Chris-Ottawa

Spent the weekend at Falls Fest and had an interesting wingsuit jump. After 840 jumps, I seemingly packed myself a baglock. I say seemingly as I'll never know for sure since the main deployed, but the fact that it deployed gives me an indication what likely happened. I'd been jumping all week/weekend and was hurriedly packing (error #1). I jump a semi-stowless bag and I believe that I dropped a line (or multiple lines) before moving them to the stowless bag "exit" point which would have resulted in that line(s) being locked behind the tuck tab on the bag (Error #2). This also explains why the canopy deployed when I chopped. By having that line behind the tuck tab, one riser would have tension while the other would have slack. When I cutaway, the tensioned riser would have released the 3 rings which would have then transferred tension to the unloaded riser...triggering the main to start deploying before it loaded the riser enough to release the 3 rings. That's my best guess, but I'm open to other interpretations if anyone has any. Error #3 came in my choices...I decided to do a flyby of a friend on the same jump. He was at ~2500ft, and I pitched as I flew by him. I immediately felt it was taking longer and began my save process after that. I rigged the reserve myself and the opening was absolute beauty. Quick and on heading. Landed uneventfully, found my main and freebag, but dropped my reserve handle. My dytter did not ring for my 1800ft alarm so it either failed, I was in brain lock of some sort and didn't hear it, or I was saddled above/around that. I "thought" I was saddled around 1400ft. Wingsuit: Freak 4 Container: Mirage MT w/Spectre 120 & PDR113 (no RSL or Skyhook) AAD didn't record opening altitude (likely due to wingsuiting) and my alti thought I opened at 10,200ft

Fantastic, that was what I needed. I figured it was something easy, and the manual is helpful as well! Thanks again for the app and if I find anything that might be helpful, I'll be sure to let you know.

Great app, thank you! Seems to work really, really well on my Fenix 7s and stay very close to my Viso, even in freefall. The only issue I'm having is that nothing is logging in the connect app. It shows the activity and a tiny amount of mileage and that's it. Does it require the phone to record live (keep my phone on me during the jump), or will it update after(if I jump without the phone)? The only other thing I'm thinking is that I might be killing the app before it finishes. I've been clicking back 4 times and that seems to be the only way to exit. Wondering if that's correct? Thanks for your effort on this! Great work!

Interesting...you're telling me that the market is about to be flooded with v1.0 JFX's? just like Velos when the VK came out? This news pleases me! Lol "When once you have tasted flight..."

I unfortunately only got to jump the Gangster 96 once (on a breezy day), but I agree, the opening was absolutely incredible and it dove like hell. Maybe I'll have to head south and arrange a few demos (Gangster & JFX ideally). Thanks for the input and great comparison to the Kat! *For the poster above, I've never seen a Zulu or known anyone who's jumped one, so I'm not sure about it. I'll do some digging though. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Looking for opinions/help on where to go for my next canopy. Currently jumping a Katana 97 (@1.54), and I'm looking for an updated wing, not necessarily more performance. I did buy a VE84 last year and honestly didn't care much for it. Jumped a Gangster 96 recently and it was amazing, but I'm too cheap to buy new (plus it was a bitch to pack so I'm definitely looking used). Most people do the Katana to VE/VC transition, or maybe to the VK, but I'm not out for more performance. I like the Katana, but wonder of I'm missing out on newer tech. Maybe I should just stick with the Katana, it is still a blast. I'm considering the following: Crossfire? Neos? Smaller Katana? Suck it up and get a VC? JFX? What about the Mamba? Gangster (If I can find a used one) Something else I haven't heard of? Opinions/Thoughts/Recommendations? Thanks! "When once you have tasted flight..."

