DRAFT - Wingsuit Forum FAQ

[unclecharlie95 3]

Hey Guys and Gals,

Jarno, Rebecca and myself have made up a draft FAQ. Please read it and let us know your feedback.

Once we agree on the final content I'll ask Tom to sticky the FAQ to the top of the forum.

-----------------------------------------
Wingsuit Forum FAQ

About this FAQ

The information contained in this FAQ has been collected from posts made on the wingsuit forum and various web resources. Thank you to all of the contributors.

1. Pre-requisites for wingsuit flying:

To try a wingsuit you must be a current, licensed skydiver with 500 skydives total OR 200 jumps in the last 18 months. (Note: these rules vary in some countries; please consult your skydiving governing body to be sure)

2. I don't meet the requirements yet / What kind of drills and skydives can I do to prepare myself for my first wingsuit flight?

Tracking dives are excellent training to understand the dynamics of wingsuit flight (high forward speed, reduced decent rate and the need to plan your flight path).

Perform solo jumps going through the exit, flight path, wave-off and deployment procedures.
Experiment with putting your arms and legs into a wingsuit position after exit. (Practice deploying by putting both your hands behind your back and throwing your pilot cute symmetrically as well as doing the wave off with your legs.)

Read the wingsuit manuals available on the manufacturers websites for more details of wingsuit procedures.

3. I've done 150 jumps in the last 12 months, why do I need to have 200 jumps before I can jump wingsuit?

Like any thing else you take into freefall, be it a sky-board, a camera helmet or a wingsuit, it makes the skydive more complicated and therefore more demanding. The wingsuit restricts your movement and adds complications to your exit, freefall, deployment and ability to deal with some malfunctions.

4. Okay, I meet the requirements what do I do next?

To make your first wingsuit flight it is highly recommended to talk to a wingsuit instructor or an experienced wingsuit pilot. They should also be able to provide you with a demo suit to try.

The instructor / experienced pilot will be able to explain the required procedures to you and make sure you have understood them correctly.

5. There are no wingsuit instructors or experienced wingsuit pilots at my dropzone, what can I do?

It is strongly recommended to consult a wingsuit instructor / experienced wingsuit pilot before jumping a wingsuit regardless of your experience level.

If you have more than 500 jumps you *could* jump a wingsuit on your own after thoroughly preparing yourself by reading all the available information from the wingsuit manufacturer / on the internet and after ample drill practice on the ground.

If you have less than 500 jumps we strongly recommend you try harder to locate a wingsuit instructor / experienced pilot. Contact the manufacturers for assistance.

6. I want to buy a wingsuit, where can I get one?

http://www.bird-man.com
http://www.phoenix-fly.com
http://www.matterclothing.com
http://www.flyyourbody.com
http://www.pressurized.at
http://www.jii-wings.com

Also check the classified section of dropzone.com for 2nd hand suits.

The flybirdman.com website also contains alot of useful information on the different suits available and about wingsuit flying in general: http://www.flybirdman.com

7. There are too many to choose from, how do I know which one I should buy!?

The wingsuits designed for beginners are:

- Phoenix-Fly: Prodigy
- Bird-Man: Classic II
- Fly your body: Access

Searching the old posts on the dropzone.com wingsuit forum will usually provide you with user reviews of all the suits. The best option as with any product is to try the suit in person and form your own opinion.

8. What special equipment do I need to fly a wingsuit?

In addition to your rig and wingsuit the following are recommended:

-BOC deployment system (not pullout or bungee collapsible PC)
-A large docile main canopy, especially for your initial jumps
-Helmet
-Goggles
-Wrist mounted altimeter (chest mounted altimeters can give false readings)
-AAD
-Audible altimeter
-Hook knife, mounted in a location other than your legstrap (legstrap will be difficult to access inside the suit)

Optional equipment:

-Freefall computer to record decent rate (e.g. Neptune, ProTrack etc)
-GPS unit (to record 3D flight path of wingsuit to calculate glide ratio)

If you intend to perform many wingsuit skydives you could consider the following modifications to your skydiving rig:

-longer bridle
-dynamic / open corners on your container main tray
-slightly larger pilot chute

9. I want to do Wingsuit BASE jumping!

Wingsuit BASE jumping is a dangerous activity that has claimed several lives so far. You must be an experienced BASE jumper and experienced wingsuit pilot before attempting to combine the two. For further information check out the Advice for Starting Wingsuit BASE here:
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=506

10. Hmmm, this FAQ sucks, it didn't answer my question!?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated and will allow us to update and improve this document.

Before posting to the forum BE SURE to use the Search Forum feature to confirm you are not asking a question that has already been asked before. PM unclecharlie95 with your feedback.

For videos of wingsuits in flight be sure to check out the wingsuit section of http://www.skydivingmovies.com

FAQ by Skyflyingbecca, Mccordia and Unclecharlie95

BASEstore.it

[voodew1 0]

nicely done

The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid

[pbla4024 0]

Equipment section: No bungee collapsible PC, no pull-out

Fido

[leroydb 0]

change to read that PUD is not reccomended but has been done by a few jumpers many times safely.

that being said, I won't wingsuit with a pud

Leroy


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

[pbla4024 0]

Otherwise James will get complains from DIABLOPILOT.
Ps.: No = no (unless you really want to).

