question - diving down

[billvon 3,009]

Had a question that comes from the Dwaine thread.

A poster on that thread claimed that there was no way to "dive" a wingsuit other than collapsing the wings. On both my Classic I and SF3 I've managed to rapidly roll 180 degrees and "pull up" (now down) and rapidly reverse my direction. It requires a lot of arm strength, and I can't do it well on the S3 yet (not strong enough) but it seems to give you a very rapid "dive" followed by a reversal of direction. Is there some reason why a BASE jumper using a wingsuit could not perform this manuever?

[motherhucker 0]

I'll assume you're talking about the Dwain Incident, Because typically, as I'm sure you're aware, a BASE jump usually has a solid object behind you...
As for Dwain specifically, I have an answer that I'll post at another, less controversial time.

[obi 0]

I know and like the maneuver you described and I do it with my S3. But there's no way I will do it around 1000 ft. It eats up so much altitude, you would just go in.
(1000 ft = bridge with which Dwain collided).

Besides that you can dive with a suit.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Actually, I do stuff like that all the time diving after errant students, but yes, it does lose a lot of altitude. It is a much more powerful maneuver in a wingsuit than it is in a "regular" track, but anyone who says that you cannot quickly reverse your direction in freefall need only watch one Golden Knights "diamond track". Edited to add that this is a snap 180 degree maneuver performed from a full-on max track.

Chuck

[ManBird 0]

You can definitely dive the suit (I've gone 160+ MPH head down). Like, SM, I've definitely had to do some agressive diving (which also increases forward speed if your body isn't pitched too far forwards) after first time flyers.

In that context, it wasn't whether or not you could dive, but could you lose enough altitude in that amount of time. As I understand it, he would have had to increase his fall rate to about 90 MPH in four or five seconds to get under the bridge. It was also probably so marginal that going under the bridge didn't seem necessary. It's also not a good idea to go into a dive starting at 1300 - 1400 feet in a narrow gorge.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

That was not really my point. I am not making any pokes whatsoever at the Canon City incident. What I will say though is that snap 180 degree turns while maintaining the same glide ratio, exactly like in the GK diamond track are pretty simple and look great with smoke. Several of the GK's have been jumping BirdMan suits lately to see if it's something they want to replace traditional diamond tracking with.

Chuck

[ManBird 0]

Yeah, and if done quickly/briefly (like a two-part 360), you can fly backwards for a moment, and it looks really weird (careful... may result in a flat spin on the Skyflyer or S3).

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

That's what I call "rock skipping." Kim Griffing told me how to do that in 2000.