stoney3434

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Everything posted by stoney3434

  1. Strong rumor is that Super-Girl, Andreea "will be" coming to town late/late Friday nite. ( ...and she knows who's been naughty and nice ) I figure since 111 isn't coming,( Damn Matt , I was looking forward to seeing you ) and since Andreea's ACl tear won't allow her to fly, ... there should be "just about" enough "space and lift" available for my size XL body (w/new titanium hip).. Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  2. It always does only last for a little while,... well flown you all ! Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  3. Do something about the wing loading? Two options, very simple - not rocket science. You either decrease the load, or increase the wing. Decrease the load? Drop your body weight to a quarter of what it is? Not gonna happen. Increase the wing? Sure, make it 20ft wide. At that point though, can you call it a suit any more? A suit is something that a human wears. Nobody wears anything that is 20ft long in any dimension. I agree Matt,.... Now,..think about : #1 ....how much weight ( LOAD ) could be reduced by eliminating the HARNESS/RIG/MAIN/and RESERVE ...The same flyers who are getting slightly positive climb rates after a short dive and flaring now , SHOULD be able to increase those positive climb rates and hold it "longer" with maybe 20 to 25 #'s less weight. Now #2: Google the Cessna Citation S2 and look at its leading edge wing root ( I sold it for a few years after selling the Original Citation ll ( which was a mostly a higher aspect ratio wing joined to an extended fuselage on a Citation I...( the wing leading edge actually extends forward about 6 feet and onto the fuselage and is a bit thicker to "fair it into the fuselage as compared to the CitationII. This increased wing area/aspect ratio ,reducung stall speeds by 3% on the SII ll and the S2's cruise speed was increased by 5% ( with same thrust) due to the reduced fuselage to wing turbulence ( reduced drag )..... I have been thinking of being able to do this with a wingsuit by routing a battened stiffened leading edge of the wing ( just the inner wing root forward ) across the very top of a very strong aerodynamic, custom fitted, light weight composite helmet that is actually worn as one piece connected into an underarm composite shoulder and lower chest "partial ectoskeleton suit" that fits sorta like a short sleeve scuba wetsuit top and is put on and worn 'under the wingsuit" ( which would both protect and reinforce the neck, head and shoulders ) Then: #3. give some thought to using the forward speed airflow-airlock concept to create a bi-wing ( slightly smaller and only a few inches (or less) above or below the main arm wings and above or below the main aft leg wing ,...both designed and shaped to route airflow and create higher lift overall similar to what a jib, genoa or staysail do in creatin a higher airspedd slot across a sailboat's mainsail... The higher forces transferred to the flyer might be hard to handle in the arms, head and neck even 'with' a partial ecto-suit ( Lurche's experience) so I envision a series of 2 or 3 strong bungee cords that will run from the flyers elbows and wrists into the sides ( or across the front of the ectosuits chest elbows ( again under the suit) and keep the flyer's arms from bending too upward beyond a certain optimal point for maximum lift in the flare. #4... if you watch Mythbusters,..you may have seen that a car with tiny mudballs sprayed uniformly all over the exterior surfaces actually got higher milage over a short test course -- as compared to a clean car... ( the mudballs seem to reduce the drag on the surface areas of the car by acting like little vortilons(?) ( simlar to what the dimbled surface of a golfball achieves at much higher speeds... While I don't suggest "mud" there could be a way to do a similar thing on the exterior surfaces of the wingsuit. (I've had fabrics that did that in my dryer) #5 There is a lot of drag back by the feet in a wingsuit mostly around the heels... Learjet used waht they called "Area Ruling" in their aft fuselage that I could see being used effectively on each leg of a wingsuit to allow a smoother flow of air over the feet/heels..... #6 I was very impressed when I first saw the use of leading edge slats on a Sabreliner T39 to both reduce the approach speeds for landings and allow the aicraft to use higher thrust and attack angles to avoid ice formation on the leading edge...The Falconjet and many commercial jets have powered slats ( while the Sabre slats were completely aerodynamic and deployed below a certain speed in the approach increasing the drag while reducing the approach speed ( think horizontal speed on a wingsuit) tremendously ( increased lift and drag)and a much slower stall speed. It might be possible to use a flyers