Hello, all! It’s been a very, very long time. Quite frankly, the weather in NorCal all winter has been dragging me down and really quashing any of my pep and motivation to make plans to skydive or talk about skydiving. The dreariness creeps in every weekend, leaving the DZ either literally under water, covered in clouds, or so wickedly cold that I’m not interested in jumping. (For example, it was -4F at altitude today when I popped by the DZ to say hi. No thanks.)
Wingsuiting!
I’m heckin’ doing it! Also, it’s terrifying. This Friday, we had a break in the bad weather and fit in a couple of fun jumps. So to guarantee that we sit farthest from the door, we did some wingy jumps. Man, I love wingsuiting, if only for the sprawling I get to do on the bench. I have watched wingsuiters do it over the years, taking up far more than their fair share of the plane. Which was always super annoying when I had about 2/3 of a seat, squashed and frigid by the door. However, I finally have reached the point where, since I can’t beat them, I shall join them.
We did 3 rips! My goal was 4; I’m trying to work on my fear-stamina. I’m pretty nervous in the wingy so far, just because I have so little experience in it. The only thing that feels natural about it is flying. Everything else (putting it on, wearing it in the plane, exit, deployment, house-keeping under canopy) feels unfamiliar and wrong. However, I know that I am adequately prepared to deal with any issues I run into, so I need to push past this being-afraid stage to where it just feels normal. So, anyway, we did 3 whole jumps. (Clouds threatened to roll in after the 3rd so the load filled up and my next just would have been a long call, so I ended up calling it.)
I keep saying We. It’s wonderful to have Mr. Butts around! He always wants to do rips with me. I love having an always-there 2way buddy for freeflying or wingsuits. But! We also were joined by our friend Tristan, who RIPS in a wingsuit. Flying with him is literally the same as having a personal coach.
After going back through my logbook this weekend, I realized that I did my first wingsuit jump over a year ago, in February of 2022. My first flight felt. I also counted and I’m up to 13ish wingsuit jumps, I think. Anyway, I’m determined to do wingy rips more regularly so I’m less terrified. We get out of the airplane, I start leading the group, then all of a sudden, Tristan is back flying underneath me, telling me what to do. He’s so close that I can very easily read his chest-mount alti. If you want to take up wingsuit, I highly recommend having someone as awesome as Tristan as a friend to jump with. Also, also! Chuck came along! It was high fives all around (until Richô chopped. See below.)
So what am I flying?
Welp, I got a Hybrid Winx 135 in my old V319. The openings are very good so far; it’s brand new basically, since I only got it in November. I am waiting on a SkySnatch with a longer bridle. Right now, I’m jumping an 8ft Infinity bridle and PC that I begged off of Richo because my old PC was clapped out and on an itty bitty bridle. I initially was worried about the canopy extraction and opening with a non-wingsuit PC and bridle, but my first handful of jumps, I didn’t flare much before opening, so no worries there. The canopy opened so fast I practically kicked my lines. The V319 was always a bit big for me and a bit too long for it to be a good freefly rig, especially head up. I’m pretty tall (5’9″) and even for me, it hung low on my butt. However! That’s pretty perfect for wingsuiting.
Suit-wise, I’ve graduated up to Richõ’s old ATC which fits me great, probably better than it ever fit him. Bummer for him but hella lucky for me. I was borrowing a Phantom that was just too small, all around. I borrowed a Havok Carve that was hanging around the DZ a few times, but the last time I jumped it, the shoulder zipper peeled apart on jump run so I rode the plane down. I would have been pretty happy to jump the Carve more but beggars can’t be choosers. The idea of jumping an ATC so early stressed me out a bit; but it’s been fine so far. It flies great. I will eventually get bold enough to zip up the vents but for now, I’m leaving them open.
Overall, wingsuiting has been a nice change of pace. I’m really looking forward to She Flocks next year! I’ll probably mostly be a local wingsuiter, as it looks like a pain to travel with. Unless we’re road-tripping in the van. Then we can bring all the skydiving gear 😀 But it’s nice to have a new interest in skydiving that I don’t feel compelled to compete in; I can just fly to enjoy it.
Richo Chopped a BS Malfunction!
This weekend, Richø Butts had a glorious chop that I need to share with the world. Why? Because he absolutely chopped a bullshit malfunction. And if you’ve ever hung out with Richò, you know that he likes to tell people not to chop bullshit malfunctions. <<<<NOTE! He jokes. He kids. He jests. He absolutely wants people to make a smart decision when it comes to saving their own lives.>>>> After I chopped my spinny-mal last summer, first, he made sure I was okay. Then, he said “And what do I always say about bullshit malfunctions?” It’s high up there on his list of favorite catch-phrases.
So, how’d this go down?
I’m so new to wings-n-things that I’m pulling hella high on my wingy, like between 5k and 4,5k. By the time I’m done with all my housekeeping, the only other people soaring around under canopy with me are students and tandems. Which is why I didn’t really pay any attention or notice that my beloved boyfriend’s canopy wasn’t swooshing the landing area. Instead, I only realized Mr. Butts had a chop when I was walking back in. Indeed, he was trudging back from the wrong side of the runway, covered in mud, carrying a canopy that was the wrong color. He was verrrrrry covered in mud.
SOMEONE had to land in the mud, because his other choice was amongst the almond trees that surround Skydive Cal. Because SOMEONE couldn’t make it back to the landing area on his reserve. Because SOMEONE cut away at 1700 feet and . Because SOMEONE didn’t unzip his arm-wings all the way and wasn’t able to reach up to pop his toggles. Because SOMEONE’S canopy was getting unruly. Because, here’s the real beautiful part of this whole thing, SOMEONE packed himself a toggle fire. And on top of it all, SOMEONE tossed his cutaway handle. (Which we did find. We found everything because Mr. Butts is also Mr. Lucky.)
Anyway. Was it really worth writing about here?
Not really. I think we already learned the things we can learn here: Don’t pack toggle fires. Unzip your arm-wings all the way. Don’t throw your handle. Cutaway above 1700.
But the biggest thing all my readers of this blog have learned is that you have another excellent reason to tease Reverend Butts when you see him next. And when he tells you not to chop bullshit malfunctions, you should feel free to laugh at him.