johnmatrix

Am guessing he was one of the "I don't use an RSL because I don't want line twists on my reserve" crowd as well.

The Cypres cuts the loop when it fires?

Not really. Size-wise I would suspect the Vampire Sukhoi is around the same size as the C-Race but there's more to it than just size. The Alpine would probably be the best choice from the PF lineup for performance racing, but I think it was actually engineered primarily for short starts in the BASE environment. The Viper was really just a super-massive suit that never really became popular. A more interesting comparison would be between Squirrel and Tony Suits. I think until the advent of the C-Race the majority of the top scores were Tony Suits - Jedeis and Rebels I think.

A wise man once said, "nobody rides for free".

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4416268 Unit fired within its parameters during a swoop and resulted in a fatality.

Here's one from within the last couple of years. Tall, thin jumper starts to wingsuit, doing his first few flights on a borrowed beginner suit. This guy works at the DZ every day and jumps throughout the week, so he is more current than most. Jumper searches for a second hand suit to buy to save money, finds an intermediate-class suit (Barracuda) that he buys because 'it fits him'. 2 experienced wingsuiters tell him this suit is fine for him. He jumps this suit several times. I go on a jump with him, and he almost hits the tail on exit. To add to this, I suspect he was completely unaware of it too. Furthermore, he found the suit difficult to fly and was sinking out in flocks of heavier jumpers in Phantoms. So this is an example of someone who bought a bigger suit, too soon, for the wrong reasons, and as a result was less safe, and flew worse.

I agree with all that. It doesn't make much sense to learn stuff for the first time on a bigger suit. Learn on a smaller suit then take those new skills to the bigger suit. It would definitely be cool to see more wingsuit acro being a common thing with team comps. That being said I still don't understand 'wingsuit freefly'. If I wanted to go down really fast I would freefly. I bought a wingsuit to go forwards.

That is a good plan and it sounds like you know what you're doing. However - because it's an internet forum here's a criticism anyway. I think 'upsize' is a better term than 'upgrade' - bigger does not necessary mean better (not a comment on the Freak 2 - I've heard it's a good suit). I think there is a natural attraction to bigger suits at the start of one's wingsuit career, but they're actually not necessarily more fun than a small suit. But your plan is good because it will be A. fun and B. will give you a solid platform to upsize if there is something you want to do that you need a bigger suit for.

+1 Probably because their skydiving discipline of choice is something other than WS so they downsized hard and don't want to buy another container that fits a more appropriately sized canopy - for what is really just occasional WS. No issues with my Sabre 2 at 1.1 WL.

Yes - and I'm not sure how they do it but considering the money that they could sink into putting out their key marketing video you might as well give up on making yours look as good as theirs. Editing software like Premiere will allow you to colour correct but unless you're a professional it's going to be very crude at first and hard work getting it right. It's going to be like you trying to bake a cake for the first time - and trying to copy a really elaborate one you've seen in a store. Will it turn out as good? At the end of the day as long as it's edible that's the main thing.

Very sad. :( He was the ultimate badass.

I haven't flown either of them but the Barracuda looks more suitable for your experience level and I suspect is cheaper too.

+1

... or at least looked cool Well I do think it achieves that much. :)

Some people are spending thousands on the latest flying carpet each year to get any edge they can in performance events, I suspect that having a WS-specific rig that provides better aerodynamics would be on their shopping list too if it definitely worked.

Having met Robi I think he would get a good laugh out of this.

+1

It's like the wingsuit forum has it's own Godwin's Law, where any discussion over a period of time leads inevitably to someone being told they're getting rammed up the ass.

That is some really nice footage!

I agree VB should stay. One rabid fanboi post here and there isn't really a problem.

That's quite funny. I imagine him performing all the depicted poses while typing his further responses.

Thanks! Looks good. You should be able to upload the 4K video straight into YouTube like you've done with the 1080p one?

I would try a mounting solution that allows you to make some small adjustments if possible. For example, if you mount an action camera next to a DSLR-type camera the wide angle of the action camera might pick up the end of the lens on one side - so it's good to be able to shift things forward and back a bit. I have a Cookie Rok with top plate and two flatlocks on top, on which I can choose to mount a DSLR, CX100 or GoPro / Sony Action Cam.

Australia is a big place - find a place you want to work / live and then check in for your local DZs. I would suggest finding a 'normal' job first, then starting to skydive and see how you like it. (spoiler: you will probably like it ) Being a packer is hard work, but you may find other roles like manifest or bus driver may be open for you.

Jan 2012 - best wingsuit boogie ever occurs at Bridgewater DZ in Australia.