calf and foot extensions or their tuck up to deploy fabric slats and / or some sort of fowler flap design through a nylon cable over some geared pulleys inside the suit just after or as flaring and prior to planned touchdown... These are just a few idea I have given thought to based on my prior jet sales and involvement with engineering at the companies where I worked. Such things as duct inlet shape to cool engine alternators I learned could have very significant effects on drag,...and it also may effect wingsuits if they remain fully open after the suit air locks .... #6 It's maybe possible to have very simple zero p speed released fabric that could blow back and cover most of the open duct inlets once the suit has pressurized...?? I wish I had the financial resources and the body type ( Tall, wide arm span, thin, strong arm shoulder and core with thinner long distance runner type legs. ALL this would have to be designed and tested bit by bit at altitude and modified as approriate.... My thoughts are that initially such a suit would be flown by thetpe test pilot I mentioned above STILL using a main and reserve ,...and then evaluated... If such wingsuit mods could add add another 30 seconds or a minute to a wingsuit flyers experience,...wwll THAT would be cool for flyers of ANy size,,,,, AND such mods might lead to new numbers on vertical and horizontal speeds of some certain wingsuiters ( with say 20#'s less weight) that could then make a landing more potentially survivable.... Then maybe the first tests could be with a small BASE rig on a slightly down hill heavily planted wheat fieds,..or lightly powdered ski slope,...and then based on THOSE EXPERIENCES ( AND FUTuRE IDEAS) taken to the next step ,...which might be a small drogue chutes or two that would deploy from below the shoulders to place the flyer in a more upright position and perhaps allow a running landing ( yes I KNOW ,..THAT would still be using parachutes to land but WOULD be fun to do and would add another half minute to the flying time for certain very experienced and expert pilots like Jeb. PS I'm climbing the stairclimber 60 flights now and climbing max incline on the treadmill wile building abductor and adductor strength in my now bionic hip. I hope to start running to drop my weight next month, get a new bigger Optima reserve in my rig and fly some in March so I can make the Flock and Dock in April.... God, I've missed flying ! PSS maybe we will find a new rare earth element or plasma material or be able to create one soon ( in the super collider) that will have a much greater lift potential versus volume than helium/hydrogen and we all can fill our suits with a charge of that just after we leave the door? Those are the kind of technology discoveries no one can predict..... Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  4. Well done Jarno,.... Rob signed the original DVD for my son Matt and I know he likes what you did with this edit. Like Matt Hoover said, it would be hard to resist doing this if the terrain were nearby,... but unlike Matt,... I would have to shed about 1/4 of my body weight to even think about it ,....and I would STILL think long about it. Thanks to Rob and James for letting those of us who can't or wouldn't be there,.... 'feel' just a little bit of what they felt. The song was well matched to the "feeling" Thanks Jarno Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  5. Awesome video Scotty! Love the cloud surf part amd really miss that so thanks. Happy Dad's day too.. I'm getting a total hip replacement in July---and hoping to be back in your films later this year after ANOTHER re-hab period. UGH ! Rehab AGAIN ! ( worse than spins ) Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  6. Having only jumped into the swoop pond from Justin's truck at Lebanon and gone under the surface for a few seconds,.. I agree that if you stay still all zipped up with no rig on and are not entangled you 'can' float on your stomach or back. I did on my stomach but then like you said ,..as I moved and my legs got slightly below my upper body,... the then the waterlocked leg wing pulled my legs quickly with much force down to the bottom.