FrogNog

OK, looks like I was totally wrong. I'll experiment with spectra closing loops shortly.* (The Cypres reserve loop material looks like a fine place to start.) * Why? I don't know. I'm just compelled to do these things. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I don't need any more reminders about how much skydiving costs. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I don't think it would do what we want it to. Peak and average tension on the main closing loop is pretty low, so a super-duper-strong line isn't necessary. We want to keep the container closed as securely as possible until deployment time, then open the container as reliably as possible. [From here on, I'm in 100% guess land.] That suggests a line that interfaces properly with the short pin we use on throw-out and pull-out systems to produce a consistent grip with a medium pull force. I guess Type 2 A cord does this well because it's fat (so more yarns lay against the pin). Stretchiness may also have some effect. I don't know anything about the coatings various lines are treated with, and how they might affect required pin withdrawal forces. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

While AggieDave's answer is disgustingly wrong from a sterile, vacuum-based physics point of view, it has some merits in a viscous medium. If someone exits an otter in a perfectly neutral position and remains there - flying directly "down" on the relative wind - then they will fall vertically just as fast as someone who exited a stationary balloon at the same altitude at the same time. After X seconds, both jumpers will be at the same altitude, from exit all the way to opening. ("All other things being equal", of course; a standard scientific comparison assumption.) But the person exiting the otter has airspeed they can use to fly at an angle from "down" on the relative wind. Just as RWers and birdmen can move "forward" while falling straight toward earth, they can move upward immediately after exiting a moving plane while falling horizontally. Even for the people who don't pop up entirely above the plane, they are countering gravity to some degree, and gravity is what accelerates them toward earth until their wind resistance matches the force of gravity on their mass. I believe someone else in this post gave the formula for velocity, which is the integration of acceleration, which is Force / Mass. The Force is the net of Gravity and the jumper's own flying force up or down, so they could achieve a higher or lower velocity in the same time as someone who lets gravity do all the work. But for people who always fall straight down, it should be about the same amount of time. I was always told 11 seconds but 10 is close to 11.

There is lore at my DZ about a feather-weight jumper. They did something with her that helped either her fallrate or her stability - I can't remember which : get a NERF football and slice it in half from pointy end to pointy end. Take one of the oblong halves and put it on your belly under your jumpsuit. The idea is to produce a bit of a nosecone in flight without having to get a beer belly. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

In the on-ground interview the camera guy usually asks the student if they're scared, and our most veteran TM is putting the harness on them at that point and always nods vigorously and replies "oh yeah, I'm vehry scared...."

Kitten executions. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

...what she said... Yeah y'are. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

We stood for 3 minutes in a turbine exhaust path while the load figured out what order to load. The lack of preparation was confounded by the fact that under the turbine and behind the prop it's hard to hear. The stench of half-burned Jet-A in the fuselage didn't clear until jump run. It's great to get everyone out to the taxiway before the plane arrives, but it's also important to have the loading order sorted out. I dream of a painted line on the ground with colored sections, e.g. "Wingsuits", "Tandems", "Solo Freefly", "Small Big", "Solo Belly", "Small Big". My dream continues that people would line their groups up and when the plane arrove, we'd just file in and go. Then nobody would have to interrogate everyone for anything but high-pullers. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Sell the battery on Ebay. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I'll handle the California Migration issue. *ahem* "In Western Washington, Winter is defined as the time of year where it doesn't necessarily rain every hour of every day. Spring and Fall are defined as the times of year where it doesn't necessarily rain every day of every week. And Summer is defined as the eight weeks in July and August that will together contain about 30 days without rain." -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Maybe he figured he'd usually be loading it at .62 pounds per foot because he'd be flying them both? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

If you do that, be vigilant about others still flying. There was a serious injury incident recently that I believe was partially caused by this behavior and a very short lapse in awareness. (Personally, I cower like a weasel and swing my head like a shark while I set my brakes and uncollapse my slider in the landing area.

I know you aren't happy with how that dive wound up at 2000 feet with you guys both still in freefall and all, so I won't talk about that. I think you were right to pull. The ground WILL kill or maim you if you hit it in freefall. Your jump partner might kill or maim you both if you collide in freefall. There is room for argument about how much altitude you had left, but for me personally at 2k I need a canopy immediately. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I think reserve sizing should stand on its own. The size of the main compared to the reserve matters for two-out situations and for container construction. The actual size of the reserve canopy matters for deployment rating and landing. I haven't downsized my main yet, so I don't know what I'm going to do about my reserve. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Poof! He was turned into a woman. She checked the map, and after three hours and some encounters with bears, wasps, poison ivy, and quicksand, hiked to the bridge one hundred yards from where she started, and crossed the river. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Are you finishing your flare? I can give myself pretty poor landings on my Hornet (same thing as Pilot) in low wind, especially in no-wind, if I don't finish my landing with the toggles as far as I can pull them. The video someone suggested you get someone to take of your landings would help show this to you. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I think 5 quid a jump for rental is fine. (But I share the concern about rental gear maybe not being the best, depending on where you are.) Shameless vulture time: what size is your Hornet? Is it a 170, by any chance? Ooh, and what colors? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I was OK with the dancing sandal-and-diaper-wearing purple overweight humanoid-hippopotomus thing right up until the first ass shot. Maybe if it hadn't been a thong diaper I would have been OK with that part, too. At least he wasn't as big as a real SUMO contender. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

How bad it is is affected by a lot of factors. You will almost certainly learn to reduce the frequency and severity of line twists by your body position at deployment and throughout the opening. Packing, gear maintenance, and canopy type can also have some effect. I have only had two line twists in 220 jumps that disturbed me. The first was a student canopy twisted up far enough that it wasn't fully inflating, so I had a "medium-speed malfunction" and almost chopped, but it finished inflating and flew straight high enough that I decided to try kicking out (and flew out of the multiple twists). The second was a couple weeks ago when I got one full twist but I must have lowered a shoulder as it went in because the canopy was turning. Because my canopy is a tapered square and I load it at 1.15:1, the turn wasn't fast, losing a lot of altitude, or swinging me severely, but it got my attention and I kicked with alacrity. If I had been on a smaller canopy or an eliptical one (which would almost certainly have been smaller than my 190), the spin would have been worse, possibly brutally so. (i.e. chopping not optional.) Minor line twists - a 180 or a single 360 - seem to try and happen to me maybe once every 7 to 10 jumps, but by feeling what is going on up there during opening and knowing what my canopy likes to do, they don't cause any drama. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

BOC does not necessarily imply throw-out. There are also BOC ripcords, which is what I learned on. Transitioning from BOC ripcord to BOC throw-out was pretty easy. We just had to remember to throw it away. I remember asking "what if I forget to throw it away?" The answer was "oh, you'll remember after a couple seconds." -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I agree that's what they're probably saying. I don't agree it's the best practice. (Yeah, I know, 200 jump wonder second-guessing the SIM. Well, I consider this particular part of the SIM only a recommendation, and would prefer to fly my two-outs with brakes stowed.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Jumpshack says the knot (well, double-fingertrapped-regime) is stronger than a single length of the line itself, I believe. I got my music wire, now I just gotta make fids.

I don't think anyone ever wants to release just one toggle. That would be the equivalent of half-toggle input on the opposite toggle that you can't easily / intuitively stop, i.e. that is outside your control. Not good in any situation I can think of ever.

On my rig, I: * disconnect and flex riser ends every month * clean and lube cutaway cables with (precisely) food-grade silicone lubricant every month; wipe dry * have hard riser cutaway cable end inserts on my risers - just in case * am comfortable operating handles at any chest strap tightness on my rig * fit in the rig correctly; it was sized for me * discounted chest articulation because it could affect handle location without making rig that much more comfortable to me In the event I'm jumping someone else's rig that hasn't received proper three-ring / cutaway cable maintenance throughout its life, doesn't have the just-in-case riser inserts, and fits me imperfectly so the handles go all hither and dither when the fertilizer hits the prop, I don't think I'm going to have a choice about what kind of handle(s) are on it. But I guess if I had a strong preference about that, I could have avoided jumping that rig in the first place. -=-=-=-=- Pull.