Fido

[leoholanda 0]

Quote

1. Pre-requisites for wingsuit flying:

To try a wingsuit you must be a current, licensed skydiver with 500 skydives total OR 200 jumps in the last 18 months. (Note: these rules vary in some countries; please consult your skydiving governing body to be sure)

You could also add here:
"Check also the user's guide of the wingsuit manufacturer for specific Pre-requisites, since it can vary from model to model.

Leo Holanda

[piisfish 140]

AAD might not work if exceeding (or "under-ceeding")AAD limits. (minimum activation speed)

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Tonto 1]

Good job!

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[riggerrob 643]

Well done!

[mccordia 74]

I vaguely remember hearing that jumping the 'acces' suit is allowed from 60 jumps or so...anyone know the truth in that matter?

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[leoholanda 0]

I'm don't know about this one. But this is why I suggested to put
"Check also the user's guide of the wingsuit manufacturer for specific Pre-requisites"
Because, even if today there is no wingsuit with less requirements than described, we don't know what is going to come in the future. This can be true for more requirements too...

Quote

I vaguely remember hearing that jumping the 'access' suit is allowed from 60 jumps or so...anyone know the truth in that matter?

Leo Holanda

[spoons 0]

in the uk i believe it is 200 jumps.

[tso-d_chris 0]

Looks good.
One small thing:

BIRD-MAN also designed the Firebird to be suitable for first flights and beyond.

Great job.

[dploi 0]

Do NOT attempt to perform cartwheels on the ground if fully zipped into your wingsuit.

[LouDiamond 1]

Quote

The flybirdman.com website also contains alot of useful information on the different suits available and about wingsuit flying in general: http://www.flybirdman.com

If your going to add resources into the FAQ then Skyflying, Wingsuits in Motion needs to be mentioned as well, as it covers all wingsuit topics in detail, in one book. Otherwise, it looks pretty good for a first draft. I concur with the comments made about PUD/bungee collapsable PC's needing to be addressed as well.

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

[MB38 0]

Adding a little more to the canopy section might not hurt, particularly making note of the fact that trying to fly a high performance canopy in a high performance way with a wingsuit is effectively like trying to fly two wings at the same time.

I've personally witnessed a nasty injury from line twists induced quite low from a quick landing in a wingsuit. That's not to say it isn't possible... but it might be worth addressing [?].

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[JUDYJ 0]

Ok,, be gentle,, I am very new to your side of the universe but I like it so far

but doesn't anyone ever ask how the suits and your rig are worn?

seems like it's more than smoke, magic and mirrors

IF you are going to be Stupid - you better be tough!

[Professor 0]

Quote

but doesn't anyone ever ask how the suits and your rig are worn?

The users manuals for the specific suits, and your FFC instructor, should cover that. I think the idea behind this FAQ isn't to provide a comprehensive database of every possible question, but to give people an alternative to starting another "I want to try a WS, what should I do" thread.

In case you're still curious, most manufacturers have manuals on their websites.

Ted
Like a giddy school girl.

[birdynamnam 28]

the BirdMan Gti is ideal for beginners and many Gti suits is out there being available for beginners.The FAQ should mention the Classic, Gti and Firebird suits as BirdMan suits that are applicable for beginners.

[pbla4024 0]

Then you have to add S-fly, Phantom, Dragon Skin, MTR-2 and MTR-3. They are beginner acceptable suits as well. But FAQ says "beginner specific", right?

Fido

[phoenixlpr 0]

FAQ? Why? How about going into wiki from like Basewiki?

[birdynamnam 28]

I know what U mean, but the BirdMan classic is not really a dedicated beginners suit. It was just the first generation of the modern wingsuit - and a good choice for the first ws jump.

The FAQ should IMO deal with which suits that are easy enough for the beginner to fly, as recommended by the company in question. Birdman recommends 2 suits (Firebird and Classic), but IMO the Gti is as good as those.

Its a good FAQ anyway...

[jakee 1,489]

Quote

But FAQ says "beginner specific", right?

The FAQ question is "what suit should I buy". I would imagine that most people serious about ws flying would probably put only a couple of jumps on rental/demo beginner suits before moving to midrange (GTI/firebird/phantom) type suits which they would actually buy (thats what I plan to do anyway).

I think that question should be changed slightly. Maybe it would be easier to list which suits not to get straight away.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Costyn 1]

Quote

The FAQ question is "what suit should I buy". I would imagine that most people serious about ws flying would probably put only a couple of jumps on rental/demo beginner suits before moving to midrange (GTI/firebird/phantom) type suits which they would actually buy

Ya, I agree there. The beginner suits are nice, but better save your money and rent a suit for the first couple jumps and then buy a midrange.

Of course, I kinda went the opposite, jumped a Classic II for 80 or 90 jumps, after which I could use every last bit of performance it had, which was a fun learning process too.. and now I've recently purchased an S3S. There's nothing wrong with a Classic for most flocking. Only flocks with a lot of forward speed (where everybody else has a high performance suit) become difficult, but those will be difficult in a GTI or other midrange too.

Cheers.

Costyn van Dongen - http://www.flylikebrick.com/ - World Wide Wingsuit News

[birdynamnam 28]

+1

The question could then be: "what suit could i FLY for the first nn jumps" - 20 might be a good number