Chrisky

I have downsized to a Paratec Faqtor 120 this year, i'm about 185 lbs out the door. It's a semi-elliptical with a steep dive, yet it recovers quite fast by itself and can "fly the corner" pretty narrow,meaning that when you pull the toggles in a dive, it goes horizontal AT ONCE. It swoops really well and gives you a _very_ wide range of handling style. A jumper with more than 2500 jumps jumped it once as a backup, and he told me he liked it better than many of the HP ellipticals he had jumped. Agressively agile, yet tame as apuppy, depending on YOUR style flying it. I know this sounds like i'm working for the manufacturer, but i don't. Just love my canopy and i know many people having that one doing so, too. Mail them for a demo or maybe take a weekend to Spa, they usually have a Faqtor 135 as a demo on site (which i used to jump till my 120 arrived).

IMHO a VERY bad idea telling it this way to a beginner. Lots of people have had wonderful openigs with terrible pack jobs. But even more people had to cutaway from one, or worse. When i learned packing, it took me about an hour and two starts to finish one packjob. But if you ask the experienced people (preferably the rigger if he's around) for help, they will gladly help you and show you some tricks. 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, having stated you weight now helps. This would come down to an exit weight of abou 170 lbs, so for a wingloading of 1 (lbs): 1 (sqft), that would be a 170. Stick to square planforms in the beginning, the Sabre-type class. My advice is: 1. go to your instructors, they know you, we here don't. 2. If they don#t rent rigs, ask fellow jumpers if they'd let you jump their gear. But try not to go to a 170 straight from the 280, try to maybe jump a 210 inbetween. The Speed you will get out of a 170 will be higher than that of a 280. 3. I'd wait with buying a rig until you know waht you want. Maybe other DZs in the area have other canopies for rental? Anyway, have fun!

The Butterflies (Ther Hordes of them, that is) will go away, some are leaving with every jump. Once you do a couple of jumps a day, some are still around to keep you awake, but not to bother you. So, yes, they will go away. I NEVER said 'Once I get out of this plane and on the ground, I'll never do this again" because WHAT the hell should make me get out if i don't want to do it? Skydiving is for YOU and YOU alone. If you start jumping solo, its only you and why you do it in the air. No one else, not your cool buddies, not your instructors, just you. Try to detach from the pressure building up inside of you and relax. Why does that exit have to be so perfect? It doesn't. Fall off the plane then ARCH and boom you're stable.

Well, i've found quite some threads on problems with any sabres hard openings, and the sabre2 seems really twitchy to body pos during deployment. I'd also not recommend it to a new jumper as its not a square but a semieliptical, though this recommendation is depending on the wing loading to be used(which i don't know as it's not posted). Square w/ WL under 1.2, imho better wait a couple of jumps to gain some canopy expertise so you know what you like and then look for demos.

Hmm, i like the idea of a "training" in-air cutaway with a special rig containing 2 Mains and one reserve. This is because i have often wondered about what a cutaway is like as i've never had one (yet, and don't want one). Maybe it could be offered in a way like Birdman-Seminars or Canopycontrol seminars. What do you other people think? I think getting to know what it feels like falling away from a canopy and then releasing the other is a very good thing. 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 ...

Hi Dagny, welcome to the forums!

Hi Roland, welcome to the forums and willkomen zum Stammtisch, der deutschen Ecke von DZ.com

Thanks for the info, i've seen the window when other people were packing, but never paid much attention to its exact location as i don't have one. So the window is right next to the pin? 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 ...

Two post with the same question in a day...

A very good procedure is listed here in the Security section EDIT: This link is listing a FULL gear check. The pin check is pretty much a part of the check in the MAIN section. 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 ...

Me says: Me says: Same for me. But jilmiracle criticized: I was just wondering how to check someone elses PC for cocking during a pin check? 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 ...

Please tell me how you can check if the PC is cocked doing a PIN check? 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 ...

It's all from what i remember, it's been four years since i saw that, and i only saw it once (Don't really wanna see it again, either). The video didn't go into much detail why the PC popped, it analyzed more what was happening to the plane. This is because it leaked through from Germanys' Agency for Aviation Accident Investigation. If i remeber correctly, the cord was a bit shorter than usual and it looked like a very big, bulky packjob(Even to me as a student back then). Plus the student bent really strong prior to exit. BUT THIS INFO IS NOT ACCURATE, it is only from what i remember and that may well be false. 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 didn't mean to say that you lack that effort, it was meant concerning any kind of pincheck (even do-it-yourself ones). If i am surrounded by people i don't know or don't think they are capable of giving a proper pincheck, i will also check it myself by feeling it. I second that pat after the check thing. 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 totally agree on that. I've been to a DZ recently where they did a 40way from two planes and messed up the separation. Four people fell into Cypres. And they were not the most inexperienced ones. It happened on the early bird when i overslept, and i'm happy i didn't have to see that. Most of them acted as if nothing had happened, but what do you expect? Have them whining all day for messing up? It's the DZ Ops responsibilty to ask them what went wrong and if needed, ground them. And i wouldn't like anybody asking if i had talked to them as the DZO. The attitude "i'm safe because my cypres is there" usually goes along with a very lacky safety discipline of the respective jumpers. Their safety discipline is the REAL problem, not the Cypres. So that's what we need to work on. MHO

Forgot to name the reason for why i do this all the time. Before the licensing exam i got to see a video of a porter going down killing one skydiver. It had an exit-camera monted to it. It was a full load with a tandem on it. The jumper to go was a student doing his hopnpop from 1200m. Fully loaded porter on jumprun @ 1200m. Up, down, POP! comes the springloaded PC. The main tore of the right altitude rudder (sorry, don't know the right term). The porter immediately went into an uncontrollable spinning dive, the camera quit at about 300m due to extreme g-forces. Everyone except for one jumper got out, the pilot bailed out @ 200m. The student had had his gear checked by two instructors on the ground and (assumptio here) in air too, still it happened. The tape was a intimate analysis of what went wrong and what happened thereafter. The student landed the main, two cells were ripped but it was still manouverable. If you've seen the consequences of such a minor source, you don't mind putting in that little effort to prevent 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 usually ask for a pin check when i am not 100% sure if it's still in place. Like maybe when i did a "fat" pack job and the flap is sticking up a bit, or something that way. But i only ask people of whom i know they know what a pin check has to be done like, there's no use in asking someone incapable of it to do it, he will, at worst, only make it worse. There are a few things that play a side role on this. One thing is the loop. You should always have a proper pressure on it, so the pin won't come loose by itself nor that it can be pushed through the loop (as seen on safety and training recently). The other thing is, and that is something you don't see a lot, that you take care of your flaps, handles etc while moving in the plane. Personally, i always put my hand over the BOC/Hackey when turning around, so that it's protected against snagging somewhere as well as i can feel it if i touch something. The other hand covers the cutaway and release handles if not otherwise needed. Only recently i saw someone ride down with the plane bcause his Reserve pin slipped out. He said he had sat down right on an edge and the edge had pushed the pin up. From knowing that person i didn't believe him, i believe he didn't even check his rig before he jumped. 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 ...

Simple as that - IMHO! Just posing my opinion, if i'm posing facts i back them up.

One never stops learning...

I've seen a couple of people at my former DZ jumping it. It always got pretty close to a stall during swoop from what i saw. Three people at that DZ were injured landing it, though i don't know how or why, i wasn't there when it happened. But i saw a steering line rip in midswoop and the promo guy (yep, the short one) was really lucky walking away from that. I've never jumped it, it's still way out of my performance range and i honestly wouldn't like to jump it from what i've seen, but thats just me. Many of the more experienced jumpers were licking their fingers for it. And, there's a new one for sale on the DZ's forum(Germany/Belgium) 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 ...

Simple as that: Do you know everything you like and need from your rig? Will you go more into RW or freeflying? What kind of canopy do you like (no, they are not all the same)? Every Canopy is different. I'd try to work out a deal with the people of your DZ for gear rental, they will likely give you a rebate. My recomendation is to wait. I have two examples for that, the first one is myself, the second a fellow jumper at my DZ. I bought my rig with about 60 jumps, when i had just downsized to a 150, getting to a wingload of about 1:1.17. I've had that rig for three years and a bit more than 200 jumps.

Welcome! Just did a lot of "homework" myself on a new container, and there are always many threads like "what's the right rig for me?", so do a search and you'll get alot to read... Of course i sympathize too, because my thought is usually " 3jumps would be good, doesn't hurt the account too much" and in the end it's more like how far u can stress it... Enjoy and have a BLAST! 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 ...

Cangrats! Did you just state you did your first solo? Isn't there a beer rule on "first", too? You owe beer man! 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, hard to open is a good thing, the Z1 of a buddy of mine popped open during a two way and he spend the rest of the dive trying to close the thing. I have seen the Freezer and most people were pretty satisfied IF the correct size was available. Many didn't like the outer visuals, but thats a very personal thingy. One thing that Paratec has to offer, however, is really great customer service from my experience. And for you, its a national manufacturer Have fun! 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 ...