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Doing it until you get it right is the purpose of AFF. You'll be fine, but don't think about it too much and analyze every aspect. Just go out, listen to the instructor and have fun. If you screw up, you have more jumps to figure it out. You may annoy your instructors if you try to read into every situation. It's not a normal situation for your body/mind to be in...you'll adapt. Now, in regards to tandem progression specifically, that's an awkward situation anyways. I never did Tandem progression, but when I was helping out with some recurrency jumps for the Tandem masters, I was asked to pull on the jump I got voluntold to be the passenger. I said sure, and didn't think twice about it. I had 200+ jumps and my B license and I did not find the handle - the TM pulled. Tandem progression is awkward because the handle is NOT in the same place as it will be in AFF on your own rig. Hopefully that makes you feel better...go sign up for AFF, practice on the ground wearing the rig and you'll do fine. FWIW...on my first PFF (Canadian version of AFF), my instructor also pulled for me, but for a different reason. I was doing all my altitude checks, practice pulls and everything spot on. When I did my practice pulls, I was so nervous about locking on and pulling the handle, that I just touched the handle each time. When it came time to pull, I reached back, went to grab the handle and it was already gone...I grabbed a whole whack of bridle after my instructor pulled for me. He said that he didn't think I was going to pull because I wasn't grabbing the handle during practice, but he also didn't give me a chance to pull and pulled exactly at my 5500' altitude. Typically they will give you 1000' to try, and then pull you if you don't. The other instructor said that he overreacted and should have given me time...but I had to repeat the jump anyways. So...I'll never know whether I would have puled or not. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Even though I only load my Katana 97 @ 1.5, I absolutely love it, but I did think that a Velo was the next step. Last summer, I bought myself a Velo 84 @ 1.8 and after 5 jumps on it, I decided that I much prefer the Katana. The Velo was noticeably faster forward, flared great and was fun, but the openings scared the crap out of me and the front riser pressure was unbearable. For that reason, I decided to keep the Katana instead of the Velo. I'm certain that if I stuck it out and got to learn it, I would have kept it, but I felt more confident on the Katana. With that said, a week or two after I sold the Velo I had a very close call on the Katana. Gave myself some grass stains on my ass from digging hard after I stayed in the turn longer to avoid a group of people. That reinforced my decision to keep the Katana. And yes, I know the Velo "may" dig you out of the corner better, but it's also ~15% smaller and going faster so your margin is smaller. I'm very happy with the Katana. "When once you have tasted flight..."

This is true... But the whole point is that we did it in the wild. We did go to Busch gardens, Lowry Park and Clearwater Aquarium... But it's a world of difference seeing them naturally and unconfined. Plus, having them intact with you like that is incredible. "When once you have tasted flight..."

I think it was purely to limit frivolous lawsuits by excluding it from being used in a manner that it was not specifically designed around. Or maybe they had issues in testing that made them confident that it really is a bad idea. My money is on the first option though...it is the USA afterall. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Just to follow up after our vacation, I wanted to say thank you again Skymama. The manatee experience was absolutely incredible. Because the weather was unseasonably warm while we were there, there weren't a tonne of manatees, but we did see several. Highlight of our trip for sure! Here's one of the clips from one of the more interested/playful manatees. It was definitely a unique experience. We went with River Ventures in Crystal River. Great company and would definitely recommend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB6NYB-1xeE Thanks again! "When once you have tasted flight..."

It's a long drive at 7-8 hours. It's actually probably longer than the maps say because traffic is really slow on the two lane roads once you get into the Keys. It's totally beautiful down there, but it would make for a rushed trip. It'd be better to have a three day weekend there. We're taking it as one of those "we've been there" type of trips, but I agree, it'll be longer than we expect I'm sure. I'm actually thinking of changing our plans to have a stay somewhere in the keys to avoid driving there and back in the same day, but the options are fairly slim and very pricey. AIRBNB seems to be my best bet for that. I'll keep you posted on what we end up doing an dhow we liked the events we chose. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Like 7 hours or something like that... That's gonna burn an entire day. "When once you have tasted flight..."

That would certainly be fantastic and the offer is very much appreciated, but unfortunately we won't be there for any part of either weekend. Again, I appreciate the offer... Maybe next time! If it was my choice, I'd stay down there for a couple weeks, but my wife doesn't get much time off so we're on a pretty tight schedule. Thanks again! "When once you have tasted flight..."

Wow, thank you so much for the info...that's fantastic. I hadn't realized that manatees could be viewed in Florida, but I know for fact that my wife will love that much, much more (as would I). I'm cool not seeing alligators as I actually swam (unknowingly) with a small alligator in the ZHills Swoop pond for New Year's 2007/8. I was searching Davey Jones' locker for the sunken treasure from the pirate ship...drunk as hell. Anyways....once again, my single days. I'll absolutely check out some of the places you mentioned as this is exactly what I was looking for. Something that a local may know more than the typical tourist spots. Thank you so much! "When once you have tasted flight..."