NeedToJump

The Ranch in NY will be having the Kolla boogie... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

You're planning now for tunnel time in January 2005? Wow, that's some advance planning. It pretty much depends on what kind of physical condition you're in. I've seen people in there for their first time fly 30 minutes out of an hour and be fine (a little tired but not exhausted.) I've also seen people be beat after 6 minutes. It all depends on you. Generally I'd recommend 10 - 20 minutes out of an hour for your first time there. If you want to do more than that then try to have at least an hour break in between before doing more time. You'll get more out of it with some breaks as it gives you and the coach a chance to watch the video and debrief. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

About 80 jumps on mine and 20 on the demo before that - 100 total Hmm, most of my jumps are on a Stiletto but the openings aren't anything alike. I've done a couple Sabre2 jumps and openings are comparable, although I find the Katana opens better. PRO pack. Clear the line, don't do anything with the nose, half the slider - I always make a big deal of making sure there is a lot of slider that is going to catch the air. Extremely consistent. Out of 100 jumps I have had one brisk opening (not hard by any means), 1 line twist and a handful of off heading openings. Most of the openings have been within 90 degrees of heading and open super nice. Very soft openings. I'd guess around 600 feet but I don't check my alti right before pulling or right after opening. I check on breakoff, track away and pull and then deal with my chest strap, slider, etc. before looking at my alti. They are very soft but don't take too long. I absolutely love my Katana. I love everything about it more than any other canopy I have tried. I demoed one and bought one the day I returned the demo.

And on your belly Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Yes, lots Freeflying - Thomas Hughes, Joao Tambor, Fabian, Juliana, Joe Winters, Michael Biederman Belly Flying - Too many to name but here's a few Thomas Hughes, Pete Allum, Chromy, Solly Williams, Joey Jones, Doug Park, Craig Gerard... Everyone has their own unique style of coaching and I've learned a lot from all of them. Done time with too many coaches to really go into all the specifics It made me more aware of my body and how each part of my body affects the airflow around me. I was able to take the time to focus on every little thing that I wanted to. Other than running / playing on the walls absolutely every bit of flying in there has transferred to the sky. The way I fly in the sky is the same as how I fly in the tunnel, head down in the sky just tends to be at a faster speed... Backflying is really the only orientation that I've found to be significantly affected by the rig. Belly, Knees, Sit, Stand, HD there's slight differences but not enough for me to think about. Tons of fun, every time I'm in there I learn a lot and have tons of fun. You and Sean are looking great in there. See you at the competition in April. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I did plenty of solos, but the main thing was tunnel time. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'll be there Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'll jump in on this one too, Lara does rock! Can I have a patch now? Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Since this thread is already about one PD person I just thought I'd add to it: Gillian - you amuse me, we've got to drink together more often Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Nope, just wanted to make sure everyone was clear, that's all. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

She won't if I have anything to do with it! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Plus she's a kick ass belly flyer! Keep in coming! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

If they had the canopy and agreed with you it would be released, but it's not... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

So do the rest of the PD folk, but Anabel definitely rocks! Just had to get that out there.

I basically just flake it and make sure the slider is going to catch a lot of air. It consistently opens really well and seems to be very forgiving packing-wise. It's also very unforgiving of body position and will open in a dive if you are not completely even in your harness. Try going into a stand once the canopy has begun to open to force the pressure on the leg straps to be even. Enjoy!

PD is always developing and testing new canopies - that's what they do. When they have something that they are going to release I'm sure we'll all hear about it. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Sweet! If you need any help splitting up the time just let me know I'll talk to Shane and figure out when the time is and see about joining you guys. Enjoy your new suit, I'm definitely loving my new suit that Nancy made for me!

There have been posts comparing using front risers from full flight or from braked flight. Basically if you go into brakes you are losing both forward and downward speed. If you go to front risers after letting up from braked flight you will have to use more front risers (or hold them longer) to get the canopy to go the same speed as if you just went to front risers from full glide. My same suggestion for Cielo applies - try various thing up high. Play around with using your front risers from varying amounts of brakes, see what feels like it's giving you the results you desire. There is a tremendous amount of control range on all inputs and combinations of inputs. Experiment with as many of them as you can think of to see how the canopy reacts. If you are ever in doubt of what may happen then ask someone first. At your stage (62 jumps) you should go out to the dz and talk to experienced jumpers before trying anything new that you read online. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

A lifetime warranty on a freefly suit would not make a difference to me. I expect any suit I buy (freefly, RW, tunnel, etc.) to hold up for a long if I take good care of it. Obviously if I'm sliding in on my ass or knees every landing or rubbing my suit against the net at the bottom of the tunnel the suit will tear no matter what the warranty. The athletes sponsored by that company does make a difference to me. If I ask a sponsored athlete a question about a company they are sponsored by I expect them to take the time to talk to me about it. If they don't then to me it reflects poorly upon the company. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'll wear weights for RW to adjust to a faster fallrate so I can maintain my optimum body position (keep the greatest range of motion.) I'll wear weight to swoop if I'm doing hop n' pops. Usually I don't wear any weight at all though - it's just not comfortable. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Happy Birthday! Those are some nice gifts you got. I'm glad John was thoughtful enough to NOT make you fly in that rainbow suit... When is your next Orlando tunnel trip? I'd love to fly with you guys. I've flown with Shane a little bit and that was my first time seeing a non-skyventure style of tunnel flying. Tunnel comp. is coming up soon, can't wait! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'm guessing that you are talking about front riser pressure. You can decrease the front riser pressure on a canopy by add a bit a brakes before pulling down on the riser. Play with this up high - try holding in brakes for 3 seconds and pull down on a riser. Then try 5 seconds, then 10 - vary how deep you are in brakes but be careful of stalling the canopy if you go too deep. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Increasing the wingloading will cause the canopy's decent rate to increase, it will lose more altitude in a turn and take longer to recover. It will not swoop farther, only you can make it do that. 15lbs is a lot of weight to wear, especially if you've never worn weights before (and I'm guessing you haven't because of this post.) Talk to experienced people at your dz who have seen you jump and ask them their thoughts. If you are going to add weights start with 4 or 5 lbs and gradually work your way up. I think you'll find that you'll get more helpful responses to your questions if you fill in some information in your profile, namely current canopy and number of jumps... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'm guessing that there is an elliptical 150 in the container now? I'd say buy the rig, sell the main canopy and put a 170 Spectre in there. When you're ready to downsize try a lot of different canopies. The 150 elliptical in there might not be what you want to jump when you're ready for it. Don't buy something now that you think you might like or be ready for later, buy something now that you like now. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

fold the bootie underneath the rest of the leg Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com