Sky_doggy

Hi all, are these tunnels the only ones that are in close proximity to a DZ? - Skyventure XP - iFly Orlando - Skyventure Arizona What I am seeking advice on is that I am looking to take a week of vacation and spend some time in the tunnel each evening and jump at a DZ during the day. I am looking to improve my RW skills so an integrated coaching program would be great. Thanks

In my past life I did hardware and software design work with micro controllers and one project was an auto pilot for light aircraft. I see many similarities with some of the design considerations, in particular barometric sensors and accelerometers with AAD's. Many people in this forum are making that argument that the newer designs mean updated electronics which means that the device is better. While this would seem to make sense, I don't think it is the main factor. From my experience, writing and testing the software algorithms is the complex part, not the electronics. It took us many iterations of code to get a working design and I believe that the longer a product has been around the more optimized there software is. Assuming of course that the product company invests in continual improvement.

One comparison method is Defects per Million Opportunity (DPMO), but I often see it stated at deaths per 100,000 opportunities. I have seen numbers that show skydiving as similar to running, swimming, soccer and other sports but the real outlier is Snow mobiling. All these numbers are interesting, but when we look at our sport so much stuff is still avoidable. Many of these have been debated before but what I see as concerning is plain lack of awareness of the inherent danger. I see people who don't know what size reserve they have, don't know how there equipment functions, don't do gear checks or if they do, don't know how to spot an error. I am new to the sport so I don't know if this is ignorance, apathy, over familiarity or something else but I would be interested in the thoughts of people who have grown up with the sport over time.

Hang on, give me a sec, I need to put my Pop corn in the microwave as well

I sure am sorry to hear about this. Someone "accidentally" picked up my Viso II at the Puerto Rico boogie this year. If one us pounded in we would all be there trying to help so why are we stealing from each other? I so don't get this. I hope your stuff turns up, it would restore my faith in this community.

When I was just off student status I was jumping a rental Navigator 220. The thing was just a bloody mongrel. It wasn't all that old and I used to pay for it to be packed, but once in a while it would crack me. A couple of seasons back it cracked me so badly I couldn't jump for 2 weeks, actually I couldn't do much of anything for a while. After that I used to throw and then grab my head just waiting for it to spank me. On reflection I think that holding my head might of induced problems but I am not sure. At about 50 jumps I bought a Pilot 188 and so far life has been good. I suppose any canopy can but bite but the Pilot/Pulse canopies seem to be less prone to this and I plan on jumping this style of canopy for a while. I do have a couple of questions for the experienced people. Is moving your hands to hold your head while your canopy is deploying likely to just create a different set of issues. Secondly, could someone explain more about opening in a sit?. Does this mean that you deploy in the normal belly to earth configuration and try to transition to more vertical position while your canopy is deploying? Thanks

Doc, I looked at the video clips on the thread "Injury - Low Turn Incident - May 7th 2013" and I literally felt sick. I doubt if I could watch it again. Perhaps a mandatory viewing this clip needs to go along with Billvon's excellent downsizing check list. I have been contemplating a recent accident of a jumper who started with me 3 seasons ago. In his mid 30's, fit, bright with an inquiring mind and an engaging personality and has accumulated about 650 jumps. He is smart, not arrogant, he looks, he listens, and critically evaluates information. Over time I saw his canopy go from 190, 170, 135 and most recently to a Velocity. He was cautioned by people who he respected but still arrived at the wrong decision. A couple of weeks ago he hooked in a 270 and smashed his femur, fractured his hip, L2, L3 and skull. Amazingly he is going to be okay. Quite frankly I don't see an easy answer. Either we head down the highly restrictive route or we just look the other way.

Thanks for posting this. I assume that a AAD will not fire under this scenario because the skydiver has not re accelerated, however rather than me assume could you point me towards a source of information that would help be get more educated on this. Thanks.

Well my curiosity led me to FAR Part 65 Sec. "65.111 — Certificate required." (c) No person may maintain or alter any main parachute of a dual-parachute system to be used for intentional parachute jumping in connection with civil aircraft of the United States unless that person— (1) Has an appropriate current certificate issued under this subpart; or (2) Is under the supervision of a current certificated parachute rigger; I do not have any legal expertise but the words "maintain or alter" would lead to me to conclude that work on a main parachute needs to be done by an appropriately certified rigger.

Hi, having trolled through FAR's part 91, 121 and 135 from time to time I certainly appreciate the difficulty in interpreting them. Could you point me towards the FAR that would direct us that a Master Rigger can only perform work on a non TSO'd item. BTW, I am not winding anyone up here, I am genuinely curious as to how FAA rules are applied in Skydiving. Thanks

Dave, I have watched all of the PD video's on line types and I am slightly smarter on this topic than I used to be. As I understand it, high performance and /or highly loaded canopies have little margin for error, LeBlanc talks about less than 1/4". For stuff that I fly my guess is that I could mess it up a bit and it would be fine, although if I assign a value to my time to make a line set then paying the professionals $300 would be cheaper every time.

