sundevil777

That's right, they're going away from the 3-digit naming scheme: "Boeing on April 1 unveiled their revolutionary new Boeing 7777 aircraft design. This aircraft designation demonstrates the replacement of the single digit of Boeing's famous 7X7 branding with double digits because this new design is considered to be a quantum leap in design, comfort, line maintenance and airline profitability, and hence, the Boeing 7777 moniker" http://aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=a55c47ab-ed32-4e08-bc92-b3073c47233e People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

This deserves a new thread instead of bringing to life one from 8 years ago, hoping this isn't an April fool's joke. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

The hardware looks like a type that would likely have pretty low rated strength. That is just a start on the problems that could be mentioned. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

In my opinion, that would be a really bad decision by those that designed the Vigil. It means that for some scenarios the unit will not be able to activate when it ought to be able to do so. If the landing zone is below the takeoff altitude, then the unit cannot fire at some altitudes where a save is still possible. There might be some other scenarios that could also have bad, unintended consequences. OK - I see your point. If I were jumping (on a regular basis) at a DZ with a significantly higher take off location than the landing zone I would simply do as the manual states - go to the landing zone to turn on my Vigil. If it were only a once in a while situation (since most of my jumps have been without the aid of an AAD) I would simply take my chance that I could handle it. I believe that scenario is much less likely than an average skydiver taking off and landing at the same elevation, as do most of us, who simply wants to increase the "Activation Altitude" without affecting the 150 feet arm/disarm (aka "Airborne Mode") altitude. Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be. . I'm really surprised that the manual would make instructions to do as you suggest, "do as the manual states - go to the landing zone to turn on my Vigil." I would expect there to be the possibility that the unit could see a slow "climb" back to the takeoff point (higher altitude) as a change in the weather, and compensate for the pressure change. The unit would no longer be "set" to the actual landing zone. Perhaps the Vigil does not adjust for pressure changes throughout the day? I'm too lazy to go looking through their manual. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

In my opinion, that would be a really bad decision by those that designed the Vigil. It means that for some scenarios the unit will not be able to activate when it ought to be able to do so. If the landing zone is below the takeoff altitude, then the unit cannot fire at some altitudes where a save is still possible. There might be some other scenarios that could also have bad, unintended consequences. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

In my opinion, that would be a really bad decision by those that designed the Vigil. It means that for some scenarios the unit will not be able to activate when it ought to be able to do so. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

In general that is a bad idea at your level of experience. It can easily result in the timing of the "final drive" vs when you need to flare being wrong, resulting in you getting hurt. Talk to your instructors about the details of this, as you may have been giving plenty of time/altitude for the "final drive". The spectre should be a better canopy, no need to debate that at all. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

The guy with the big beard that invented the 3-ring system doesn't like "conventional" RSL systems (I think I am not mis-characterizing his position on that, expressed on this website). There are aspects of conventional RSL systems, and even the MARD type RSL systems that bring extra complication, extra failure modes, and less choice in how the system operates. Some people (including me) don't like the tradeoff. I realize that analysis of incidents doesn't support my decision. If "that guy with the big beard" can hold that opinion, then others should be able to do so, without being told they are stupid, or arrogant/whatever. What is important is that newbies should use their RSL. It should take a lot of jumps, and a few uses of the reserve before people should be making the same decision I've made. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Their price list is a bit weird: What is the difference between articulated vs articulated freefly? They are the same price, so it would seem that it would not mean the difference between hip rings only vs hip and chest rings. I think chest rings are not worth paying any extra at all for. What is the difference between stainless steel std vs deluxe? Perhaps std means that not everything is stainless? Definitely go for all stainless if that is the choice. Those 2 points are likely described somewhere else on their website, but it would be wise for them to give some indication of what an option means at the place where the price of an option is listed. Regarding the decision about how big of a main you should plan for? You are right to figure on a 190 main. Do NOT let others tell you to plan for a smaller main. You should tell your dealer to let the mfg (sunrise rigging) to decide what size container to build - giving them a specific main and reserve that you will put in it. Do NOT try to overthink what size you should want so that you can later downsize, blah, blah. Just get the right size for what you will put in it NOW, and let Sunrise decide what that should be. You will still be able to downsize later, don't worry about that. Since you haven't bought canopies yet, tell them something generic, like a Pilot 188 or SabreII 190 or whatever, and a smart 190 or PD193 reserve or whatever. When you do find your canopies, you might still be able to let Sunrise know in time for them to make any final adjustment to the size, although it won't likely make an impact. Only if you know for sure that you will buy one of the smaller packing mains (hybrid or ZPX fabric) should you be getting a container that is normally sized for a 170 main. Since you are figuring on buying used canopies, then you should not assume you will not find one of those low bulk canopies. Used 190 mains are in relatively short supply, so their price is high compared to the more plentiful smaller canopies. This drives some people to buying a new main because the money saved on a used canopy is not as great as they might have figured. You must keep a close eye on the classifieds, be ready to act quickly (but still protect yourself from being scammed by having it go through a trusted third party if you are buying from an "unknown"), and have people at your DZ keep you informed of anything that might be right for you. Good luck. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

