ernokaikkonen

I've made around 100 WS jumps in an unmodified Legend(size 00), no problems. Just to be sure(and just because I can), I made the "open-corner mod"(leaving about 25mm of the seam intact). Later I made a new bag with the dimensions of the bag rotated 90 degrees; with the new bag I can pack grommet-to-pin without having an ugly bulge in the main container. And then, since on the Legend the bridle is sewn on the bag, I made the new bridle slightly longer. I've made another 50 jumps with the corner mod, and yet another 50 with the new bag/bridle. Still no problems, and now I'm pretty much dumping from full flight.

I have actually looked into that... but couldn't really come into an conclusion. Some of the "hill certificates"(with technical drawings of the hills) of the ski jumping hills can be found on the Internet. Here is a list, maybe someone with more knowledge of wingsuit BASE could take take a look and see whether or not it's doable.

Well, yes, that's what prompted me to look up this old thread. I think there are two possibilities: 1) either the digitaldog people update their website once a year and add 1 to the year or 2) there's a script: "If everything goes according to plan, Chuck will attempt his wingsuit-to-snow project in Winter ." in any case it would be easier to say "he'll do it next year." I see lot's of people talking(some of them for a long time...). Let's see some action!

The FAI licence should be issued by your national licencing organization. More information can be found on the FAI website

Both work just fine for me.

No, I don't consider it fair to say that. I know people who put loads of jumps on Sabres without ever being spanked. Same with Triathlons. Yes, rectangular shaped canopies like the Sabre and the Tri can spank you if you aren't packing according to how the manufacturer recommends, and occasionally even if you are packing how the manufacturer recommends. But so can any other canopy. Ok, then would you think it would be fair to say that "Some canopies are more tolerant of bad packing and therefore less likely to spank you."?

Just buy some letter stickers and stick those on the lense. That's how the BSU beer light was made.

"Turn on the beer light!" Everybody knows what that means. But, what does the beer light look like on your DZ? Or is it just an "abstract" beer light; not really there, but you know when it's turned on? This is the brand new beer light at "Skydive Blue Side Up" on Texel.

Pack volume and weight, but also the parasitic drag. The thinner Spectra and Vectran lines cause less drag and the canopy flies more efficiently.

Compared to what, your Crossfire? I find the toggle pressure on the Sigma much higher than on a Icarus/Precision tandem or an EZ. (edit to add: That's of course probably plain and simply BS. The reason I have that feeling is that we only ever jump the EZs with small students. I do maintain that the Icarus/Precision has a much lighter toggle pressure.) That said, the Sigmas do shut down better even if it takes more strength to do it. The HOP doesn't handle turbulence too well, I've been told. On one of the DZs I've jumped at, they have one HOP and they simply leave it on the shelf most of the time after being scared a few times; the conditions there are almost always turbulent.

Acceptable? Of course. Hell, knock your self out; I don't see any harm in cleaning your cables every week if you feel like it. Necessary? Probably not in most conditions. Another related issue I recently noticed was that new rigs seem to need more regular cleaning. I read somewhere (probably on this forum) that the manufacturer of the cutaway housings uses some kind of oil in the manufacturing process, but only cleans the outside of the housing when they're done. The DZ I currently work at got a lot of brand new gear in the beginning of the season, and we've noticed that the cables on rigs that have been in use no longer than a couple of weeks can be extremely dirty. Maybe the manufacturers should start cleaning the housings before building the harness-containers? Or maybe the rigger assembling the rig should do it?

Just so you know, the company of that man currently recommends 3-ring maintenance at least every 90 days("three months", pg 74 of the latest version of the Vector3 manual, off the RWS website).

Well, they still make both(Manta and Fury) canopies. Along with a big bunch of other 7 and 9-cell canopies in different sizes. From the Flight concept website: The nine-cell range is: Wildfire 170, Clipper 195, Raider 220, Maverone 250, Manta 290, Man-O-War 320 And the seven-cells: Cricket 145, Firelite 175, Maverick 200, Fury 200, Fury 220, Sharpchuter 245, Startrac I 265, Startrac II 290, Startrac III 320 . The sizes seem to have varied a bit; I've seen the Manta being labeled as a 288, and the Maverone as 248. Maybe they just rounded the numbers . I also seem to remember a smaller nine-cell called the "Hummingbird", but I guess there wasn't that much demand for a ~150sqft F111 canopy. I'm pretty sure not too many people who value their ankles jump the Cricket as a main.

I only have experience with the prototype Sun Path stowless bags, but with those, bag locks are a result of a packing error. I've packed them for a full season with no bag locks, and they've worked fine for this season as well. If you pack the canopy in the bag in such a way that the slider grommets(on the inside of the bag) are resting against the bag closing tabs(on the outside), that prevents the tabs from flipping open. What "I Heard"(so it's just hearsay) is that since Sun Path couldn't idiot-proof the system they're no longer offering the bags even for testing. Bummer.

I've used my Garmin Geko 301 on a chest mount to do just that. Along with readings of forward speed and altitude.

Funny, we found the exact opposite... On the first few jumps we tried it we got into a weird oscillating motion that very quickly got so strong that the passenger simply had to let go. Sometimes the passenger started swinging left to right, on other times the passengers legs would start swinging up and down. This may have been because the passenger wasn't simply hanging as inert weight; he was also trying to fly his body. So. a word of warning to those wanting to try it out; make it just a two way on the first couple of times to see how it works out...

What's that and where can I find more information? There doesn't seem to be anything on the L&B website.

For my Geko301 I've built a chest mount with a clear window on it. It's basically an old altimeter pillow with a pouch attached to it. This way I can see my altitude, forward speed and vertical speed while in freefall. Unfortunately the software can't really handle the freefall speeds; the Glide Ratio indicator stays blank. Surprisingly, I've had no problems with GPS reception even though my body is blocking the view of the satellites.

There's a thread in the BASE forum about a device that would give an audible indication of your glide angle that a lot of people here might find interesting.

A bit like this?

Just saw this on the FRWD website. A bunch of wingsuit flyers are apparently going to cross the strait of Gibraltar in wingsuits. Does anyone know these guys or what sort of suits they are jumping?

In addition to the length of the cable housings(and cables), you need to make sure that the riser covers don't cover the smallest ring. This was the case on a Talon2 I was checking for compatibility.

Any rigger should be able to make one.

Ei perkele, mä oon tulossa tiistaina Suomeen ja luulin että täällä ausseissa on kylmä kun päivälämpötilat on alkanut pudota alle 20C.... Brrr.