gowlerk

As far as I'm concern you are basically correct. Skydiving is a risk sport that often attracts some people who are willing to accept more risk than others. It`s an adult sport, and as such participants should largely be allowed to choose their own level of risk. Up to a point, and assuming that they show a reasonable understanding of the risk. This brings up experience levels. Not just your personal experience and performance in the sport, but the experience and wisdom that comes from years of watching others. The more years you have, the more you will realize that "natural abilities" will not save anyone who pushes the envelope too far on any given jump. That is any ONE jump. The planet is so very unforgiving. Even people who are doing well learning, as well as those who most of us would consider to be advanced canopy pilots are subject to this unyielding rule. So yes, choose a higher risk if you like. But be prepared to hear from others that they don't like your choice. And if you step too far out of what is considered reasonable, be prepared to be told that your business is no longer welcome at the DZ. That's because they have seen or knew people who thought they had it all under control, and even people who had years of training under their belt make mistakes that caused them to die, right in front of their eyes. Everyone is different and your ability to learn quicker than others is noticed, whether you feel it is or not. Get out there, do the jumps, show your stuff, and the path you choose will be accepted. But the DZ community looks after it's own as much as possible. When the people that you look up to tell you that it's not yet time, your best bet is to listen. They will only allow you to color outside the lines so far, because they ate tired of the predictable results of hubris. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

No clue. But the ad has the seller's phone # (an ebay no-no) and he has good feedback. I'd call him and ask if I were you. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Line overs are still almost unheard of. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Yes it does. I usually give a choice when I brief them. They can have the old guy, the older guy, or the oldest guy. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

The main TI's at our small dz are 55, 57, and 62. The 62 yo guy is the most active. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Rotary hooks allow for faster machines. If you don't need 2000 spm it won't matter to you. There are people who believe that oscillating hooks make a better stitch, but I don't see it. 31-15s are oscillating hook, almost all other industrial machines are rotary, some horizontal, and some vertical. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Thank you for that. Exactly the way I feel, but so hard to make people understand. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Lens suggestions are tough to make because you don't say what brand your camera is. The 16-55 you speak of is probably an 18-55, because most of them are, although Sony may have one. Almost all makers have a cheap fast normal in their line up, and that's your next lens to buy. Probably a 35mm f1.8. It will be fast enough, but you'll need to figure out what speed to use it at for the DOF you need. You don't need a tripod, unless you are shooting film. With a fast lens, and the crazy high ISOs available on modern cameras about the only time anyone needs a tripod is with big heavy super telephotos. Or in your case possibly if you want a very long exposure to catch fireworks in the background. Your biggest problem will be getting good focus. With the low light levels, autofocus won't work with any but the newest, and highest end Nikons and Canons. You will need to experiment by focusing on something the same distance away that is lit up, and then switching to manual focus or locking the focus for your shot. The biggest thing is to go out and practice in similar conditions until you are confident you can get the shots you want. Learning at the event you want pics of is a recipe for disappointment. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

They are good canopies. But what happens now is someone is putting together a rig, with say a 150 Stiletto, or Sabre ect. They have a container for it, but not a reserve. The container is sized for 150s, dude weights 180, 200 with gear. He doesn't want to lay out the cash for a modern 143-160 ish reserve, the Raven one 180 won't fit in his container, but he finds a Micro Raven 150 for only $250- 300.......Next thing he knows, he's laying flat on his back, or sitting down with a broken ankle because the Micro Raven is not designed for this weight. It still happens a lot more often than it should. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

You need to be careful about who you say this to. Someone could get hurt because they took your advice and saved a couple hundred bucks using a Micro Raven. He doesn't say how heavily he loaded that Micro Raven. They will land fine when not overloaded. If you overload it and have a bad landing you have likely made a mistake. But not a canopy flying error, it's a canopy selection error. An overloaded Raven will stall if flared fully for landing, and if not flared enough it will land like a rock. If only a little overloaded there is a small window for a decent landing, that sounds like what he achieved on his two good landings. Above about 1:1.3 there is little probability of a good landing, although you may still walk away if you are lucky. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Brett, you bring so much to us. Thanks. Must say I do agree about bringing down the price of Ravens. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

