DrewEckhardt

Most problems can be avoided - being prudent about winds, choosing objects more tolerant of opening heading, picking objects with landing areas within your comfort zone, having good body position, packing carefully and consistently, choosing the right gear, maintaining your gear, staying current so you maximize the chances of actually doing all that. Sometimes things happen - you open off heading, you loose a toggle, winds at altitude don't match those on the ground or exit point. You can often deal with it. Having a plan beforehand makes that more likely. People make mistakes so sometimes we do the wrong thing. Sometimes random things happen that you can't deal with. Most of it's the person, some of it's luck.

I'd like to make a number of wingsuit jumps using a TSO'd rig sized for a 245 square foot F111 seven cell with dacron lines, square reserve, available spares (freebag/handles/etc) and don't want to spend a lot of money. Good or bad, including published modifications to add tuck-tab riser covers: Racer Elite? Vector 2? Talon? Centarus? Old javelin? Other possibilities? I'd definately jump a Reflex. I used to have an EOS, and although I liked the design getting spares from Paraflite 9 years ago was painful.

I don't have a preference, am right eye dominant, right handed, snowboard left foot forward, prefer toeside turns, and instinctively drag my left toe when swooping. I think it's probably what you're used to. With a left-hand pattern rule people probably prefer left. With no rule and variable winds / obstacles in different places that don't favor a consistant approach (Right swooping the course at our DZ from west to east, left in the other direction to have more space on the side away from the runway. Left when going soouth along the beer line, right north so you don't have to finish your turn or hit an obstacle. Right into the peas to the east, left in the other direction because there's more room to setup on that side) you might not have a preference.

My favorite helicopter pilot doesn't mind people taking BASE rigs out :-)

That's a myth. In steady winds your canopy doesn't care what the wind direction and speed are. Those factors only become relevant when you want to put your feet down. A head wind inreases your angle of decent relative to the ground. You intuitively level out when you're coming down steep and the ground is close, although your canopy has the same recovery arc and doing so isn't necessary. Just don't respond to those visual cues the same way when there is no wind. Gusts have different effects, although in gusty conditions you don't want to be in a steep dive (the nose can fold under) so it doesn't matter. but that's assuming the grass is mowed. if the grass is more than 3 inches high then it may not be possible to to do a 15mph standing up double feet slide. On level ground it's definately possible to slide when the groundskeepers have been negligent. The problems are having a harder time figuring out where the ground really is (you have to feel not look) and you can't see holes/bumps that can stop your feet (OW). You did a bad job picking your landing area and will be choosing between jumpsuit holes (and perhaps some skin) or a face plant. true, but it's good to know how to land downwind. one day you might find yourself in a situation where you have to land downwind. Unintentional down-wind landings are almost always the result of poor planning, not paying attention to what's happening, or having too few tricks in your tool box. You almost always have the altitude for a flat 180 degree turn or the space for a > 90 degree flare turn for a quartering landing.

You can buy a used Stiletto with fresh lines for $500. A used Vengance can be had for somewhat under $1000. Newer designs are harder to find used and have new street prices in the $1500 range. Using whatever metrics are important to them (recovery arc, control pressures, stall speed) most people prefer one of the newer designs. Considering your jump numbers and time in the sport, many of us would steer you towards a friendlier (on openings and landings) canopy like the Lotus, Omega, Sabre 2, Safire, Spectre, Pilot. All of the non-square canopies open softly to save your neck on camera jumps. The more agressive canopies are more sensitive to control input (intentional or unintentional) and require you to fly through the openings, with failure to do so leading to line twists and spinning malfunctions with the attendant risk of riser or line + helmet entanglement.

A modest genocide would be a small one. Beating our annual firearms murder rate by three orders of magnitude woulder require killing just 15,000,000 people, barely .25% of the world's current population. Historically despots have managed body counts in the .8% range killing almost one of every 100 humans in the world. That's a genocide to be proud of!

About $80/month for 640K down/272K up 1) That includes a land-line which I wouldn't need if I didn't have DSL 2) It includes static IPs 3) It's for a commercial account which does not forbid running your own servers

I prefer to live in a country where few records of gun owners are kept so that in the future a less benign government lacks the information necessary to efficiently disarm the populace prior to mass-murder. In 1928, the Weimar Republic enacted firearms registration laws. In 1933-1945, the next regime used the registration lists to collect firearms. With their victims disarmed, the government masacred 20,000,000. It'll take a thousand years of America's firearm homicide rate to equal the body count from our next modest genocide.

