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Is it reasonable to think that the same 'oversight' that affected Jeb also affected Dwain? (That your legs are travelling on a lower path than your eyes.)

if so, then this would seem to suggest that Dwain was trying to shoot the wires and not trying to commit suicide, as some have claimed.

 

???????

That was already discussed in the incidents thread when Jeb had his accident. From what I remember reading, most agreed with this, especially given the way Dwain flew his suit until impact.



I don't think anyone that knew anything about him would think that. He routinely did things that would kill anybody else and executed it like it was no big deal. I wish there was a compilation of videos of him. I just REALLY hope that they don't get lost in time. He was one unique, interesting, mind-blowing, terrifying, brilliant computer nerd from what I've seen, heard, and read. Speaking of.... anyone know of any other articles or such written by Dwain except Ultra-low freefall and Aerials in BASE?

At least one person who knew Dwain personally made the claim on Blinc that Dwain was trying to (and was successful in) committing suicide.

My honest opinion, after getting more experienced with wingsuiting and seeing the video more recently, I think Dwain flew himself into a corner. In the video I see what seems to be indecision in his flight, indicating to me that he realized he couldn't at that point fly below the bridge and couldn't make it past. Take it with a grain of salt, just my opinion. For the record I admire/d Dwain since I began BASE jumping and dont think the sport would be what it is today without him. He is a legend.

I think I still have something he wrote about PC sizes and when to apply them, pros and cons of using bigger versus smaller, etc.

Could you share that please?

Sort of like object fixation? Or that he was trying to come very close to the top of the bridge but then realized he was too low?

Apparently he said to Jeb "whatever happens happens" right before he left the plane, which I understand was out of character for him.

I guess we'll never really know what happened.

I agree 100% that he's a legend; a very unique person.

Yeah, I'll see if I can't dig it up.

I think he was attempting to come VERY close. As you say, though, we will never know. The "whatever happens, happens" thing is interesting for sure, especially considering some of the crazy shit he did.

I believe the PC size is the article on Apex BASE's site under 'articles'. I is about 48" vs 52" for low objects. or is it a different one you mean?

No, that sounds like the one. Breaks down the stages of inflation and where a 52 will sacrifice inflation vs. a 48, etc. I imagine it's the same one.

Right, so maybe he was trying to fly very close to the top of the bridge, realized he was too low but also too high to go under the bridge, and therefore his only option was to try and shoot the wires.

I'm speculating again; I'll stop now.

 

Why?

Original Email from Dwain (Unedited)

How are things? Things are pretty good with me -
I've
just been working really hard the past few months as
I started a new job with Boeing.

Regarding 52" p/c's:

There are six main phases in deployments (note: some
of these phases overlap in sequence):
Phase 1: Pilot Chute (p/c) is released (via BOC or
hand held)
Phase 2: p/c reaches bridle stretch
Phase 3: p/c inflates
Phase 4: p/c extracts canopy to line stretch (there
are multiple sub-stages here such as container
opening, extraction of canopy from container and
lifting of the canopy to line stretch)
Phase 5: canopy achieves bottom skin inflation
(there are multiple sub-stages here)
Phase 6: canopy achieves cell pressurization (there
are multiple sub-stages here).

The 52" p/c in very low airspeeds will speed up
Phase 4 slightly compared to a 48" p/c. However due to
the extra weight of the p/c it can slow down Phase 2
slightly. Also due to the extra size of the p/c it
can also slow down Phase 3 slightly. So basically a 52"
p/c (compared to a 48") will generally make Phase 2
and 3 worse, but improve Phase 4.

The net result of a 52" p/c is still positive, but
only small. From video analysis my conclusions were
that a 52" p/c results on in a higher opening of
maybe about 10-15 feet on average. Still, if you are
freefalling very low objects then this can make a
big difference.

I don't really care if I have a 48" p/c or a 52" p/c
until my exit height gets below 170 feet. However
this is with canopies around the 220 - 245 square
foot / weight range. For the bigger canopies (293) I
would probably recommend using a 52" p/c for anything
under 190' to be safe (I'm just guessing here).

The construction of the 52" p/c is very important.
Weight is a critical factor that will slow Phase 2,
and to some extent, Phase 3.

