DrewEckhardt

They're big but not that big. http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/hercules.asp

Right, and even social drinking at that level can be enough to cause hepatoxicity leading to a liver transplant.

My opinion on drugs changed when I learned that lots of the A-students I hung around with in engineering school smoked pot. After school I wasn't shocked to find dentists, engineers, lawyers and other respectable people doing the same. With simple possession a lesser infraction than speeding in many jurisdictions, keeping taxes reasonable is a higher legislative priority that's more likely to succeed.

Not all instructors are created (or develop themselves) equally. I know more than a few that are not safe on their own parachutes. Older instructors came from a time where canopy flight was less an issue because things didn't happen so fast. To quote one: Newer instructors come from the time of turbine aircraft and big jump numbers in a few years. Some haven't been around long enough to see enough happen to learn judgment. Some have been jumping small canopies for so long they forgot what could happen under medium sized ones. Passing the right courses and showing air skills does not magically qualify an instructor to make the right recommendations on canopy size. Brian Germain can do that. Scott Miller can probably do that (I've never talked to the guy) Others are more likely to be hit or miss.

Ignorance is bliss. Until recently the USPA considered some one with 100 jumps an "Advanced" parachutist and 200 jumps "Master." PD's Katana has a recommended wing loading of 1.35 for "Advanced" jumpers and 1.8 for "Expert" jumpers which sounds a lot like "Master." There are no foot notes providing different translations. Companies use the same warning labels on all their equipment, recommending that users have 100 ram-air jumps and read the manuals or complete a controlled course of instruction prior to using the gear. It's not surprising people get confused. Relativism makes the problem worse. While not a lot compard to what experienced (1000+ jumps) people are doing, you've stated that wingloadings under 1.6 pounds per square foot are not "aggressive" even though parachutes are no slower today than they were 10 years ago when PD placarded the Stiletto with a 1.3 pound per square foot maximum and recommended a 500 jump minimum. The BSR proposal and Brian Germain's WNE chart even forbid such a wingloading to people with under 600 jumps experience. Landing such parachutes straight-in, in a wide-open field, with a head-wind is not hard. Being "careful" with parachutes means nothing exciting happens until something goes wrong so people get away with those misconceptions. The companies should provide charts which are unambiguous. For something like the Cobalt: NA = not authorized Minimum jumps Exit weight Size 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 85 700 700 900 NA NA NA NA 95 600 600 700 900 NA NA NA 105 500 500 500 700 900 NA NA 120 300 300 300 500 700 800 NA 135 NA 300 300 300 500 600 800 150 NA NA NA 300 300 450 600 170 NA NA NA 300 300 300 400 Notes: Jumpers must meet the minimum jump count and have 100 jumps on a similar planform at the next size up before transitioning to a smaller size Jumpers not currently jumping this class of canopy must meet the minimum jump count and have 50 jumps on the same canopy size with a less aggressive planform. My chart built around Brian Germain's WNE formula says 500 jumps for light weights at 105 square feet and below because those are very small responsive canopies. The next size down is 600 to get the experience after that point. It bottoms out at 300 jumps elsewhere because its an aggressive planform. The chart says not authorized for 105 square feet at 220 pounds and other combinations producing wingloadings over 1.9psf because it doesn't stop well at high density altitudes at that wingloading (hopefully, at 1000 jumps people have the experience to make their own decisions and be smart about where it does and doesn't apply to them). It says not authorized below 1psf because this might be a canopy that needs more to stay safely pressurized. Swooping is a separate issue. Chris says he lands straight in and is "not a hook turn type person" to paraphrase incident reports. The problem people like him ignore is that his 105 square foot Cobalt doesn't care about that and is going to respond aggressively to control input when he's low and needs to turn into the wind or to avoid an obstacle.

Nope - you still can't blow through it and it flies the same provided that the line set is good. Two things do happen which only affect packing: 1. The ZP slick disappears from the outside of the fabric so it's as easy to handle as F111. 2. The stitching holes open up so it's easier to squeeze air out. My Stiletto 120 with a 135 bag is my _favorite_ canopy to pack by far. You can stick it in the bag with one hand, leave it there, and close the bag at your leisure. The tail end of the center cell top skin definitely wears from packing and the slider gets some wear (I think from pulling it through the canopy end of the daisy chain) but it flies fine and passes the thumb-test in the worn areas.

