crawford 0 #1 November 10, 2003 Well, yesterday I had my first malfunction with the Birdman suit. So with that said, I will go ahead and tell everyone about it as there might be a lesson learned or something from it. I jump a Stiletto 97 with a Wings EXT container without the Birdman Mods but I do have a long bridle! The jump was beautiful. I went out with a friend of mine that just got his S3 in and made his very first B-man jump. (*Don't ask why he got the S3 to start, we have stopped trying to figure this guy out) I went out first and he followed. He actually did really well on the exit from a King Air, but was severely unstable after that. Well, I got down to 5,500 and clicked my heels to signal deployment. (*I only have about 60 jumps on a wingsuit so I am still opening high) It was probably the most stable I have been on a deployment, but for some reason, my Stiletto came out with several line twist and begun to spin me like a top. I knew that I had plenty of time to deal with the problem so I unzipped my arm wings and attempted to kick out of the twist. There was no way in hell that I was going to kick out of them so I had to chop it. The cutaway was very uneventful even with a very unstable reserve deployment. (*Thank you Tempo) I am not sure what caused the spinner, if it was the tight pack tray of the EXT or what, but I do know that it happened very quickly. I am also very happy that I stuck to my grounds of deploying high with the Birdman in order to have plenty of time to deal with a Mal. It was no big deal aside from having to come up with the money to get the reserve repacked that I just had put in this container. Hopefully this served as a good lesson for someone out there! Any comments/suggestions/questions are welcome! "Sure, those Golf Carts may look all warm and fuzzy, but they WILL take a chunk out of your ass!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #2 November 10, 2003 Any reason you didn't get the dynamic corners on your EXT? Did you order it before you made your first suit flight? At any rate, it's very simple to cut the corners down. My EXT rocks and my second one is on the way. As to the spinner, shit happens. So long as you are jumping something with the possibility of spinning you up like a top in under five seconds, then you ought to stay pulling up high. Even with my Sabre2 97 in my BM rig, I still pull at 4k. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crawford 0 #3 November 10, 2003 To be completely honest with ya, I didn't know about the mod until just recently. I got my new container in the end of September and was jumping a Cobalt then, never really had problems with spinners until the Stiletto. I had laid off the Birdman suit for a while due to not having anyone to fly with. I did however, talk to the senior rigger at Wings and he explained to me what to do with the container and it IS easy to do. I have it done already, now if I just had a rig with a reserve packed up!! "Sure, those Golf Carts may look all warm and fuzzy, but they WILL take a chunk out of your ass!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leroydb 0 #4 November 10, 2003 congrats on joining the club!!! good job on saving your lifeLeroy ..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meekerboy 0 #5 November 11, 2003 Congrats on the reserve ride. I also had my first BM mal recently. I had a spinetto! I chopped with my wings in place and dumped my reserve as normal. I think I had a reserve for 2K Meeker Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leroydb 0 #6 November 11, 2003 did you cut your wings before going for the silver?Leroy ..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crawford 0 #7 November 11, 2003 When the canopy came out, it was twisted up immediately, I was at 5,000 feet, so I took the time to go ahead and unzip the arms. I got the arms free, tried to fix the problem, couldn't, so I chopped at 3,500 feet. Was relatively uneventful and fun at the same time!!! "Sure, those Golf Carts may look all warm and fuzzy, but they WILL take a chunk out of your ass!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HRHSkyPrincess 0 #8 November 20, 2003 SM1, I'm a wingsuit wannabe. And someday, I will be. Here is my question: Is it safe to jump a wingsuit with the container I now have? It's a Javelin, Sabre 135 inside. I'm about 5'2", 106 lbs.***************** Attitude is everything! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #9 November 20, 2003 It sure is safe. Almost any rig is "safe", but all most all rigs can be made "safer" for wingsuit flights. I'm still using an un-modded Javelin with a Jedei 136 for all my wingsuit jumps. I'm looking at using winter as a great time to mod my rig though.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paige 0 #10 November 22, 2003 OMG, someone else who is 5'2" and weighs next to nothing Short girls rule!Tunnel Pink Mafia Delegate www.TunnelPinkMafia.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HRHSkyPrincess 0 #11 November 24, 2003 So you know where I'm coming from...we, the vertically challenged, know that it makes absolutely no difference in the horizontal position. ***************** Attitude is everything! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paige 0 #12 November 24, 2003 I would have to agree that when horizontal, it makes no differenceTunnel Pink Mafia Delegate www.TunnelPinkMafia.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
