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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.

Hi,
Here my video, very very lucky!
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ezlTXfkIM
Take care and don't loose the fight.
Best,

Look like some fabric is stucked in the harness / by the container ...

I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.
I will NEVER wingsuit BASE. I will NEVER wingsuit BASE.

No Jean Michel it is not that, it didn't inflate... even with a little campling of the wing, this does not make it not inflate... I've controllled all the wingsuit, nothing like that, and I've made some test after. I was wearing more clothes that usefull with some difficulties to close the wingsuit. The start was far down, with a big step to reach the exit and in the descent my wingsuit was stretch... perhaps at this moment the vent had moved under harnesse, I could explain, I don't know. Before posting this vid I ask expertise to many people (Tony, Matt, JeanNo, Robert, James...) because at the begenning I supposed a piloting error or a asymetric body psition. The start was not good but it recover easily when you push on your legs and this is when I've pushed to accelerate and stabilize my flight that it went wrong!

Salut Jérôme,

Yes the right wing didn't inflate, but as i marked in red in this picture, look like some fabric is stucked under the container ... something keep this part of the wing with some tension, and the rest look normal.

By the way, Thanks for sharing that, i will be more aware of that when i gear up in my X ...

Good jumps (not like this one )

I wonder if this is what happend to Dave?

http://www.basejumper.com/...;;page=unread#unread


_justin

Yes I understand what you mean. But it is a problem of view and distortion by Gopro and angle. I explain: my leg is not stretch and doestn't stretch the wing too. At the begenning when I received my wingsuit there was a clamping problem on the 2 wings due to the harness, because Tony doesn't leave enough space and I was not the only one to have this problem. JeanNoel told me about that when he had see a photo of my back wingsuit. So I have just give more place for harnesse with taking off 5cm of sewing, nothing difficult, after it was ok. All the time there is this strange effect like a clamping,but it is not, when the wing inlate it is perfect (I made many test before and after with a hairdryer). I love that suit, I don't want to incriminate Tony, but here there is a big problem... and it will be good to find the reason, and we could suspect that Dave had the same problem in Lauterbrunnen. I accept to to be a bad wingsuiter, it doesn't matter, but if the problem comes from an unlucky event with that suit we should correct that very very quickly!

When I look at the last attached picture, maybe a good solution could consist in tightening the chest strap as much as possible in order to avoid it to close the vent.
What do you think ?

Kali

"I wonder if this is what happend to Dave?"

That was the first thought that came to my mind as well...

+1
Exactly what I thought as well. But this is just speculation from my side...

Holy shit. Great job after deployment! I would have been screaming like a little girl.

I guess it is. It looked exaclty the same - unfortunately with a shorter rockdrop. He was a little more flat en exit and the turn was somewhat more radical.

Be careful with these big flying carpets out there.

RIP Dave . . .

Luuuuckkyyyy!!!! WHEW! Great job not dieing man.

Can't believe you only barely touched the wall .

OK here's a tip to get out of and control the canopy when in line twists. That is of course, if your arms are free.

As fast as you can, Grab the risers push then together and twist them so it untwists the lines. It puts the twist in the risers and does 2 things. You can then reach over the twist and steer. It also creates more spreading force and you spin out of the line twists much quicker.

You were basically screwed due to time constraints and the fact your arms were trapped, but this trick does work.

Thanks for the video.

I'm not a jumper , but the chest strap it seems to be too large (l 1:50 in the video).
Maybe it's normal after all that spins...you know better.
Glad that you are ok and I hope that the right conclusion will be extract from this incident.

 

I don't have any back inlets (vent) on my X-Bird (optional) and i never had any trouble with wing pressurization ... so for me it's not the origin of the problem. But maybe back inlets can help in such situations ?

Yes I've closed the back vent, but I've get this incident in flight before 3 month ago with back vent opened lucky far from wall at 12s, but here I've supposed a mountain crosswind. The fact that I've closed the back vent (that as said JeanMi) many people don't have and I didn't ask for (as other people too), just increase the pressure difference reducing laps of time of presurized wing. For that case, the problem of slow inflate or uninflate on only one wing made unbalance of the wingsuit very early (close in the wall). After talking with experts as Matt or JeanNo, closing back vent was not the issue here. You can low pressure the wings by the arm zip inside too, so...
Perhaps Iam the only one and will be the only one... perhaps!? I don't know? Give me the truth and I will be happy.

