and relative flight to others. We've seen many people who spent 100's of jumps trying to backfly, get it within 15 to 20 minutes in the tunnel, and seemlessly translate that to outdoors. Looking at acro, there is already quite a bit gap, and last world cup, there was not a single team present who were not using the tunnel for training. And the events where you see 'skydive only' teams flying mixed/against teams with tunnel training, especially in compulsory rounds, you see a bigger and bigger difference. The WS tunnel is here to stay, and how big or small it will become in future, time will tell. The USA tunnel project currently in early planning stages in Florida is a step forward to making it more accessible for those overseas, and aiding in the further growth of the discipline.

Quite the opposite Most customers with only 1,5 to 2 hours of flying are doing a lot more, when compared to the rate of progression in vertical tunnel. Do not let the visual of cables fool one in thinking the person is not flying, learning or having a good time. They merely stop the most extreme movement towards the walls (as the force behind it is a lot bigger compared to normal freefall/vertical). But customers are learning from the first second. Regardless if its pro-flyers or intros. With around 10 to 30 minutes, 90% of the customers are flying fully free/unassisted. Ignoring the rare vlogger with no talent for physical sports. Indoor Wingsuit charges 105 USD for 3 minutes of flying. That not too far from (actually a tad cheaper) in terms of price per minute. The tunnel does similar intro (and even VR) packages as vertical tunnels, with people who do both the same day (as there is a vertical tunnel next door) often proclaiming liking the wingsuit tunnel most of the two. So there, the market is quite similar. There are several vertical tunnels in the world charging similar prices per hour, while having no issue filling the time slots. Also realize a large part of that pricing comes from a company being in the luxury position of being the only tunnel of it's kind. That price per hour will start dropping, once you see more similar tunnels in more economical locations / in a more competitive market. There are currently multiple locations worldwide that are in either funding, and in one case planning/soon building stage. It's a slow and long road, but for sure its a thing you will see growing steady with time. It's mainly a lot of fun, and (same as vertical) allows for a lot of learning that goes way beyond what's possible in a single lifetime doing only skydives. Especially with regards to competitive flying/training.

There is always this to give a go if you like (almost) horizontal windtunnels...

Seeing for first time customers the attraction be a lot bigger compared to vertical tunnel, due to the media/exposure of wingsuit flying (youtube etc) it has at least equal market value if not bigger, when combined with good marketing/advertising and (for pro-flyers) good coaching availability.

The bottom of the 2 zipper runners never needs to move or be undone. Only the top one. Attaching both zippers together (instead of to the suit) still allows the zipper itself to run through, and create a bigger hole (even with the zipper heads close together). Stitching the bottom zipper head to the zipper, locks one of the two zippers, making it impossible to create a large hole (through bending down, while wearing)