Watcher

Too Fast? Alot of people i know jump 1:1 or 1.1 : 1 right after AFF. Im flying at 1.55-1.6 : 1 and i only have 160 jumps, i get good advice at the DZ from the people that have been doing it from awhile, and at first i got resistence but they see that im really current 30-40 jumps a month and something of a natural. Just showem you can do it and theyll shut their mouth. As a side note i like the Safire too, but love my Nitron 120, best landings around. Jonathan

Why is it every time i attempt to edit my post i get an error? Anyone know? Jonathan Bartlett watcher1@cc.gatech.edu

True it could be that every canopy is different, also depends on what your used too. I flew a Pro Series by Flight Concepts for awhile which also has a deep long flare that basically quicker to the shoulders to plane out, then a slow progressive downward stroke to the stall point, which resulted in a good landing. I had a Safire in AFF and did not have problems with a straight in approach (granted it was a big 189), and now i come in straight its with double front riser cause i typically want speed. Now if we are talking high performance id go with Precisions Nitron, much superior canopy. Jonathan

The no flare on a Safire is very untrue. The Safire has a very powerful flare, but its longer and deeper than PDs so most people dont finish their flares to the Stall point (bad piloting skills, and are forced to run it out or biff when they actually still have alot of potential power left). I have a friend that jumps a 119 and he can outswoop alot of the guys that are flying FXs and Velocitys cause hes takeing the canopy to the limit, its all about technique. Ill hopefully be flying a 119 this weekend and let you know what i feel about it. Jonathan

That is the funniest thing i have read in a very long time, The best part is thinking of all those hundreds of thousands of parents who would actually believe all of it. The best was the stuff on Hardware, especially AMD. Hahhaha. Or the stuff on trying to make a crap store bought computer into something alot better by getting an increased video card, and a larger Hard Drive. The all time best was the statement that intel, a chip manufacturer, had anti hacking capabilites. Who would believe that a CPU would have enough upper level programing to be able to descern that much, and ppl not realize that Hacking for the most part is simply C (its a programming language) manipulation and knowing how to use batch files and other stuff (for those great viruses out there, they are getting tenacious). Jonathan

I dont know what my inseam is (ive only worn long pants 2 or 3 times in the last 12 years) but im 6'0 maybe a little shy and my weight can flucate from 155 - 175 depending on what i eat that week, but i have that a guy at Jump shack called the soccer play build where i have a very long torso, so for me i found C17 harness much too small, but found the C18 fit perfectly (ive had 2 18s, the Jav fits better than the mirage). Just as a comparison in the 6'0'' range Jonathan

Yeah i did mean that, Pro is very very similar to the Sabre (and alot cheaper to get a new one as evidenced on SkyKat) and i would edit it, but everytime i try to edit a post i get an error. I guess thats what i get for typeing while watching TV and eating Pizza. Jonathan.

I throw my support to that statement. For those that arent familiar a Pro is a Flight Concepts canopy, very very similar to the Pro but with super soft openings and a better flare (cannot be stabbed though, needs a nice progressive flare). I did AFF on a Safire and thought them amazing, i would probably have ordered on if i had not found the Nitron. Jonathan

Sounds like a G2, ive seen on once. Id rather have the G3 personally. Unfortuantly thats all i know, Velcro on rigs, yuck!!! Jonathan

Miami vs UF , Thats who deserves to go for the national champion ships. Big 12 (and all those other conferences that have numbers in their name) make for boreing games, all they do is run the ball. Much cooler to see a 45 yard thow and see the reciever go 6 feet off the ground to come down with the ball. Jonathan Bartlett Fan of the ACC and SEC Good in both Basketball and Football

When i bought my last rig from skydive chicago on the very first jump i had container lock and did not hesitate to pull the reserve. I figure if its an FAA rigger, then it should open, i bet my life on it. Jonathan

First dozen? as in after you graduated your Progression? I guess it depends on what your local DZ has available. I trained at a DZ that is a Icarus Demo Center and by jump 9 was on a Safire 189 (exit weight is 185). Bought used gear to get me through my growing pains, Its amazing what an Mirage M05 can safely have as a main, from a 210 ZP all the way to 135 ZP (it was in a 170 D Bag though). Then when your comfortable after a full season you can get into the more fun stuff and a rig that actually sits in the small of your back and not on you butt. As for containers, i read everything everywhere i could, but then i talked to alot of the different Riggers on the dropzone and talked to them about gear lasting and how strong reserve deployment is, and Also looked at what they themselves jumped. I found Racers, Javelin and Mirages. They seem to be the superior rigs on the market right now. Jonathan Bartlett watcher1@cc.gatech.edu C-31802

Its a very amazing canopy. Makes me want to say, "Fuck freefall, nothing but hop n pops" , I seriously consider it everytime i go up, its that good. Watcher

Just jump what you want and try stuff out, do it conservativly, and listen to your S&TA. I personally did my first 100 jumps (after the first 15 for on larger stuff b4 i got gear) on a Pro 170 (1.05:1) which is an improved higher performance Sabre, then flew an elliptical at 1.2, then 5 jumps later at 1.35, then 15 jumps later at 1.55:1 on a Stiletto 120 and a Nitron 120 (which is the size i ordered one for). But elliptical is not as radical as it sounds if you treat it with respect. I might add that i did 150 jumps in a 5 month period so i am very current. I would not recommend that progression for someone doing 5-10 jumps a month. In the end though, forget about sabres. Get a Safire or Sabre2. I had Safires in my Student program and found them easy to land, and flys so much better than squares. Jonathan watcher1@cc.gatech.edu C-31802

On reverse risers as we've been talking about its more likely not going to release unless you manually do them on a baglock. A baglock does not have the snatch force to pull you upright to a stand. You are still going to be on your belly and with the risers staying close to your shoulders as it goes up behind you the risers are going to keep the rings locked between the risers and the webbing of your harness. So its not going to come off unless you add some input of your own. Now this all figures that you pulled stable and not dipping a shoulder or flailing or some other off balance position that might help the risers be knocked off, im also useing the assumption that its mini rings, if you have large ringed on the container and mini or even regular rings on the risers then yes they would come off easier, but most of the rigs i see are mini ringed. Jonathan Bartlett watcher1@cc.gatech.edu C-31802

Precision sent those risers on one of thier Nitro 120's they had while i was demoing them. The only thing that made me go hmmm, was in case i had a bag lock so when i cut away the risers would still be pinned, but if you just realize this then you take the extra 2 seconds to cutaway then take both hands and knock the risers off, then pull reserve. Jonathan Bartlett watcher1@cc.gatech.edu C-31802

Javelin has the best resell value and look like they last the longest although i hear Racers last longer than anything but i find them ugly. I have had a Mirage and a Javelin, both bought used over rec.skydiving and got very very good deal. The last was a Javelin NJ in great condition with a PD 113R for only 1295. But if you more interested in a nice rig thats not going to last a very long time, then Wings make very affordable and comfortable rigs. While many of the Javelin clones look like they do the job at a more affordable price. Personally i would say, lay off jumping a few weeks, save that 400 by not jumping for say 3 weeks, maybe max out the credit card, and buy yourself a Javelin or Mirage. My glorified $.02 Jonathan Bartlett watcher1@cc.gatech.edu C-31802

Give it time, it will eventually if you push hard enough

MSDN subscription on a work computer.

This is far and away the best dropzone in the Atlanta Area. The DZ is owned by freeflyers that are always buying new things to improve the dropzone. This is a jumper dropzone run for skydivers not a tandem mill, there is consistently 20-30 regular skydivers there every weekend, with over 60-80 regulars jumpers. They have the largest airplane of the GA DZs with an Otter, and the airport has more outs than i have seen at any other dz (except those in the desert), the area is flat and grassy, while the landing areas on the DZ are many and large. And if you land at the end of the runway then their will be a car or 3 down thier to meet you. The DZ is has many of both freeflyers and RW people with Wicked Liquid and Nemisis training thier and offering load organizing. And when the sun sets well they dont close down, the beer light comes on, the music gets turned up and a party begins, many people just crash in the hanger. All in all this is the best, most personable, and best feeling dropzone i have ever been to. Jonathan Bartlett watcher1@cc.gatech.edu C-31802

I have been demoing different sizes of this canopy for about 2 months now. I started out on the 150 and 4 jumps later moved down to the 135, flew the 135 for about 15 jumps then flew a 120 for 8 jumps. I have also flown under a Stiletto 120. I have since ordered a Nitron 120. This is an amazing highly elliptical canopy. The front riser pressure is the most perfectly balanced between light and heavy i can think of. The canopy does not try to pull away from you like other canopies, and stays in a dive very well and does not recover till you apply alittle toggle pressure. This canopy turns faster and dives better than a stiletto, but is not as sensitive to harness input as the stiletto. What this canopy seems to do better than anything else though is the landing. Now, with only 160 jumps right now, im not the best turf surfer, but i can consistently get 60-120 ft surf with this canopy and it still has a huge lift at the end of the flare for me to be able to pop the canopy up and bring my forward speed to zero. There have also been times where i have accidiently lost concentration and poped myself up in the middle of the surf, but instead of it being over, i have been able to continue to surf it out, then pop up agian to let myself down. The non cascadeing lines are very nice, and with them being made out of HMA they pack very small. I dont know how much the "vortex generators" ie the hot dogs inbetween the 1/2 Cell and the 8/9 Cell, but it does not have an adverse effect. The mesh on the end cells to prevent distortion seems to make a difference, while the fabric that covers the nose, is a completely seperate peice of fabric and does a great job at helping to keep air in the but this does mean that the canopy tends to pack up alittle bigger than other equivalent sized canopies. All in all this canopy blows away the Stiletto, while i think it would hold its own with the airlocked Ellipticals, but because i did not get a chance to get on the Samarui when i had the demo, i dont know. I do not believe it can compete with the Crossfire, but this canopy wont collapse on you either. As of 11/17/01 there is a 50% sale going on and i encourage everyone interested in this to take advantage of the deal. Oh and this canopy seems to get better the more i load it, on the 120 i was loading it at 1.55:1 and it was amazing.

That was supposed to say by instead of Bar Watcher watcher1@cc.gatech.edu C-31802

I think XP was nice, i run it on my laptop its a 266 with 92 megs of ram. But then agian i got it free (other can get it cheap too ), i have every distro microsoft has put out and XP is bar far and away the most stable. Only reason i still run 98se on my main computer is that its more game compatible, and the XP vid and Sound drivers have not been perfected yet.

Im deff going to Willingston for that one. Jonathan Bartlett watcher1@cc.gatech.edu C-31802

No, It was all black, Bought it from a guy in Kansas i think that was getting married. I asked why he was selling this stuff so cheaply, his reply was Only have one wedding, can always buy more gear later. Jonathan Bartlett watcher1@cc.gatech.edu C-31802