Cashmanimal

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What are we looking for here?

freeflying the Tandem Vid i think..


Was that Glen S as TM?

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they are not actually suspended from the single attachment point alone (3-ring) but are usually using the rears and/or toggles as a canopy input as well as a point of leverage to move their weight forward and drive the flatter glide/lift which has been explained higher in the thread by a parabolic weight shift.

Technuically, you could look at any riser/toggle input as a type of weight-shift device, as applying one will change the drag profile of the wing, and allow the pilots weight to shift underneath and enact further change.

At the end of the day, however, it is not a 'true' weight-shift craft, as there's no way to sustain that input for very long. In a true weight-shift craft (like a hang glider), the control bar is a solid point of attachment that allows you direct control over your position under the wing, as opposed to a canopy where all you can do is indirectly influence the wing to allow your weight to shift.

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When soaring a 135 Stiletto, I'm sure the aerodynamic benefits are not as exaggerated as weight shifts, which make a very immediate and clear benefit to the glide path of the canopy. If I go from a fully leaned-out posture soaring 5 feet above the ground and then sit back in the canopy, I find myself sitting in the sand immediately.

Are you flying with no input before you change your position in the harness? It's been said many times that it might 'feel' like a change in fore/aft postion has enacted change, but what it really does is change the angle/position from which you apply toggle/riser input, and you end up alter that input inadvertanly during the change in position.

What you would really need to test this is either some way to measure it during full , where the shift in position is the sole input being given to the canopy, or some sort of riser or control lock, which you could 'set', and in turn make sure that your position shift is the only chnage to the canopy.

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but I'm fairly certain that the primary reason for pilots to sit back on distance runs is because face-first landings hurt and they can extend their legs for that extra stretch

I'm sure both of those are true as well, which is why I suggested that there might be a way to fly the entire run leaning back instead of forward. You could realize the same drag reduction provided you could assume the same angle of lean, and you would avoid the big transition move at the end of the swoop. It's been said many times that the less you move in the harness the better, so why wouldn't that apply to the end of a distance run?

There are obvious problems in reality with the idea, such as the main/reserve container being in your way preventing you from leaning all the back, it's just more of a 'theoretical' or 'what if' sort of idea.

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Do you not just pivot around the 3-ring?

You do. From a fore/aft perspective, you're just a side of beef hanging from a meat hook. If you hook a side of beef in the center, it hangs level from the hook. If you hook it to one side, the 'bigger' end on one side of the hook will droop, while the 'little' end will raise. If you look at it from the side, and imagine a plumb line exending down from the hook, you'll see equal mass on either side of the line.

Same thing under canopy. You're always going to hang straight down under the canopy/3-ring, it's just how it works. Even if you could find some way to sustain an off-center position, the confluence wrap on the bottom of the riser will cancel out any forces you might be imparting. The risers don't become 'front' and 'rear' until above the confluence wrap, so any input intended to be specific to one riser or the other needs to be made above the confluence wrap. As it sits, the confluence wrap is above the pivot of the 3-ring, so you those two factors inbetween you as a hanging mass, and any discreet input to the front or rear risers.

The benefit to the forward lean is aerodynamic. It's very slight, and reduces exponentally with the decrease in speed, but that's the benefit. More important than that is flying a clean approach, and maintaining correct control inputs during the swoop. I would venture to say that spending time learning to lay forward in the harness without perfecting the rest is probably a waste. Chances are that you're going to give up some distance jacking around your body position, so you're giving up one thing to gain another.

Truth is, I wonder if laying back like a PG is the better way to go. As it sits, at the end of a distance run the pilot makes a huge move in the harness to pivot back and land on their ass. Some might argue that the swining motion might create a temporary pitch-up, but I would suggest that by the time the pilots are making that move, the canopies have 'given up the ghost' and are not going to be going any further. So if pilots could adopt a laying back position, they could remain still in the harness and maintain that position all the way to touchdown.

That's limited to competition distance runs. For normal swooping, you do want to be leaning forward to get your weight out in front of your feet, and facilitate running out a landing.

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Or the people who post what they're doing at the moment are just as annoying.

"Just got home, making dinner"

"Just checked in at the 'Green Burrito' "

"Going to grandmas with the baby"

Who gives a shit.

No kidding. That's what Twitter is for.

Pacifica is amazing, but not very good for beginners. It's big, and it's a commitment.

I would suggest finding somebody who knows their way around Marina (Near SDMB) and take a trip out there. Very forgiving sand dunes, and you can learn a lot. I'd offer to take you out, but I just left til summer

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Nice to see some new HP canopies being developed, the XF-15 is getting some good results too.

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See, if you asked me, it would go:

Who is that?

That's Holly. We went to UF together. She is an event planner and her husband, Ted, is an engineer at Lockheed Martin. They live in Virgina Beach and have invited us to come stay with them, and I totally think we should because he is into extreme sports and I know you two would get along and I miss Holly; it would be another fun adventure and they do not have kids, either, so it is perfect!

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The other option is to leave your rig standard, and add a second chest strap with a buckle complete and extend your standard chest strap only when you swoop. No alterations to your rig and no excess chest strap to deal with on regular jumps. I can send a photo in a couple of days. Maybe someone can send a photo sooner?

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So would this be the first wingsuit flier to land without a parachute and still survive?

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Will Hollister do AFF for a 17 year old?

Just wondering because my little brother wants to start skydiving.

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SOA- Bitchin

Always Sunny In Philadelphia- really bitchin. One of my favorite shows.

I will definitely check out justified. Also new season of south park tomorrow! oh yeah!

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Are those taken with the still feature or is it framegrabs?

Nice pics btw

Come to Hollister, rumor is they have the coolest AFF instructors.

We-- I mean they-- also have the biggest landing area on the planet, a definite plus for students. In the last month or so we have had 3 people come to Hollister from other countries because of our reputation for getting students trained in a timely (but SAFE) manner. For those who buy the entire package up front, i rarely see them take more than 2 weekends to finish AFF (not that package-holders take priority, it's more of a financial advantage--if you can afford to pay by the jump, it'd take the same amount of time). We've also been handling all the students that get chased from other DZ's, because AFF isn't a priority at all dropzones.


I can't speak for or against Taft. I haven't heard anything bad, and can't give you a reason -not- to go there. I've never jumped there, either. Some of our tandem masters alternate between the two locations, and only have good things to say.

As an AFF instructor, in Hollister, I gotta vote for the home team
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, as a potential instructor I'd be happy to tell you anything I can! Good luck!