jumps until profficient on platform?

[Jbag 0]

In spite of the recent death of a skydiver trying to ws base in the valley...

How many jumps do you feel like you need to do on a given wingsuit before you feel comfortable/proficient/skilled/experienced on a given suit.

When do you feel like you are "there?"

IHYD

[Jbag 0]

Jbag

In spite of the recent death of a skydiver trying to ws base in the valley...

How many jumps do you feel like you need to do on a given wingsuit before you feel comfortable/proficient/skilled/experienced on a given suit.

When do you feel like you are "there?"

I will start it off...

I think 100 jumps is a good basis for when you are no longer thinking about what you are doing and finally just working on the fine adjustments. you have no problem exiting, you are no longer thinking about the exit. you are comfortable in the suit from exit to landing. you have already flown above the tail in an otter. do another 50-100 and you are getting experienced and really learning how to fly it, know where you will be, how to setup to get on someone in different flight modes. discuss.

IHYD

[uberchris 0]

are you referring to a BASE progression or are you just referring to WS skydive?

gravity brings me down.........

[Jbag 0]

WS skydiving

the latest jumper that went in had 20-30 WS skydives on his suit and thought he was good enough to go to a low cliff and test his luck.

IHYD

[The111 1]

Obviously there are multiple levels of open-endedness to this question. The biggest one to me is the definition of proficient.

I think a big part of the answer also depends on the suit, both in general (i.e. big vs small) and how similar it is to something you've flown before. I had around 500 jumps on an old S3 when I bought my P2. Within 5 jumps I felt like I knew the P2 as well as I did the S3... it flew very similarly. Fast forward a few years and a few hundred more jumps, and I get a G3. I have probably 40 jumps on the G3 so far, and feel nowhere close to mastery... doubt I will by 100 jumps either. Not that it's hard to fly, or not a blast... it's just... different, and I have to think a little bit more consciously about everything I do in it.

One thing's for sure, I will never feel "proficient" enough in any suit to fly 12 inches away from a solid rock. (not trying to imply anything about the particular incident mentioned in the OP, but I know many recent incidents do involve proximity flight)

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[mccordia 74]

At about 50 wingsuit jumps I felt safe in small groups.
At about 500 wingsuit jumps I felt like I was in full control, any axis/orientation.
At about 2000 wingsuit jumps I felt experienced enough to take it off a cliff.

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[nickfrey 0]

Jbag

WS skydiving

the latest jumper that went in had 20-30 WS skydives on his suit and thought he was good enough to go to a low cliff and test his luck.

And 10-20 BASE jumps, with ZERO Wingsuit, in a Venom. He was testing a little more then luck.

[ifell 0]

Jbag

In spite of the recent death of a skydiver trying to ws base in the valley...

How many jumps do you feel like you need to do on a given wingsuit before you feel comfortable/proficient/skilled/experienced on a given suit.

When do you feel like you are "there?"

The "feel like you are there" thing is what gets people in bad situations. When you see someone with 50 jumps on a Phantom 3 board the plane with an X3, no doubt he felt confident on the P3. Add BASE to the mix and trouble comes at you fast.

Even though I "feel like I am there", there is always a video out there that makes me realize I suck. We are not meant to fly so the journey is long and hard... Good thing it's so much fun.

[DSE 5]

mccordia

At about 50 wingsuit jumps I felt safe in small groups.
At about 500 wingsuit jumps I felt like I was in full control, any axis/orientation.
At about 2000 wingsuit jumps I felt experienced enough to take it off a cliff.

And yet you didn't take a large suit off a cliff at 2000 wingsuit jumps.

[hjumper33 0]

I usually stay out of these types of things, but Ill just throw my own experience out there in relation to wingsuit base, because theres plenty of people who read this forum that got into wingsuiting to start base jumping.

I had 400 skydives before I ever did a base jump. I had 200 wingsuit skydives before I ever considered a wingsuit base jump. I did my first full two seasons of wingsuit base on a phantom before moving to a V3 for two seasons before moving to larger suits I now fly. I cant even imagine how people would think of starting wingsuit base jumping in a large suit. But ive only been around for a little while and am a generally average wingsuit pilot, so what do I know.

