BlindBrick

It will, in fact, work with open loop carpet, as long as you are willing to live with a stake in the center of your carpet. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I'm am getting ready to purchase a full BASE setup, but figure I do not have time to get it before BD. Does anyone know of a manufacteur who will lend you a rig for BD if you have a full setup ordered through them? -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

This evening, we recieved word that aerobatic pilots Bobby Younkin and Jimmy Franklin of the Masters of Disaster aerial demonstration team were killed in a mid-air collision while performing in Canada. Bobby's air fleet is based out of KSLG, our dz's home. In the past few months we've gotten squeezed a bit by forces who want to make our airport more "corporate". Bobby bucked this trend and would occassionaly drop by the dz to chat. While I can't say for sure, I always got the idea that he felt we were all kindred spirits. I didn't know Bobby real well, but after chatting and seeing seeing him put a Lear 23 through paces I'm sure the designers never even dreamed of, I could tell that he was a pilot of a caliber not often seen. I'm not sure what the pilot's equivalent of "Blue Skies Forever" is, but I wish it to Bobby. The General Aviation community is a less with him gone. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Which is why I am looking for a reserve. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Backup canopy in case I can't find a BASE company who can make me something big in time for bridge day. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I'm looking for a ~400 sf tandem reserve for use in a non-tndem application. Where's a good place to look? -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Not a mistake. Top Gun was one of the first generation of the "product placement" movies. That was totally intentional. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

What really sucks is losing your goggles and glasses shorty after having a corneal transplant, while you still have stitches in both eyes. Luckily for me, it was as I was coming off the hill out of a 182. I kept my eyes open just long enough to be sure I was pointed away from everyone else then tracked for about ten seconds, then waved off for a good five before opening. Luckily my buds realized what had happened and ran out to where I landed so they could tell me when to flare. BTW Nate, I lost my Mirage Free(yeah, right)bag this past weekend too. I feel your pain. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Not horribly bad. But the "again?"'s and "Dude, you've payed for your ticket just repacking your own stuff.", comments are getting somewhat beyond old. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Vecroless toggles with with the top still through the cat's eye and under the keeper. Still set snug against the guide ring and the brake line still running from the ring up to the canopy. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Sabre 2 260 loaded at ~1.25 -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

No problem. You were basically just voicing a concern I had with myself. I just get so fustrated because it seems even with all the extra effort to do things right, I am still having way more problems than average. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

The last two were mine. And I don't advertise them(or any of my saves) as a way to build my rep as a rigger. I don't rig to be a hero, I do it to give something back to the sport which has given me so much. If someone asks me about saves, I instead point out the other people who've used reserves I've packed. But saves are defintiely not something I advertise. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

#1: As a student four years ago, what the rigger told me appeared to be a tension knot. About two seconds into the flare, the canopy would make a radical dive to the left. After having been chastised a few weeks before for flying home something that should have been chopped, I was't going to get in trouble again. #2&3#(Three years ago): Definitely my bad. When I got into this sport I had really bad eyes. I could read an analog alti with about a 1,000 ft margin of error. I was jumping a rig with an FXC 12000. Both of these were two out situations where I deployed within the "commit" window of the FXC. So when I flew my canopy down to the activation altitude, they dutifuly fired. #4(January 05), 8th jump on my first high performance canopy. Broken brake line on opening. I did not feel comfortable enough under that canopy, under that WL, to attempt a rear riser landing. 35: The spinner this weekend. Someone asked about using risers to cancel the spin. I tried that and it didn't work. Someone else asked why I didn't use toggles to inflate the end cells. At my DZ, we are taught to pump the risers to do this. Once I could see that risers and weight shift was not working, I considered toggles. However, at this point the spin had really built up and I was losing altitude fast. I'm looking up at the canopy and I realize that I am seeing the ground "above" it, and it looks way bigger than normal. At that point, I felt I could try the toggles, but if they didn't work then I would be dangerously low. So, I executed my EP's. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

It was a freefall, but it wasn't my first jump on the canopy. i'd already done some hop and pops to familarize myself with it. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I was demoing a canopy today and the freefall for the most part went very well. Upon opening the canopy opened into a turn, with the outboard cells on the left side not inflating. It then preceeded to began to spin. I visually verified that I didn't have a brake fire. I tried to counter the turn with a weight shift, no dice. I began pumping the risers trying to get the cells to inflate, no dice. Finally I try to counter the turn with riser input, but again no affect. At this point the spin has begun to get violent and I can tell I've lost a fair bit of altitude, so I excute my EP's. That made my fifth cutaway in 162 jumps. Now I am in the very weird position where I felt like I did things right, yet am a f'up. Don't get me wrong, I don't do this for attention. I also don't do it for the thrill. I do my own rigging, and in all honesty, I hate my rig more than any a customer's ever brought me. The gear is fine, but it's a large reserve that's rated as a very tight fit for my container. Repacking it is always educational, but never enjoyable, so it's definitely not worth any thrill. I just want to scream. I don't want to be some famous skydiver, reknowed for their mad rw or swooping skills. I just want it to be when my name is mentioned peopel say "Yeah, he's a good, safe jumper." Since I've got eye surgery and gear that is tailored to my needs, I feel that I've made tremendous progress. But then, crap like this happens and it feels like I am just beating my head against the wall. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I'm trying out a demo canopy for the enxt tow weeks and it came shuipped on modern RWS minirisers. While I know that the modern version is much stronger, I'm a big guy and since I don't have a Collins Lanyard, I'm debating on whether or not to hook up my RSL. I'd appreciate anyinput from manufacteurs or people who've had some experince wiht both. thanks, -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

If you do have ADHD then I have one recomendation for you if you ever plan to use an audible; start wearing ear plugs. I have ADHD and it was total sensory overload at first when I got into FF, somewhere along the way I began to tune out my sense of hearing in freefall as I was only getting wind noise. It made it next to impossible for me to use an audible. For the last 60 or so jumps, I've been working hard on getting my sense of hearing back, but only now (am beginning to see9hear?) results. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

And you have no idea how grateful the world is for that. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

What you've described, and what CNT's are, is a form of diamond. The main factor retarding development of the elevator, and other CNT proejcts, is the sheer cost of the CNT's. Until manufacteuring methods are developed that will dramaticaly lower costs, CNT tech is going to be pricey tot he point of only being used in a handful of apps. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

The thing to remember about any aerial demonstration team is that they are as much illisionist as accomplished pilots. Every move is carefully choreographed to provide the maxium suggestion of danger while minimizing the risk as much as possible. if you ever get a chance, find out when the Birds or Angels will be in town and then watch the show from somewhere other than the airshow. Viewing the show from a "wrong" angle will give you a much better idea of their seperation. They're still close, but not near as close as you'd think. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

:3:2 First jump with my new slow suit. Thanks to it I was able to slow down to 128 mph! Also, first time in the last four years my parents have been out to watch. The last time they came, I was a student and cratered hard. Everything just went right this jump and finished with a nice standup landing in front of them. I also got some good photos back from a freind. This is one of them. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Well, without a suit, I was deploying at an average speed of 165 mph(and that was flying dearched to the very, very edge of going unstable). That put enough stress on my gear that my canopy is getting a new lineset. I bought it brand new and had it out of trim by jump 20. So, something had to be done. I got two jumps in this weekend on the suit. The first, I was potatoe chipping, except it was a side to side roll vs a front/back thing. Other than that, the jump felt good. I was careful to reach back and touch my rig before grabbing the hackey, to make sure I didn't grab the wing. My Vigil says max speed was 128, so I was very happy. Second jump, I seemed to have the rocking taken care of, and I played around with varying my fall rate by usign the wings. I just dived off the step of a 182, and extended the wings as I launched. it felt rock solid, not a bit of instability. The closest thing I can think to compare it to is riding a sled downhill, on my belly. Once I hit terminal, I had a bit of trouble with the wings coming away from the velcro on the legs(will be modding that before the next jump), but once I figured out what was going on, I was able to cancel out the unwanted motion. unfortuantely, with the wings not functioning correctly, I picked up a bit of speed and hit 140. I am looking forward to this coming weekend. I think that with a bit of practice, and the wings fixed, I will be able to probably slow down to 110 or so while being able to hit 155 or so in a hard arch wiht the wings collapsed. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I am the personification of the term Anvil Air. Because my belly fly speed was exceeding freefly speeds, my DZO required me to get a jumpsuit to slow down. After much discussion with several manufactuers, what I ended up with was a hybrid suit that's a freefly suit with a large triple layer camera wing. I just picked it up today and was wondering if anybody had any tips for flying it. I've read several threads on flying camera suits, but was wondering if there'd be anything different since this is a hybrid? In case you need the info, the suit is a very genrous cut freefly suit with a very large wing with swoop cords. I'd like to call it a D wing, but the bottom edge attaches just below the knee so it's more like a P wing. The wings are a very heavy nylon(think hot air balloon skin) outer shell with a zp inner lining. The suit itself is made of a heavy cotton fabric that's just one step below canvas, and is lined with another layer of identical fabric. Between the generous cut, heavy fabric, liner and wings, the suit is very heavy. I'm not sure of the exact weight, but it is heavier than my main which has a stated weight of 12 lbs. I'm 6'0 and with this suit, I expect my exit weight will be ~340 lbs. I'd appreciate any info anyone could give. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I am not at all familiar with the Safire2 but opening at speeds above 150/160 mph is going to be brutal. How much do you weigh out the door? Sparky Not exactly sure, but 325-330 is probably close enough for government work. I know the key here is to slow down. I am going out of state tomorrow to pick up a custom suit. It's a very generously cut freefly suit made of two layers of heavy fabric, and sporting large zp wings and gills to further slow down fall rate. I'm hoping that will work because if that doesn't, then I am looking at having to break early and deploying some type of drouge. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."