That sounds like a main canopy that has been released, with nobody attached to it. It is fairly common for that to be seen from far away and 911 calls to result. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I think it is best to tell them what you're going to put in it, and that you want the fit to be "just right/normal". Let them tell you/decide the container size. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Generally, perhaps true. But one wonders in specific cases whether the airfoil is maintained quite as well with ZPX: Aerodyne stopped making crossbraced Sensei's with the ZPX option. Why exactly, I don't know. Some info about the of the end of the ZPX Sensei was provided to me when I was deciding to order my lightly loaded ZPX Pilot, after persistent questions to guys at the top (or at least were at the top) of Aerodyne. A top guy there said that the ZPX material elasticity is different in different directions, and that caused some perceived issues for the real high performance wing loadings. The guy that gave me this info, however, still loved his very high WL sensei (his personal canopy) with ZPX, but admitted that it was a reasonable decision to stop use of it for such applications. Aerodyne shows some test results (presumably from the material mfg?) info about how the ZPX is actually better at withstanding abuse. I see no reason to doubt that conclusion. The materials, design, and test engineers at the raw material mfg and Aerodyne I think should be given the credit for being able to not make a stupid decision to apply this stuff for canopies. I like the lower volume, I like the prospect of it being "self-healing" for small hole type damage, and don't have anything bad to report about it for the couple hundred jumps I've put on it. The stuff has been in actual use for quite a while, so there really shouldn't be any mystery about its durability. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Perhaps the difference is that the fabric is 17% less pack volume, but there is a lot to the pack volume of a canopy that is not from the basic fabric itself. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Just let us know where you are, and you'll be able to get more useful info about the DZs that are a reasonable distance away. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

It improved the performance of my old canopy, probably by reducing the porosity. I used it for a couple hundred jumps or so after putting a lot of it on, really soaking it (red can version). No harm was done, but I don't know about how water resistant it was. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Check out how much slack there is in the steering lines at full flight. Talk to your rigger about what is appropriate for you, what it looks like in flight, and about the impact of too much or too little. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

.................................................................................. Back when I rigged in "dusty" Southern California, I test-pulled a bunch of cutaway cables. Many required a 25 pull to extract them. After cleaning, pull forces dropped to less than 5 pounds. Cleaning of the housings? People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Take a look at an earlier thread for another, similar alternative: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4083263#4083263 People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Perhaps the convention back when dinosaurs roamed the earth was to chop and pull pretty much simultaneously. Maybe with higher deployment altitudes, people have gotten used to the thought of delaying the reserve pull for whatever reason, even if it is not to regain stability. Maybe using both hands on each handle is more common now than decades ago, resulting in a delay. Recalling when I've had to chop, there was really no delay between the first and second punch out of the fists, and I can't imagine being in the mindset of delaying intentionally. If I really knew I was very high a delay might be natural. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

That's a case where colors seem kind of silly. It's a bottom of container location, behind your ass and under your rig, which you can't possibly see in freefall anyway. It's deployed by feel only. So it could be any darned color you want, and it wouldn't matter one whit. (What's a whit?) What should count there is the tactile shape and feel of the handle - since you're going by feel alone, it's got to be something easily recognizable by feel alone, and not confused with some other part of the rig. All of your handles should be easy for others to see. Even though others know where your main handle is going to be, you should want it emphasized so that in the heat of battle/funnel/whatever, it is easier for others to see and avoid. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

A search seemed to show no activity regarding the new molded lens for the Z1. I do remember the video of it being shown at the PIA meeting, but it wasn't available to the regular folks at that time. It should be a no-brainer decision to get it, especially since it is a decent price. http://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/z-1-skylight-replacement-lens People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I think it is amazing that the corrosion resistant steel is more expensive, given the cadmium being toxic. Cadmium fasteners used in some industries are much more expensive with Cad plating. So, I think the corrosion resistant is worth the cost, even though it seems like it shouldn't cost more. The conventional/ferrous steel - cad plated versions do sometimes experience wear of the plating, and rusting can develop, even when they haven't been exposed to direct water contact. I remember some threads where premature wear of the harness has occurred. Perhaps those instances were anomalies. I would like to know from an insider why stainless would be so much more expensive. I realize the plating cost is only a part of the total picture for the cost of a component, but my understanding in the aircraft industry was that there was a high "environmental" cost built in to cad plating, due to the difficulty of ensuring environmental risks were handled correctly. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I would think that is an issue with any line type. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Maybe so. Definitely not People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

In freefall it should be about 0 If you've stopped accelerating (at a constant, terminal velocity), then it will be normal weight. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am