Vertical Speeds during Rodeo dives...

[JGarcia 0]

Just did my first wingsuit rodeo yesterday (yeah, I know...BEER!). Exit was all messed up because the girl riding me couldn't fit behind me in the door of the King Air as I was trying to exit facing the relative wind. She held on, we got stable, I popped wings and averaged ~105 mph according to the ProTrack. I'm sure I could get this sub 100mph because I caught myself getting lazy with my arms a couple of time...but I'm curious as to what kind of speeds you guys are getting on rodeos.

Cheers!

--Jairo

...only 9 more days 'til Eloy!

Low Profile, snag free helmet mount for your Sony X3000 action cam!

[vesatoro 0]

I've done few of those, and the speed has been around or a little less than that you've had, between 95 and 100mph. It's quite heavy to your arms when trying to fly efficiently, but sure it's fun
Vesa

[ernokaikkonen 0]

Vesa, do you have a pic of Heini doing the "daffy-exit" off your back? That looks really cool...

[vesatoro 0]

Nope, I don't have a picture of that, sorry.

"Fear is the path to the Dark side"
(Master Yoda)

[SpinDoctor 0]

Those, my friend, are VERY VERY cool!

My friends are reasonably experienced wing flyers... How many jumps would you recommend before a wing flyer takes a rodeo passenger?

Any suggestions as to an exit? I hope we will be using an Otter over in Lake Wales this Xmas - and I fancy hitching a ride

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Connextion: British 8 Way Team
www.bodyflight.co.uk
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[vesatoro 0]

Well, as ussually, it's not too easy to state an exact number of jumps when you're ready to do something new and different. I think every wingsuit flyer should know if he/she is ready to take someone on his/her back and to handle the exit, flight and separation. I wonder if someone would be really ready with under 100 flights, but that's only my thoughts...

I think the exit is best done as a straight exit from the door against the wind, the rider holding the bird's rig from the yoke or sides. I've done most of those jumps from a C206, so prefer girls as passengers, as there is not too much room at the door, and for other reasons too. The Otter is just great for those exits.

Vesa

"Fear is the path to the Dark side"
(Master Yoda)

[JGarcia 0]

I have a very limited number of Bird-Man jumps (20), however, I feel very comfortable flying my Skyflyer. I've gotten it unstable/recovered to check out the scary limits before this jump. We tried exiting as Vesatoro states, but the small door on King Air made things rather unstable for the first 2 seconds of the exit. However, with an Otter you should have no problems exiting squarely into the relative wind. Definately fun...but you should've seen the smile on my passenger's face when we landed. Definately a fun dive.

Cheers!

--Jairo

Low Profile, snag free helmet mount for your Sony X3000 action cam!

[Deuce 1]

Thanks for the link from the Camera Forum, J.

(birdmen, I'm a camera flyer, and have video'd just a couple of these, but they're a big topic of discussion cause they video and photo so sweet)

The rodeo position that seems to work best is the rider sitting right behind the butt, holding the bottom of the rig. The rider's legs are alongside the birdman's hips, not interfering with opening up the wings or the tail.

Without somebody increasing your fallrate it's the only way a non-birdsuited jumper can hang with you guys!

[kevin922 0]

What is the dismount like on these jumps? (for the rider of course)?

Kevin

[JGarcia 0]

My passenger just rolled off and watched me fly off...she said she was really surprised at how quickly I slowed down...said I was 100 ft above her in a matter of seconds. Must've been a cool view.

--Jairo

Low Profile, snag free helmet mount for your Sony X3000 action cam!

[JGarcia 0]

Huh, I'll have to try it with her sitting behind my rig...on our jump she was pretty much stradling my rig. Seems like it would be easier to hang on the way you're describing.

Thanks John!

--Jairo

Low Profile, snag free helmet mount for your Sony X3000 action cam!

[Deuce 1]

It's cool! They fall OFF! Like falling off a fence, and then since I'm wearing my RW suit with booties in a full track, the birdman zooms up and away.

Yeah, and Jairo, if they're back there they can grasp your hipring straps where they attach to the container. It seems that if they're up higher, their legs push the wing out and down next to where it attaches to the torso of the birdman. If they're too far back they make it hard for the birdman to spread his legs and the tail of the suit. I don't know if thats the right way to do it, but I have seen that method work pretty good.

[cmnorris 0]

Quote

Exit was all messed up because the girl riding me couldn't fit behind me in the door of the King Air as I was trying to exit facing the relative wind.

Was it the girl's fault?

Just curious.

[JGarcia 0]

Quote

Was it the girl's fault?

Hey, smart ass... if you would've read on in the thread, you would have read:

Quote

We tried exiting as Vesatoro states, but the small door on King Air made things rather unstable for the first 2 seconds of the exit.

...by the way, cmnorris is my gf and was the passenger on said rodeo dive.

--Cheers!

--Jairo

Low Profile, snag free helmet mount for your Sony X3000 action cam!