First you want to tune-up your landings before you loose square footage, increase your ground speed, and make the problem worse. Eventually you'll land slightly (< 5 MPH) down-wind some place you can't slide in - perhaps on a paved road. After that the missing part is that the perceived effects of downsizing are personal and not linear. You can't predict it based on past experience or what other people think. Going from a 135 to a 120 caused me more problems than switching from a 155 to 135 or 295 to 205. Changing shapes at the same size and not skipping sizes allows you to discover where that happens for you. You might not need to buy extra canopies to get there. Demos are readily available from the manufacturers two weekends at a time. Do some hop-and pops and play with crosswind and downwind landings at each step. Get video and coaching from some one who knows both canopies and instruction. The best swooper may not be the best teacher.

Two people can play canopy games at altitude to get a feeling for how their canopies work without swooping. The first person out of the plane takes some delay and sets a heading (don't fly away from the drop zone) + descent rate. The second opens out the door. The second jumper flies to the first using turns ending on the outside of the lower jumper (you do not want a botched turn to become a collision) to match his heading + descent rate with some comfortable horizontal separation (which could be 20' or 2" depending on experience and trust). Once he's as close as he's going to get the second jumper turns and sets base. Repeat until you run out of altitude (3000'). Hook knives are a good idea but you should NOT be close enough that you're in danger of wrapping. Think of it as no-contact CRW. Obviously the moving frame of reference makes a difference although the idea is to learn how to instinctively interact with the situation and not just memorize how hard and fast to yank on controls which won't work the same with different initial speeds/attitudes, different density altitudes, or different canopies.

Some place I have a worn-out T-shirt with Death riding a pegasus, hanging onto a malfunctioned main canopy with the skydiver under it cutting away and giving him the finger. I also have a few of the shirts I bought to support the Wild Humans (the local CRW team and 4-time national champions). But mostly I only wear the T-shirts which came with gear and event registration which aren't too exciting.

What do you expect in this country? Violence is acceptable (we even have murders on network TV, and in school children can sack each other on the football field). Love and affection are not (we can't have sex on network TV, and in school children are getting detention for a friendly hug).

huh? from D licence i expected to land almost anything The canopy has to make it through deployment for you to land it. In high-speed situations ram-air reserves without span-wise reinforcing tapes have had issues with that. Older (made before 2001 IIRC) Tempos lack span-wise tapes. While I've only personally seen one failure (canopy split into 2 & 5 cells held together by the single 1000 pound tape at the tail, not a Tempo) it was enough to make an impression. Comfortable freefly speeds can exceed 160 MPH steady-state and 180+ MPH getting down to a formation. Reserves without span-wise tapes were usually only rated at 150 MPH (130 knots). Premature reserve deployments happen free flying. Unconscious people also have over speed deployments due to their inability to maintain a slow box-man position. The reserve failure I saw occurred when an AFF-I got knocked out when his student deployed and was saved by his Cypres. For flat and wingsuit jumps reserves without span-wise reinforcements are fine. I won't replace my 1998 Tempo or Super Raven. I'd also stick to a PD, Smart, R-max, or late model (2001+ IIRC) Tempo for a freefly rig or if I planned on getting my AFF-I rating.

Tramadol is a narcotic too, although it has a weaker affinity for the opiate receptors and lower risk of dependence. Mixing and matching an anti-inflamatory with acetaminophen is the standard thing to try before opiates.

There are 1200 jumps on my Stiletto 120 (600 from the original owner, 600 from me). It's fine apart from needing its third line set and the neon yellow center cell being dirty from packing. Other people have 3000 jumps on their canopies. As long as the parachute was packed inside and didn't spend its life someplace dusty like Arizona you should get a lot more life out of it.

