New wingsuit from BirdMan (firebird) on another note anyone seen a Phi?

[kevin922 0]

Just got an email from Jari about their new wingsuit dubbed the "Firebird" which the newsletter states is the "best all around wingsuit in the world".

Quote

Whether you are jumping the wingsuit for first time, from the airplane
or from the edge, once a month or every day, flocking with friends or
zooming the clouds alone, on your belly or on your back the FIREBIRD is
the wingsuit for you.

Imagine a wingsuit that you
can make your first flight with,
it has to be easy to fly and
totally care free while opening
a parachute.
Then imagine falling in love
with flying and your suit.
Making progress and getting
better is a way of life for the
skydiver and FIREBIRD will
stay up with your development.

Arm-wing grippers
• Wide leg wing for
movement and stability
• Back air inlets
• Airlocks
• Velcro less cut away
handles
• Wind tunnel tested
wing design for highperformance
and easy
pull
• Made from 100% ripstop
polyamide

Later on you want to flock
together with other birdmen and
–women, try some advanced
acrobatics, back flying and
sometimes you just want to be
selfish and fly alone for as long
and far as you want, screaming
your lungs out for joy!
This is the FIREBIRD - the one.

Available now! See our stock list
or contact your authorized
BIRD-MAN® DEALER.
Stock suit ˆ699.00/$899.00
Custom suit ˆ749.00/$949.00

Has anyone received their Phi yet?

[fenceline 0]

No Phi..........just the bill so far....

[Tonto 1]

I also got the mail.

What do I answer when the guy who's placed an order for the PHi asks
why he had to order a suit in one of 2 colours, when he could have got
"The best all round wingsuit in the world" complete with airlocks, in any one of a multitude of colours?

Birdman suits seemed very clear when there were just the Classic, GTi and S3.

No one seems to be able to say where these new suits fit.

Why would I want a PHi when the Firebird is better?

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[fenceline 0]

Choice is good, but I too am starting to get puzzled at where all these suits fit in.

Is the PHI a more advanced acro suit compared to the Firebird?? Is the Firebird a catch all suit, designed to do all areas well enough to satisfy the owner, but not well enough to specialize in one area??

Is the Firebird an advancement over the GTi?? A step forward?? Will the GTi soon go the way of the original classic and S1??

(edit for splelnig)

[kevin922 0]

I'm sure it is just a coincidence because I know people can't just shit suits (i.e. it takes some time to develop these things) but it is almost like a competition between BM and PF to see who can put out more suits during this summer..

[beergood 0]

Is it really a competition when one company is actually building and selling suits when they say they are? Or when they actually announce a suit there are nice close up pictures of it in flight. Not sure I consider this a competition at this point. Then maybe thats just me. PF being a very young company has really hit the ground running eeeerrrr AIR flying!!!!

[leroydb 0]

the compnay is young... but the experiance behind it is not...

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

[BGill 0]

for those who didn't get the email, here's what it looks like.

[LouDiamond 1]

The PHI will be available in custom colors. For those who must "have it now" the stock option reduces the wait time. Those who purchased a PHI are well aware of it's status.

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No one seems to be able to say where these new suits fit.

The new suit line is as follows: Legend, Firebird, PHI, S3S, S5. They are not upgrades to the existing suits in so much as they are completely different from the existing suits with the exception of the S3S.

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Why would I want a PHi when the Firebird is better?

The PHI is an acrobatic suit with a larger wing area than the Firebird and reqires more pilot input than the Firebird. The Firebird is the suit that will allow you to do all of the different activities one can do in the suit while being user friendly. The ease of use without loss of performance makes it ideal for the occassional pilot and the hardcore pilot alike. Depending on ones flying skills,personal likes and suit currency will dictate which suit one gravitates towards.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[boachanoff 0]

I just took a good look at the Firebird and I can see that nothing has changed from GTI design, just one hole on the beck of arm wing!!!



regards:Plamen

[TomAiello 26]

It looks like the Firebird also has Ed's performance wing extensions built in at the factory.

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Huh? the Arm wing looks entirely different on the new suit.

[luis 0]

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The PHI is an acrobatic suit with a larger wing area than the Firebird and reqires more pilot input than the Firebird. The Firebird is the suit that will allow you to do all of the different activities one can do in the suit while being user friendly. The ease of use without loss of performance makes it ideal for the occassional pilot and the hardcore pilot alike. Depending on ones flying skills,personal likes and suit currency will dictate which suit one gravitates towards.

...well, it took much effort to keep my mouth shut till Jari decided to announce the Firebird , but I have actually flown one couple of weeks ago. This was my third wingsuit flight ever, so my testimony is ...well... maybe not very reliable

Anyway, I had a feeling that Firebird is more "high performance" then PHI, a bit more difficult to control, but not too "twitchy" even for my experience. The opening was really sweet and on heading, probably because finding the hacky was very comfortable (Jari says, due to a different wing design).

Honestly I don't know which one of the two I would (will ) choose.