Damn brother! Whew! Go drink one!(or two)

Ok. So you decided to increase the pressure by CLOSÌNG the back inlets???
That will only make things worse. Then the wing for shure dont get pressurized properly if one went is closed by the harnes. It looks on the pic like your armwing wents are quite small and close to chest. Also it looks like your cheststrap is pritty loose (seen 1:50 when in canopy).
And as you mentioned you had problem with pressurization before. Why do you then modify it and decide to jump a 450m cliff?
Then what you should have done is send it back to Tony so he could have made a bigger/anoter went in front armwing and NOT start to MODIFY it yourselfe.
If you want better pressurization you want more/bigger wents not less.
This is a good lession to all of us not to modify our own suits and if something is wrong to send it back and get it fixed by the manufacorer.
And why didn`t you write any about this modification in your youtube video?

Nice work! Glad you're ok bro!

Oddern
"Ok. So you decided to increase the pressure by CLOSÌNG the back inlets???
That will only make things worse. Then the wing for shure dont get pressurized properly if one went is closed by the harnes. It looks on the pic like your armwing wents are quite small and close to chest. Also it looks like your cheststrap is pritty loose (seen 1:50 when in canopy)."

> First I didn't post this video here to find why, this is not the place and it is not so easy... I repeat, I asked for expertise before and it is only to inform other owners of X1 that I've made a public vid (the first was private). Many experts pushed me to publish it.
For the chestrap, I controlled each time before the start, it is a Gopro distortion, look to my other vid (as Karma). I've pulled a lot on riser to twist the lines off and moved in the harness too.

"And as you mentioned you had problem with pressurization before. Why do you then modify it and decide to jump a 450m cliff?
Then what you should have done is send it back to Tony so he could have made a bigger/anoter went in front armwing and NOT start to MODIFY it yourselfe.
If you want better pressurization you want more/bigger wents not less."

> You are right, but many had X1 (only one vent, X2 has 2 vents) with not vents on back and size of vents are the same as mine, I've control that too before. Matt as one bigger vent on middle and this is what he advice to Tony since the begenning of that suit. I know that exit and jump, it is a 450 big overhang easy to fly.

I'd like that Matt give here is way of mind. But I don't want to make a polemic, sure many factors made this accident but the fact is that the wing didn't inflate and this is the first time I see that on all my videos... and still alive to show you now. I accept to have a part of responsability, no way, but when we had looked to vid after jump many things began much clear!
I didn't have the answer right now. I should just suppose a little flow of wind from left (I see it on El Amarillo start in V3 few second before me) that made a depress burble just in this part due to angle of my body + perhaps a little close of right vent too...??? Sure this wingsuit is really sensitive with lateral wind in the start, when speed is not enough to anchor it in the air.

Take care all of you, and never loose the fight
Best

Jerome,

Your job is to jump, look cool (you are French after all) and generally make it all look easy. Please don't scare us again.

As my mate Pete said, "I'd rather be lucky than good".

See you at Christmas,
Dave.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

Thanks Daddy... ;-)

Jerome, what is the condition of the vents on your X1?
I can see a scenario where if the vent openings are not very stiff, the relative airflow in the first few seconds after exit (directly at the wing/vent) could in fact hold the vent closed against the wing, and as the force builds up, perhaps even invert?
Is there any kevlar stiffener in the vent opening?

These suits can be ordered direct with no back vents which I think is great and always a good idea for BASE as a simple slip on exit or strong tail wind on an Antenna can catch you out possibly having to follow through with a forward roll or something similar. You definitely don't want your wings in this scenario is to begin inflating as you are coming around on your back as they will fly you straight towards what you just lept/slipped off. As mentioned here already I believe anyone BASE jumping wingsuits should be very comfortable with getting unstable/shutting down wings in full flight and recover from any scenario this training has helped myself on one occasion and turned a relatively intense situation into a calm controlled flight away...although on saying this we are all fully aware some exit points have no room for these errors and options. Play safe peeps

No my wingsuit as only a year, and Iam being carrefull with arm vents. There are ok, with a kevlar stiffener not as leg wing vents. I've looked again to the rushs, 3mn before jumping it was ok, I saw the good chestrap and all vents, etc... But perhaps when I went down to exit something wrong appened I didn't remerber. But each time I made 5 or more pitch to PC, check the chestrap, and normally arms vents.

You are right. When I felt my wingsuit going a little bit on a right I have push more on my feet. Normaly it recover and correct the flying line, but here I was a little crispy and I push down too much on the right wing to correct. I fact I should closed the left one. In that case my start gave a left orientation to the wingsuit, that give a poor inflate on the right wing, and when all inflate the wingsuit move on to the right aroung vertical axis. That's why I meen that this is some add of many factors as bad exit, lateral wind, burbble that give to the right vent poor pressure. With a bigger or a vent in a better place perhaps it will not appenened? The pilot (me) is also responsible...

I am not a ws flyer, but just for my own knowledge and curiosity, if in this flight, when feeling the suit diving right, could you slightly colapse the left wing to counter steer until the right side inflated, given the altitude is still acceptable?

i and a fellow BASE WSer have had similiar but WAY different senarios happen.
more of a problem where bassically the armwing zipper blew off in flight.

im my scenario i just unzipped my arm wing and tracked.
his scenario he basically did the same thing.both events happened at differnent times and locations.

and both of us made the decision to track away from the object. with the leg wing open. steep track but gave me time and plus the jump on the whole wasn't such a bust, considering the hike involved.

also like to point out you can also use your cut away and do the same thing.

Do tony suits not have a Cut Away system??

anyway Armchair quarterback here in his hindesite 20/20 opinion feel if you callapsed you functioning armwind and opened your leg wing and tracked til' terminal (or whatever) and deployed symetric as possible your opening at least wouldn't have been so scary.

Not freaking out in BASE is hard i know. its an art and something everybody should know in their mind that they can do!

im not ragging on you just pointing out one of the options available to us WS BASE flyer's in our BASE tool box. from mine and somebody else's experience.

I glad your ok my french BASE brother! i don't know bout' that Butterfly on you rig but;;;; i'm glad your OK.

safe flights

To answer Tiger that charge me to "NOT doing this is only telling half the story and mislead the public. " about the change I made before accident (clamping harness and closing fly back vents). I have nothing to win, nothing to hide, nothing against Tonysuits and even Iam French nothing against American people. ;-)

Here all the photos of MY Xbird done today: clamping of arm wing by harness (I was not the only one to have that, Kali could tell you about that... risk of big wing tear, is it serious?), front right arm wing vent, back arm vent closing, back leg wing closing, arm wing back inflate. These could give you a good view of my Xbird1, normal as any other Xbird1.
For those you think that it is the cause of accident, as Tiger, I reply no it isn't. You have all see, the right arm wing didn't inflate... but Iam not going to repeat what I have said before, and as James said too.
I love the truth too.
Take care
Best

I have edited this as I mis-understood a post. And owe paint an apology.

It has nothing to do with charging but to have all the pices of the story.

Thanks for the last pics and explination.

I hope you find out why the wing didn`t inflate.

 

"I have edited this as I mis-understood a post. And owe paint an apology"


its all good


thanks

In that scenario by the time you exit, realize something is fucked, try to correct, you're already on your back 20 feet from a cliff. "just tracking out of it" might be a bit of a tall order. Jerome did a way better job of saving his life than I'll bet 90% of us would have. Good on you dude, and looking forward to jumping with you again soon.

"Jerome did a way better job of saving his life than I'll bet 90% of us would have"

you can say that again... He was awesome.

next time buy a PF suit.

»No kidding, that was amazing. I hope someone had a fresh pair of superman underoos for him when he landed. I know I'd need 'em

Yah he would have at least 2 more second to prepare before his suit starting inflating!

Haha, no brand wars comments allowed

Jeezus Charlie, you spend too much time in Europe.

Holy crap!!!
That is the most lines twists I think I have ever seen! Nice pause to admire the cliff half way out of the twists!

Good save.

Dont ya love how wanker journalists always add there 2 cents

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/...ll-as-wingsuit-fails

Oh and if there are any journos on here

YES YOU ARE WANKERS

To complete my expertise with some BASE masters helps, I give you here 3 photos of my right arm wing vent:
> one is in good opening
> secong is bad, closed reverse
> third is very bad with closed reverse + under harness

I was wearing the same clothes as day accident, too much... With moving into wingsuit, or pulling on clothes inside or to the material to be better in, the right arm vent could easily goes under harness or be closed reverse.

Yes it is necessary to control before jumping, but you can control all the time and one day not and this day you will be dead.

Here there is a major problem in the built of arm wing vent on Xbird1. The rigid part to leave it opened is only on top with 2 cm high... it is not enough because it could reverse and closed the vent totaly. It will be better to have a rigid part all over the higher of vent and too to have an opening not horizontal but incline.

Having only one small vent is critisize, because all the inflate must be done by it, no rescue, no chance if it is closed or work bad.

Intelligence is to recognize his mistakes and correct them.

Take care all of you,
Best,

Jérôme

im must agree he was Scraooodah the second he stepped off fo shore!!

maybe next time ill watch the video before commenting

that's some Wacked up stuff there i tell ya!!!

seriously though i've never jumped tony suits and when ive been around em' at the DZ and out in the backcountry when people were wearing em' i never noticed but do they all not have Cutaway systems?!?!!

I do see this as a problem. maybe this a topic for another thread , i dont know., but not having a cutaway sytem is weird to me.

one scenario being if a zipper jams there is no back up.
and on occasion they do and have on me , luckily i wasn't having linetwists or any problems ,but didn't stop me from wondering.

ok, bye

 

Jerome's last post contains a photo which shows a problem (the vent blowing back and then becoming non-functional) that many suits have, mine included. This problem is real, REGARDLESS of the positioning of the vent or the fit of the suit. The new vents on the top surface of the leading edge are perhaps a fix for this.

This exact issue caused a lack of internal pressure in my arm wing and led to me grabbing fabric instead of pilot chute twice in the past year. Luckily both times I was high enough to paw around at it and get my PC out, and I'm still here to talk about it but they were some of the closest calls I've had in BASE.

I know Jerome personally and he is not jumping to conclusions here, this is a very real issue that has damaged my confidence in the suit. After my near no-pulls, for part of the season I was jumping the X-bird with some duct-tape fastened nylon rod to prevent the vent from folding down, and that was an effective but ugly and fragile fix. At the time I didn't think the problem was serious or widespread enough to post it here but this incident has made me reconsider.

I don't know what suit you have, and while I do agree with you that people should examine their own personal issues before bringing them into the open, you'd better take a careful look at your own equipment as well. This season has been a stark reminder that we cannot trust any BASE manufacturer to think of everything, or even the most important things.

Watch out for yourself, and we have to watch out for each other. Thanks to Jerome for surviving this and sharing it.

-M

Ok noway Treejumps, no problem, I assume the total responsability of this accident... Iam not making business with life... Iam a little BASE jumper, I've been a solo climber during 15 years... the risk I know it, but I know to recognize my fault and what is wrong in gear... I've nothing to prove. I post this vid for information, for BASE community, not against Tonysuits. Read what I have said before and not only the last... If most of people think that it is wrong or false I will take it off, I will sleep the same. But I will never buy a Tony or defend it anyway.
If business is better than life... this shit doesn't interested me. If Tony put a second Vent on X2 (and propose it for my X1 after accident) there is a reason, but who know exactly why?
So eraze that thread and all going to sleep.
Perhaps I need my mum to fit...
Take care.
Jérôme

Did the wing fail to pressurise properly from the exit or did it happen during the flight?

Jerome, dont take this as personal attack. Its not ment as that at all. ok? I watched your mythique video as well. It seems like your harness is way to big for you. When you pull the canopy your cheststrap almost hits you in the face. Might it be a problem because the harness is very big as well as maybe cheststrap not tighten enough with that wents should be placed further out on armwing? Just a thought.

