Chrisky

I know not many know of them in the US, but i got a Paratec Faqtor, which is a semielliptical, same "class" as the Sabre 2. But from my test jumping experience (Two jumps, so not much really) i found it to be more fun to fly. It has a great dive and long recovery arc, but you can also turn it flat like a pancake if you need to. Paratec has a US dependency, but i don't know whether they sell canopies on the US market yet. A couple of people might have read on their innovative R.A.G.E. design in a different thread. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Beer for your first jump. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Some manufacturers are performing tests on the system (Sunpath, Thomas Sports), and many other companies also watch that closely. On the above linked website is a sequence of images showing how to bag it, no need to wander through the french thread one image at a time... Once they have been thoroughly tested and the results are good, i don't think it will be a long time until they are available from more manufacturers. I mailed the company sometime last year, and they are licensing the system exclusively to Sunpath and Thomas Sports (Teardrop) right now, as no other manufacturers are interested as of now. After ordering my Wings, i mailed Sunrise Rigging whether it would be available sometime in the near future, and they told me they were looking at it, as some people had already asked for it, but for the time being, there aren't enough experiences with jumping it. I also remember having read somewhere that they were worn out (stiffeners, seams, whatnot) after about 500-600 jumps and had to be replaced, but don't remember where, so don't nail me down on that one. I sure do like the concept. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

I read the lift to full alti (Orbit) would be "a few dollars"... I'd just take 6k meters, that wouldn't hurt my arms too much...

If you work at the manifest for a month, how are you going to have time to do more jumps than if you're not working at manifest? Usually the manifest people don't get to jump that much during their work... And even tunnel time? Why don't you just put all the money you would burn "on the way" in jumps at your local DZ? My thoughts... The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Do the job... It's actually available: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=9139 The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Based on your measurements and supplied canopy choices they will make it an EXT automatically if necessary. It's not a pay-for option, just a longer container design if i got them right on their website and when i ordered it last fall. Mine is EXT, because it's a 120 M/135 R and i'm 5'6". Very comfy Rig. Rocksolid Pin/Main flap. Did i say i love it? The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Damned, i can't wait for my issue... Anyway, what Brian said (wrote) has also been recommended to me by some friends, and breathing technique opened a whole new dimension for me. Take some time on the way to altitude, close your eyes and focus solely on your breathing. Inhale slowly throught the nose, exhale through the mouth. Breathe into your belly, not the chest. Feel your body, start from the feet and move up to see if there are any tensions (i usually find some because of being cramped up somewhere between people...). Actively release them.... Go to your "happy place"... Take all the time you need on all that. Then count backwards from ten or five, upon zero open your eyes and be aware! Now have a relaxed and focused jump! I do this more or less intense before every dive (after opening my eyes, i do an EP drill), and it is a very helpful, to me at least. Sometimes i even fall asleep for a few seconds/minutes.. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Not at all. When i bought a container last year, i originally wanted an Odyssey, as i had a Jav before. Time to order, deliverytime was 20+ weeks. So i got a Wings instead... Best decision ever. There are a lot of people out there who simply like to stick with the biggest fish... The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

120 Main 135 Reserve - No rides The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Wasn't that just an issue with a bad batch of screens? (The unit stayed operational) I got mine pretty much right around the time the issue came up and mine never blanked... Now if i had a link to that service bulletin... Ok, found the thing... Wasn't a bulletin. So it was not a bad batch, but still i got my cypres about a month prior to this (linked)statement and never had a problem. It is no problem anyhow as the unit works no matter what. (No misfires...) Just pay attention to the last few lines as well... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_threaded;post=693492;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC; The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Well, considering that Airtec doesn't sell Cypres 1 anymore and basically the Cypres 2 has the same features plus longer battery life and a new filter that can resist water for 15 minutes, i don't think that they messed with the other proven technology too much... Even less designed a new AAD from scratch... So just because a car has new tires and tinted windows, it's not a "completely new design"... Maybe it's just me, but i didn't see any problems with cypres 2 except for a bad batch of lcd screens from a subcontractor... No functional flaws in any units so far. And i don't expect any. Correct me if i'm wrong. Considering the way Airtech adressed actual and so-called misfires in the past, and still waiting for any word on the in-air fires of the vigil, i'd stick with an Airtech product, series 1 or 2... The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

The military gear is designed to cater the needs of a military drop. This usually includes tons of gear. Usually the canopies used also have very different characteristics, like a better glide and slow flight behaviour due to accuracy for insertion in small DZs. Unless there was a gear issue that led to an accident, there is no reason to state which gear was used. Pretty much all gear is tested and certified according to the TSO-23 c/d giving very detailed specifics what the gear must be able to take in terms of deployment speeds/suspended wheights. Many or most components well exceed these specifications today. Nylon, Vectran, Cordura etc. are great stuff! Usually every new rig will be checked twice before it's being jumped: one final very thorough check by the manufacturer himself, and then again by the rigger who puts it all together (if it's not assembled at the manufacturer). Sometimes issues arise, which are then addressed by mandatory safety bulletins. Depending on the danger of the issue, it sometimes is mandatory to modify the rig before the next jump (thankfully a pretty rare occasion nowadays though). HTH. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Purpose of this thread? The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

My current one: Wings with almot all options, tie-dye, articulated etc. Paratec Faqtor 120 Paratec Speed 2000 135 Cypres 2 Ain't it lovely? Hell yes! The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Well, talking from my own experience, i bought a quite new (2years old) used rig at like 50 jumps and kept it for 2 1/2 years and ~250 jumps. By that time i started demoing a new canopy which i ordered (like 40 jumps) later. Because it did not fit into my old Container and i am sure that i will jump this canopy for a loooong time, i decided to get "my own". I was lucky and got almost the same for my old gear (300 bucks or so less) to put that money in my new one. Having been in the sport a few years helped me a lot to choose which options i wanted on my rig and which not. In your situation, i would really recommend you to wait with buying gear, rent a couple of 170s and eventually 150s, jump normally (="not less") and find out what you want. While doing thst, save the money to buy your rig, then buy it straight, with no loans etc attached. A buddy of mine lost quite some money (more than the rental cost for the jump numbers would've been) when he sold the rig he had bought new @ 20ish jumps after like 80-90 jumps. HTH. I second what was said about internet advice and canopy sizes... The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Just got directed to a french site, www.para-mag.com, where they have a video of what seems to be a Pop-Top snagged to a Porters' doorframe. Go to "Online->Videos" for both the teams cameramans' view and inside (plane) video. There's also an article (french) along with it. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Well, i have the Wings with rings, laterals and backpad. It is the most comfortable rig i have ever had. The articulated option on Wings does not (and needs not) have chest rings. The issue with chest rings is, as i learned from this forum and was told by other riggers as well, that the yoke has to be designed narrower to prevent the rig from slipping wide on the shoulders. This could be deadly in a headdown situation. Plus you don't move your shoulders off extremely from your chest as you do with your thighs and the waist. Get the atriculated. The cut-in laterals make the rig fit you much more seamless and comfortable. I don't think it is a snag issue unless you are doing CReW, but even then with the main out the corners are bending away easily. You will have to watch out for the lower corners of your Reserve container when placing the risers in the container, so that the lines don't get under there (unlikely) I got it and i love it. Quilted Backpad doesn't cost much and adds comfort. If you're on a budget, get these things after each other: 1. Articulated harness 2. Cut-in laterals 3. Backpad For my colors check out the "Got Wings?"-thread.(search) My 2 cents The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

german association www.fallschirmsportverband.de. The association was founded 10 years ago and license nubers are at 10-12K (Sequentially). This would round up to about 10K active jumpers in Germany, which, my guestimate, is a bit too high in terms of actual numbers. They should have pretty exact numbers until 2003, when the license became valid lifelong with currency to be proven by log entries. Until then, active licences had to be renewed every two years with proof of currency. So they should know how many active licences there are. If you hunt all the numbers down, please post the result, would be interesting. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

the french team jumped cypres during the world cup, as i read in the german association newspaper... then again, most of these guys have not only one rig and not only one AAD... The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Well, the idea is to in the end get a bomb to kill the intended target (bad guy), not the innocent bystander (good guy). And the question was not about primary purpose of bombs, but on seccondary motivations to develop them. Protecting innocent civilians by using precise bombs is a viable secondary motivation for their development. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

No, even though i'm afraid that's not the primary motivation. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Right... The MIR was controlled by four computers equal to a Commodore C64... The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Why should that matter? For myself, i have no war experience, only military training up to squad CQB and company-scale live firing running exercise (a whole company sweeping a terrain range filled with pop-up targets). I think i have a pretty good look into what the shit is like, good enough that i don't want to be there. Good enough as well to picture that a soldier under fire fighting back doesn't look twice what he's shooting at. But is it really that hard to believe that not every damn poor iraqi school boy and his mum are AK-flinging, RPG-hauling antiamericans??? Is it so hard to believe that a US fighter-bomber pilot misses an actual resistance strongpoint because ground guidance was misdirecting his fire and blows up the family hiding in the house one block away?? You know how fast things from the air can miss a spot by far! If you are not allowed to seriously doubt what an honest man does, it is time to start doubting! The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

Air campaign over Serbia, stated here Had an article from Janes on that topic flying around as well, but that was more than a year ago and i don't know if i still have it. The point is that often pilots have to ie. take evasive action while still having to aim the laser etc. for guidance. Once the guidance is gone or interupted, the bomb just drops "dumb" from its glide path. They do increase the efficiency, and they bring down the cost, as you don't have to drop so many. I must admit my claim was based on older models, i can't back it up with actual statistics. Here's an interesting article, i ran over googling... How Smart Are Our Smart Bombs? The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...