skyflyer-birdman

[guest]

Hi guys,
need some info on the new skyflyer/birdman ? Does anybody already flied it ?? Can you jumped it if you have 0 wingsuites jumps but you are a experienced skydiver ...?

have fun and stay "always" safe


cyaaaaaa

[guest]

Birdman do recommend doing jumps on each model before you advance to the next as they do get harder/trickier to fly. Jump them in the following order = Classic -> GTi -> Skyflyer. Its kind of like the size of boards in skysurfing, start smaller and progress to larger boards. More critical than this is getting the right training from the right person. Locally, we had an "experienced skydiver" have to use a reserve due to some poor training and bad decisions.

Birdman also recommend that you learn how to fly it from an aircraft before even considering BASE.

Jari tells me that they tested / compared it with another suit and that they are getting better flying performance (in terms of reduced vertical descent rates and increased horizontal speeds) than other models. Robert and Jari have also done a lot of R & D for the latest design.

The skyflyer goes off. And flying Birdman suits adds an extra few dimensions to both your "skyflying" and "BASE flying". They are opening up new worlds to BASE jumpers!!!!!

www.bird-man.com

Tom B

p.s. Apparently Yuri just got one. Any comments Yuri.

[Yuri]

>p.s. Apparently Yuri just got one. Any comments Yuri.

Not yet, but it's coming SOON - right, Jari ? ;-)
I will post my opinion after a few flights.

Meanwhile, it is a very good idea to borrow Classic and put some skydives on it. There are many DZs and boogies around that have Classics and/or training available.

bsbd!

Yuri.

[guest]

This sounds like such a hairbrain idea I couldn't put my name to it.

There was a comment on the board a few months ago about someone trying to land the birdman suit in water in the not too distant future. Surely with a hozitontal decent rate of approx. 17 mph it would be possible to stall out at a low enough altitude and then have a hard but injury free tumble into water. I have hit water off a very powerful jetski at close to 50 mph and boy did it hurt, couple of bounces and then a less than graceful tumble into the water. I did walk away from it though with a groan and a laugh.

[guest]

tOM,
I understand your answer who's totally logical.
But i am sking myself : i wanne aorder a wing suite(who's already expensive), and i want the best on the market, who's the skyflyer. Is it possible to jump with it without jumping the others ?(if u are a good flyer of course). For example : u wanne jump an extreme 85 for the first time and you always jumped a a Sabre before, u know what i mean ?

Thanks already for the tips !
steve

[guest]

Steve:

Would you jump a Stiletto 120 on your first skydive?


That is precisely what we are talking about here.

I have thousands of skydives, and started with a Birdman Classic... and I never even considered going straight to a Gti or Skyflyer. I got comfortable with it quickly, and made about 20 jumps on it before moving up to the Gti.

The Gti is a lot more suit to handle and I had some minor stability problems with it, not to mention some issues with the wing getting in the way when I pulled. After several jumps with the Gti, I am comfortable and competent with it, and moving toward proficiency.

Next will be the Skyflyer, but by the time I try it, I will have 30-40 total wingsuit jumps, split evenly between solo jumps and those done with other people.

So DON'T start with a Skyflyer. Birdman and the Luic suit so far have a very good safety record, and that is because people so far have been intelligent and cautious about jumping these contraptions.

So I'll end this post the same way I started it:

Would you make your first skydive on a small, high-performance parachute? If not, WHY NOT?

Now apply that answer to wingsuits.

Robin

[guest]

Yo-

Water is flat and hard and can be as hard as cement if the surface is still and you enter w/ high speeds and any amt of "flat" surface area. My thinking has always been that the first non parachute terminal jumps will be with a sky surf board, possibly in connection w/ a wing suit.

What is a horizontal descent rate? that doesn't make nay sense to me and it would seem that vertical rates are the importnat ones here, though rapid horizontal speeds would help my foolish scenarios below. I think min. descent rates are much higher than 17mph but possibly less than 50 mph. Snowboarders already jump cliffs onto steep snow w/ free falls approaching 200'. that rate of descent is pretty close to a wing suit (or a wing suit board combo?), I think. anyhow it seems to me like its entirely possible, but I would assume a few people might bounce before getting it right? By the way I don't fly a suit or a board so its all conjecture, but maybe Dave Barallia will try it some day?

[guest]

Snowboarders already jump cliffs onto steep snow w/ free falls approaching 200'. ?????WHAT?????
To the best of my knowledge, Jon Treman holds the record for cliff jumps, and it was on skis. Something like 140' I believe was the biggest he's gone. And I think snowboarders have a tougher time than skiers do jumping cliffs. Something about too much surface area of the board vs. skis, and not being able to drop into the snow as much. Not losing site of the post, but I don't think people are really approaching 200' cliffs yet, and living. Why not try a high forward speed onto a speed skiing course. Get the right tracking angle, and make sure to hit a clear course over in Vars,France. It's the fastest, biggest, and steepest(most like a freefall trajectory)

[guest]

I meant vertical decent rates, see manufacturer website - "During our test flights we have reached temporary vertical speeds of 8 m/s or 27 km/h (18 mph)" - http://www.skydiving.it/news/20001105birdmansuit.htm

Surely it seems feasible that with that vertical decent rate you could enter the water nay problem, the question is now what is the horizontal speed.

[guest]

Hey,

2 problems with landing a wingsuit, as I see it:

1) People seem to focus on the descent rate of the suits, but does anyone know what the horizontal speed of these things is when they're achieving 17 mph vertical? With such a small wing, getting that kind of lift, I imagine the horizontal speed is tremendous.

2) The most popular idea seems to be timing things so your maximum lift is achieved when you are either at or very near the water. The timing required for this kind of manoeuvre, IMHO, isn't the sort of thing people are capable of.

Michael

[guest]

I just started jumping how much expierience do i need before i can start flyinggggggggggg
also do you know of any clubs in ireland that have wingsuits

[guest]

"Why not try a high forward speed onto a speed skiing course."
Its been done, many times. It's called ski-flying, and it's "big" in Japan and Nordic countries... They do it on skis, and without backup parachutes (they probably think we are wimps) and jump up to 200 meters...

I
Blue Ones