yuri_base

Dud, can you please stop with the s crypto references? You sound like the grandpa trying to be hip. Also you might have missed my last post as it looks like we posted at the same time. Well, I am a grandpa trying to be hip. Sorry... So, let's mine some L/D, shall we? Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

That suit would not generate as much lift if the coefficients were the same. For given weight, in sustained flight lift and drag depend only on L/D (been discussed already: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4896684#4896684), so if we achieve the same L/D as that of a mattress, L and D are the same, it's just the speed will be higher due to higher WL (just like in canopies). And I have all reasons to believe that The Machine will achieve at least 3.0 (but the ultimate goal is even higher L/D). Even if initially The Machine was made as a foam replica of Vampire-2, that's already L/D=2.5. Reducing drag from the body by placing it in "wingmonauti" configuration to relative wind, and having high-lift airfoil profiles for both arm and leg wings, much cleaner flow over the leg wing, and less drag thanks to sharp trailing edges and no pillowing, getting extra 20% should be no brainer. Then, we'll have the lead over WSMs in aerodynamic finesse - the most difficult thing to improve. But the burden to do this is on us, so we need to start doing something, all of us, whatever everybody is best at. We need to start mining our sweet "cryptocurrency" - L/D "coin". We need to change the course of history, we can't sit in this CoW swamp forever... We don't need to do anything because what you want is unrealistic. Also can you posts the equation for lift? I hope someone will find this realistic and start working on it. Me, may take several months, or even years, because I have so many other things to do in WS arena. L = W*Kl*V^2? It that one of your equations, or just funky variables? Now I am on a computer. The equations of lift for an airfoil is: L=Cl*A*0.5*p*V^2 L=lift Cl=Coefficient of lift A= Area p=Density V=Velocity What you said previously is false. Area is very important for lift. High Cl doesn't do anything if there isn't enough area. Also, what other Wingsuit stuff do you have to do? This is your thing. Second if the foam is easily bendable I bet it will deform under load. Yes, L=Cl*A*0.5*p*V^2 and L=W*Kl*V^2 are equivalent, by the definition of Kl. Cl, S, and V^2 enter the lift equation as a product; so to produce the same amount of lift with the same Cl, but smaller S, V automagically increases in square root proportion - the suit flies faster. I have tons of stuff to do in theory/software/invention area, I dug my old notes and there's just depressingly overwhelming amount of ideas that I totally forgot about or neglected for years. I need over 9000 man-years of work just for these! Foam wing, once it's cut from the block, easily bends in half, but maintains its shape when uniformly stretched between profile ends. Yes, it will bend a bit, like an arc, but the airfoil profile itself will be more or less maintained. Potentially, we could study the deformations under air pressure and compensate for them by cutting a distorted profile that will be pushed by air into perfect profile. We'll have to see how it all plays out. Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Proposed initial roadmap of distributed, open source, "blockchained" work on 'The Machine'*: 1. Design universal connections between foam wings (wrapped with glued fabric) and mounting platforms on legs and belly, so that any wing built anywhere by anyone, will connect with platforms built by anyone else. The connections must allow some range (up to 30 degrees) of AoI adjustment. 2. Build rough prototypes of wings (quality, neatness, exact airfoil profile don't matter). The overall planform should be similar to "old" suits such as V-2. 3. Test the prototype with AoI=0, flying it in flat body position, just like you would fly a traditional wingsuit. Confirm L/D of at least 2.5 by using vane with accelerometer or vane with Pitot. 4. Experiment with AoI and "wingmonauti" body position to study the effect on L/D and Kl, Kd. 5. Try to achieve L/D = 3.0 just by AoI alone. 6. What we're after is L/D of at least 10% higher than that of traditional mattresses, so 3.3 and up. My hope is we can achieve at least 3.6, a 20% improvement. (I already wrote here many times what such an improvement would mean for wingsuiting.) 