birdynamnam

oh I just thought you would provide that service to folks since you linked to that rental website

can you demo for free?

The statistics are based on all PPC competitions to date and so it is probably as good as it gets

A recent posting on statistics on performance comp results shows that ATC's scores marginally higher than Freak1-2's. Its not the suit, its the pilot, I know, still less experienced flyers would tend to be flying the ATC rather than the Freak1-2's, so I do find it interesting. In a PPC comp, the glide is more important than speed as time/distance scores require lift and glide. For XRW the ATC's clearly demonstrate as much lift capacity in the slow speed area as the Freak's. Been flying with a Freak3 pilot lately. I clearly see it has become alot faster than previous versions, so it is a moving target

(its long) I had to spend some time to adjust to it, but I think its "accepted by my muscle memory" now. The rig is very long, so PC handle is at full arm stretch in my case. (its comfortable) I came from a rather new Icon Next rig and the first thing I noticed is it is a lot more comfortable on you. (it is comfortable) Packing the main is different from other rigs, Once you learn the packing method, take just a few jumps, packing is super easy. (its aerodynamic) Flying steep I notice the effect of the Neoprene flap that keeps air from going btw rig and my back, feels good. In normal flight there is no difference. (it has a weak Reserve PC spring) I am not and was never a fan of the Javenlin reserve container system and especially that weak reserve PC spring. I have a video of my rigger poping the reserve. It jumps 3 feet away only. I can at least imagine situation where a wingsuit flyer would want that reserve PC to "get the hell out there". The reserve PC spring is incredible weak and is from a time where everybody was hurtling their body towards the ground at terminal speed in freefall. I think they need to rethink this system..Meanwhile I can canonball myself out of any reserve PC in-tow situations and I never go low anyway. I am hoping they will update that reserve PC. To sum up: I think the latest Icon long rig is also optimal for wingsuiting really and so the main advantage with the Aurora is that main containe and the easy packing and the different (and perfect) orientation of the bag that in theory should be more optimal for wingsuit deployments. And it is more comfortable.for sure. So: Comfortable.

1) We need competition btw different manufactorers. It's vital for innovation. Innovative features a manufactorer develops, that are that good, will be copied/absorbed by the others - happens all the time. And so innovation is ongoing in order for the manufactorers to stay in the game. Also competition keeps prices in check I am assuming. As for innovation, especially Tonysuits seems to be flying at the moment. None of this will make suits do GR 7:1. We are at 3.5 :1 guys and we will probably stay there? But it will make suits easier to fly, easier to progress in, easier to deploy in, easier to perform in, easier to do acro in, etc etc. 2) The different vendors are differing quite a lot in customer service as said in this topic. Squirrel is outstanding and from experience I know they are in a class of their own. 3) Quality and durability is important for all the manufactorers and they are all good 4) Finally a given suit, flies as its testpilots prefer themselves to fly - and you feel that. So two suits from two manufactorers might look similar but in the air feels different; e.g. The Squirrel suits is all about efficiency in all aspects, PF tends to prioritize easy progression more and more forgiving flyingstyle. Especially the race suits shows this difference in how testpilots wants a suit to fly. A Squirrel CR+ is a crazy race machine, its built for the job and win's all the time, however it is probably not a suit I would take to the dropzone and use for fun bigsuit flocking. Other manufactorers have race suits that are more docile and friendly and thus might also be used on a daily basis. And so on. 5) A pilot invests in a new suit. He likes it no actually loves it. This suit is now "he best suit in the world" and nothing can be said to change that view - for some time. Demoing all suits in that class is very often not possible and so the pilot will vent his opinion and influence others about to purchase. Another pilot is somehow affiliated with a specific manufactorer and all his views is biased from a to z. In time, this pilot will become more open to other flavours and become more balanced, unless $$$ is involved ofcourse. Nof said.

Gus, Swift2/3, yes stall speed is high and you have to fly fast in these suits. They do not like to fly slow like not at all. Once that has been established as a fact, we just tell our students to get going flying fast (no head high). So thats our world now and well, it works fine.

As I wrote we use the Swift3s for first flight courses, so that is from the very first jump

we fly the suits here together in flocks regulary. We have a student fleet of Swift3's.The Gus and the Swift3 are in the same performance legue speed and all. I know Squirrel paints another picture in their performance comparisons, but that is not true in reality.