Having seen a reserve with a single span-wise reinforcing tape at the tail holding the 2 & 5 cell pieces held together (not a Tempo), I would not put a pre-2001 Tempo in a rig I intended to freefly with. When your reserve breaks like that you spin in and life sucks. I also won't bother to replace the Tempo I have in my wingsuit rig or Super Raven in my accuracy rig. FWIW, my Tempo 150 flies straight and lands fine at exit weights to 200 pounds. The PD143 has nice light front riser pressure but you're not buying a reserve for how pleasant it is to fly. This construction is not unique to the Tempo - most older reserves including Precisions's original Ravens (through the -M) did not have span-wise tapes either. Reserves without tapes are usually rated for 130 knots (150 MPH). PDs have always had the tapes. Precision added them to the R-max. Smarts have tapes. Rated deployment speeds of 150 knots (172 MPH) are common on reserves with tapes. Comfortable freefly speeds are in the 140-160+ MPH range. You have to use the reserve beyond its rated deployment speed to have problems, although that's what happens on a premature freefly deployment or when you loose track of altitude and have a Cypres fire or dump immediately. While unconscious you may also fall in a high-speed head-down position. Also if you get a Tempo don't pay too much. IIRC I paid $550 for mine brand new versus nearly $800 for the PD.

Audi A4 (or S4 for more horsepower and money) Avant, BMW 330xi wagon, Suburu WRX wagon, Volvo V70R... All with AWD, good in snow, great handling, good hauling capacity (I rent a pickup from Home Depot for $20 when I have a real load rather than paying the gas mileage and handling penalties when I don't), and decent gas mileage. I have an A4 sedan, but the next one (hopefully another decade and 70,000 miles) will be a wagon. On speed-rated snow tires (Dunlop Wintersport) it's comfortable a tick over 100 MPH headed to a rural dropzone and still can't get stuck going snowboarding (you just have to avoid high-centering it). I've also thought about a 2001-2002 Z3 M coupe now that I don't snowboard as much. 2-seat hatchback for reasonable trunk capacity. 315HP. There are 629 out there.

There are either 24 12 oz bottles or 12 22 oz bombers of fine micro brew in each case. Pretty easy to share that!

High performance ellipticals are sensitive to harness input. It's a great way to spiral to loose altitude if you want to get below lighter loaded canopies. Having the brakes stowed amplifies the effect and makes them more likely to stay in turns. Do a high hop and pop sometime, leave the brakes stowed, and play with it. To avoid that opening situation you really need to be symetrical at deployment time, relax until the canopy finishes sniveling or gets wonky, and apply harness or rear riser input as soon as something bad starts to happen. It's especially important to deal with line twists before the canopy gets done opening.

You drink 6 cans of coke a day and that's 900 calories. You're going to get fat if you're not very active. You drink 6 cans of diet coke a day and that's 0 calories. Harmless as long as you don't hit the snack machine next to the soda machine.

It's one of the safest substances out there even if you're one of those people that drinks a case (24 cans) of diet coke a day. For the rest of us who limit ourselves to just a six pack or two it's even safer. http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

The picture's staged. No wife would allow a couch like that in her home.

Some rich oil baron said "I want a parachute club with the best money can buy." And the most expensive is the best,right?

It's mostly the canopy. Most of the responsiveness to control input (including what you're doing during deployment, intentional or unintentional) comes from the canopy dimensions. Weight mostly adds speed which in turn increases the altitude lost for a given maneuver. A Stiletto 120 feels about the same at 340 pounds under it as it does at 165 pounds or 200 pounds, just much faster. Mr. Bill has a hard time hanging on when you do turns. This is why Brian Germain reduces the allowed wing loading under small (< 135 square feet) parachutes - at 135 pounds out the door you're allowed to go from a 150 to 135 at 100 jumps, 135 to 120 at 200, and the next downsize is past 500 jumps. It's also partly why women are happy at lighter wingloadings. People want a certain control responsiveness.

4000 feet for swooping. You need time to get back to the DZ, let people at higher wing loadings land, etc. and be entering the pattern at your chosen altitude > 1000 feet. 2000 feet for accuracy jumps with a big F111 seven cell and mesh slider. My 244 opens fast enough with the sail slider too. You'll be open way before 1950 feet and take eons to land. 3000 for other things. My 245 takes eons to open with the sail slider. First time I jumped that configuration I thought about cutting the thing away.

One hour split two ways is too much. One hour split 3-4 ways is perfect. Rotating in for 2-2.5 minutes at a time is good.

I care because I don't want to be hit by an unguided meat missle. I once stood exactly where some one was about to bounce but had the sense to backup 10' for a better view. I don't want the added danger of people dying any closer than that. It also puts a real dent in the vibe. The last time there was a fatality on my load we stopped jumping and everyone was more into talking with police department grief counselors than drinking beer. I also don't like people getting hurt or dying, especially friends and even schmucks.