unclecharlie95
December 7th, 2011, 12:44 AM
A French jumper has had a near miss caused by asymmetric inflation of his X-bird wingsuit during exit.
The jumper made a strong exit which went steep and one arm wing didn't inflate for 3 seconds. The resulting control problems led to an unstable deployment close to the wall. The video will be online shortly.
The jumper had modified the suit to increase inflation (by closing the back inlets) but this is a potential issue on all suits, especially the bigger suits.
As suit performance increases the difference in lift created by a deflated armwing (especially after exit) can cause serious control problems.
The latest suits from Tony have even larger inlets so this should be less likely to occur - that said if you fly one wing through the burble of another jumper it could still cause control problems.
Make sure your inlets are open and exposed equally - not pinched off by your harness. Focus, as always, on a clean stable exit.
It would be wise to consider this scenario in your "what if?" preparation and also practice 'getting' unstable from plane (steep diving turns, front loops, barrel rolls etc).
As far as I know the suit is being returned for examination. If you are jumping a TonySuit and have any questions about your suit please contact Tony.
The jumper made a strong exit which went steep and one arm wing didn't inflate for 3 seconds. The resulting control problems led to an unstable deployment close to the wall. The video will be online shortly.
The jumper had modified the suit to increase inflation (by closing the back inlets) but this is a potential issue on all suits, especially the bigger suits.
As suit performance increases the difference in lift created by a deflated armwing (especially after exit) can cause serious control problems.
The latest suits from Tony have even larger inlets so this should be less likely to occur - that said if you fly one wing through the burble of another jumper it could still cause control problems.
Make sure your inlets are open and exposed equally - not pinched off by your harness. Focus, as always, on a clean stable exit.
It would be wise to consider this scenario in your "what if?" preparation and also practice 'getting' unstable from plane (steep diving turns, front loops, barrel rolls etc).
As far as I know the suit is being returned for examination. If you are jumping a TonySuit and have any questions about your suit please contact Tony.