rigging65

AirTec told us that it really doesn't matter either way. Leave it on or turn it off, it's just about the same. The only exception to that is if you're drive home from the DZ takes you through any altitude changes (like as little as a couple hundred feet). In that case, turn it off so it won't start its sensing cycle. Like all batteries, keep them out of hot conditions as best you can, that'll help as well. "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

Even that doesn't always work. I was forced to put my rig under the plane , and almost wasn't even allowed to do that, coming back from Eloy a while back. The Security guys knew some of the key words like Cypres, AAD, etc. But their major concern were the batteries, not the cutter. Show them the Airport security card that comes with each unit first, then... Not that I really advocate it, but if you're gong to lie, I'd tell them it's a electro-mechanical altitude sensing system that uses the same batteries as a flashlight and has no parts that fire out of it or anything like that. That's what got them to allow me to put it under the plane. "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

You can only say so much to anyone who is determined to change canopy sizes too early. Will you're friend be ok? Maybe, maybe not. You can get killed on ANY size canopy. Do you guys have a canopy program on your DZ? Any skilled canopy pilots that might talk with your friend? To be the Devil's advocate here, people learn at different rates. Maybe your friend can handle it. Hell, Chicago moves folks right along on canopies and they don't break too many of them. Maybe you can find a good High Performance Canopy Flight manual out there (there are several) and give him a copy along with noting your concerns to him. At least that way he'd have more information...face to face learning is best (that's why picking up broken people teaches you so well) but written material is better than nothing! "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

...there's truth in that.... "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

Now, aren't you glad you posted your request for help here...We're all so helpful! "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

With the exception of line trim, wouldn't most all of these variables be encompassed by the planform? "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

All canopies will recover, if allowed to. That's the nature of an uncompromised wing (ie - no snagged/retarded lines, torn material, etc.). It's seeking equilibrium, which is an inflated, gliding state (again, if the lines and material are all as they should be). The real question is, do you have enough time for it to recover and to regain control and to regain heading and...splat... Of course, if you were to fold the nose over and have the leading edge dive through a cascade.... "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

I know, but it'll be worth the wait... I'll tell you all about it in Florida. "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

...or call the mfg. and ask. They'll be happy to answer questions like that...after all, they know better than anyone! "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

...be careful with that one, it's pretty easy to fold up the nose with a front riser... How far is too far? Good question, it varies with wing type, loading, riser and arm length... "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

Sounds like it would work just fine. I've seen a rubber band larksheaded around all the lines just above the link on all for risers work as well (extra section of the rubber band hanging outboard). Never tried it, but the guy I saw using it said it did the trick well...and he always had a spare stow band if he really needed it "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

We aren't going to actually take the rigs (too much to move too far), but I/we will be there to answer questions. I'll be at the Flite Suit and Action Air booths most of the time, so stop by and ask for Ryan. "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

Bomber Products incorporated and is now called Trident Harness & Container, Inc. The website is www.tridenthc.com We're not actively producing the Reflex II anymore, but we can still build them on request. Primarily we're producing replacement parts for current Reflex owners so they're not left out in the cold. We can also do repairs/mods to the rigs. The S-class planform basically shortened the reserve tray by 1 inch. This effectively sits the rig higher on your back, making it more comfortable for users with a shorter torso, ie - women. When the Viper is released, it will use some of the same back pad lengths as the S-class (not that the rig is even remotely like the Reflex). It also incorporates a roll-over legpad design specifically used to reduce...ummm..."pinch"...in that area (something that our female test market told us was a "necessary" improvement.) On a separate note, I know that there a lot of jumpers who were quite concerned about their Reflex systems when Fliteline went out of business. If anyone has questions about the rig, spare parts or anything having to do with the Reflex, please feel free to PM me or send an email to info@tridenthc.com and I'll get back to you. Ryan Gifford Trident H&C, Inc. Rigging65 "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

What set up do you use? "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

Taking care of your gear and checking it frequently is a much better way to prevent accidents than picking gear that "if it fails" will fail in such and such a manner. Links don't just randomly push off their sliders bumpers and rotate out 90 degrees...now, if you don't maintain the bumpers.... I will concede the argument that stops might be nice for keeping the slider on top of the "links" until you're ready for it to come down, that one makes sense to me. I don't have that problem on my Xaos, so I didn't think too long on that, thanks for the input! "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

...is that Darwin I see over there...? "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

No offense taken Hook, really. I must admit that this is a sensitive subject with me, so I'm sorry if I came off as an ass. I'm really not, just ask me As a gear mfg. AND a dealer, it's difficult when not everyone is playing by the same rules...especially with the way a lot of new jumpers have become so "Internet Educated" about what they "need", gear wise. We sell canopies every week to people that come in insisting that they know what they want. Our staff is very good about gently asking "why" and, especially with new jumpers, MOST of the time it comes out that they saw an ad, read a website somewhere and heard about it in the yard, and that's their entire reason (ironic that this discussion is going on on-line, no?)! Our feeling is that, as a gear shop, we have the responsibility to educate our customers, then let them decide what they want. This cuts squarely into our profits, as it takes time to educate, but I feel it's our duty to offer the best service we can, and that includes education. And we have had a lot of repeat business in the past because of it. What really burns me, of course, is now when you take the time to educate someone then they bring you an online quote for gear and say "beat it or I'll go there"...what do you do? Jumpers have changed over the years, so you just roll with it, I guess, and hope the Mfgs. support their dealer network. The way this gets back around to measurements is that a lot of yard-gossip about which canopy is better or worse is based on how a given wing feels in the air as compared to another...which, of course, is an unfair comparison if you don't know the sizing issues. So, the yard-gossip becomes cannon law and all the sudden you're fighting ignorance...which is no easy task

I once heard someone argue against metal inserts by saying something to the effect of "...if you were to slam them in your car door or something like that, they could crush..." I guess they could, but if you're such and idiot that you slam your risers in your car door AND don't check your gear afterwards, I think you have bigger problems. Metal is easy, they flex well and they fit 3/4 inch cable channels like a glove. "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

Kind of defeats the purpose of soft links, but whatever.... "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

I guess I need to spell it out, for those having trouble taking the next step: PIA has standards for measurements. If mfgs. followed those standards (or ANY universal standard) then jumpers would be able to compare one canopy against another for performance. Right now, it's pretty tough to take any two 135 sq. ft-ish canopies and compare them against each other because they're different sizes...so obviously they will perform differently, but is that due to size and loading or cut and trim??? Does my post make more sense to you now Hook? Like I said before, it's a lot of smoke and mirrors... "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

Of course, if you don't train with it, or really think about how you're going to use it and develop a plan, most likely you'll forget that you have it or will neglect to use it! "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

This is probably the best comment to be made during this thread. A canopy is a canopy, a pilot makes it fly. Different wings have different characteristics, that doesn't make one better than another...each pilot's own flight style DRASTICALLY effects performance on any given wing. I have many hundreds of jumps on both Stilettos and Crossfires (original), both loaded at around 1.8-2.0. I like them both and I think they both kick ass. Each one does something good. I could get more distance out of the Crossfire (which is what I was looking for), but the Stiletto had a much more rapid turn rate and I.M.O. was more fun to fly. This said, I stuck with the Crossfire (before changing over to the Xaos) because I was looking for distance across the ground...simple as that. "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

...and might that be because no one wants to stay on the same page as everyone else and use a STANDARD?? God forbid anyone actually produce numbers based on the standards PIA set up to use so we have something to compare items against. It's all arbitrary anyway, at least we could all stay on the same arbitrary scale! There are standards in place for sizing, pack volume, etc...but few companies will follow them. It's all smoke and mirrors...advertising... Makes it awful tough to educate new folks on technical issues of their gear.... "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

PISA does it very reasonably, everyone else charges almost as much as the base price of the canopy to do most logo work...go figure... We had a Heat Wave done for a customer with his web address on both end cells and his company logo across the bottom of the canopy and I think they only charged like $700 extra for all that. Looked GREAT!..and they delivered it fast. "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

There's a method for teaching spotting using what's called a wind cone. It basically shows you how far up or down wind you can exit and still make it back to your target based on freefall drift and canopy forward speed as related to current wind conditions. Once you add more jumpers to the scenario, it can get more complicated, but the basic rules apply. More wind allows for more time between groups and a longer spot... Your DZ probably has a published exit order they want used. Ask the Lead Instructor what it is and why they choose to do it that way! "...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return..."