fenceline 0 #1 September 17, 2005 The Alberta (Canada) Sport Parachuting Assoc is updating their website and have a section briefly describing different skydiving disciplines. When I saw they had all the "regular" disciplines (ie, rw, ff, crw, style & acc, canopy piloting) but had nothing on skyflying, I offered to write a short blurb on it in hopes of getting a little more coverage for the sport. The section is mostly directed at giving people who don't jump or just starting an idea of what is possible with once they get more involved. Here is what I've got... "Wingsuit flight, or skyfying has been around almost as long as people have been jumping from aircraft. Early on, the sport was focused more toward the flying circus and barnstorming theatres of the 1930's through 60's. In the late 1990's, wingsuit flight and modern skyflying as it is known today were reborn. Improvements in aerodynamics have improved flight times and horizontal distances. Skydivers, in "normal" freefall, reach speeds of 120 mph, with freefliers reaching speeds of 160 to 200 mph. In comparison, wingsuit pilots experience much slower vertical speeds, sometimes as low as 40 mph or less. The wings in turn, create higher forward speeds allowing the pilot to cover several miles across the ground over several minutes before being required to deploy his or her parachute. Although this discipline in its modern form is still fairly new, it is growing. Skyflyers are creating formations, or flock dives, similiar to what one would see from precision aircraft formations. Some compete for longest distance, longest flight time, or largest formation. The future of this skydiving discipline is just beginning." If anyone has anything insightful to maybe touch it up, I'd appreciate it. Remember, its aimed at newbies and whuffos, so its not meant to be technical. The site its meant for is www.aspa.ca Thanks Jay Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
monkey1031 0 #2 September 18, 2005 Wingsuits have been flown almost as long as people have been jumping from aircraft. The early days of wingsuit flight (Skyflying) was focused more toward the flying circus and barnstorming theatres of the 1930's through 60's. In the late 1990's, Skyflying saw a rebirth. Technological improvements in fabrics, advances in safety procedures and most importantly aerodynamics, allowed Skyflyers to fly almost horizontally at speeds which rival the vertical speeds of traditional skydivers. Skyflying has allowed for a new disciplines all their own, some fly in groups much the same as precision aircraft at an airshow, some fly for distance covering several miles, others try to fly to see how long they are able to stay in the air. One thing is for sure, they all fly for fun. whatever.... i'm better at this when i'm drunk. -smd7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fergs 0 #3 September 18, 2005 Jason, pm me your email address - I have a document that may help. fergbird BMCI 8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ripcord12345 0 #4 September 18, 2005 work on the punctuation and grammatical style if you want anyone to take it seriously Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