( in thankfully less than a five foot depth so I could keep my mouth and nose above the surface) I decided then that whether under my main or reserve: " If" I was going into water with a wingsuit ,...I would NOT take any chances of anything holding water and pulling me down or keeping me stuck in the rig ,...so I would immediately free my arms, turn my rear risor to head for the beach or maybe to closer people on a boat, take my hook knife,.. slice open the airlocks in my leg wing between my legs, then unzip the legs to tne knees, kick the suit off from my feet, kick off my sneaks or sandals ,... undoe or cut off my chest strap and open my wingsuit chest zippers down to my leg strap links, ditch my helmet while checking altitude and wind before turning into the wind ( toward the white in whitecaps)to land slowly with my canopy downwind in the water. I would keep my knife in my hands ( and I have a 2nd one) as I flared above the water to drop in as softly as I can( to stay shallow). Once in the water, cutaway ( no rsl or sky attached ) bend down to release my leg strap miltay snap links ( I prefer) then up to turn away from canopy like you said,... push apart the risors from my shoulders and swim out of the rig. I would be very careful if there were any waves or currents swiming anywhere near the canopy/lines or even the rig because the wingsuit will still be attached to the rig and the risors and lines will be floating around a bit on or just under the water and the canopy could trap water and pull the lines and risors down. ( large Sails have filled with water on boats and pulled the boat under) If the canopy and lines hadn't already sunk down below the rig and if I "needed" to stay afloat for rescue I would indeed use the reserve or flotation device I should be wearing to try to approach the canoppy/rig from the up wind up-current direction just to cut some canopy and lines away from the rig so that I can make a Zero P fabric air scope to stay afloat and attract attention..... Also not my advice but my personal survival plan I think through when flying over the ocean. I always jump in shorts and a t shirt and I would hope to be ablt to slip out of my harness and suit in thsi way. Spot,...just looking at Scotty's pic from Hawaii made me feel a bit nervous for those of you I saw in what appeared to be flocks pretty far out to sea. Had an arm or leg suit ziipper blown out or a collision on exit, an unplanned deployment or other "stuff" happened out there ,.....would you guys and gals have been ok out in the water?. Did they have a rescue boat stationed out there ? Did you all review the sea landing ideas and have floats. Like I said ,..I was a little nervous for "you-all" . After almost 1200 scuba dives and 34 years at that,... I know from observed experience that people don't always stay calm and cool underwater when they can't see can't breathe or they feel somehow restrained from getting to the surface. Thanks for your comment and question here and for reminding me to say something about my nervousness,. If you or anyone has other good ideas about water landings that would make me safer (and yes I HAVE considered taking my small spare air bailout bottle) please share them. "Stoney" Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  7. Awesome and like Andrea said ,..please keep all the dynamics in mind and stay healthy . You guys are the absolute very best at what you do ! What an Incredible Future lies ahead for parachuting AND wingsuiting ... Can't wait for the 'stingers' ! ....and stuff we can't even imagine now. Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  8. Why shouldn't a definition allow material outside the just the gap between the arms and torso and between the legs. Why wouldn't some % of "material" (semirigid or rigid) be allowed to be outside the gaps between arms and torso and legs. In other words why shouldn't the definition allow for "some" % of the wingsuit equipment material to be rigid ( like say 25% of the material ) and why not allow that the wingsuit "equipment" be flexible ,semi-rigid or rigid and outside the hands( like grips or winglets on the hands and/or perhaps running along the "outside" of the legs or even beyond the feet ( like Lurch's flippers) and tail wings beyond the legs),...and/or also between the head( or the helmet) and either the arms or hands ? or between the suit and a rig ( ie material "fairings" ) And, what if the wingsuit "equipment" has a means of using the "only' the strength of the flyer's movement of the hands, legs, feet, toes, fingers, head and or chest expansion to provide added pull- chord type tensioning by "leverage" (perhaps running the pull chords around small rigid nylon or metal enclosed pulleys attached to the inside of the suit or attached in some way inside the suit to the torso or rig straps to increase the usable forces the pilot might desire. And why not allow for Bi-wing capability..... ALL OF THIS ---AS LONG AS the pilot flyer's body ( their bones, muscles, head, feet, toes, tongue or whatever ) provide the winsuit's core structure and also provide 100% of the eventual load path support for the total forces that are expected to be placed on the wingsuit "equipment" during flight. And yes,...I "have been" fiddling with designing just such a suit to show to Tony and Jeff someday ---that involves "ALL" of the prior mentioned features... .... not for flocking but for minimal drag, high forward speed & extended time/distance/low descent speed performance flight using pilot strength and allowing for a transition between such performance and a more relaxed flight. ___( maybe someday the Tony "Stoney-suit" ???? Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  9. THAT is really smooth and beautiful flying ..... I think I see you ( Mike) holding your legs straight allowing your wingmen to approach without the burble...( or is that just your standard leg width for a backfly?) and they seem to take their grips up on the calf and then sorta slide their hand back to your ankle. Mike,...does it put much stress on your legs as they open out or does the wingsuit fabric kinda stop them from turning you into a wish-bone? Is it easier to approach a base that is on his back? I look forward to seeing the docks from F&D... Way to evolve the wingsuit skills!! Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  10. Justin just PMed me saying I shouldn't have made a joke on this thread so I apologize for my attempts at being funny,... I didn't mean to distract from the docking goals and the new point system,..so disregard ,....Officially ,...NO points for hitting testicles and my 2nd joke is now officially NOT FUNNY... Sorry Justin and Andrea,... I just grabbed the first thread I could because I thought the 2nd joke was hysterical and I didn't think we wing-suiters were getting "all serious and mature" all of a sudden,... Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  11. Three men - a Canadian farmer, Osama bin Laden and a Wing-suit flying, scuba diving, sailor Dude are all walking together one day. They come across a lantern and a Genie pops out of it. 'I will give each of you one wish, which is three wishes in total', says the Genie. The Canadian says, 'I am a farmer and my sons will also be farmers. I want the land to be forever fertile in Canada .' POOF! With the blink of the Genie's eye, the land in Canada was forever fertile for farming. Osama was amazed, so he said, 'I want a wall around Afghanistan , Palestine , Iraq and Iran so that no infidels, Americans or Canadians can come into our precious land.' POOF! Again, with the blink of the Genie's eye, there was a huge wall around those countries. Hmmmmm the Wing-suit flying, scuba diving, sailor Dude ( with a dog named Argo) says, 'I am very curious. Please tell me more about this wall.' The Genie explains, 'Well, it's about 5,000 feet high, 500 feet thick and it completely surrounds those countries. Nothing can get in or out;...... it's virtually impenetrable.' The Wing-suit flying, scuba diving, Sailor Dude thinks for just a moment longer then he smiles, grabs a beer and a cigar to enjoy after the jump, puts his rig on, heads for the waiting Aircraft,..then turns and says to the Genie:........... ''Fill it with water.'' I pretty much vote this my favorite email of the year.... Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  12. 5 points for fist to testicles.... Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  13. Nice video Justin ,..and Merry Christmas to you and "the Turner " Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  14. and so did my vote and my son's and his fiancee's too ,..( although it was hard not to vote for that surfer babe,... she rides 40 ft waves! Way to go out there you, sky divers , climbers, BASE jumpers and adventure enthusiasts.... Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  15. We do need to make a distinction between the formation during the record and other formations in general. The 68-way was flown TO FIT THE GRID. All efforts were made to get the formation inside the grid, including exactly the kind of stuff Kallend is talking about with flying off of people further away rather than our immediate neighbors. Our only goal was to get a nice grid picture. We flew off of people way further in front of the formation in order to correct for any flaws in the lines that would affect the grid fit. Had the requirements been different, the flying might have been a little different, too. Instead, we found ourselves adapting our flying style to accommodate the grid, rather than the grid being an accurate representation of our flying. No surprise that some of those bubbles don't always fit. I, too, have mixed feelings about the current "best fit" criteria that are combined with subjectively choosing the formation that looks best. So we have a grid that could fit a bunch of junk in it (Jarno's counter-examples come to mind), but we claim that we will not submit a bunch of junk as a record jump, because people will always want to submit something that looks record-worthy. But we really have no guarantee for that and no proper way of enforcing it. I recall a certain 70+ way (what was the number again?) being built the day before the mighty 68 way. I may be wrong, since I was not involved in any of the judging and I don't have any pictures at hand to prove this, but my impression was that the bigger way from the last jump the day before also kinda fit the grid, just not as nicely. Hence it didn't deserve to be called the record, when compared to the badass-looking 68-way that followed. So what makes the 68-way MORE grid-worthy than previous formations? How do we properly quantify its grid-worthiness without being too subjective? Yes, the 68-way provided a much better fit, it flew together longer in that solid configuration, it sure as hell felt great (that jump has provided most of us with sweet visuals of excellent sight lines, and memories that will probably last a lifetime). But if we hadn't done that jump, if Purple had flown a shittier base, if we'd gotten hosed by weather for the remainder of the event, or whatever other scenario, then would the other formations from the day before have been equally okay to claim as the new record? Or would we have stuck with the 30-something way from the earlier 2-plane formation just for the sake of being strict about it? When we move on to bigger and bigger numbers, will it be as easy to make the distinction? Will we be tempted to accept formations of lesser value then, just because the rules are loose enough to allow it? Will we risk becoming more complacent as the task becomes harder to accomplish? It often seems that a decent formation is achieved, but it still looks a little bit all over the place, so it is then improved upon, until not only does it meet the baseline criteria for being a record, but it also LOOKS worthy of being called a record. We break a record, but we're not quite sure yet if it's the best we've got, so we try it a bunch more times, and then we realize that what we had before was actually pretty damn good and call that our best. When we finally realize we got a record it all feels a bit anticlimactic. Yea, we sorta knew we had something good all along... we were just working out a few kinks, but wait, we actually had it right there... never mind... It's not the clear YES/NO answer that makes you go "YEAH!!!" immediately. Why the doubt? There's that fuzziness that comes with the wide range of improvement that is still possible. Maybe we are still missing some extra guidelines in that judging rule set. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx All very well said as usual Andrea,..... You really need to join the State Department with your DIplomacy and your way of validating all sides of a discussion... Glad you are well JarnoMc.... I thought your transportation of choice "was" a pony?! I saw you riding one in the ZHills Sky one day. Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  16. With the exception of the front row on the left, all your bubble lines in this example are running from upper left to lower right. This introduces an assymetry in the judging criterion. What if you ran your lines on the other diagonal? Or along both? The general problem I see with your approach is that a jumper is judged only with respect to immediate neighbors (one neighbor only in the current example), whereas the instruction we receive (appropriately IMO) is to look beyond the immediate neighbor to 2 or 3 places down at least two and maybe three sight lines. As I wrote previously, the bubble method does a good job evaluating short range order (immediate neighborhood) but nothing whatever to evaluate long range order. The general problem I see with your approach is that a jumper is judged only with respect to immediate neighbors (one neighbor only in the current example), whereas the instruction we receive (appropriately IMO) is to look beyond the immediate neighbor to 2 or 3 places down at least two and maybe three sight lines. As I wrote previously, the bubble method does a good job evaluating short range order (immediate neighborhood) but nothing whatever to evaluate long range order. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ..... I hear what you are saying Kallend and there are things that can improve on Ed's bubble idea ,...But FIRST,....you have to admit that if each flyer on that 68 way photo had eiither their head or their body ( not the arm wings or legwings -but the head or middle body section inside Fast Ed's bubbles template ( whichever is chosen and I prefer the body ) ,..then that 68 way sure would have been an even sweeter , more beautiful, more symetrical and most important a "more accurate representation" of what each and all the flyers were "intending" to do individually and as the entire 68 person team per the predeclared drawn formation/ So if the bubbles template of fast Ed's had been used for judging,...the result would have been a record that was much better flown individually and as a tem than the result that was obtained using the best fit grid judging appoach. Or maybe the event would not have succeded in producung a record ( not all events should succeed,..although enough "experienced" good wingsuiters 'did' actually show up at Elsinore for them to do the 68 way or maybe a slightly smaller formation in the 50's. ( it seems the best fit grid criteria is producing the record goal at every event held by using the grid's best fit judging,... That makes for beautiful big fun formations but not "really special" formations worthy of being called " a record" . I agree with what Zack DSE, and many others have said here and away from this forum that a record should be something very difficult and very special,...NOT easily repeated. Using the grid I project that every event held will produce another "record". As for Fast Ed's bubbles and the point you made Kallend,..I totally agree and that is why I wrote my earlier long emails on having a 2 foot wide ( scalable as 1/3 a typical flyers body length w/helmet to tail wing edge) transparent light colored shaded lines connecting each flyer's predetermined desired body midpoint ( the intendeded position's midpoint) and connected to all the other flyers midpoints along both diagonals ( if appropriate to the formation ) and along all horizontal connection lines and all vertical connection lines. THIS KIND OF template of intersecting lines as a judging criteria could even be drawn for a large S shaped formations or a large USPA letter formation in the sky. Where these 2 ft wide colored transparent lines intersect is a where Faset Ed's circular bubble could be draw enclosing the space inside the connecting lines. For example,... on the 68 way photo from Elsinore,... there would be a template with 68 circle bubbles on the template with each circle enclosing a diamond crossover space for each connecting diagonal and enclosing a square crossover space of each horizontal and vertical line. This would provide 8 points around which to draw either an octagon bubble of enclosed space or a circle by joining the 8 points of the Octagon as the circumferance of a bubble circle with a diameter of 6ft . Each flyer's central body ( not their helmet , arm wings or leg wing ) would have to be within this Octagon or circular space bubble, giving each flyer about a 3.5 to 4 ft error margin either side of the intended dead center point in the bubble and about a 4 to 4.5 ft error margin forward or back of the intended bubble's dead center. Narrow never touch lines should also be drawn on the template that could not be touched by any part of the flyers helmet or wings and they should be centered in the desired empty spaces between jumpers in any pre declared formation so as to encourage conservative and safe seperation . Another never touch line should be drawn entirely around the formation on the template perhaps 4 ft out from the the formation's intended full size as drawn so the wing tips and rear formation flyers form a shape as close as possible to the intended formation's shape. If someone who actually knows what they are doing on a computer could illustrate what I just outlined ( fast Ed or McCordia or Kallend or Matt or Andrea or ???? I would really appreciate that ....and it would help everyone see what I am getting at based on what Ed P ( uncle Charlie) told the Italians combined with my thoughts and Ed's buddles.... Maybe McCordia ,..you could use this somehow in the approach you were using ... Again,..using my method based on uuncle Charlies lines ,..the method one Fast Ed has posted or the method McCordia sent me for comments ,...EACH identified the same 4 to 6 out flyers on the recent 68 way that were considered "in" for the best fit grid judgement ( even though their positions were very obviously not where they wouldhave wanted or intended to be. So ,..as a sanity check of sorts,....ALL these ideas have merit as an improvement to the grid and it's "best "fit" manipulations. ( those flyer who were on the photo out of position perhaps were only ther momentarily when the photo was snapped and then recovered to their intended spots and overall that awesome formation was a beautiful and wonderful accomplishment . Each of the three methods ( not the grid) also places the template on the photos based on the fomation leader being in their exact intended poistion whwn the phor is snappped. it is the leader's position, their horizonyal and vertical speeds, stabiility and heading that eveyone else is either directly or indirectly building the formation around and they "should always" be assumed to be in the correct position thorughout the flight until break off. I look forward to seeing what is taken to the USPA board in 2010 as refined judging methodology....hased on a large majority backing by the entire wingsuit community worldwide . The grid idea was a good start until the square became a diamond and then a "best fit" approach got thrown into the criteria "after the 2008 71 way so that the methodology could make the intended outcome be something that it wasn't per the original criteria. I do hope the USPA allows us to try out some of these new jugement methods and then surveys those members who indicate that the wingsuit is their primary displine so that our wingsuit family's thoughts on what woks and works better is fully considered before more 'records' get chalked up nased on the best fit grid. Good luck to that "group out there developong alternatives .... Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  17. Reference Supergirls postings on ideas that were kicked around a couple weeks before the 100 way big event that became the 68 way event: ....and Fast Ed's bubble overlay of the 68 way posted earlier in theis thread.... ie Here ya go. prior posting... Attachments: 68-way-Bubble Grid.jpg (83.2 KB) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Ed,..your illustration of your bubbles overlaid on the 68 way photo nicley shows what your bubble idea as judging system would do to refine the judging criteria,.... You bubbles pretty much are circles that would enclose the must touch-fly-within common enclosed shaded areas inside the lines connecting the flyers predeclared positions on a template that Ed P and I were suggesting along with no toach lines. McCoridia wrote to me with another similar must fly in shaded areas technique for a computer based photo scan and based on a philosophy that he said was being evauated already by a large group of some of the best flocking flyers ... I saw the list of people he was getting input from and it was impressive.... You should tak your thoughts to hsi group. For me it was "more" than intersesting that whetehr it was your bubble template ,..my and ED P's must touch within lines /must not touch lines OR the result of the softwar techique McCordia's group had developed ,... the very same 4 to 6 flyers on the grid certified 68 way photo would have been judged as being "out of position" by each system . That result I believe says something positive for the basic merit in what you , me, EdP and McCordia's group have thinking over and been suggesting as a more refined judging criteria than the cureent grid.... It really should not be ( but I guess 'could-be) hard to get one or a combination of these methods accepted for testing in the upcoming winter/spring flocking events over the next 6 months and have a tighter more special and more accurate vs intented positons method for overall judging on all future sizes and shapes of formations. Good luck on that ............... Super girl really should be denied access to these forums . She makes entirely too much sense in her diplomatic approaches to our male ego and pride of authorship stubborness that takes up most of the postings ( like mine) DSE "was" my favorite diplomat ,..but it is very difficult for me to imagine any diplomat retaining their composure after watching their own side's people bomb their car..... So I vote Andrea as our chief wingsuit forum diplomat and logic sanity check flyer. Not that many of you realize that she's my adopted daughter and in whom I am greatly proud. Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  18. Got my votefor sure!!! Vote yet? Do it,... he had to climb up there with all his gear on and no ropes . It's him #1 and the pretty Brazillian surfer #2 Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  19. Nicely done.... just the facts.... as they currently exist... nice work Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  20. Only if your plane flies backwards..normaly people come out in front of the group, not behind. ... Don't confuse the plane with the jumpers. The base was definitely in front and left of me when I exited, and in front when I was catching it. PM definitely had his FEET rather than his head towards me and my head was towards him, so I'd say I was behind him. I find my Tonysuit doesn't fly feet first very well. hmmmmmmm If the base and fomation is ahead of you ,..how can you be coming out in front of the formation,...I agree that PM would have his feet facing your head once you turned to head toward him and the formation,...and at that moment he and the formation would all be aheadof you ( YES,...always in front of you relative to you ONCE you face it and you would still be behind the formation at the moment you leave the aircraft realative o where the formation is going,... but yes in front of the formation relative to the ground... (somehow I actually follow that ) Oh shit,...what was the question?! Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  21. Only if your plane flies backwards..normaly people come out in front of the group, not behind. And regardless of distance..the later divers have more altitude, which translates to more horizontal speed.. 