freeflydrew

I bet "GroundZero", aka Chris, can tell you all about it... He works for Precision

Longer than 1000 feet? Definitely be careful about going a little low if you're jumping with a cypress! -drew

I think that if there is a group that incorporates belly flying into their skydive, they must be considered a belly group and should be towards the front of the exit order. Whether they go first second third, etc. should still depend on the group size relative to the other groups within the same discipline. Another factor to take ito consideration is whether or not there will be staggered opening altitudes, and making sure that everyone in your group and the groups surrounding your's are aware of these levels. Heads up and good group seperation and it should all be good. -drew

I would try to leave at a time that ensures you won't hit any rush hour traffic in any major city...

It's not just packing it a certain way, it's also what happens to it from the time it's packed to the time it's deployed... especially on the plane. Sometimes it so hard to pull it in freefall, but after you land, it comes out no problem! Some people want a hard pull... they know they'll be able to pull it out, and want to make sure that it's extremely unlikely that it comes out prematurely. As for avoiding a hard pull, find a pack job that works, don't change it, and be very consciounscios about your gear from the time you put it on your back until the time you exit the aircraft. -drew

Ayre

If a canopy actually opened for 1000 feet, it would take probably 15 or 20 seconds to open as you decellerate from terminal to canopy speed. 1000 feet is over 3 football fields in length... Imagine being under canopy, looking across the sky, watching someone deploy, and see them scream by you and continue for 1000 feet? Or pulling a little lower, like 2200 feet, and thinking to yourself, whoa, I may pass through 1000 feet and activate my cypress if this one snivels a bit longer than normal? I know we throw around the term 1000 foot openings loosely, but in a practical sense, I think it's a little bit unreasonable. I'd imagine that 500 foot openings are maybe even stretching it a little too? I'll guess that the Stiletto and the Safire open with the same average length everytime, and are very comparable in that respect... I totally agree with you about the rest, It's when you look at dive, turn, flair, that the differences come to light. I've just been talking with friends at the dz about the term 1000 foot openings... -Drew

The new IBM T40 is really nice... no matter which laptop you choose, definitely consider the extended warranty and insurance... And while you're at it, screw the noggen back on tight and get an Apple Powerbook. the machine, processor, look, feel, style, OPERATING SYSTEM, company, and very important, customer support are absolutely superior. I'm a computer technician in a windows/apple wired and wireless environment. We have over 900 computers, we have dv editing labs. the windows are a total pain in the ass, the macs ARE superior. If you want to go waste the money on a windows machine, then do it, but while you're paying extra for the ethernet port, the firewire port, and the modem port, remember that if you'd have bought a mac, it would have all been included and you could have spent the extra money on an external firewire drive (which you'll need anyway), and on a few jumps. Just my two cents... You'll probably be happy with whichever company's laptop you choose to purchase. -drew

Doubling stows carries a bag lock risk if the stow is too tight. Stow tension and materials are a compromise between these two undesirable extremes afaik. Scott Miller from PD was out at the Ranch, and he says, that you should use small rubber bands, and if you do use big rubber bands, you must double stow them. (Maybe I was missing something like line size or something, but it seems to make sense to me)... If you choose not to double stow them, your lines are not going to be held secure enough, they may shift during the closing of the container, they may pull away from the rubber bands during the deployment, and your proper deployment sequence may be interrupted. BAg Lock becomes a whole other discussion... "Doubling stows carries a bag lock risk if the stow is too tight. Stow tension and materials are a compromise between these two undesirable extremes afaik" and I don't think that that statement can really be backed up within the context of this discussion. Wouldn't it have to also do with the stows being far too big along with some other factors? -drew

You may want to get a different packer, or pack it different, or try again, because I know one thing about the stiletto, and that is that the openings don't suck. I'm not going to sit here and bash icarus or PD or Atair or Precision, or who ever, each company makes great products. I know from my own personal experience, and from the experience of many other skydivers in the sport, that the Stiletto's openings are extremely consistent, soft, and comfortable. It has stood the test of time as a great canopy. I don't really see the comparision with the safire... Hopefully you'll have the opportunity to try another one, and you'll have that nice experience that so many other skydivers have had. -drew

Again, not directed at you, but more so to the forum... There is one thing that you can do about it, and that is have stricter personal restrictions regarding jumping in winds, or conditions favoring things like dust devils. Yesterday we were at the ranch, which if you've never been there, is surrounded by trees, very small, and notorious for funky winds during days with strongish winds. There were 8 or 9 of us, all with varying jump numbers from 1200 to 100. When the winds were questionable, and one person backed out, the entire load backed out. We all sat together and assessed the winds. We were patient, and when the time came, we enjoyed many great jumps, with super canopy rides and landings. This unfortunately isn't always the case. There have been plently of times when I've seen people get hit with some funky winds at around 10 to 30 feet and things that they didn't expect to happen, start to happen. I've seen people flair high and drop out of the sky, leaving the dz in an ambulance. I've watched people flair late and slam down into mud and walk away just fine. I've seen people get thrown down to the ground and break their back, and I've seen people die. This all started because they made the decision to make a jump in not entirely favorable wind conditions, and right when they least expect it (the very end of their canopy ride) their canopy did something that warranted a drastic response. Please make the conscious decisions regarding jumping in various wind conditions. -drew

I've seen the cutaway handle come out, the jumper go to their belly, toss the pilot chute, as soon as the d bag came out of the container and the risers were pulled up, it all flew off of his back. This was with a javelin from 2, maybe 3 years ago with the riser covers that are about 2/3rds the size of the current ones. His reserve opened him wicked hard! Just to conclude... when we went looking for his stuff, we found the cutaway handle, main parachute, and I think the free bag all within 50 yards of onoe another.