My 52" p/c does not have any load tapes on the ZP
material (as they aren't needed for re-enforcement
as the p/c is only used in low airspeeds). Load tapes
on the mesh are very important as they limit the mesh
from stretching and therefore air from spilling out
around the skirt. I have 8 load tapes on the mesh
of my 52" p/c (same as the BR 48") and I think it is a
good balance of weight versus the amount that the
mesh can stretch.

The technique you use for freefalling very low
objects is the most critical. It takes almost the same
amount of time from Phase 1 to Phase 3 to occur as it does
for Phase 4 to occur (about 1.3 seconds on average
for Phase1-3 and about 1.5 seconds on average for Phase
4, but this varies hugely from jump to jump).
Using a 52" p/c will speed up Phase 4 slightly, but
the biggest difference you can make is on Phase 2.
If you just throw the p/c to the side it will go into
freefall with you. You will then need to fall
faster than the p/c to overtake it before it will reach
bridle stretch. The p/c won't fully inflate until
after it reaches bridle stretch and is being dragged
through the air by your body.

However if you throw the p/c up when you exit it
will reach bridle stretch quicker and the p/c will begin
to inflate sooner. The sooner after the exit the p/c
becomes inflated and starts doing its job, the
better.

Your acceleration is exponential, so something done
up front which will shave a fraction of a second off
the end, will make a big difference.

If you throw a 46" p/c up to bridle stretch on exit
you will open much higher than if you throw a 52"
p/c to the side.
The best technique is similar to throwing a
basketball through the hoop. You jump up in the air and you
throw the basketball(p/c) upwards and forward when
you are at the top of your jump.

In a perfect ultra-low freefall the p/c should
inflate above the exit point and already be starting to pull
on the shrivel flap (or pop a pin) when it becomes
level with the exit point. In a way it is cheating
as you are getting part of the deployment to occur
above the exit point.

There are other techniques as well that help, such
as the forward push on your launch, your body position
in freefall (to minimize swing through on line stetch),
and the way you release your brakes, but I won't go
into them here.

In summary, the 52" p/c will help a little but
technique will make a bigger difference. I suspect
a 52" p/c may make a more noticeable difference on
heavier canopies (eg. your Flik293).

For you to notice the difference of a 52" p/c over a
48" p/c you will have to be really pushing the
envelope of low freefalls. 99.9% of BASE jumpers
won't freefall something low enough to need a 52"
p/c which is why BR doesn't make them as standard.

Also the glide of the canopy will suffer with a 52"
p/c (more of a difference on smaller canopies) so
they can cause more problems then good depending on the
jump.

If you are planning to freefall some very low stuff
then I'd recommend getting a 52" "Big Bertha" from
BR.


Also keep in mind that the opening height
variability of low freefalls is huge – even when everything else
is the same (packjob, p/c, canopy, technique, etc
etc).

Sometimes you open super high and sometimes you open
in the dirt. I've done 13 freefalls from 156' over
hard earth and this height does have a small margin
for error. On the best freefall from this object I
had enough height to pop my brakes and make a 90
degree turn before doing a nice soft flare. On my
worst freefall I opened and then hit the ground
straight away. Gear and technique remained constant
but the opening height varies wildly (I also have
about 80 freefalls from under 185 feet with the same
results of wild variation in opening height). My
point is to not draw any conclusions after just a
few jumps. Hesitations eventually will occur during
some phase of the deployment sequence so make sure you
have some margin for error built in.

Hope this helps,
Dwain

Correct on all counts.

Aerial god, gifted parachutist and legend that he was, Dwain was a wingsuit beginner and he died partly because of it.

The video shows him flying the suit closer to a stall than full flight and when he flew toward that corner he flared instead of dropping his head and sticking out his legs, and sealed his fate. If he had done the latter, he may well have cleared the bridge.

He did not try to shoot the wires, period. All you have to do is look at his impact point and know that to be a ludicrous supposition.

He may have tried to slide through between the support cable and the bridge railing when he knew he was already dead, but Dwain knew better than anyone that he couldn't possibly make it through that space because it was only about 6 feet. He actually hit the railing, which snapped his neck at C1/C2 and one of the 1-inch vertical stabilizer cables sliced through his harness and one leg at the hip.

If he had actually planned to fly between the cable and railing, he would have done it closer to the middle of the bridge, where the cable-railing distance was way bigger.

The bottom line is:

He cut it too close and didn't allow for the 5mph headwind.