The Gus, is a Swift 3 handsfree. It has roughly same performance but is more agile. I currently fly the Gus when I fly with students. You could also just ask Zun, He developed the Gus and the Funk3

Guys..... In the performance competition format, the speed discipline is flown mostly at GR at 1.5 or lower so suit sqft size is less important. A not so experienced pilot in a Colugo3 that really has not the best concept of how to fly performant or are a bit scared of pushing the suit, will not benefit from that suits greater range. A pilot in a smallish suit that knows how to and are going all in, will then make the win. I have measured with Flysight flying my ATC and Freak2. And pls remember when you do so, if the weather was not exactly the same, its only really the time data that can be compared as distance and speed is affected by the wind aloft. But my best guess is: Speed at GR 1.5; they are sort of the same. Time: They are close but the Freak has rougly 5-10% better score. Distance: The Freak is clearly better, like > 10%

they feel similar and out the door you will notice the glide improvement.It will feel "big on you" in the air, because the ATC is such a compact feel. Cloud surfing comes to a new level At deployment time you will appreciate the significant increase in flarepower probably the thing you will love the most! From what you write you are good to go

I believe you. We have had that "experience" here with Storms, they seemingly work well but it will go south on you at some point and for no apparent reason. As I wrote we have a bucketfull off cutt videos from the Storms a few people where using, and as I said I myself decided to do away with mine as did my friends. It only took one single linetwist to go spin on me sometimes. Before the Storm at 1.6 I was the happy pilot of a Sabre2 at 1.6 and never had a problem. PS I am not sponsored and I do pay for my gear myself. I simply comment here only to provide our experiences to the good of all

woups you are right

True but as no manufacturer does this, it’s up to local ws coaches to advice and guide

This has been cause for debate for a while and continues to be... I only have good experiences progressing people from Swift2/3s, Phantoms etc to ATC's, skipping the old "intermediate suit class". Squirrel recommends 75+ for the ATC2. I have progressed quite a few now and they where at ~80 jumps. Those students where deemed excellent at flying their small suit in all configurations. This progression is smooth and what you as the instructor concentrate on is teaching people the new deployment flaring technique. When progressing people, pls always asses their canopy WL. If it is on the edge, then it could turn into a problem during the progression and then I ask people to address that at least for a while. As for the Strix, it is larger than the ATC, the tail extends beyound the feet like the Freak, so people should compare that to the Freak series. The ATC is more in the class of the new Tony R3 and they say 40'ish jumps is okay for the R3. To sum it up, I do not see anything "extremely bad" when looking at what the different manufacturers recommends. And I dont think it is "marketing based". Its just specifying minimum requirements for a suit design and its specific usecases. It's not only the size that differentiates the designs and their requirements, its their intended usage. ATC = huge usage range, Freak = smallish bigsuit with acro capabilities, Strix = same as Freak but more gentle/forgiving and easier to learn bigsuit acro in. R3, can't say havent tried it yet, and there is also the new Høg from Tony...

yes this is exactly our experience

of those listed I would go for the Pilot7 167 ZP . Spectre will be slightly better than the SA2 but not much. Easy pick

Having flown many non zp canopies, In my experience 1.3 it just too much. If the landingzone is busy you just cant do a 90 sometimes. So with non zp canopies I find it silly to not adhere to the manufactorers specs, just my 2 cents

yeah f... it. Don't mind those silly limits, lol they obviously didnt think of mad skill swoopers. While you're at it also exceed the limits on your reserve as well. It all adds spice to the action about to take place. Envision the heartpumping day you have that mailfunction on your main, what can be more spicy than ending up in a tiny tiny reserve that has line twists generated in the tens as you spun away from your cutt from that mailfunction, and then... the ready to rock and roll loaded reserve starts spinning you on your back, but offcourse. Yeah there is a few higly action packed videos on excactly this, but really they can be improved, you can create your own video and It's about challenging yourself man... And that small rig on you back - is so cool and sexy on the ground :-D Seriously, a small reserve is just not very clever the day it goes haywire

You should ask the Squirrel guys, but my hunch is it is a no go. They don't want you to break your ankles because you will eventially have to jump at a different DZ at elevation, then add zero wind and hot temparatures conditions; ouchh. You really need a larger container mate

Oh I missed this post, didnt see it. My progression was from a SA2 to the Winx ZP same size. As I have jumped 7c canopies for many years I had no trouble getting to the same flare power as you flare differently than with a 9c, timing is differently, stroke is much longer. It is sort of the same. I did try the Pilot7 ZPX same size twice. And yes it snivels (which is not desired in wingsuit'ing really). Eventhough it snivels, it opens a bit harder in the end. The Winx has almost no snivel but yet it opens extremely soft. Using it in terminal jumps, it opens quick, for sure, but very soft. I actually think this is brilliantly done, as making a canopy snivel is one of many instruments in making a canopy open soft(er). Just make sure you are a bit head high when you deploy As for packvolume I only tried a Pilot7 ZPX and it packed smaller offcourse. The ZPX material is a great advantage to the Pilot7 users and I wish that material was avail with the Winx as it is so easy to pack ZPX also. For glide, I can definately say that the Winx has them all easely. It out glide a SA2 and Pilot9, and the Pilot7 is far from achieving the same glide. The Pilot7 flies a bit steeper than all the others, and so coming back from a bad spot against the wind the Pilot7 is very efficient and also better than the WInx. On the other hand the Winx glides extremely flat and it has the best glide of them all in all other scenarios. I routinely fly my Winx with all these canopies after deployments and people are just waiting for me to come along and bump their canopy. That makes me also realize the potential of the WInx, I can catch people really fast (there is no escape)

I have quite a few videos of people trying to kick twist out in their Storm's ending up in rapid spins on their back then cutt'ing. Too many to ignore this as a fact. Other canopy designs at same wl would have a tendency to hang just still above head and let people kick those twists out. We so have a few guys (2 I believe) left in their Storms flying them at a little lower wl and they are fine apparently. I did 300ish jumps on my Storm 150 at wl 1.6 and although I myself never had to cutt it, I can tell you I did some saves by acting quickly in a frenzy almost, if not it would had gone spinning, Flying competition suits made deployments too exciting. So in my case I switched to the Winx same size and I dont even look up and check the canopy anymore at deployment, I feel the snatch from the PC, the line stretch, the "unboxing" the inflation, in my shoulders and it is consistant every time. In 500 jumps I have had a few twists comming from bad deployments, bad toss of the PC or wrong speed - and the canopy just stays still on top of my head. I know of one guy here who had a few chops on his Winx, he was at a high wl, so he upsized to a one size larger Winx and went with hybrid material thus keeping packvol same size and he loves it (now). I will just reiterate that a wingsuit flight with friends chasing clouds in 3D or whatever is super fun and mindblowing and exhausting after many minuttes of actionpacked adventure. When it comes to the deployment I want to have a canopy I trust almost 100. Getting a canopy that has been evolved a little more towards wingsuiting, is a very good idea indeed and I highly recommend it to everyone. The Winx or the Pilot7 are the way to go in the skydiving environment IMO and I highly recommend people try demos. If you are on a low budget or want a cheapish 2nd canopy then the Sabre1's or better the Triathlon's are absolutely great.

A Stiletto is probably the worst choice ever for wingsuiting :-D That said as you are getting experienced and wise (another word for old) and flying an eliptical canopy you will probably want to continue to have great and easy landings. The Winx is a bit smaller than they actually say, e.g. the 150 is in fact 144 and for its size it packs smallish. So for that reason and considering packvol, you would want to go for a WInx 170 ZP which in fact is 163 sqft. I would estimate it packs samesize as a Stiletto 150. This small upsize will also help you get landings in the class you are used to and fit your annual lowish jumpnumbers perfect

at the time PD was running a marketing campaign for using Storms with wingsuiting, they did NOT have that fine Horizon. So they created that marketing campaign recommending Storms for wingsuiting and sponsored wingsuit athletes where suddently flying the Storm and "praising it" haha I too was taken by that campaign and so I bought one. I came from a SA2 and eventhough I also got the Storm one size larger, it was a step back in terms of safety. Storm is a fine canopy, but it is not well suited for wingsuiting. Quite a few guys here bought it for this purpose as well and everybody sold it off - it kept reserve packers busy.