[The111 1]

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Anyway, I had a feeling that Firebird is more "high performance" then PHI, a bit more difficult to control

Where did you get this feeling from? Have you flown the PHI as well?

Congrats on your Firebird flights!

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[luis 0]

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Where did you get this feeling from? Have you flown the PHI as well?

Congrats on your Firebird flights!

Actually my 'beer' wingsuit flight was on PHI Jari for sure knows how to sell his 'nylon crack'

[GeordieSkydiver 0]

I want one.

Lee _______________________________

In a world full of people, only some want to fly, is that not crazy?
http://www.ukskydiver.co.uk

[Helmut 0]

Hey Chuck I am assuming you are right and you and Lou are in the know. Could you or Lou explain the technical differences between the two. I think that might help someone trying to decide wether they should buy a slightly used GTI or bucking up for the NEW suit. Exciting year for wingsuits that is for sure!!!!

[MarkM 0]

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This was my third wingsuit flight ever, so my testimony is ...well... maybe not very reliable

It'll be nice when all these new suits hit the general market and we start to see more experienced users contrast and compare them.

But given the track record of the designers, I doubt we'll be seeing a rash of disappointed buyers.

[KrisFlyZ 0]

I am not trying to start a pissing contest, people that cannot answer a question without getting emotional should stop reading this post now.

The only person in the world that does any precise flying and really likes it is Loic(there maybe a few more people). But as all you know if its not on video........

This ofcourse does not mean that other wingsuit manufacturers don't know what they are doing. The acro with innovative new inlets and going away from the conventional(palms up) arm position makes a lot of sense.

I want to know how a suit that is claimed to be the "best all around wingsuit in the world" is flown on ones back. from what I see in the pic of Jari showing the back of the suit, it looks like the back of a regular wingsuits wing. Where is the photograph showing the advantages of the wing while flown in a back to earth position? What are the "wind tunnel tested" enhancements to the wing design for backflying. Why are all these changes invisible? Or is this a case of the emperor's new clothes?

Kris.

[tr027 0]

Uh oh, now you gone and done it.... wrote that first divisive post to dichotomize the masses.

"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

[LouDiamond 1]

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Why are all these changes invisible?

Kris, you need to look closer at the pictures, the air inlets are visable on the arm. The leg wing inlets are harder to discern. Buried(Zac) is up flying the Firebird as I write this from SDC and will be able to give his impressions when he is done. Too bad you aren't here for this one, we are putting some mad flocks up. Jerimiah is going to join us later on today in your old suit as is Kallend and a few other birdz.

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I want to know how a suit that is claimed to be the "best all around wingsuit in the world" is flown on ones back

Well why not get it straight from the source? Send Jari and E-mail and ask him yourself

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Hey I saw the inlets. That was not my question.

The wing profile looks like it is no different than an S3, GTI or even the the V1s. i.e the big bulging convex side is on the top(or back). When the flyer is on his/her back, the smaller (normally concave) will be the 'upper convex side'.

Airlocks on the back wing are not something new as we all know. Vectorboy has a prototype suit with airlocks. I wanted to know what the differences are on this one. Since it is a different wind tunnel tested design.

Anyways, I thought it was in the marketer's best interest to point out the obvious advantages over a previous model. So I'll just wait for someone to publish their findings.

Kris.

[LouDiamond 1]

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The wing profile looks like it is no different than an S3, GTI

I have every Birdman suit from the classic to the S3S here for comparrison with the Firebird. Those who have had a chance to see the side by side comparrison for themselves(Kallend, Buried, Toad, Basehoundsam,etc) all agree, the Firebird's wings and design are completely different from any of the previous suits.

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Vectorboy has a prototype suit with airlocks. I wanted to know what the differences are on this one.

Glens Proto suit doesn't have "airlocks" in so much as it has "air inlets" on the back of the wing since there is nothing to seal off the air from escaping from the inlets on the other side of the wing. The only suit that has had what could be considered an "airlock" was one of the original crossbows made by Loic that is owned by Omar A., but even that design did not work as intended as it failed to seal the other air inlet when on ones back. The difference with the Firebird is that air enters each wing, on each surface of the wing via it's own air inlet. Therefore, you will always have the RAM air effect filling the wings without the air escaping via the opposite air inlet, no matter the orientation.

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So I'll just wait for someone to publish their findings.

Perhaps when Buried and Toad have time they will post their experiences and impressions of how the firebird flys. I believe Kallend is going to fly it today, so perhaps he will post his thoughts as well.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[unclecharlie95 3]

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Glens Proto suit doesn't have "airlocks"

The S3 prototype in question has vented inlets aka airlocks (a piece of material that seals the inlet when the wing is presszurized).

BASEstore.it

[LouDiamond 1]

Regardless of there being a piece of material there, if it does not function as a lock to keep air in, it's just an extra piece of material and not an airlock, which is what my point was. If memory serves me correctly, the suit Glen has does not have the material flap inside of it. Glen could of course shed more light on that.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING