Have you ever thought about flying around a cloud ? Getting more than 3 minutes falling at 40mph ? Bird Man or wingsuit flying allows this and more . Our Bird Man school in Ocaña Madrid offers daily one on one or group courses for budding flyers.
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More About Bird Man Suits.
Bird man suits are made from the same materials that modern parachutes are. This zero porosity ( does not allow air through ) materials is cut in such a way that it inflates to form a wing. You are the skeleton of the wing pushing out your arms and legs to ensure a rigid wing which produces a lot of lift and forward speed.
The feeling of flying a bird man suit is much different than freefall. Your high forward speed combined with your low vertical speed gives you a feeling of true freedom of flight. Imagine more wind hitting your face than your belly.
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What previous experience do I need to take part ?
It is reccomended that a skydiver have at least 200 freefall jumps in the past 18 months before receiving the FFC (first flight course ) from a BMI ( Birdman Instructor), the first flight should be one-on-one with a BMI. Skydivers with 500+ current freefall jumps may fly solo on their first flight after undertaking the ground school with a BMI.
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What is included in the " First Flight Course " ?
- DVD Seminar
- Your own copy of the manual
- Introduction and Gearing Up
- Weather conditions
- Handle placement and pull familiarization
- Flight pattern/Safety issues
- Exits
- Body position
- Flight
- Turn technique
- Wave-off
- Pull
- After the pull
- Emergency procedures
- Aircraft procedures
above: FFU Staff : Paula, Andy and Peter get ready for a birdman " flock " dive.
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Equipment Requirements
Rig – BOC and kill-line PC only
Main Parachute – More important is being comfortable with the canopy characteristics. Elliptical canopies are not recommended.
AAD ( Mandatory on our dropzone )
Altimeter – Wrist or hand mounted altimeters work best.
Audible Altimeter
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What are the costs involved ?
50 € - Ground School
10 € - Suit rental one jump
25 € - Suit rental all day
15 € - One-on-One flight with BMI. Student pays two tickets to manifest. Jump includes video.
The cost of a Birdman Suit is about 600 euros. The price varies on the options of course. We can measure you and give you an exact price in the Birdman Flight Centre here in Ocaña. Recently we have purchased four suits in varying sizes from the profit derived from AFF courses.
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The Coach
Paula Silva , who works full time with the Freefall University teaches this course. She is a birdman instructor and Base Jumping Instructor with the school. She speaks fluent English, Spanish and Portuguese. Paula combines her passions BASE and birdman. Watch out for detials of our BASE courses as Paula works full time with the Freefall University.
( page updated 23.10.05 )
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When are courses run ?
Every week starting Mondays normally , but we can tailor to suit your needs if required.
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The Rewards ?
Close your eyes and imagine.
oh ok...check out this birdman video then.. look out for people climbing above the airplanes they have jumped from , people flying in formation or " flocks" ...just AWESOME!
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