So you have piqued my curiosity. Can you point me towards some reference materials where I see what is involved in learning to make a line set? Thanks

This is incorrect. Dave, thank you for your detailed posting. I too have been doing this. I put bumpers on my risers to stop this happening, but sometimes the slider would still slip past. I thought the solution was just to be more care, but it looks like I just need to change my procedures. To be honest, with 20+ people in the air at the same time I find the biggest thing I worry about after opening is collisions. I find my self checking for a square canopy and moving my hands up to the rears to be ready to turn as almost a single action. Thanks again for posting

I sent mine out to Simon Wade. He did an awesome job and turned it around very quickly. Try a Google search on Skydiving Services Boulder City.

For what its worth, my first rig had a PDR 160 reserve and Pilot 188 main. I debated on upsizing the reserve and thought, "hey the odds are 1 in 1000, lets roll the dice". I went back and forth on this and ultimately swapped it out for a PDR 176. Guess what, 100 jumps latter I found my self with a ball of crap over my head and I can say for sure that when I pulled the silver handle I didn't say, "gee I wish I still had that PDR 160" This sport is a bit like poking a tiger with a stick so its a good idea to have a really long stick. Some short cuts aren't worth taking, be safe and spend the money my friend Cheers

Dave, nice post. Thank you

Thank you for this information. Do all manufacturers use the "Red" cable now ? If not, would you happen to know why?

Thanks. John Le Blanc who probably knows more about the topic than most of us have forgotten is quite adamant that the stows need to be tight so I am not about to do differently. With that said I still can't reconcile how lines that are put neatly in place with loose stows is any different to how a semi stowless bag works, or how is reserve canopy is packed. When I watch the part of Le Blanc's YouTube clip where he measures how much it takes to release the stow you can see the bag rock on the table which seems to make the argument that the stows can de stabilize the bag during deployment. Perhaps I am just opening up a perennial debate but I'd be interested in your thoughts. Thanks

Hi, Only having jumped for a couple of seasons I freely admit I don't know "shit from a shovel" and I am sure that my questions reflect this. I have read a lot of the threads on tube stows versus rubber bands, stowless and semi stowless bags and watched UPT's video clips for their semi stowless bags. I concluding that the first two stows need to be neat & tight and the remaining ones just have to be tidy and even in tension. I would rather not have to do a double twist of all the bands, it is a bit of a pain and just increases the frequency of them breaking. Actually semi stowless bag seems rather attractive to me. Your comments of "More BS. When you gonna realize that you just don't know what you don't know? Evidently bag locks are only caused by locking stows? " tell me that I am indeed missing something here? Can further educate me on this? Thanks

Hi Just to give everyone an update, my Cypres arrived yesterday so it looks like 30 day turn around is the norm at the moment.

Good catch Wendy! I have been caught out with this trap. It's an seductive slippery slope, I can clearly remember thinking, "I've nearly got it, such a few more seconds and I'll have it"

Hi All, I was wondering if anyone has had recent experience on the time taken to complete a 4 year service. My unit has been in with SSK since 3/5/2013 but has only just moved to the "Servicing" status. What has people's experiences been of late and how long have there units been in this status of "Servicing" before it get shipped back? Thanks

Hi, I have watched this a couple of times and I am hoping someone more experienced can enlighten me. In watching the video it looks like the reserve is very unresponsive. The jumper makes big control inputs but the canopy seems unresponsive. Is this related to the reserve design, being light loaded or a combination of both? Its a bit hard to tell but it seems like the jumper is in half brake more often than not, is this contributing to the canopy being mushy ? Airtwardo thanks for the reminder on arching during a cutaway, I seem to have forgotten that from my initial AFF training. I did cut away last season due to line twists and I'd have to say that my PD176 @ 1:1.1 seemed to fly quite nicely with plenty of flare in it. I sure knew I was alive in that short space of time between cutting the main and the reserve inflating.... gotta love it.

Hello, I am looking for input regarding my container / canopy combination. I would like to put a Pulse 170 into a J4 container, however Sunpath tell me that it will be too small. I am not planning on going against the designer/manufacturer advise but I was wondering if I have any options, for example, if I were to have a stowless bag made, could it have bit of bulk added so the bag won't be too loose in the container? The worst case option is that I would have to buy a new rig. It would be terrible to have to buy a new Vector Micron with all the options.

Hello, I have this question into Sunpath, but I thought I'd run it by the forum. I am looking to understand the typical size range (height / weight) that a C18 harness on a J3 container would be. I have a J4/C18 and at 5'11" @ 170 lb (195 lb out the door) I find it snug, its not too small but it wouldn't want to be any smaller I am looking at buying J3/C18 second hand and I can't easily "try before I buy" without getting into expensive to and fro shipping costs. I am seeking folks opinion on if a J3/C18 would be too big. Thanks