verticalflyer

I jump at Weston on the green SMG92 & and Islander outside of Oxford, welcome to the forums. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Being a guy we tend to think we are ready for things way before we actuallu are. However I started at 179 jump in Spain adn had the delights of a mal on the very first jump. Well at least I got it on camera, but the main point is I was right on the limit of my skill level at the time and the consequences of camera on my head needed to be thought about. Camera's of today tend to be much smaller which helps and usually people start with head mounts however the risk of snagging equipment and lines together is there. Having said that the modern camera helmets and containers are excellent and worth investing in for safety and durability. Since I started camera I find you rarely jump without it, and you need to put the jumps in to learn from the all the early jumps which can be poor. Obviously as your flying skills progress so your direction and control of the camera will progress. Ultimately aside from the jump numbers, which are their for a good reason, you have to ask yourself what if that or this happens how will I deal with it am I confident to deal enough to deal with it. If your not ready no worries go do some more jumps and keep saving the money. Obviously sound out the DZ camera person who does it for a living rather than the 220 jump cool n groovy with the minidv who says yeah no problem. Take sit slow you wont be Norman Kent, Patrick Passe or Leo Dickinson overnight but you'll have a lot of fun. Hope that helps. Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Uncle Charlie, I think you need to speak to Loser luke and take some inspiration from him he sorted his skydiving problems out with a few Tats and some cool edits! Nice video. How are you James, flying the suit pretty well from what I have seen. Hope Tiphaine is well. ( sorry no doubt spelt incorrectly. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

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Very tempted again, but will not know until end of month, last trip was a blast and some of the tight small groups (8-12) were very nice. The flocks are fun but the most learning takes place within the smaller groups. Anyone thinking of going, get used to walking around with a big grin on your face, the exit is a lot of fun! Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

With about 200 wingsuit jumps at the time, I had a reserve ride on my Skyflyer at the Herc boogie 2002, first jump of the boogie, normal deployment, video even shows clean lines no twist and then oneside inflates very fast and spin spin, on my back, here we go. Cut leg away arms away and kick but the twists have gone into my risers. Not happening so i chopped and deployed its all on the herc boogie vid at the very end from ftp skydiving movies. Cause: I use a silhoutte 150 for wingsuit and also as a second rig whilst freeflying, I was packing the silhoutte for nice snivelly openings for freefly and keeping the same for wingsuit. Basically too many rolls in the nose, as soon as I leave the nose completey out no rolls the canopy opens sweet. so 1 chop in 300 WS jumps. Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Sunny Dee, forget standing on your head it will hurt however, go to the pool, lake whatever and get on you head and try transituions from sit to head. It works, weird as it sounds its worth trying water is a fluid same as air and it enables you to start building muscle memory and orientation. Dive pools are ideal but make sure no ones jumps in. Hope that helps. Cheers Fraser

This has been going on in the back ground for sometime, after alot of problems with relations between companies they have finally got Matter working with LOIC though their is loads of back chat going on between Matter and the other Spainish Company that apparently copied the design alledgedly etc etc I am sure the real story will come out and it will be different every time we hear it. If they produce a good wingsuit cool, the more flyers the better. I havent flown one of these so dont know about performance may see some in Vichy i expect if I can escape the clutches of my latest work. See you soon if your down WOTG at all. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

245 total about 170 on the Classic II and the rest on the Skyflyer. Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Official film not out yet have to wait and see when Leo releases it, had a sneak preview a couple of months back and its stunning footage. The falcon's are incredible and the combination of man and bird in flight is great. Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Have not been on for while however I was recently at Empuria and jumping with some Ukranian guys. No names though I could get hold of them but this has been done, a russian on a base jump pitched to late and reached line stretch as he landed. However the canopy remained in the bag as he had now landed. Apparently he broke both legs from intial impact and some ribs but survived and is back jumping. The guy tellign me this info is well respected and not open to talking bull. I shall try to get some more info on this however it has apparently been doen, so please can we stop posting this. Personally i am more interested in taking off. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

I am over in lake Wales March 15th anyone likely to be about for some flocking, for a couple of weeks. out with a couple of AFF students and some personal training. Let me know if any other birds are going to be about. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Glad you enjoyed took ages to put together, but turned out nice unlike the current british weather which is pretty naff at the moment. Cheers Fraser [email protected] Dont just talk about it, Do it!

I have made over 200 wingsuit flights and never had PC hesitation and I use a fairly tight configuration, by that I have a Silhoutte 150 in an OJ container, I deploy with legs together straight and pointed which give me a clean deployment and less chance of turning during the intial deployment and snatch stages of the canopy being released. Why do i do this because I had a spinning mal at the herc boogie due to being turned during deployment with my leg wing still open. Whatever works for you but legs togther actually makes more sense and fly through the entire deployment and start unzippign as soon as you get your hands around the front from pitching. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

two things first off all check that you have pushed the cable fully into the pads before making any cuts and second we dont cut them we leave them out, allows you to pull the tips up before exit to ensure all cables are in place. very useful for checking and allows more movement as you are less likely to miss a joint on the top of the wing. It might not lokimas pretty but its safe and works well. Hope that helps. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Thanks for all the comments, glad everyone enjoyed the edit and the footage, roll on Herc Boogie 2004. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