[maxtreme 0]

So I have almost 1k ws skydives with total about 2.2k jumps
600 with mid size suits, blade etc, 400 with X2,Apache, size suits
How did I should start wingsuit base. Basicly more familiar to fly with wingsuit than without it.
I should post this to base.com but I would like to Hear your opinion
Peace,love,base,wingsuits
M

[Jbag 0]

DSE

***At about 50 wingsuit jumps I felt safe in small groups.
At about 500 wingsuit jumps I felt like I was in full control, any axis/orientation.
At about 2000 wingsuit jumps I felt experienced enough to take it off a cliff.

And yet you didn't take a large suit off a cliff at 2000 wingsuit jumps.

Thats not what this discussion is about. Did you have numbers that you felt a bit more confident or felt like you were ready to start instructing?

Making the decision to start WS BASE is very personal and perception based. there is no real number, only a perseons thoughts on when they feel like they are ready.

IHYD

[Arvoitus 1]

maxtreme

So I have almost 1k ws skydives with total about 2.2k jumps
600 with mid size suits, blade etc, 400 with X2,Apache, size suits
How did I should start wingsuit base. Basicly more familiar to fly with wingsuit than without it.
I should post this to base.com but I would like to Hear your opinion
Peace,love,base,wingsuits
M

Some small suit you're familiar with, from a 'forgiving' cliff would be my recommendation, but I only had 130 ws skydives on my P2 before I took it off a cliff and have never flown any other wingsuit.

Your rights end where my feelings begin.

[DSE 5]

I *thought* I was ready to start teaching WS around 300 WS jumps. Turns out I was "ready", but didn't know nearly what I thought I knew.
In short, perceptions were off because of the people I was around and the environment I was in.
Thousands of jumps on smaller suits such as the Phantom and Ghost, I still don't feel like I'm in "total control"/confident in all points of the much larger suits I own.

Quote

there is no real number, only a perseons thoughts on when they feel like they are ready.

So, what are you actually looking for then?

[mccordia 74]

For me the 'teaching' in wingsuit flying is something that evolved over a number of years. When I had around 200/300 or so wingsuit jumps, I started getting questions from friends, and gave them tips/advice where I could. When going to boogies with these same friends, I often came up with the diveplans etc.

I guess I had about 500/600 wingsuit jumps when I attended an instructional course, to get better at the didactic/teaching side of things (on the ground), and actually started teaching FFCs. It was around that same time at a bigway boogie in Germany that several groups split off from (not the safest ever) bigways another LO was doing and formed smaller groups, that led to my first official gig as LO. Liked it quite a bit, and from there-on started organizing more and more events/boogies/instructing.

As to the decision when to start wingsuit base. For sure thats a personal decision. But looking at the people I see now, a large, large percentage make that personal decision with an experience level way lower than Id recommend to anyone safetywise.

100 to 200 wingsuit jumps may make one an okay wingsuit pilot, but far from an expert flyer. Much like other disciplines (that also have the advantage of training through tunneltime), experience does show in ones flying, as well as (or more important even) decision making.

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[nickfrey 0]

hjumper33

But ive only been around for a little while and am a generally average wingsuit pilot, so what do I know.

Hey doc, will ya quit calling yourself an average pilot? The truly average might start thinking they can wingsuit places like Brento.

[Jbag 0]

Quote

So, what are you actually looking for then?

To find a pattern.

IHYD

[WickedWingsuits 0]

This is the same question people always ask when they want to downsize canopies. I don't think "How many jumps?" is the right question. I know a few canopy checklists are out there and before downsizing you need to be able to repeatedly get the canopy to perform in many different ways.

Check out: http://www.dropzone.com/safety/Canopy_Control/Downsizing_Checklist_47.html

The same is true of wing suit progression. You can put a minimum number on it but never a max as it can be so different depending on the person, coaching, drop zone, currency, etc.

Personally I don't feel like I am even starting to get a clue about a suit until I have banged out at least 20 jumps on one. To really feel like I am getting in tune with a suit it seems to be closer to 100. That is why I tend to fly the same suit for so long, it is a big invest of time to get to know how to fly one really well and just switching to a "better" suit is not just going to work in a handful of jumps. I am only flying on my 3rd regular suit, having jumper many others but really only feeling 100% in 3 of them.

Summer Rental special, 5 weeks for the price of 4! That is $160 a month.

Try before You Buy with Wicked Wingsuits - WingsuitRental.com