steve1

I mailed it off this morning. It was $172 plus freight. They said it would be a about a two week turn around as long as everything checks out okay. Thanks again Lisa! Steve1

I need to mail my cypress in for it's eight year check. I've never done this myself and was wondering if anyone out there knows the address to send it to. Do you send a check with it or do you wait for them to bill you? I understand it's something like $200 for this. I found a cypress add in Parachutist, but it looks like an out of country phone number and I couldn't get it to work. I know this information is probably in the forums somewhere, but after searching the last 10 pages I couldn't find much. I should have done this last winter instead of now. My backup rig doesn't have a cypress. I hate jumping without one. Is the wait period about two weeks? Thanks for all your help. Steve1

Emmie, I've had some hard openings on mine, but I think I'm doing something wrong in packing. I think this is a really good canopy, but I think Hornets may be hard opening if there are any errors in packing. Lately I have been rolling the tail more tightly and keeping it that way when I stuff it in the bag. Also make sure your slider doesn't move in the packing process. The last few openings have been soft. I also roll the nose a lot. I think I may get a larger bag also (like Sky Monkey One recommends). My other bag is too much work to get it all crammed in there. On one of my jumps I had a very experienced jumper put a rubber band around some of my B lines and then stuff my slider part way up into this. He says he does this all the time on tandem rigs to soften the opening. And it did open soft, but I think I'll discontinue this because it might cause problems, and I don't really know how safe this is. This same guy said that he has even packed some hard opening Hornets, so be careful how you pack. I really don't have enough jumps on my Hornet to make any conclusions. Steve1

I bought a ski helmet for skydiving. But I later got a super deal on a used Z-1, so I never jumped it. I love skiing in it though. If you go with a ski helmet you might have to cut off any snag points. Most of them have some type of hook or loop to hold your ski goggles on the back. I've always jumped with a open face helmet, but now I really prefer jumping with a mail box on my head. Maybe on a hot summer day I'll go back to an open face, but for most jumps I like the z-1 a lot better. I'd hate to buy one new though. They are really over priced. Steve1

AggieDave, I've got an old Vector container as a back up rig. It's probably the same as yours. I have a Falcon 235 in it now and it's quite tight, but still looks good. I normally put a Falcon 195 in it and it fits about perfect. Last weekend my other rig was out of date so I put my Hornet 170 in it. It closed up nice. The bridal line needed to be stuffed up a little further to hold it securely. I had some riggers look at it and they said it was fine. Steve1

Jason, Last night I tried putting the top of the canopy in the bag first and then folded the bottom in. I think it goes in a little easier that way. The few hard openings I've had are probably my fault. I love the way Hornets fly. It's much easier to land, and a whole lot faster than my old Falcon. Talk to you later. Steve1

PhyllyKev, I had a couple other experienced jumpers and a rigger advised me to get a bigger bag yesterday, but again I want to make sure it's the right thing to do. For my first two stows I've been using tandem type rubber bands. You have to stretch them out three or four inches to reach the tongue on the bag. Actually I've got it down to a fair system now (to get it in the bag), but a couple guys thought it might be causing problems with the slider slipping down the lines and creating hard openings. One of these guys was giving me a demonstration on how to shove my canopy in the bag correctly because he was convinced it was causing the problems. Actually I think I did a neater job than he did. At any rate everyone was telling me to get a bigger bag. Thanks for the imput. Steve1

I've been getting some hard openings, at times, on my new Hornet. I think I know part of the problem. I'm trying to stuff a 170 canopy into a bag that was probably meant for a 135. Compounding the problem is the fact that I'm not used to O. P. fabric. (even though PISA fabric is better to work with). At any rate, when I get through wrestling around with things (for an extended time period, with sweat dripping everywhere) and finally get it in the bag.... I think I may be letting the slider come down. At least that is my present theory. So I was wondering if it would be safe to get a bigger bag and put it in my present container. I have a talon container that is meant to hold anything between 135 to 170 (with 150 being about perfect). I was under the impression that each container is meant to take only one size of bag. Couldn't a bigger bag get wedged in the container even if the pin was pulled. So, that is my dumb question for the week. Thanks, Steve1

I'm just wondering if anyone here has been to the Chico Hot Springs Boogie in Montana. It's at the end of this month. I friend of mine says it is a dangerous place to jump. Normally I'd blow this off but the guy who said this owns a DZ and has about a million jumps. I really respect his opinion, and he's not going. So at any rate I was seeking out other jumpers opinions and may also decide not to go. Why is it dangerous? I guess the air strip and DZ are in a valley about 5,000 feet. They close off a dirt road to use as an air strip. When the wind starts to blow even the most experienced pilots have trouble. I guess the wind comes down off of a nearby hill threatening to flip a plane over. Landing a parachute at 5,000 feet with wierd winds doesn't sound like much fun either. A guy died at the boogie two years ago doing a hook turn, too low. There was a recent plane crash recently. (I don't have the details on it). So, what do you think? Would you go? I've never jumped there. Steve1

Sebazz1, I'll see you there. If I don't have on a drop zone. com T-shirt you'll still be able to reconize me. I'm the good looking elderly gentleman with the bald head. Our Stevensville club usually has a big tent next to the airstrip. Incidentally, I guess they are jumping Greg Nardi's King Air right now in Stevensville. I guess Greg was apologizing that it took a little longer to get to altitude yesterday. It was something like seven minutes to 13,000 ft. Does that sound right? I've never jumped one. I wish I was there now (Stevensville) and will be next week. I hope to meet you all at Lost Prairie. I hope to spend most of the week at the boogie this year. Steve

Stop in Montana, on your way up, and I'll jump with you. The main drop zones here are Lost Prairie (near Kalispell), Stevensville (near Missoula), and Laurel (west of Billings). You'll love Alaska, but I'll bet you get sick of driving up. Some people say if you drive it once you'll never do it again. So far I've driven it five times and am planning to go again. I'm a slow learner I guess. Take a canoe and fish Lake Kinaskan in Northern B.C. My kids were catching rainbows there every other cast, (and they are always biting). Steve

I'm learning loads from everyone's imput on this forum. I can see now the need not to waste time messing with this type of malfunction, (although I seem to have missed reading much about this in past posts). I know it's important not to get on a load without the proper game plan. Up until last week I had the wrong plan in mind for a pilot chute in tow malfunction. After reading Merrick's story I know now not to try pulling the pin manually. Keep the stories and ideas coming. Your knowlege is greatly appreciated. Your words are helping more than you realize. Steve

Some of the jumpers I know have swoop cords on the inside of their arms. I was just wondering what other jumpers think of these. I can see how they might have definite advantages if you are going low, but I have also heard they might cause problems in doing 4-way. I was curious to hear what others think. Thanks, Steve

That sounds about right. But ask the professionals to make sure. Steve

Sebazzi1, I heard that Greg was in California. He later went to Hawaii and started a DZ there. I'm not sure where he is based out of now. I haven't seen him in over 20 years, but hope to make some jumps with him soon. I've got an old picture in the RW section (under Ray Cottingham). Greg's brother Steve is the one with the black glasses, on the bottom left. Both are great people. Steve

Greg Nardi plans to bring his King Air to our DZ in Stevensville, Mt. It will be once a month this summer if we can keep it busy. If you plan on traveling this summer we'd love to jump with you. It's just south of Missoula. P.S. Does anyone else out there know Greg? I used to jump with he and his brother back in the olden days. Steve

Merrick, Glad you survived. It pays to have a cool head. I'm learning a lot from your experience. I was convinced last week that trying to pull on the bridal would be the right thing to do. Now I'm not so sure. Steve

I ordered a new Hornet from South Africa (from the web address that you have). No problems at all. I had a new canopy, in custom colors, in four weeks time, at a super low price. I am considering getting a Vortex container from them next. Steve

I set my brakes about 2 or 3 inches longer than the factory setting on my Hornet. The first thing I did under canopy is check the stall point. I went all the way down and it wouldn't stall. So I guess my stall point is below that somewhat. I don't know if this is a problem though. My landings were super with plenty of flare. I plan to continue playing with them. I need some jumps bad but the weather has been crappy nearly all spring. Maybe this next weekend. Steve

That's a funny one Slappie! (I've got a warped sense of humor also) Steve

FreeBird, Are you going to change your name?? Seriously though...congratulations. I've been married twenty-two years next week. I was lucky I found the right one. Steve

Congratulations. You deserve a break. I haven't spent a whole lot of time at Perris, but the staff I did meet seem super. I am a little concerned about Clay and Baaawbaraah though. Is Clay the father? Are they going to get married? Steve

Bill, Good point when you mentioned pulling your main below a thousand feet. Everyone knows that it would be better to pull their reserve but nearly everyone pulls their main instead. Probably because there isn't a whole lot of time to think and muscle memory kicks in. The closest call I ever had in skydiving was back in the seventies. On this jump noone was watching their altimeters or the ground. Cypresses and dytters weren't invented yet. I don't think I pulled until around 800 ft. and had canopy at about 500ft. Which did I pull? My main of course. Ground rush from that altitude is a thrilling sight! I thought I was dead for sure. It really made me realize the importance of altitude awareness. I'll also bet nearly everyone would pull their main instead of their reserve in a similiar situation (due to muscle memory). I hope noone is getting tired of hearing this same old jump story over and over again. It's the scariest one I know. Steve

Bill, They had another cypress load at Lost Prairie last year. A group went way low for whatever reason and at least two cypresses fired. One of these guys was having trouble getting both canopies to fly right and cut his main away at under a hundred feet. His reserve wasn't fully open when he hit the ground. They hauled him out in an ambulance. I never did hear how badly hurt he was. I think it was a back injury. The entire group was later chewed out for going low. I guess this is what happens when people get complacent or cocky. (Or just pushing the limits too far.) It can be fun till something like this goes wrong. Steve

Macnacfeegle, In my less than sensible past (last Christmas) we launched a three-way from under 2,500 ft. It was a cloudy day at Elsinore and we were bored. I won't do that again. It made sense at the time, but probably not smart. Steve