7. If we can achieve 3.0+, the project is a proven success. Halle-effing-luja! 8. If we can't achieve even 3.0, the project is a partial failure, but at least, it enables anyone with moderate DIY skills to build a wing system for themselves, for 1/10th of the cost of a mainstream wingsuit. 9. Even if we fail, let alone if we don't, the experience and data we get will be invaluable for wingsuit R&D. 10. As soon as someone else, not just me, surrounded by skeptics, joins the effort and starts "mining", and someone else, and someone else... we are a proven distributed, global, networked, democratic, "blockchained" wingsuit "Company", we can produce real results and be a global force to be respected and create products that rival or complement products of mainstream WSMs. We're the ones that can Make Wingsuiting Great Again. So, let's roll up our sleeves and do it! Welcome my sons... welcome to... THE MACHINE * 'The Machine' is not forced upon anybody; everyone is encouraged to propose and work on their own designs and ideas. 'The Machine' is just my vision; you don't have to accept it, invent your own! Every effort is welcome. And not only in WS design - instrumentation, software, even math - show us what you've got, share your ideas! Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

That suit would not generate as much lift if the coefficients were the same. For given weight, in sustained flight lift and drag depend only on L/D (been discussed already: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4896684#4896684), so if we achieve the same L/D as that of a mattress, L and D are the same, it's just the speed will be higher due to higher WL (just like in canopies). And I have all reasons to believe that The Machine will achieve at least 3.0 (but the ultimate goal is even higher L/D). Even if initially The Machine was made as a foam replica of Vampire-2, that's already L/D=2.5. Reducing drag from the body by placing it in "wingmonauti" configuration to relative wind, and having high-lift airfoil profiles for both arm and leg wings, much cleaner flow over the leg wing, and less drag thanks to sharp trailing edges and no pillowing, getting extra 20% should be no brainer. Then, we'll have the lead over WSMs in aerodynamic finesse - the most difficult thing to improve. But the burden to do this is on us, so we need to start doing something, all of us, whatever everybody is best at. We need to start mining our sweet "cryptocurrency" - L/D "coin". We need to change the course of history, we can't sit in this CoW swamp forever... We don't need to do anything because what you want is unrealistic. Also can you posts the equation for lift? I hope someone will find this realistic and start working on it. Me, may take several months, or even years, because I have so many other things to do in WS arena. L = W*Kl*V^2? Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Yes, that's how I built my 2008 leg wing prototype, hot wire foam cutting. I even bought a constant-current power source for that, since with constant-voltage, wires burn quickly. Also built a variable cross section setup for cutting arm wing, since the root profile and tip profile are of different sizes, cut the hard foam prototype of the arm wing (for size and usability evaluation, not for use; real wing will have no rigid parts); but haven't finished the work back then. Deployment shouldn't be a problem, usability tests showed that foam wing is easy to compress/fold. Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

That suit would not generate as much lift if the coefficients were the same. For given weight, in sustained flight lift and drag depend only on L/D (been discussed already: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4896684#4896684), so if we achieve the same L/D as that of a mattress, L and D are the same, it's just the speed will be higher due to higher WL (just like in canopies). And I have all reasons to believe that The Machine will achieve at least 3.0 (but the ultimate goal is even higher L/D). Even if initially The Machine was made as a foam replica of Vampire-2, that's already L/D=2.5. Reducing drag from the body by placing it in "wingmonauti" configuration to relative wind, and having high-lift airfoil profiles for both arm and leg wings, much cleaner flow over the leg wing, and less drag thanks to sharp trailing edges and no pillowing, getting extra 20% should be no brainer. Then, we'll have the lead over WSMs in aerodynamic finesse - the most difficult thing to improve. But the burden to do this is on us, so we need to start doing something, all of us, whatever everybody is best at. We need to start mining our sweet "cryptocurrency" - L/D "coin". We need to change the course of history, we can't sit in this CoW swamp forever... Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