I think that that's backwards... smaller wings penetrate more and "cut" through the turbulence. How you fly your canopy has a lot to do with how change in wind will effect it.

I'm not down with having a cable connecting from my helmet to a camera somewhere on me... I like flying my pc-5 on my helmet. But, I haven't actually used one. -drew

Each time I've purchased a used canopy, I've immediately replaced the line set. I feel much more confident about knowing that there is no wear on the lines, and I really like how it almost feels brand new with the fresh lines, even though it's used. It sounds like a new line set will solve all the strangeness of this canopy's flight. Have fun -drew

Is this canopy brand new?

backwards... Hookitt is right...

I've flown a bunch of times international and domestic without a problem... Let the ticket agent know that you're carrying skydiving equipment, let security know that you have skydiving equipment, and get your gear in an overhead compartment before they fill up... The security are always more interested in my camera helmet. Be nice if they do ask you anything.

To start, I'm pro PD all the way, and this isn't directed at Gary, simply at the discussion. As for the line discussion, this is a repeated post... Right from the Icarus website... Vectran: Vectran has become a popular choice due to its superior dimensional integrity. In other words, they won't shrink or distort nearly as much as will Spectra. As a result your canopy will retain better openings and flight characteristics for the duration of the line sets life. NOTE: Vectran does not have as much abrasion resistance as Spectra, and the lines will "fuzz out" sooner than Spectra It is recommended that you check line wear regularly. In particular, check out the lower control lines; they wear out fastest. Once again we recommend a line set replacement anywhere between 300 and 600 jumps but due to the variables involved, we recommend that you pay close attention to line wear and if in doubt at least replace your lower control lines regularly. The life of your lines will depend on several factors like your weight, the cleanliness of your packing environment, the number of lines (7-Cell or 9-Cell), how well you look after them and the condition of your slider grommets. Linesets should be monitored for wear and trim and retrimmed or replaced as you would a set of tires on a car. The things to look out for are trims, wear spots, snags and worn stitching. Often wear spots can appear quite bad but still retain much of their strength (such as wear by Velcro) and sometimes a line can appear in quite good condition and be weakened considerably (often underneath a fingertrap). A simple test is to squeeze the line between your thumb and finger and slide it along, if the line or wear spot gets thinner it is more than likely weakened. Everyone please be safe...

If you hire a professional skydiver to train you, it'll usually cost you at least 60 bucks. It doesn't really matter if it's freeflying, crw, rw, freestyle, skysurf, or riding the plane down, the point is that you're hiring a professional. This is an industry standard. And, I don't really see the added risk factor of taking a newbie up... People with hundreds of jumps hire professional coaches. Even teams hire coaches... Coaches can really help you quickly improve your flying... they seem to locate small details in your flying that when corrected, really make you a better flyer.

huh... huh? I like the stilettto... for what it's worth!

check the little window on the bridle to be sure that the pilot chute is cocked... The kill line is supposed to have a colored area that is visible when the pilot chute is properly cocked...

An interesting angle with which I agree... Hopefully people will wait until they are experienced before they challenge themselves with higher performance landings, using either cross or non cross braced canopies. -Drew

Here's my take on why I believe that it's more dangerous to use rear risers on a non cross braced canopy... It's my understanding that cross braced canopies are designed with a much steeper glide angle, or angle of attack, than a non cross braced canopy. So, when you pull down on the rear risers of a cross braced canopy, you have a lot of play with them in terms of leveling out the canopy and flying them through the swoop. The non cross braced canopy, as I understand it, is designed with an angle of attack, or glide angle, much less steep... When you pull down on the rear risers with the noncross braced canopy, it takes very little input to reach the same flat glide as the cross braced canopy. Using the rear risers with either canopy too much can very easily result in a canopies collapsing, and since the amount of play you have with a noncross braced canopy is much less than a cross braced canopy, there is much less room for play, and for error. I believe that that translates to it being more risky to use the rear risers with the non cross braced canopy, than to use them with the cross braced canopy. How's that for an explanation?

I have too... but not a single one of the many, many pilots have had 383 jumps... right? I would bet that the percentage of people who fly non cross braced canopies and use their rear risers is much much lower than the percentage of people who fly cross braced canopies and use their rear risers... Either way, you do need to be careful using the rear risers on a non cross braced canopy. I really don't believe that there's an arguement there...