The Sun is hard on those things. But it's expensive to replace them when they get old, and the backup will probably save their asses. Business as usual. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Do her a favour and point out to her that she is loading it beyond the placarded weight limit. Now that she has tried it, maybe she'll start to believe it's there for a good reason. Ravens are fine parachutes, but they should not be overloaded, and 1:1.2 is at least somewhat overloaded for them. Although lots of people are doing it anyway. As far as your technique goes, you need to use one that promotes fast on heading openings. Most reserve deployments are sub terminal, if you attempt to slow the opening someone with a low cutaway may use their last words to swear at you. These are all just my opinions. I am curious about one thing. You say: The only Raven manual I've ever seen says Ravens used as reserves are to be side packed, and that pro packing is not approved for Ravens as reserves, only as mains. I've only been doing rigging for 4 years, but I have never seen any reserve side packed into a molar bag, including many Ravens. I always pro pack them, so I'm asking here does anybody follow the instructions and side pack them? Is there a newer manual I haven't found yet that allows for pro packing? And yes Ravens do have a reputation for opening hard. (except the very first model) Micro Ravens are just smaller Super Ravens and they never became too popular as mains for just that reason. As reserves we think of that as a good thing. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Just working next to the computer packing a reserve for a friend while my mother in law is cooking a turkey upstairs. Almost a normal day. BTW, this thread is about a low time jumper wondering how to slow his Hornet openings down. Everyone I know who has had this problem either got a larger slider, a pocket sewn on to their existing slider, or learned to live with the problem. I don't know of anyone who consulted Aerodyne about it though. They only offer a limited amount of support for these long discontinued PISA canopies anyway. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Awesome, a Christmas day rehash of this age old argument about who can do what to a main canopy. After that maybe we can rehash the theological discussion of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. The reality is the it matters not one tiny bit what the regulations say if there is no enforcement of them. Please, anyone, cite one small example of any legal repercussions to anyone making any modifications to any main parachute at anytime, anywhere. No theoretical examples of what COULD happen, but real world examples of what DID happen. We live in the real world, not in an FAA circular. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Firstly, are you sure it was a line over? Often tension knots cause mals that look like line overs because of the shape of the canopy before the cutaway. If it truly was a line over you will almost always find line burns on the topskin afterward. As far as preventing line overs, it's simple. keep the lines in the center of the pack job. This is one of the three basic rules of packing, along with slider placement and proper line stows. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

How is there even a question here? You are in a country with laws, or rules that require a 120 day repack cycle. If you have any question at all, don't ask here, ask the authority in the country you are working in. You use the word "observe", do you really mean "require"? I don't blame you for not wanting to do 120 day repacks. But you can't get clarification, or ease your conscience by any answer you will get in this forum. The unnamed country you are in may or may not make provisions for this, you will have to consult locally to get any valid answer. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Yes, a larger, or modified slider is the standard answer to this fairly common problem with Hornets. See your local rigger for suggestions. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

The only certificated reserve for the Sigma is the VR360. However the military generally uses larger non-certificated reserves. They make their own rules. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Design change, or new person on the production line making an error that's too subtle to be noticed on inspection? Please do let us know. If it is a new design I don't want it. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

My feeling is that AADs should only be used in student mode for first, or very early jumps. The main reason for them at all is in case a student does not recognize, or fails to respond to a spinning or otherwise rapidly descending malfunction. The two out possibility is very real with student AADs. Of course that is my personal opinion only. YMMV Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

Well then. You're all set. Welcome to the eighties! Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

That is simply an older design. Uses Velcro and no tip keeper. Mostly will work fine. Of more concern is the steel links with no slider bumpers. This will likely result in damage to the slider grommets causing rough edges that will in turn damage your lines. I would probably sew tip keepers on if it were mine, and definitely I would install bumpers, or soft links before the next jump. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

That general rule is out there, but it's only useful to a point. Like someone else has said, it doesn't work when applied to older gear. There is also a common, and untrue "rule" that there is some magic meaning to a canopy being 20 years old. ALL reserve canopies need to be inspected and re-certified if they are being used, as well as all containers, no matter their age. To the OP, there is a good market for all pd reserves, price does vary with age and number of packs. Yours is probably worth between 500 and 600. Your Vector 2 is not in high demand at all. The price would depend on condition, but containers made back then lack AAD pockets and need considerable updates just for most people to use them. You probably won't get more than 200 to a max 300 for it. Most of the value is in the parts. I have no idea what the Lightning might be worth. You could ask in the CRW forum. Good luck Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

I think you'll need to send it to DeLand to get the info. Then you'll likely have to decide who to believe. Is there any chance it was set to tandem mode instead of student mode? If there is any chance at all that it did fire on a 2000' ft cutaway it needs to go back in any case. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.