1. What is BASE jumping?
BASE jumping means the places which allowed the fliers to jump from the provided places only and there are Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth (BASE).
2. Are there any drawbacks when joining wingsuit flying?
· The wingsuit restrict physical movement making exits harder to perform
i.e. difficult to climb down to the exit point, easier to go unstable and then harder to recover.
· The wingsuit complicates deployment and prevents from controlling canopy immediately after opening.
· The wingsuit jumper must carefully assess the terrain he intends to fly over as the eventual opening point and landing area will be different than for a normal BASE jump and will also depend on flight performance.
· Experienced BASE jumpers who use ground rush as an altitude indicator must exercise caution during their initial jumps. The low fall rate and high horizontal speeds can fool the jumper that they are higher than they actually are. The wingsuit ground rush for a minimal canopy ride is a lot less intense than for normal freefall.
· The wingsuit jumper must also pay attention to his altitude when flying down a talus or over sloping terrain. The jumper often focuses on the airspace they are flying towards, giving the illusion they have lots of altitude available (e.g. looking at the valley floor in front of them).
In this situation the jumper must remember that the critical altitude is the immediate vertical elevation they have over the talus or slope. The wingsuit jumper must always ensure sufficient altitude for a safe deployment - bear in mind that as soon as the PC is released the wingsuit jumper will stop flying and drop vertically approx. 200’+ as the canopy deploys.
In this situation the jumper must remember that the critical altitude is the immediate vertical elevation they have over the talus or slope. The wingsuit jumper must always ensure sufficient altitude for a safe deployment - bear in mind that as soon as the PC is released the wingsuit jumper will stop flying and drop vertically approx. 200’+ as the canopy deploys.
· Experienced wingsuit BASE jumpers may attempt to make jumps that would be otherwise impossible without a wingsuit. The jumper must be absolutely sure of his own capabilities and those of his equipment when undertaking jumps that allow little margin for error.
3. What to focus on for the first timer using wingsuit flying?
· Being current! Make sure the fliers get current at wingsuit skydiving and BASE jumping in the weeks running up to first jump.
· Pack a nice terminal opening; attach the wingsuit correctly with the PC packed in the BOC with the correct tension (not too loose or too tight). Perform a full gear check before the hike, avoid “exit gear fear” syndrome, and be already be under pressure.
· Exit in a nice head high position, student style, with arm wings open and the leg wing closed, arm wings will help balance and remain head high. 1-2 sec after exit slowly extend leg wing and start to trim the suit as feel the air speed picking up. Premature exposure of the leg wing can cause to go head low – be warned! Better to be head high.
· If should go head low, stay calm! Bring head up and if the object allows it, try to stay parallel with the surface and build up some speed to allow pulling up out of the dive more easily. The fliers may wish to consider this possibility when selecting the site of first few wingsuit jumps.
· After having extended the leg wing focus on flying the suit efficiently away from the object pulling nice and high – don’t rush, take time to reach, grip and throw the PC. The PC throw should be vigorous to clear the burble the suit makes behind the fliers. Remember to the body symmetrical at all times during deployment to help maintain on heading performance.
· It is recommended to learn to deploy from full flight as the BASE environment rarely allows enough altitude to collapse wings and fall vertically prior to deploying. This also has the advantage of keeping the airflow over body fast & clean reducing the chance of pilot chute hesitation. Deploying from full flight implies keeping leg wing inflated and only collapsing arm wings for the moment required locating the PC. As canopy reaches line stretch it is better to close the leg wing as it can catch air causing the body to twist.
· First 5 - 10 jumps should focus on a stable exit, flight and deployment, once the fliers have these survival skills they can start to think about flight time and distance.
4. How to choose wingsuit site selection?
· Make sure the vertical rock drop gives enough altitude to launch the suit and get flying with a little extra in case the fliers have a poor exit.
· The altitude profile of the object will also affect decision. Use tools like rock drop, laser range finder and GPS to accurately measure the object.
· When estimating the horizontal distances that can be achieved from an object remember to factor in the altitude loss from exit and deployment.
· Consider the conditions at the exit point and whether it is practical to put on the wingsuit there.
· Booties offer little traction when wet or muddy, be careful that the fliers have good ground to stand on for your exit
· A wingsuit takes several seconds to start generating significant lift and forward speed. Therefore jumping a wingsuit from below 1500’ offers very little benefit in terms of freefall time and object separation (but it adds some colour to the jump).
5. Where can the fliers leap off flying?
· Wingsuit Flying can be done from any high point that provides sufficient altitude to glide through the air.
· For example: mountain tops, high Fiords, skydiving aircraft / helicopters dropping off, or BASE jumping exit points such as high towers.
6. How difficult is it to wingsuit fly?
· At least 200h of skydiving experience, do a wingsuit flying course and be fearless of free fall, hights and extreme fast flying near mountain cliffs.
· This requires learned techniques that differ depending on the location and size of the aircraft door. These wingsuit flying exit techniques include the orientation relative to the aircraft and the airflow while exiting, and the way in which the flier will spread their legs and arms at the right time, to avoid hitting the aircraft or becoming unstable in the relative wind.
· Upon exit, the wingsuit immediately starts to fly in the relative wind generated by the forward speed of the aircraft.
· However, exiting from a BASE jumping site, like a cliff, or exiting from a helicopter or hot air balloon, is totally different from exiting a moving aircraft, since the initial wind speed upon exit is absent.
· In these wingsuit flight exit situations, a vertical drop is required to generate the airspeed that the wingsuit can then convert to lift. A vertical drop is achieved using the forces of gravity to accelerate. In other words, the fliers will drop like a rock for a while till you gain the needed speed.
7. How does a wingsuit flyer land?
· The wingsuit flier enters freefall wearing a wingsuit as well as parachute equipment.
· The wingsuit flier parachute equipment is designed for skydiving or BASE jumping.
· When wingsuit flying to the planned landing point, the wingsuit flier needs to cut the high flying speed- sometimes as fast as 100 mph (~160 km/h) and deploy the parachute at a planned altitude.
· Fliers unzip the arm wings, if necessary, so as to reach up to the control toggles and fly to a normal parachute landing.
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