The Merlin
The Merlin is designed specifically for wing suit flight. The reason that it has been rather difficult to find information on it is because we have just finished prototyping, testing, tweaking, retesting, etc… With the help of Yuri and a few other test jumpers, we are now quite sure of the design of the Merlin. What separates the Merlin from a standard BASE rig are the following features:
When a person flying a wingsuit throws out the pilot chute, it is usually recommended that they continue to track through the deployment sequence. With a normal BASE or skydiving rig, the bottom corners create a lip which can distort the pack job as it is pulled over it. The “cornerless” bottom of the Merlin allows the parachute to be extracted towards the feet without having the bottom of the container(created by the sewn corners) in the way.
The bulk of the pack job has been distributed with the thinnest part at the bottom of the rig, much like the trailing edge of a wing. The bulk has been moved upwards with the thickest part in the middle of the rig and a medium bulk filling the top of the container.
The rig has been tapered back to the width of the tail pocket at the bottom to provide a cleaner airflow(on a normal BASE rig, this is the widest part of the backpad.)
The rig has been made a bit longer to make grabbing the pilot chute easier with the wingsuit due to the angle of the BOC(not perpendicular to the jumper’s body as on a normal BASE rig or skydiving rig.) The BOC must be angled to provide a cleaner airflow over the bottom of the rig.
The pin cover flap is tucked up into the top flap to create a no drag situation which could possibly open the pin cover flap. Stiffeners have been added to the pin cover flap for the same reason.
One thing to note is that in these pictures, this is the prototype prior to narrowing the bottom of the container, we've also done some cleaning up of the bottom corners and a few other minor changes.
Thanks!
Jimmy and Marta
edit: picture added ~Tom Aiello