75 to 80% isnt maxed out...thats 100% again...there is a middle ground.. Purple Mike made a great base because he set a consistent speed Consistancy is totaly unrelated to performance levels. But a praiseworthy skill, manditory skill (which I personaly lack) for base flyers in all bigways..As long as a base repeats the flying speed time and time again, the group can learn to adjust and perform better and better to match what the base is doing. If freefliers doing 160 mph on a full load have their divers and floaters be able to carch up, than so should we.. Why everyone is trying to turn this into critique appearantly aimed at the recent bigway baffles me.. Why isnt a discussion possible without it turning into shitting on something someone else has done? The general cry to try and up the overall performance and skill levels...all for it. Specific mentions and trashing of videos/peoples acomplishments...uncalled for... me NASCAR clapping!!! and for some of us heavy guys ( fat in the middle ) it takes 95 to 100% in a large suit just to fly at a vertical airspeeds down near 60mph ( I enjoy coming in from behind so I can see the group ,..build up my speed and have less effort intially as I get placement) We big boys REALLY appreciate a constant base descent and forward speed so we can judge getting in and staying there for a minute or so after arrival.. ( way to go Purple on the 68 way... That was my experience with you in Sebastian last winter and with Scott Bland, Justin and Jeff ( most times) but it must be damn hard for someone Jeff's size and your size to fly "high performance suits" at your 50%,... so I can be in the formations at my 95 to 100%.... I appreciate your willingness to be as Lurch said " Part of a group with commaraderie just having fun" PS : As last out of the 4th aircraft last year on three of the 70 plus at Elsinore , the formation was ALWAYS well behind me and I had to turn about 150 degress left and dive to even get to see the formation. Where a formation "is" has something to do with which aircraft you are in and when you depart . On the last 73 way I got to leave the 2nd plane last and I only had to do shorter left turn and dive to see everyone heading toward the base. (.. the only times I have exited later and been above and ahead of a formation is when we fly the flock on the planes heading ) Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  22. Thanks Scotty for giving those of us bored at home another surrogate experience... I always love your sunburst effects,...and I really liked the cool angles under the flock looking up into the clouds,... I felt like I was doing deep scuba in the sky and looking up at some sort of swimming /breathing Eagle Ray inshallower waters... a very cool feeling for those of us who like to play in the water as well as the sky.... Like I told Matt, I think it's great ( and neat composition) that you took the time to grap some underneath shots of Matt taking his pics ... It is a different perspective of the flock I really enjoy seeing... and it really helps give a feel for depth and size. Sometimes I think you photo guys are missing out on being part of the formation,..but nah,..you all actually the very best views of anyone up there... ( I'm also sure there are things you get to see that are fantastic mind=blowing memories up there ,.. but for some reason just never quite make it into the final pictures) I mean hey,..you get to look up under all the gals skirts and take pics of them while pretending it is "just for the event"...boy,..whatta con) Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  23. Exceptional photos Matt,... I really like white sky ,nice fit , your mountain lake combos and your cool close up of C OB and the other photographers above and around the formation.... Seems like both you and Scotty are really hauling ass ,moving all around and still staying above and on level with the formations to compose and get the shots you do from the various angles. How do you and Scotty manage to both do all that without risk of encountering each other...( some sort of a preplan I suspect ) Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  24. Ah,... not so grasshopper,... but I think you were still one of the 73 (plus the photgraphers) that flew the largest US flock ever on our 'world record' for the largest living get-well card in the world sent to Rick Hough on the sunset jump at Elsinore last year... ( and it worked!) That was the formation when Jeff did his unannounced barrel roll just about 10 seconds prior to breakoff altitude ---( see MattHoover.com and Sky2productions .com photos) Life is what happens while we are making other plans.
  25. Kalland; Thanks for the two pictures,....both are very good looking... I really like the shot over the lake with Purple Mike leading... Nice suit colors over the land and lake background with a clear sunny day.. Good pic!...good vibes ,...many more will be coming I'm sure... You all put together some really great formations, and gave us the best flocking show ever,..without too many days of stressing to beat the clock on the days available... Have fun now! Thanks again... Life is what happens while we are making other plans.