This approximately illustrates surface area lost (blue) from a mattress to The Machine. The overall wingloading will be higher by a factor of about 1.5 (?). Which means, if Cl and Cd are matched, the speed will be ~20% higher. (Since wingloading and speed in aerodynamic force are in the combination V^2/WL, speed is proportional to square root of wingloading). Mattresses will look like slow boats in the sky compared to the speed boat, The Machine! However, if matching BASE starts is desired, high-Cl airfoils need to be used to compensate for increase in WL (if the ratio Cl/WL stays the same, BASE start is the same), in this case speeds will be comparable. The beauty of the modular wing system that the airfoils can be swapped to meet the desired goals. [inline SurfaceAreaReduction.png] Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

BTW, the above picture illustrates another huge problem: shoes sticking out in the airflow, with large flat surfaces trailing in the airflow and creating large areas of negative pressure - lots of parasitic drag! Especially bad with most modern sneakers and hiking shoes where the thick soles flare out to the bottom. (James jumping in slick climbing shoes, the ones for maximum traction, for free climbing, with rounded soles with much smaller surface area is a good idea.) We need to come up with some solution to reduce this drag. Maybe, some kind of ram-inflatable flarings attached to bottom of shoes that won't interfere with exit, but will inflate into a conical shape in flight. At least, with The Machine, stretching the suit shoulders to toes is not necessary (as there's no 'suit' per se), so toes can be pointed as much back as possible, reducing the "footprint" of the shoes. Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Pillowing of inflatable mattresses creates a lot of drag on the trailing edge, reduces lift (as lift vector on angled portions of "pillows" is angled to vertical plane), as well as creates additional turbulence on the whole top of the wing. [inline Pillowing.jpg] 'The Machine' with its precise cut, flat span-wise foam wings won't have any pillowing whatsoever and have sharp trailing edges. BOOM! Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Correction: Kl = (L/W)/V^2 Kd = (D/W)/V^2 Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

A couple of additional illustrations to show the proper body position and wing angles. Very much like atmonauti, so maybe we can call it "wingmonauti"? "Lucifer's Dream" was the original name of the wing system, because it had my favorite letters, L and D in it, so I could play this out; but now I like 'The Machine' better. Engineered, not sewed; precise, efficient, fast, lean & mean... true machine! Nature's beauty and wingsuit science go well together, because wingsuit science is beautiful: [inline TheMachineSketch2008-9.jpg] [inline TheMachineSketch2008-10.jpg] Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

As my 'starter fluid' was being topped off, I found this old idea I totally forgot about: how to measure L/D on the ground, either with real wingsuit/pilot, or a scaled experimental model - all without a wind tunnel! [inline LDMeasurementWithoutWindtunnel.jpg] Imagine a WS model suspended from a balance scale, precisely balanced with counterweight, outside on a windy enough day. The model is held in place by horizontal rope as to keep the suspension cable vertical. Then, rope is released. What will happen? Aerodynamic force (with lift and drag components) will push the model at some angle up from equilibrium state. As shown, horizontal and vertical accelerations in the first moments after release will be ax = g*(D/W) ay = g*(L/2W) (this assumes that scales' arm weighs negligibly little compared to model; if it can't be neglected, then the factor 2 will be replaced by a bigger factor that takes both extra weight and moment of inertia; or instead of balance scale, a lightweight pulley can be used as pictured on the left of the scales) So if we measure these accelerations with a smartphone's accelerometer, we can find out L/D! L/D = 2ay/ax If we're only interested in measuring L/D, even accelerometer is not necessary - since ratio ay/ax is equal to the tangent of the angle alpha of initial movement to vertical, L/D = 2*tan(alpha) We can also find out absolute values for lift and drag, if weight is known: L = 2W*(ay/g) D = W*(ax/g) And, if we measure wind speed with an anemometer, we can find out Kl, Kd: Kl = L/V^2 Kd = D/V^2 And from these, sustained horizontal and vertical speeds for this flight mode: Vxs = Kl/(Kl^2 + Kd^2)^(3/4) Vys = Kd/(Kl^2 + Kd^2)^(3/4) And these, for different AoA, will form the polar curve! How cool is that?! We can do fast-iteration wingsuit improvements right on the ground, and without making rich richer at $1000/hour! All you need is to build a balance that can support the model or even the pilot, and probably ~20mph wind should suffice. A model can be built using modeling clay and armature like this one: [inline ModelingArmature.jpg] With polymer clay, the shape of wings, angles of incidence, body position, etc. can easily be adjusted and studied. Or, 3D-print a model, make it from several parts and connect them with adjustable armature. MWGA! Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Yes, it won't be a mainstream wingsuit, but it doesn't need to be. It's in addition to mattresses. What we have now is like a minivan - it does the job done, drive kids to school, drive to a mall, it's roomy and reliable, can even go high performance: [inline Minivan.png] But if we don't do anything, we'll never get this additional toy in our garage: [inline SportsCar.jpg] Mattress = minivan 'The Machine' = sports car We need both! Mattresses are not going anywhere. Right tool for the right job! But if all we see in the year 2038, another 20 years from now, is mattresses/minivans, it's just a lame waste of time and talent we all collectively have. Good call for all of us in our distributed global network of revolutionaries! Wingsuit "bitcoin miners", let's roll up our sleeves and actually do it! Exposing mainstream WSMs (aka 'The Stooges') was only necessary to start the Great Wingsuit Revolution of 2018, but they are irrelevant now as they have a proven track of not coming up with anything new in decades. Let's MWGA! Our future is in our hands. Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Forgot: WSE can (and should!) be used in wingsuit simulation games. I've seen some code of those and it's... terrible 'physics', having nothing to do with reality. Just step-wise incrementing speed according to inputs, with arbitrary parameters, and calculating new position. (like, if player pushes up button to make pitch steeper, increase speed by 1mph per click) Even in those games that seem to be more realistic, such as "volo sport" (I forgot exact name, I think it was even discussed in this forum a bit) the physics is just not right. WSE 3D will make realism mind blowing, and the simulator can be used for evaluating potential exit points! Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Found some old sketches back from 2008. These are very rudimentary and messy, but I hope they are sufficient to give one the general idea. I hope someone will like the idea and start working on this, as I simply cannot do everything myself, I have so much work to do in WS theory and software, I better focus on those. The goal is to build the highest L/D wingsuit (wing system) in the world, in human history. The goal is to make it DIY, so anyone with even basic DIY skills can build one for themselves. The goal is to make it affordable, with bill of materials in $100-200 range. The goal is to make it modular, so that different arm and leg wings (different airfoil profile, planform, thickness, etc.) can be installed on the same belly and leg platforms. The goal is to make it adjustable, so that basic parameters like AoI, trim/balance can be adjusted between the jumps. The goal is to stop sewing costumes, and start engineering flying machines. The goal is to make it open source, so that anyone in the world (every WSB 'employee') can make a contribution, or branch off, or even go commercial and make money, if they want. The goal is freedom from the state of CoW, from The Stooges, from 20 years of The Great Stagnation. "Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. Well, today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products. The first one: is a DIY, open source wingsuit. The second: is a revolutionary modular wing system. And the third is a breakthrough experimental platform. So, three things: a DIY, open source wingsuit; a revolutionary modular wing system; and a breakthrough experimental platform. A DIY wingsuit, a modular wing system, and an experimental platform. A DIY wingsuit, a modular wing system … are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, this is one device, and we are calling it THE MACHINE. Today Wing Systems Blockchain is going to reinvent the wingsuit, and here it is." - this is just for a laugh, a flashback to Steve Jobs' introduction of iphone, but who knows, maybe this, not mattresses, will become the platform of the future?... Let's do it! Everybody, welcome to THE MACHINE!!! Welcome my son, welcome to THE MACHINE Where have you been? It's alright we know where you've been You've been in the pipeline, filling in time Provided with toys and 'scouting for boys' You brought a guitar to punish your ma And you didn't like school, and you Know you're nobody's fool So welcome to THE MACHINE 1. Body at zero AoA, arm wings at non-zero AoI; same with leg wing, which starts from knees down, with distinct leading edge; upper legs bent at hips, but not as much as in the pic, maybe about 30 degrees. [inline TheMachineSketch2008-1.jpg] 2. Some dimension and planform prototyping. [inline TheMachineSketch2008-2.jpg] 3. Foam (PU foam, high-resilience, "blue foam", "lux high quality foam") needs to be about 5" for the arms. Liebeck high-lift airfoil is used, with 25% thickness. Foam is not cheap for individual purchase, but for 80 or so bucks you get approx. twin-sized "mattress", enough for complete wing system. [inline TheMachineSketch2008-3.jpg] 4. Leg wing has trapezoid shape, these dimensions make a small wing, but it can be made bigger. [inline TheMachineSketch2008-4.jpg] 5. Arm wing sample dimensions. [inline TheMachineSketch2008-5.jpg] 6. Arm wing dimensions and the elliptical cut out to for the arm. [inline TheMachineSketch2008-6.jpg] 7. Liebeck airfoil profile at the root of the arm wing and at the tip. [inline TheMachineSketch2008-7.jpg] 8. Arm wing channel, leading edge and trailing edge with possible stiffeners. [inline TheMachineSketch2008-8.jpg] All this is, of course, very raw, just sketches, is as far from a finished product as it could be. But I hope someone will find this useful and start working on building something like this. The most difficult parts, I think, are wing attachment platforms (that are attached to belly and lower legs with adjustable belts, and then wings attach to those with some kind of quick connection, with adjustable AoI) and arm wing's arm channel and ability to free arms using a zipper, yet not affecting the precise airfoil shape of it. "Hiring" genius mechanical engineers! "Hiring" anyone smart! Everyone is welcome... welcome to The Machine! Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Yes, but how? I think this is where the idea of placing the body at zero AoA and having non-zero AoI for the wings could probably shine (it's unproven so far, though). I did some estimates, and it seemed to be feasible. [inline ZeroBodyAoA.jpg] This picture is not exactly what I have in mind: upper legs should be bent a bit at the hips, but lower legs should be parallel to torso, so both torso and lower legs are at zero AoA, wings are at non-zero AoA (equal to AoI in this case). The airflow above torso will be then much smoother, since it's essentially in "headdown", or "speed skydiving" position to relative wind, and the drag should be greatly reduced. And is argued in the calculations above, the loss of drag will be advantageous despite loss of lift from the body, since body has such poor L/D by itself (0.7-1.0). PS. Legs should be like in this picture of atmonauti (the top jumper): bent in hips, but lower legs parallel to airflow. Torso is also parallel to airflow (the very idea of atmonauti). Does anyone even do atmonauti these days anymore?... [inline Atmonauti.jpg] Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Moleskine Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

I hope I can skydive and BASE jump for at least 20 more years, but judging by the 13 years of wingsuiting/BASE I personally witnessed, there's not much progress happened and if the state of CoW continues through the year 2038+, in 2040's we'll see same T-mattresses, just more gimmicks, maybe a couple of more pockets and color patterns, and zippers that are also patterned, not just solid color. Wingsuit prices will hike up to $4000, and the suits will be made so flimsy that they will literally fall apart after one season. The competition window will be decreased to 100m, and with glide ratios of 20 or more in the window, it will be touted as if amazing progress has been achieved... (but L/D will remain the same 3.0 as today.) There will be WS "instrumentation" - a mobile device that allows checking Facegramitter likes in flight, that's all "data" people will be interested in. That's the grim future we gonna see in 20 years if we continue worshipping our Stooges. *We* need to change this. The Stooges won't change by themselves. Wing Systems Blockchain, WS Revolution of 2018 for the win! MWGA!!! Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Drop it! WSB needs workforce, lots of it! Aerospace engineers are especially welcome. Any smart people are welcome. We're "hiring"! Altimeters are so 20th century, we need flight computers, and not just this lame thing called GPS (I wouldn't call GPS a flight computer, it's a flight confuser), with ground speed and glide ratio, that's just too trivial and virtually useless. An aerospace engineer, teamed with a mechanical engineer, teamed with a physicist/programmer, can make a nice, slick, sexy WS instrumentation possible. And it doesn't need a company, we all at WSB can contribute, and make it a professionally looking, DIY, 3D-printable device (not my ugly vane of poor workmanship). (But as always, anyone who wants to do it commercially, just do it! WSB is total freedom and doesn't restrict any commercial spin-offs.) Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Exactly. So, why don't we see it more, for example, in Paralog or Skyderby, after some wind subtraction? (I believe Skyderby has the wind subtraction feature.) It won't be perfect, since the wind can never be subtracted with reliable accuracy, but it's something better than just GR. L/D value at any time gives us the idea about current flight mode, like a slow flare with L/D slowly falling from 3.0 to 2.4 that was demonstrated in the analysis of someone's Paralog track, while GR by itself varies so wildly that it's virtually useless to look at it. Which ones? Math, please, not English. It just happened that I dived into my mountains of old crap and digged out my old notes, yellowed out from age and covered with dust. Four Moleskine notebooks, peppered with equations, ideas, calculations - cover to cover. Many pages torn out of other notebooks with drawings and more formulas. It's daunting, depressing even - I literally need over 9000 years to process all this, write a book from it, make software out of it... Who can do all this?! I have to, this is my specialization, this where I should and will focus. [inline Moleskins.jpg] WSE and other math/physics related to wingsuits (or any glider for that matter) are fascinating, they are like [good] Pandora box filled with infinite amount of goodies. When I derived them in 2006, after months of staring at the same "high school level mathematics" and not seeing what was hiding in plain sight, I had such an "Eureka!" moment that I was literally levitating for a couple of years. (Like Archimedes jumped out of the bath naked and ran around town proclaiming his buoyancy law.) They are revolutionary, because they make so many things possible, literally magical things. I didn't call Kl, Kd "magic" coefficients of lift and drag; my company Pure Flying Magic (a variation of "pure fucking magic", as an answer to a question how some mysterious apparatus works); my app L/D Magic - for no reason. It's because WSE make magical things possible, like measuring L/D directly by accelerometer (and even bubble) - in real time, in any flight, sustained, nonsustained, 3D even; they make true Kalman filters possible, since WSE provide physical model of motion, as well as time evolution of other measurements, such as apparent gravity measured by accelerometer on a vane and on the body; they make flight analysis much more detailed and informative, vs. just current ground speeds and glide ratio; they make WS BASE flight modeling possible, for evaluating new, unopened flights (like Hartman does). The algorithms for determining aerodynamics parameters I posted above are just maybe 0.1% of "What other things do they say". It's not silly, it's what we do on every WS BASE jump. WSE # requires acceptance of WSE, not just the formula that relates L/D to GR and accelerations. So, WSE #5 remains vacant. No, WSE are these: dVx/dt = g*V*(Kl*Vy - Kd*Vx) dVy/dt = g - g*V*(Kl*Vx + Kd*Vy) in 2D and see above for 3D. They are differential equations of motion, not "resolving them in the "lift-drag" coordinate system". The above derivation of L/D formula is a way of deriving it without WSE and "magic" Kl and Kd, although with WSE the derivation is much simpler, since all the steps with the force diagram and F=ma spelled out, are already encapsulated in WSE, no need to do them again. This is the symbolic math, this is how mathematicians and physicists operate, they derive equations and then reuse them, not start from the scratch every single time. Saying "not wrong" about WSE qualifies one for WSE #. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, WSE #5, aon squaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaared!!!" Novel? Yes, absolutely. In more than 100 years of modern age aerodynamics, no text book or paper has WSE. (I'm urging anyone who disagrees to provide the proof. I've never seen them in many books and papers.) This is because nobody never needed them! Nobody in 100 years was interested to calculate the trajectory of a glider dropped from a huge cliff. People were always more interested in airplanes, and when they needed to do simulations of a glider flight (like Space Shuttle on landing, or NASA's lifting bodies) they had complete aerodynamics data from the tunnels, etc. - they could just integrate F=ma directly, using Cl, Cd, AoA, S, etc. Nobody in more than 100 years needed WSE. So, I simply came, saw them hiding in plain sight, said to myself, "Nobody wants them? I'll take them!" BAM!!! So, yeah, they are novel, and groundbreaking. Halle-fucking-luja!!! Isn't it cool, that we, wingsuiters, have our own equations and theory? (even though WSE apply to any glider, and even no-lift body such as a cannon ball moving on ballistic trajectory, or a belly flyer/freeflyer jumping out of a plane) Which insult to standard aerodynamics did I make? About splitting the total drag into parasite and induced? That's not an insult, I simply argue that this split is completely unnecessary for WS and makes weak minds get lost in a forest of two trees. OUR WS company, not mine. Our Wing Systems Blockchain Worldwide, ACME Wingsuits, call it whatever - the distributed, indestructible network of enthusiasts who are devoted to advancing wingsuiting to new levels, instead of passively waiting for The Stooges. Everyone is invited on board! Let us all, together, MWGA! Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Here they are, in all their mess glory: dVx/dt = g*V*[Kl*(Vx*Vy*cos(gamma) - Vz*V*sin(gamma))/sqrt(Vx^2+Vz^2) - Kd*Vx] dVy/dt = g - g*V*[Kl*sqrt(Vx^2+Vz^2)*cos(gamma) + Kd*Vy] dVz/dt = g*V*[Kl*(Vy*Vz*cos(gamma) + Vx*V*sin(gamma))/sqrt(Vx^2+Vz^2) - Kd*Vz] Here Vx, Vy - as in WSE 2D, Vz - perpendicular to (Vx, Vy), and gamma is the bank angle. Derived on 2009/09/27 on Zurich -> NYC flight (after a couple of beers, beer is the secret fuel of WS science!). Too lazy to post the full derivation, let alone the derivation of accelerometer-on-vane principle in 3D (it's several pages of nasty math), which still holds that L/D = g_|_ / g|| as long as turns are coordinated. Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

BTW, there's an error in signs, because if y axis points up (in WSE, it's down, so descent = positive Vy), then sin(theta) = -vy/v. The formula for L/D needs to be corrected. (I was checking it for ax=0, ay!=0 case and L/D was not equalizing with GR as it should). Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Yes, exactly same as the "magic" formula L/D = (GR + z)/(1 - GR*z) where z is dimensionless ratio z = ax/(g - ay). from here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4897209#4897209 BAM! It's magic, pure flying magic! L/D=GR also in non-sustained flight when only ax=0 (ay doesn't have to), which is not so obvious (but can be seen from the force diagram). L and D are always perpendicular and parallel to relative wind (aka airspeed), that's why accelerometer on vane always measures L/D correctly. Even in 3D. They've been quiet lately, sitting under the WSE Monolith... Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

By the way, wingsuit tunnel engineers are also welcome to join WSB (Wing Systems Blockchain). Because a foam wing system can also be used in WST, it doesn't have to be ram-air wingsuit, especially that there's no airplane inconvenience/bulk. WST "tourists" definitely can fly with foam wings (maybe, even easier than with cloth suits). WSR '2018 begins, don't miss the train and look like The Stooges! Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio

Yes, it's even more productive when participants reply with same. The noise dropped, signal remained the same, S/N ratio skyrocketed, halle-fucking-luja! Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio