Geoff

Yeah I can't stand soft openings or light riser pressure either.....

Anybody Brits want to join in a communal whinge about the weather? Has anybody jumped in the UK on a Sat or Sun this year yet?

I think he's taking a whole team... ....groan

but you don't get mini-risers on reserves. ??????

The evolution had some data logging stuff, kinda like the pro-track, BUT it had no display - you had to access all the data thru a PC. and it's no longer available. Geoff

I think it depends whether it's good magic or evil magic.....

Take a look at the thread on uk.rec here. there are also a couple of threads on rec. -try a google search. The guy in the vid is called Will Packard. He bust himself up in that crash. Apparently the way to barrel roll is: "get a really hard front riser dive going, get as much speed as possible, then drop it, grab both rear risers just long enough to get the canopy back above your head and then yank on the opposite rear riser. I was told not to use toggles because there was a much greater chance of running out of momentum partway through (and this sounded like it was spoken from experience so I never tried it :) The rear riser technique works great though. My Jedei would barrel roll nicely. Unfortunately I can't quite build up enough speed on my Triathalon these days to roll it, so I haven't done it in quite a while. Its definitely a rush though. Just watch the horizon - that's how you can judge how steep the roll is. (And do this high - just in case you do run out of momentum ;)" And as for falling into the canopy, according to Will: "This won't happen, as long as you are flying *level* when you start the roll. The canopy will always be slightly behind you throughout the roll." No I haven't tried it either, and I don't recommend that anybody does.Tell your lawyer: "I SWEAR GEOFF DID NOT ENCOURAGE ME TO TRY THIS" Geoff

I agree with you. Here in the UK, tandem passengers have to be hooked up before take-off. It seems highly dangerous to have a plane door open when someone inside is neither restrained nor attached to a parachute. (if that is the situation you're describing) Geoff

Here's my (fairly unhelpful) observation on the value of used skydiving gear: There are many millions of used cars, and so for any given model / age / colour there is a balance of supply and demand, and a well-established 'value'. Cars will generally change hands for predictable prices. OTOH, skydiving gear is a very small market. The level of supply / demand for a particular size / model / colour is often very low. If a buyer is lucky enough to find exactly what they want, they may be prepared to pay a relatively high price. If it's only almost what they want and the seller is in a hurry to sell, then they might pay a much lower price. In other words, I'm simply saying that prices vary a lot. I doubt the tables you're talking about exist, and if they did they'd be no more than a very rough guide. As a buyer, if you're prepared to be flexible and take some time shopping around, you can get some real bargains. If you 'must have' a certain size, brand, colour, you're likely to pay a lot more. So my advice: be flexible, and ask experienced jumpers what any particluar piece of gear is 'worth'. But ultimately it's worth what you're prepared to pay. Hope that's at least some help. Geoff

So would you recommend a metal d-ring cutaway handle as well? Genuinely curious. Geoff

Look here Looks like you need a V4 - contact rigging innovations to confirm if they're in production. In general, the sleek design of the voodoo makes it appear smaller than than other rigs of the same actual volume (personal opinion). Geoff

Yes - a pad is less easy to grip (you can't put your thumb through it) and can occasionally fold under the harness. It's less likely to be accidentally snagged in the plane or in freefall, which is why many freefliers use pads (a reserve deployment at freefly speeds can be fatal). Just an observation: objectors to reserve pads never seem to explain why a pad is OK for the cutaway but not for the reserve. Just my 2 euros geoff

Basically, you add a bit more toggle to lift you up and compensate for the altitude you would have lost during the turn. Very subtle though. Geoff

Thanks Bill, that's interesting - I guess the next question is this: By how much will an alti typically lag during freefall (say at 120mph in the first instance)? and is the lag itself a function of altitude? Frankly I don't know how much notice to take of people precisely asserting "I pulled my reserve at 900 feet" or "my canopy always takes 600-700ft to deploy", etc... My suspicion is that everyone thinks their alti is a lot more accurate than it actually is. Anybody know? Geoff

Whew! Glad you're still with us! Just a small question for interest: Did your Cypres fire at all? (even after the start of reserve deployment) Geoff

Has any scientific study been done of the phenomenon of mechanical altimeters 'lagging' the true altitude during freefall? I notice on the way up that if I tap my alti, it jumps upwards by a couple of hundred feet. I presume this is due to the friction in the mechanism slowing the progress of the needle, and the tapping 'breaks' the friction and allows the needle to catch up. But on the way down in freefall, you're moving much faster, so I would expect the 'lag' to be greater - at least a few hundred feet. An experiment could fairly easily be done by comparing a video of an alti in freefall with data from (say) a Cypres data recorder, as long as you could synchronise the exit time exactly. Anybody tried this? Geoff

A related question: do different colours (yes that's brit spelling) stretch or shrink differently with UV exposure or age? I've always thought that symmetrical canopy colours would be safer just in case there is any difference. Or does ZP not stretch or shrink at all with age? Geoff

I understand the cave is quite narrow at the top, but opens up considerably wider a few hundred feet down. So it would be difficult. Maybe it would be easier to fly a HP canopy low over the entrance aperture, chop, delay, then use a reserve ?! And maybe it wouldn't. Geoff

The flip-out screen of a mini-DV camera is normally on the left of the camera (because it's designed to be held in the right hand) -so the camera goes on the left of the helmet, so the audible goes on the right (even if you don't have a camera). That's my theory anyway. Geoff

Recently. Dunno exactly but it was in the December BPA mag. Geoff

I recommend you don't simply rely on changing your packing technique. Better packing may improve things for dozens or hundreds of jumps, but it's not reliable and you'll probably still get spanked once in a while. There are many of us who have injuries (fortunately minor in my case) due to fast-opening Sabres. A larger slider slowed the openings dramatically on my 1999 Sabre 135. PD provided one 2 inches larger chordwise, but the same size spanwise. Many people have 'pocket' sliders fitted to much the same effect. Ask a rigger. Hope this helps. Geoff

Am I the only one who routinely (like 9 times out of 10) cannot access my Inbox. I get the following: ================================ Oops, there was a problem! Invalid/Expired session. If your email session is invalid or had expired, please Log In again to check you mail. For security reasons these sessions resets every 6 hrs when not being used. Any other error, please Click Here to go back to your Inbox ================================== Tried logging in again but it makes no difference. Is this just me? Geoff

Openings will be softer, but more prone to be off-heading or twisty - especially if you don't control your balance in the harness during deployment. Forward speed will be about the same. Glide will be much better. Turns will be much faster and lose much more altitude. Landings will be easier (more lift), but flatter - you'll need a longer runway and it'll be more difficult to hit a precise touch-down point. Hope that helps Geoff

Time outs are no longer made by CoolnGroovy. I forget the name of the guy who's taken over. I've got a time-out and it frequently flat-lines while descending under canopy (and I'm only loading at about 1.8). Very annoying. Personally I'd recommend finding the extra bucks for an L and B product. Geoff

definitely agree with that bit. If you do a perfect landing in a 10mph 90 degree cross-wind, you'll have zero airspeed when you touch down, and zero forward groundspeed when you touch down, BUT you'll still be doing 10mph sideways, because that's the speed of the air you're in. Personally, I can't run sideways at 10mph. Ouch. The normal way to land crosswind is to start the flare cross-wind, but turn into wind during the flare (you see this at Eloy a lot, because of the rule about landing East or West only, whetever the wind direction.) Similarly, if you have 10mph wind on your tail, and you land perfectly, you will have zero airspeed at the end your flare, but you will still be doing 10mph over ground, because that's the speed of the air you're in. You may be able to run or slide it out, but you may not if the wind's too strong. Hope that makes sense (does to me) - to be honest I'm not sure whether I'm agreeing or disagreeing with you....! Geoff