As Craig says body differences do affect the flight , if two people have identical positions and ones 2 stone heavier and shorter, is wing is loaded at a greater amount and less efficient ( we are all overloading the wings relative to true flight eg climb) I have just started picking up wings and its slowing me down even more, the longest flight I had on my classic was 2 mins 50 for 11,000ft freefall, have not done a video recorded flight with the skyflyer for time yet, but I have noticed when I am really super slow my forward speed is not smoking. This makes sense as any unpowered or gravity powered wing generates max lift at one angle, however the problem we haqve of hitting that one angle is we are flying two wings sitting behind each other, eg the foward arm wing and the leg both of which can have entirely different angles relative to the airflow so it finding the sweet spot on the combination that yields the most efficient performance. Slowest average on the Skyflyer so far is 46mph but 12second point flying at 35mph, but i cant remember exactly what my configuration was at that point so gotta keep flyign and learning. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Cylume is great but in addition a pen torch gaff taped to your helmet is a great back up and good for landing. Position it by aiming the light where you are looking and then tape it down, hand on switch as you exit and switch outside the aircraft works a treat. Plus when you look up to check your canopy release brakes it works well. Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Lousy weekend, hence I did not make it up to Langar, surprise surprise its wall to wall blue skies today and 0 wind. Hope somebody jumped somewhere, and to cap it off we had a power cut as I consoled myself with a copy of crosswind the wingsuits over taupo sequence and the island with Loic. Still at least my beer was still cold. Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Squeak, The only person that can tell whether you like a canopy or not is you, try out a 190, 170, 150 but stage it, in today’s market place you can demo canopies of this size easily enough. Ask yourself am I happy to jump this size when the wind picks up, when there is no wind, when I have to make a crosswind landing or downwind because I am landing off, or I have been cut up and the only other option is a last minute turn. Do I know this canopy back to front, e.g. Can I fly deep brakes and land deep brakes to sink it somewhere small, do I really know its full range can I fly it to its envelope, front risers, rear risers, break lines do I really know the limits of this canopy. If the answer is yes then move on down. It may seem slow but you should become a far more rounded pilot and aware of why of the canopy behaves as it does, read the wing loading article on PD’s site and all the others as they are excellent at dispelling many myths about canopy performance. Also go to Bigairsportz.com website and download there owners manual, irrespective of canopy design the information is excellent and will clear up many of questions. Above all you need to be confident about what’s above your head when your throw your PC, unfortunately when people look around today they see the likes of the Joey Jones, Doug Park, John le Blanc, Jim Slaton and think hmm no problem couple of years I can be there, those guys are super current and have progressed down to the super canopies of today through 5-10 years of being in the sport everyday with 1000’s of jumps on each canopy. (Not saying this is your approach) I see too many people digging out of hooks/swoops all the time and when you talk to them some are receptive and some think your having a go at there ego, I just hate seeing incident reports. So make sure you have a smile on your face when you choose your canopy and not a frown when you’re on finals and the wind just picked up. Personally my first canopy was a 210 Pegasus for about 80 jumps but that was finance driven, and due to wanting to spend money on jumps not new kit when I really did not know what I wanted other than to improve my freefall skills whilst still being happy under canopy. I then tried Sabre’s Spectre’s Pd190’, s, Fury’s, Raiders, Clipper, Jedi, Silhouette’s and Stiletto’s I used a Stilli 150 for 700 jumps then I got a Samurai 105 for my freefly and a silhouette 150 for my wing suit, I have just over 1000 jumps. I weigh 180lb geared up in case you’re wondering. I hope some of that info helps, there’s a lot of good info out there and make the ultimate decision yourself. Have fun stay safe. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

have'nt checked my data yet as I need to load it all up and my PC died, but once I do I'll let you know, i doubt it will show that much of interest, just a very slow initial descent rate, which you get initially anyway before your in full flight. Dont just talk about it, Do it!

The climb John Loken was able to make on the Herc was due to a very good body position but more importantly an instant lift source e.g the prop blast from the C130 port and starboard props that combine to make an awesome slipstream, which combined about 100ft behind the herc in a kind of sweet spot. Unfortunately this was not sustainable. However coming out of steep dives Yuri has mentioned he thinks he is getting positve lift, as in climbing. However some GPS type analysis is probably needed to determine whats really going on. Still looks damn cool though. As materials improve and our understanding of the best way to fly improves I am sure climb out will become more common. But were still in the learnign to walk stage at the moment. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

I was asking for the information not agreeing with it, I started on a £150 rig which was a Chaser with a 1979 Pegasus and a 26ft Lopo. I found the source or research its in the Skydivers handbook. As those who have pinted out there are exceptions but as I said most either pack, instruct or work in an asociated area. The point was that those who jump a lot a dont fall into those categories must be fairly well off. Thanks for the feed back, Once I get hold of the page I'll find the relevant numbers which may be of interest. Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

Just a quick enquiry, I remember seeing a while back that a survey of skydivers had been carried out and skydivers made up the top 10% of the country in earnings and job type ( Lets face to support jumping habits you either need to be paid well, work in the sport or be born loaded. Can anyone refer me to the location of this data or just quote it for me as I am carrying out some research for a marketing proposal that needs this info. Thanks for any feedback Cheers Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!

I shall be watching the weather if its half decent should be up, half decent means small patch of blue to aim for or the spiral flying technique. Glad the suits arrived Gus, just in time for winter! Or are you off to the states. Enjoy Fraser Dont just talk about it, Do it!