If you think about it, the net effect of a 5mph headwind is that the object you're trying to clear is is "moving" toward your flight path at 7.3 feet per second.

Or to say it another way, the 5mph wind is blowing your flight path back toward the object at 7.3 feet per second.

Dwain was trying to zoom past the bridge just a few feet away from it on the upwind side. Thus the bridge moved toward his flight path relatively speaking -- and his flight path drifted back toward the bridge technically speaking -- and thus the bridge intersected with his flight path, or his flight path intersected with the bridge.

Very simple.

In one sense, though, Jeb and Dwain did exactly the same thing:

They cut it too close.

If both of them had allowed more margin for error, they both would have avoided impact.

Jeb's error was focusing on hitting the balloon instead of missing the rock, and the feet-lower-than-eyes thing bit him.

Dwain's error was not allowing for flight path drift back toward the bridge, and his wingsuit inexperience killed him.

Jeb has probably learned his lesson; Dwain unfortunately did survive his.

Hope this clarifies things a bit -- and no, the OP is not unreasonable to think that the same 'oversight' that affected Jeb also affected Dwain. That's not the way it happened, though.

44


P.S. Full disclosure: I was the executive coordinator of the event, the designer of the "demo" on which Dwain died, and one of the jumpers thereon.

I jumped first, alone, in my wingsuit, then opened 1K above the bridge and swooped at high speed past it (and the spectators on the bridge) on a small non-BASE canopy.

Then Jeb and Dwain jumped tigether on a separate pass. The plan was for Dwain to fly over the bridge, then open even with the bridge 100+ feet away while Jeb flew under the bridge and opened up deep in the gorge. That way all three of us gave the spectators a different view and a different rush.

Dwain, however, went Aussie on us and deviated from the plan. I was already on the ground and saw him hit the bridge from the railroad tracks, then watched his leg fall 1,000 feet and land three feet in front of me.

His canopy opened from the impact and turned slowly through 540 degrees and then he landed on a large ledge.

Jeb landed down the tracks from me and refused to believe that Dwain was dead ("That's impossible," he said) until he saw the leg lying at my feet.

And thus passed a true BASE legend, most of whose cutting-edge exploits then remain cutting-edge exploits now.

My now wife and I watched Dwain's final moments up close and personal after I felt we should move from where the dent was to about ten feet off-center. I think I recognize her scream in the internet video.

He was far from maximum flight approaching the bridge with "relaxed" being a better description. I assumed at the time he was intentionally trying to get closer for a more impressive fly-over and chalk it up to a classic case of Kodak Courage.

She thought he was an asshole for risking spectator lives (a higher fly-over would still have been impressive) and ruining the Go Fast Games for the rest of us and I'm still not inclined to disagree.

He seemed pretty methodical in his writings, I liked him when I met him and laced up one side of his wingsuit just before he rushed off to to the Canon City Airport, but as the joke goes "you fuck one sheep..." I feel that comment would net a bemused look from him.

My wife later made a great observation about how you can do things right and be OK, you can be stupid but have luck on your side, but bad things happen when you're stupid without luck.

That only gets strange when you're stupid, don't seem to have luck, break your leg, and the plane you'd have probably been on goes down with no survivors five weeks later. Especially after wearing your Hanwags on the commercial flight before that so you don't go over on luggage weight, you get an overwhelming impression that the plane is going to crash so you need to tighten them (after over ten commercial flights that year, 1500 skydiving takeoffs, and a hundred landings as a student pilot what are the odds of that happening?), and that may have kept things together enough to avoid a compound fracture.

It is what it is.

Make your own new mistakes instead of being "That Guy" as a cliche.

To my eyes the video shows the same thing. I think he was using the "wingsuit skydiving method" to get down closer to the bridge by relaxing and arching. This changed his trajectory from flying to ballistic, where major corrections take a lot of effort and time. The far safer method of decreasing angle of attack by diving for speed, which you can fast and easily transform back to lift was learned later when WS base and proximity flying became more common. He just did not have the knowledge, even he was one of the most experienced jumpers back then. Pioneers and the ones close to them pay the price.

Vesa

I think this is worth repeating, I think I'll run it as my sig for a bit.. "Hesitations eventually will occur during
some phase of the deployment sequence so make sure you
have some margin for error built in. " -Dwain Weston