No Odd, Iam only disappointed, and I could be angry. It is really very distressing... you will know more soon, a new video is coming!
Take care all of you, check your gear (and your vents)
Best
Jérôme

For those which talk strong that is a PF complot, as on dropzone.com, I said try to fly an Xbird with one non inflate arm wing at the start, and come back to show us how you master it... Iam curious But I just want to say them, stay in a plane. It is not a cabale against Tonysuits, that is clear! I love that suit. But I think that life need truth... even it is not good to hear.
Take care
Jérôme

Your information is very valuable for all WS Base jumpers and I honestly appreciate it very much that you put the video online.
I’m pretty sure 95% of the active WS BASE Jumpers feel the same way as I do. So I hope you give a shit to people who want to make a brand thing out of this. This is about learning from experience and avoiding someone going in because a suit does not work or inflate the way we want it to.
The big number of the jumps we do nowadays are technical jumps with short starts. I need to fully trust and relay on my Wingsuit. And if there is something that needs to be improved or not working well I need to know that.
And I’m sure this is why James has started this thread, to educate and to inform. It’s not about a brand; it’s about safety and not dying on a WS jump!
And if some stupid poster on Dropzone.com (basamajik) with supposedly 1500 BASE Jumps and 2000 Wing Suit flights says it was a piloting error I would guess he is a troll and has built up his knowledge from watching youtube movies on the internet…

1+ MIKKI!!!

i get the feeling that some people are more protective about brands,....and NOT so protective about their comerades and the comunity....
even if the harness was to big,...the container to heavy,..wrong food before the hike,....lack of cigarettes on top of the mountain,.....

there is a problem so no matter what the reason is, all should be informed about it,...like:
"to whom it may concerns"
this is what Jerome tryed to do,....thats all,...

and by the way,...i know people who had this problem before, expirienced jumpers, sponserd jumpers,...

we are not talking about a holy cow!!!!
we are talking about human beeings that almost get killed and there is somebody who try to speak out a warning to prevent further fatalitys,....thats all,....
take the infos, make your own conclusions but dont kill the messenger,....
peace!

 

20minuten.ch, swiss news

+1 Mikki

We can only learn when we can have an open and honest and frank dialogue.

We all take part in this sport of our own will and we all are aware that much of the equipment would still be considered experimental in most walks of life.

However we all also actively manage our risks to a level that we are personally comfortable with and it is freedom of information that allows us to make INFORMED DECISIONS (to the best of our ability)...

So lets try to leave the brand arguments at the door and try to deal with the FACTS as best we can...

Perhaps Tony will look into this and will publish his findings...

This was the original suspicion with Cable Dave
http://www.blincmagazine.com/...e_Cable_Dave_Karaffa

We have also update the BASE Fatality List entry to include the video.

From Tony:

"The video shows the arm wing is pinched under the container causing the inlet to become obstructed, preventing the inflation of the wing. "

Sorry Tony and James but that is not true... ad it is not fair too!

well... this grab shows there's something wrong in wing tension...
I'd agree with Tony looking at this pic...

Mmmh.. From my point of view you CANNOT conclude from the picture that there is any abnormal tension due to a pinch in the fabric.

The "something wrong in wing tension" comes only from the fitting of the WS on jeronimo's morphology when uninflated. He could however reduce a little bit by adding some tension on the legs (note that it doesnt solve the problem)

We can clearly see a tension line (red) on both wings, on each picture. If we look carefully we can see that the left (working properly) armwing has the same deformation on J's video. It just starts to disappear BECAUSE of the inflation and not the other way around.

What stopped the inflation is very likely the positioning of the rigidification of the air opening as shown in the picture with the "possible malfunctions".

A bigger (in width) reinforcement in the air inlet external skin would solve this particular issue avoiding the inlet cover to twist.

Anyway the problem has apparently been solved on the new models by the new inlets design.

With every wingsuit, it's the pilot's job to double check prior to every jump. Yet if I had one of these, I would hoewever just modify the inlets design to solve the problem because redundancy just increase the reliability!

be safe

What is certain in this story is that the attitude of Tonysuit is not worthy of a serious company which boasts of having the best wingsuits market.

Since the accident I've only had one contact with Tony U. to show him the pictures in private immediately after the accident. He told me: “man Im sick of frt inlets not performing, its so important to get the arms inflated quick on a base jump. Im going to the double barrel inlets on the X2 and the X-Bird an the apache, we'll get a second arm inlet put on this suit soon as I get it back please”. This was the first and last time I heard from him. It was then James B. of Tonysuit’s team that contacted me so that I forward him the wingsuit to the change in Italy. I sent him on January (paid 40euro by my own for shipping), pointing out what I wanted exactly, this was my deal to send them the wingsuit. James has added the second air inlet but did not hit in the first because he said it should removing the wing. I thank him very much. Back of my wingsuit, 2 weeks later. The picture shows the air inlet added by James. I have myself rebuilt the shape of first entry (photo 1).

Before sending the wing I have taken care to photograph the bottleneck found on the first air inlet, due to too a tight seam under the plastic stiffener (photo 2). James apparently did not see it. Since I do not want to repeat what I said here, that the cause is not a pinch under the bag of the wing (impossible) it's just an optical effect of the camera gopro linked to the 3D shape of the wing and that the mine has has a fold of origin at the junction. The only cause for the wing does not inflate is that air does not enter but not because of any imaginary pinch but because of the closure of the air inlet. That kind of shape on single inlet are the same on R-bird and S-bird wings too...

For me, the silence of Tony, his express request to turn back the wingsuit to put a second inlet, two vents that are systematic about new Xbird models, the testimony of Matt G., the suspect death of Dave and Antoine, my previous incident in flight at Croix de Fer, mean that the suspicion that Tony knew there was a problem is high.

This is not because more than 100 Xbird are on the market that the problem does not exist and will not recur. I also have a photo showing that the second entry on the X2 closes in flight. I was lucky to survive and to have images. Tony has been fortunate that I am not a U.S. citizen, because if it were ever to happen to one of his compatriots he will perhaps not as cool as me. I’ve cancelled photo of the new inlets of my facebook wall and play the game (as long as I accept) as you said to me “to prevent lots of questions can you take the photo down please. I don't want to create more confusion about the inlets”.

I deplore the lack of courage, it seems that his business comes first, and I hope that incident will save life than failing to learn lessons for some.

Thank you to everyone who supported me in private and in public, especially Matt, who has much to lose in this story, but Tony has a lot to thank to him in its commercial success in Europe (due to his numerous test flights, amazing perform videos and non commercial profits as dealer, when nobody knew anything about this brand 2 years ago). Now for me this page is closed, and looking for some better days.

Best, take care and check your gear.
Jérôme

You mean Antoine Montant?
If yes, as far as i know the problem was not the suit, but the lack of experience in WS flight to jump from this exit point. Nobody talked about experience there, but most of the time it's the main cause of trouble.

Jean-phi

have you considered becoming a hand model? i think you could carve out a lucrative career!!!

interesting or scary... lack of what? experience or tests...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zJFQdOs1Ic
this video is back after being deleted (update post) > http://vimeo.com/38615978

> http://www.dropzone.com/...rum.cgi?post=4290524

After reading about these inflation issues with the X1, I had my X1 modified by the factory for the double barrel vent rather than the standard single.
However on a recent jump, the right wing failed to fully pressurize.
Shortly after exit, I had turned left onto the line I had been flying over the previous days and began to fly towards my first setup point.
At this point I noticed that I was beginning to roll towards the right, this became a very steep diving turn, mostly on the roll axis, trying to flip over rather than turn so much. At this point I performed an emergency pull, achieving pressurization about 1 second before impacting with the talus. Luckily, the talus was quite soft grass and I sustained only minor injuries and was able to make my way to safety unassisted.
The vents were checked prior to exit, all open and unobstructed.
The rig fits the suit perfectly, no deformation of the suit at all.

My conclusions are:

Although vent design, shape, size, location etc, are important factors in sub terminal inflation, turning shortly after/during exit can contribute to inflation issues, be careful when making a turn onto your line shortly after exit.
Large surface area wingsuits are particularly vulnerable to differences in pressure between the arm wings, a deflated wing may have the same surface area as an inflated one but will not be creating lift, this will cause the suit to roll into a steep turn and despite what some armchair experts may say, it is impossible to fly a large suit with this malfunction.

I was not going post any information with regards to this incident; base jumping is after all a high risk/reward activity, and to some extent we are all test pilots.
I have however met a couple of jumpers recently who have had unexplained incidents with their suits and have decided not to make the information public for various reasons, mostly to do with how any information is twisted and used by individuals to peruse the usual brand wars and personal agendas.
Unfortunately, this just means that the first time we hear of an incident is when an unexplained fatality occurs that may have been preventable if the information about previous near misses was make public at the time, so there it is. Play safe.

