xsynergist

Look at my thread in the Gear and rigging forum concerning wing color and UV degradation. The brightest colors are safer from a visibility perspective but they degrade much faster when exposed to UV. I personally value safety over wing life but that is so easy to rationalize because I want bright colors anyway... UV breaks down the fabric faster increasing porosity which changes the dynamic of the wing and weakens the structure. So what to do when buying a used wing??? But thats off topic. Thanks for the input.

Thanks Phree. I always enjoy your posts. I hadn't considered that point concerning the audible alert. I imagined it as an intermittent high pitched short beep every few seconds. In order for you not to hear a fellow jumper they would have to be perfectly in phase. This could be avoided with a simple random timing circuit. Mounted perhaps on the bottom of your container facing backwards it wouldn't be very loud to you but people approaching you from behind should get a heads up. Such a device could be made small and rather cheaply. Keep those comments coming.

My proposal is for daylight use only. Daytime running lights are proven to work by increasing contrast between an object and its background. Interestingly enough I suggested carrying emergency air while paraglding over water to my instructor. The idea was to create the time needed to safely extract yourself from the harness without panic. Obviously these types of ideas come from the same mindset. I look at the facts surrounding known fatalities that have resulted from the sport and try to think what would make a difference. Car airbags are a result of this kind of thinking. Airbags kill people as well as save them but they save more than they kill. Perhaps my proposal is impractical and may even have negative consequences but the question remains. Do the potential benefits appear to outweigh the potential risks enough to perhaps warrant a closer look? Your comments are appreciated.

Research in the paragliding industry has shown that degradation of wing fabrics is affected by their color as follows from most resistant to least: 1 Purple, Dark Green, Red, Dark Blue, White #2 Yellow, Violet (Light Purple), Turquoise #3 Orange, Fluorescent Green, Fluorescent Pink, Fluorescent Yellow This is something to keep in mind when purchasing used canopys. Fabrics with Fluorescent colors will not last as long before becoming unusable. I am assuming that the color resistance to UV would be the same on skydiving canopies as on paragliders. Does anyone have any data to confirm this? Paragliders usually have a UV exposure life of something like 100 hours before porosity and strength degradation make it wise to retire the wing. Some of the newer fabrics such as Gelvenor which are impregnated with silicone can last up to 300 hours. I am also interested in the different fabrics and coatings used in the skydiving industry to extend UV life if any industry insiders would care to comment.

This is some neat looking schiznet. http://www.flyozone.com/video/videoplay.asp?vidname=renegades ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

According to the figures posted on this site 15% of the fatalities so far this year have been from collisions. 1 under free fall and 5 under canopy. These would seem to be avoidable by a greater range of awareness. I being new to the sport have noticed that in the intensity of the experience I tend to focus on the steps I have to take in order to complete the dive to the exclusion of all else. A brightly flashing light or a high pitched beeping might attract my attention toward a possible collision in time to take evasive action. You are correct in saying that people should be aware and look around but sometimes they just don't. Would an audio or visual attention getter have made a difference in any of these collisions? I can't help but wonder. I respect all or your opinions and have read many posts by each of you. I appreciate your feedback. Does anyone see potential here? Has anyone had a close call where something of this nature might have helped? I'll stop beating this horse now and just watch and see if it dies...

Assume still air. Assume two wings with the same glide slope one a small performance wing and one a larger wing. They both descend along the same glide path only the smaller wing descends much more quickly. A gliding wing works in gravity by converting Drag into Lift. The forces acting on the wing are balanced at a certain point described as the Lift to Drag ratio or L/D. In still air with no user input this is the same as the wings glide ratio. The angle of attack of the wing increases with brake input which exchanges forward speed into lift. This will increase your glide ratio and slow you down up until the stall point of the wing.(The wing is more susceptible to turbulence and collapsing the closer you get to the stall point) This is true on the small wing as well as the large. Where things get tricky however when is when you factor in the wind. The smaller wing which travels much faster down the glide slope has less time to be affected by the wind (movement of the air body) than the larger wing and will show less deviation in glide relative to ground than the larger wing. So while landing in a particular place on the ground will be dependent on your wings size and performance evenly applying any brakes up to a point short of stall will will keep you in the air longer on any wing. I believe this to be correct but I am not an aerodynamics professional. On a paraglider when we have too much lift and wish to descend faster we decrease the wing size by pulling on the outside lines or deform the wing by pulling on the b risers to induce a "B"line stall. I do not know if these techniques can safely be used on a skydiving canopy. Does anyone know? ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

Thank you for the feedback. It is helping me to clarify my thinking. What prompted my interest is that this month two different fatalities have occurred due to collision in the air. One of these was from one jumper falling into another as he was deploying. In my experience a strobe will get your attention even if you focus is elsewhere. My thinking is that these types of fatalities could possibly be avoidable with earlier positional awareness. In addition to the strobe an audible alert might also be considered once under canopy. Some thing similar to trucks backup whistle perhaps. What I am trying to determine here is if there are practical reasons for NOT utilizing such active safety devices.

I was thinking Freefall visibility as well. It could keep you from a collision before opening. Any thoughts on that? I am also interested in knowing any possible negatives. Lets assume that the method of attachment of the strobe was snagproof and lets go from there.

Has anyone considered the usefulness of strapping a battery powered xenon strobe on during a jump? They are visible in daylight up to 800 meters according to some sites. Seems to me that they would be an inexpensive and effective safety device for avoiding other jumpers and visibility to aircraft. Comments Please.

My thinking has been that a car airbag device straped to the skydiver wearing a wingsuit only might be survivable. The forces involved should be equivalent to a 30+ mph car crash into a solid wall. Fired off by a military proximity fuse perhaps? Someone with more balls than sense will try it one day I am sure. It is fun to speculate. ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

Mine says 8 days till I punk out 5 new ho's for my stable and collect two cartons of smokes and a can of roast beef a week for each of em', for services rendered to the cell block, till they are finally released back into society, changed men. ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

I have located some in South Africa. PM me if you need to know a source. ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

Thank you for your reply! I have sent them an email requesting information. I have asked them about the size of replacement batteries as well. If any of you DZ.comers would like to add anything here I appreciate it in advance. ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

I did a couple of tandems there last week and I have to say that the people at Eugene Skydivers are some of the nicest people I have met anywhere. I'll try to make it down from Portland for the Boogie. Blue Skys, Chris ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

I don't want to get off topic, but, can you describe to me in what way(s) it is a huge improvement? I am just starting out with an eye on freeflying and all opinions are valued. Thanks! ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

I just purchased an old style Dytter off of Ebay and noticed it has what appears to be a brass plug on the side. Does anyone know what this is for? I am thinking it is for an LED to turn it into a visual alti. If it is a plug for an LED, does anyone know where can I get one? Cheers, Chris ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

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Thanks! I am SO Stoked! ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

ME! ME! ME! ME! Did I mention ME? Two tandems one from 10,000ft and one from 12,000ft I start my AFF level 4 jumps next Thursday!!!! WHOO_YA! ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

Does this mean that I can change the lens myself as oposed to sending it to the factory? ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

Bill, I have sent three different emails to RWS over the last month requesting information on this. I have received no replys whatsoever to my emails. What gives? Has anyone here had this upgrade done? ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

There aren't very many in Mexico City either. But you can order Tres El Gato Tamales for 50 pesos! Mmmm Mmm Tasty ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

Cmon! This can't be it ?!?! I was looking for a 100 reply post. (SIGH) Xsyn ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.

You KNOW thats Right!!! ------------------------------------------------ Why get married? Just find a woman you hate and buy her a house.