1. With the toggles released there won't be any tension on the steering lines unless you've let the brake lines shrink too much. You won't need to cut anything. 2. It depends on the canopy. With a 245 square foot F111 seven cell I'd land it. With my Samurai 105 I'd trust my reserve pack job more than my ability to safely land on rear risers.

It should be safe somewhat beyond the placarded maximums. The problem is that you can't guarantee you won't exceed them by more. While you may not do any _intentional_ head-down people who get knocked out can plumet to the earth in a high-speed head-down orientation. I'd spend the extra money and get a PD. Or find a newer Tempo with the tapes - there's one in the classifieds built in 2003 that's new for just $550.

When packing a CYPRES equipped Reflex, Mick Cottle and my newest printed manual say that you want to have a dog-bone shape in the freebag with softball sized chunks of canopy protruding from the molar bag on either side of the safety stow. Where does the fabric come from and go to? The last few times, I made the S-folds somewhat longer than the open part of the molar bag, spread out the slider gromets, and rolled the middle covered by flap with grommets inward. My balls are more like racquet balls and the middle was a little fat. Do I just make that part of the pack-job longer and do the same, or what? How well can I eliminate the CYPRES bump ?

Quote There is nothing wrong with investing into a child's education.Quote Right. The problem is paying for the overhead incurred by a government monopoly.

My favorite honey would take my last name. However I figure that neither my fiancee nor I am loosing anything of what we were before by getting married, neither of our families is less important, and neither should give up our birth name, and I'm as much hers as she is mine. We'd also like to let the world know that we're married. So mutual cross-hyphenation really appeals to me, as in groom's name-bride's surname and bride's name-groom's surname. We're thinking about it.

Some day I'll get a digital camera. Here's a freefall picture from four years ago. The white stays white as long as I wash it ocassionally.

Other reserves (like PD) are constructed with more reinforcement (span-wise tapes). Is this important to you? Consider the possibility of a Cypres-initiated deployment at high speeds and density altitude. I saw an AFF instructor land unconscious with his reserve (not a Tempo) split into 2 and 5 cells connected by a single reinforcing tape following a CYPRES fire when he was knocked out. His injuries would have been less severe under a reserve with better reinforcement. Other reserves (like PD) seem to land better. While this doesn't matter at low wing loadings it becomes increasingly relevant with more weight. I wouldn't take the trouble to replace a Tempo I own with something else, but would buy a PD or Smart (haven't demoed one yet or looked at it) instead.

You could, but would have commited a felony by dealing in guns without the appropriate license. The paper work is already in place to catch the sort of transactions you're worried about when a crime occurs with such a gun or they happen on a large scale. When you buy a gun from a dealer you fill out a form 4473 which the dealer keeps on file. If he goes out of business he surrenders his forms to the ATF. When a gun is used in a crime it can be traced from manufacturer to dealer, dealer to original purchaser. When a licensed entity (collector or dealer) sells more than one handgun to an individual within 5 business days a form 3310.4 gets filed containing the recipient's information and serial numbers. Too many of these forms probably merits an ATF visit. There are other things to consider if you believe more registration will cut down on transfers: 1. An open bolt sub machine gun is the easiest repeating arm to build in a basement shop. Single shot weapons are even simpler. 2. Even a small country like England has porous borders that guns slip through. A bigger place like America with 10,000 miles of coastline can't keep out thousands of illegal immigrants or hundreds of tons of drugs. We won't be able to keep out small arms either. Criminals will always have guns. Registration is merely a route to confiscation from law abiding owners and a precursor to genocide . One big genocide claims more lives than a thousand years of gun murders at America's current rate.

I'm 2-3 inches shorter but have short legs (31" inseam, I wear 30-30 jeans), and have that length main lift web on both my custom rigs (Reflex, Vertigo Warlock BASE). Both fit fine. Used gear is usually too short.

I'd need 18 pounds of lead to equal the speed I get from the next stock canopy size and would have 10% more kinetic energy at the same speed. The weight would get uncomfortable. The extra kinetic energy may be a problem. Little guys seem to get hurt less than big guys when they do screw up at similar wing loadings.

No one can beat biology. If an attacker is running at you with a knife from less than 21 feet away he will reach you before you can draw a holstered weapon and fire. Any armed individual can draw when some one else is the current victim. The threat of me having a gun (due to liberal concealed carry laws) has been shown to reduce crimes against people and increase proprty crimes. My insurance will cover it when that happens, although they can't save me if I'm dead. The right to defend yourself has no connection to your ability to do so. My not needing a fire extinguisher, seat belt, or motorcycle helmet doesn't mean those aren't good ideas. Having a gun on my person may have been useful once. Since I didn't have one I just called the police like a good citizen. Home the woman being accosted was OK.

Wrong. The documentation says it will fire when it measures a 1050 foot pressure and greater than 78MPH. decent rate In a stable belly-to-earth configuration this occurs at 750 feet. Pitching at 1500 and snivelling will fire it. I've seen video showing 2000 feet on an altimeter, immediate deployment, and Cypres fire. If you plan on deploying at 3000 feet, your Cypres won't fire even if you go a bit low (say 2500). If you plan on deploying lower it might.

Samurai 150. I put about 600 jumps on my Stiletto 120 at 1.6-1.7, about 20 on a Samurai 120 at the same loading, and 200+ on my Samurai 105 @ 1.6-1.7. One on a 105 @ 1.9 on a hot summer day at 5000 feet MSL - it shutdown at least as well as my Stiletto 120 at the same exit weight bu was otherwise a bit much. I don't think it's inappropriate to think of a Samurai as a next-generation Stiletto. It has similar light toggle pressure and responsiveness that's missing from other canopies. The openings that are comfortable but not too slow and less likely to require correction. The trim is a bit steeper although it flattens out nicely when you spread the rear risers. It has lighter front riser pressure in turns. The recover arc is longer but not like an Extreme FX. It won't return all the way to level flight without input - instead it ends in a shallow dive that's very user-friendly. It seems more sensitive to harness input. It definately stalls slower. I tried the cross fire (not CF2) and didn't like the responsiveness and control pressures as much. As far as front riser pressure in general and having to turn too low: fitting your turn to fit the space and altitude available (using both risers and the harness) without finishing early and switching to symetric front risers keeps pressures reasonable. Brian Germain describes this as maintaining roll angle throughout your approach.

I've had one hard opening in 1500 parachute jumps that I packed for myself - a 245 fox at terminal with a mesh slider and nothing done to the nose. Oof. After rolling the nose it was reasonable. A few out of my 7 AFF jumps produced bruises. Ow. Don't know if that was packing or the gear. A few hundred of those jumps were made on my Monarch 155 and 135 which are supposed to open hard. I think it's mostly packing and speed at deployment. Higher density altitudes noticeably speed up openings although I wouldn't call them hard.

Depends on how you define "performance" and your wingloading. At higher wingloadings (> 1.8) the cross-braced will be plenty peppy and swoop farther. I tried a Extreme FX 119 with 200 pounds out the door and found that compared to a conventional elliptical t was unresponsive and not much fun to fly (although it stalled slower and dived steeper so it should go farther). The 104 responded more like a conventional elliptical.

Hold that thought as long as you can and read your BSR's The BSRs also say that you should decide to cutaway by 1800 feet. 1800 + 800 feet for opening = 2600 feet for pack opening. The BSRs come from a time when an 800 foot opening was a malfunction, parachutes couldn't hit 70+ MPH in a dive, you wouldn't have 2 canopies out if you pitched a bit late (3 seconds below 2000 feet), and everyone had about the same forward speed. With a reserve pack job, big F111 seven cell, and 3 people on the load I've been comfortable with termiinal openings at 1000 feet. With a Samurai 105 and 15-20 people at wing loadings between .65 and 2.8 3000 feet is a much better choice. 1. It gives enough room to float or dive to avoid landing at the same time as some one else even when getting out half a mile down wind from the landing area. At lower opening altitudes things get more chaotic . 2. I can have a snivel, malfunction, cutaway, flip over, and have an open reserve by 2000 feet.