mark
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Everything posted by mark
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I'll bet that with a little searching you could find an old d-bag and pilot chute someone would be willing to donate for the cause of science. The pilot chute needs to be attached to the d-bag, but the d-bag doesn't need to be attached to the canopy. You just have to be okay with losing if not exactly a freebag, at least no more than a cheapbag. Mark
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If you tried hard, you might be able to convince me it would be harder to pull a wet toggle tongue from a wet brake-set loop or eye. I don't see how slightly fatter lines -- could they be any fatter than the lines going through a tandem rear grommet? -- would be an issue, nor do I see how water would activate some adhesive that wouldn't have been activated with just high humidity. I'd like to hear from someone who knows what change in elasticity and elongation one might expect when nylon gets wet, but given how the lines are stowed, I'd be surprised if the effect was greater than one might get from an unstable deployment. Mark
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From Poynter's: "Wet nylon has less strength, but is fully regained once the nylon dries. The percent of strength reduction is as follows: " Canopy fabric: about 22%. " Webbing: about 15" " Line: about 21% ... "The water will also reduce the permeability of the fabric and cause a harder opening. This coupled with a reduction in the strength of the nylon could lead to canopy damage." Mark
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From the PD Reserve Owner's Manual: "Fabric permeability must be tested if any of the following events occur: "The canopy is completely submerged in water." The manual continues with the 40 packs/25 jumps requirement that most folks are familiar with, plus some other conditions. The reserve doesn't have to be returned to PD, though they recommend it. Another facility with a permeability tester could do the test if they were able to check for average permeability of 8.0 cfm or less. Mark
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Unfortunately, no. He was one of the six in the 21 March 1998 skydiving airplane crash in Grain Valley, Missouri. I made a few jumps with him when I was living in Kansas a number of years ago. Mark
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Yes. The Telesis SOS handle is located on the left side of the harness, above the chest strap. It is very easy to see to pull it in an emergency, but the trade-off is every now and then a user grabs his harness on opening -- a very natural reaction, I think -- and every now and then grabbing the harness dislodges the handle. It was a fun jump: good freefall performance followed by excellent judgment for the canopy check, flight, and landing. The second jump was even more fun, and I'm looking forward to the next! Mark
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Well, yes and no. Dislodged SOS handle on main deployment; departing main started RSL deployment of the reserve. Mark
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This would be like Tandem Vector/Sigma bags. I agree, very clean. Works only if you don't need a kill line going to the canopy attachment, though. Mark
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Not so much. Just cut the bridle as close to the stitching as possible. (For Reflex, you may need a larger grommet installed, too.) The rapide link in loop method allows the bag to rotate around the bridle, causing some wear where it does so. Also, if the link is not tacked, it tends to rotate through the loops, eventually side loading the loops and causing premature wear. (Some folks use circular key rings instead of links, which avoids the second problem.) Some loops are over-long. That makes it easier to install the link, but it also means the link bangs against the grommet on opening. Eventually the grommet forms a cone, exposing the sharp spurs on the washer portion; the canopy can be damaged by contact with the spurs or just by being caught under the edge of the grommet. Mark
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Okay, so it won't be easy. How about, "Hi, I'm trying to figure out what's going on with my openings. Can I pack for you (while you watch)?" Mark
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The other half of Step One is for you to pack for someone who is known to have nice openings. The problem might also be something you are doing at pull time. -- Try jumping someone else's gear & pack job; -- Get someone else to jump your gear & pack job. The problem might be the canopy, although since you report hard openings with several different canopies, I'd think this would be unlikely. The general approach should be to test and eliminate broad categories of possible problems before trying "solutions" that may or may not be appropriate. (If the "Twenty Questions" category is "Animal," how good is a strategy that starts by guessing "aardvark?") Mark
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Choosing a wind tunnel - what about Flyaway, LV?
mark replied to georgerussia's topic in Wind Tunnels
Flyaway: no. The airspeed is too slow. Skyventure: yes. The airflow in the Flyaway tunnel is fastest in the center, slower to the outside. I found it hard to fly in consistently without falling off the air column onto the necessary cushions around the bottom perimeter, even though I had a few hours of freefall time. The Skyventure tunnels do a much, much better job of simulating skydiving freefall. Mark -
I win whenever you play the lottery. Thanks! Mark
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There are some structural differences to the load-bearing parts of the airframe between the standard 150 and the Aerobat. An Aerobat is not just a 150 with doors that can be jettisoned. Mark
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What web site is it that isn't working? I just checked http://altico.com and it's working fine. Unfortunately, no downloadable manual available. Mark
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The +150 feet can be inferred from section 4, "Flight Restriction for the Pilot." if there is an extended time (100 seconds) within that window, Vigil assumes a change in surface pressure, not altitude. 100 seconds should be plenty of time for all but the slowest jump planes to climb at least 150 feet. Mark
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Huh? I think what he means is that unless there is a crosswind, the turn is a left 270 then a right 90 (or vice versa). Mark
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Well, since you asked, yes. Mark
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Canopies do not fly backwards just because they're packed incorrectly. I'm going to speculate on what I think is a more likely scenario: -- main canopy was packed before reserve repack was due; -- main canopy (still in its d-bag) was removed from rig for repack; -- rig was returned to jumper after repack; -- jumper hooked up main (still in d-bag) without doing a line check; -- jumper got lucky enough. If this is what really happened, a few bucks for a new main pack would have been cheap insurance; a few more bucks to relearn how to pack would be a good investment. Mark
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I know. I did not intend to impugn Bill Gargano's character; I misread an earlier post (thinking the writer had mistakenly linked Gargano and RWS) and made an inappropriate response. The mistake was mine. Mark
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Oops, my mistake. We agree. I was confused by riggerrob's quotation style, responding to cornishe's post. I apologize. Mark
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In the attached photo --- Test 1: Cypres vs ripcord cable. Test 2: Cypres vs ripcord pin. Not shown -- Test 3: Cypres vs single, fuzzed-up slack strand of Cypres loop. Also a good cut. We'll see if dqpacker can post the video. Mark
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Huh? That Bill Gargano was secretly in the pay of Bill Booth? Mark
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The 4-line release is the easiest way to convert an unsteerable round to a steerable one; no sewing required. The back four lines release by pulling the release pins (L&R) or pulling out the daisy chain (Waters). The suspension lines adjacent to the released lines (alternatively, the rear risers) can be used to steer right and left. The result is a very stable descent, IMO much nicer than the alternative triple-doghouse. Army T-10C reserves don't have 4-line releases because it doesn't help much to have a steerable reserve if your main is not steerable. Some Air Force back reserves incorporated a 4-line release for steerability. The original modification, a 4-line cut, required physically cutting the four marked lines, something most pilots were reluctant to do, having discovered that if an emergency requires the use of your round parachute, you still have an emergency. Mark
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As far as I know, it is an FAR violation to allow intoxicated persons to fly. But drinking a beer is not the same as being intoxicated, is it? I am in favor of the traditional ban on alcohol before skydiving, but can someone please explain why it would be illegal if the passenger were not intoxicated? Mark