"to some extent we are all test pilots", Well said! The BASE environment is very different from the skydiving environment which sees the majority of flight time on most suit innovation, and BASE is obviously a much less forgiving environment. It is appreciated that you have posted your experience and it benefits everyone, thank you and I am happy that the incident had a good outcome, Regards, B.

I only agree to a certain degree. Not wanting to start a brandwar ( that is something for the dorkzone...) but I really feel confortabe flying a V4 because I know Robi and his testdummies have tested the suit extensivly over 1 year bevore the go to market with the suit. I know I'm a testjumper to a certain degree but some basics should be resolved before a suit is thrown into the market...

I also don't want to start a "brand war" and I believe in PF's commitment to testing especially in the BASE environment. After I had a double malfunction many years ago on a Tandem Rig, a skydiving equipment designer told me that we are in essence all test jumpers and that every Mon they had a business meeting to review incidents in the field that they had not foreseen. This piece of Tandem equipment had over 1.5 million jumps in the field before my accident, and another similar one that resulted in a double fatality, as a result they changed a detail in the construction. UPT recently changed their recomendation for closing their sport rig after millions of jumps without incidents due to a couple of incidents where the closing pin pierced the bridle, beware of this in the BASE environment and learn from it. Personally I share your brand preference but that is not the issue, we jump at our own risk and that to me is an unconditional acceptance of the equipment we choose to use, but as I am sure you will agree Mikki, the information disseminated on this forum is of the utmost benefit to all of us who participate in our sport, Regards,B.

Hey Matt, you are not totaly diseapear
OK show the vid you shared to me 2 days ago, it will be better to understand... or perhaps that you prefer to show the world that you are brave flying the crack?
It is not because BASE is dangerous that problems or malfunction should be hide or ignored... eveyone jumping with gear that had progress in time better that before, nobody should die because something is wrong in material, in its use or in the piloting!
Next time contact directly Tony than me, and please contact me back than block me on facebook... I had answered all your questions in private, here many month ago and last days, it will be correct to give me some explanations?
Finding the goods reasons is not easy. In my case, the back vid showed that one wing didn't inflate, why is more difficult. Your vid didn't show that the wing is not inflate, only filming front (or you don't show me the back one?). But I've got the same incident as you in croix de fer many month before my accident in Montrebei. I could not say that it was due to an unbalance inflante of wing, my feeling this day was, 6s after exit when I tried to optimised my flight, that something (like a crooswind wind?) push me on left and I had that opposite strongly my flight then suddenly went right and spine... lucky I was higher than you. 1s later you were dead Matt!
Please, don't say because we know risk in base that we should continue to do as nothing happened... yeah in a brave world of super heroes, showing than we are poor human (not birds) is not very good for ego... but that could save lifes in future... Don't forget that! Brand war is a bad joke
Take care
Jerome

Jerome,
I contacted the 3 people I know who are still flying the X, I asked specifically that they not make the footage public as my family have not seen it, I know it would be distressing for them.
The first thing you did was post the footage publicly, yes you are right I will not be contacting you in future, that was a mistake.
I do not want to become part of your campaign, there is enough information here for all to see and make their own decisions.
I do not want or need a video debrief from the online base community, I have drawn the necessary conclusions from my near miss and moved on, perhaps you should do the same.
All the best
Matt

I understood that it was that, Iam very sorry I just let it few minutes on my facebook wall. But your attitude is strange!? As many other people who have contacted me, I have politely reply with no way of "any campaign" as you said for me!!!
I've all time tried to be partial, and some famous experiment jumpers on each side have follow me, and yes it was not easy to tell the thruth here, and I thank these persons for their support.
Matt as many other who had contacted me, you ask but you don't answer, not even a little thanks for the time have took for reply. When some people said to me "I know something similar" and when I asked them Iam interesting give me more infos... nothing! You make me all laught
So Iam not working for any wingsuit brand (Iam still flying with my X1, custom now ), and after all some persons seems to be better human than other, and this is what is important for me.
Me too I didn't want my family know about my accident or see the vid, but the most imortant is to inform basejumper about the reality, good or bad. So take your council for yourself next time, remember that you could have died (very very lucky!), and sure some others will died or will have big injury...
If you have a little respect for yours "BRO" yes you should say what happened (share your vid too) and these "BRO" will take their own conclusion!
Fuck this omerta attitude!
Take care.
J.