Herckydude

Hi people, at this moment there are already quite some types of crossbrace canopies for sale. If I look at the results of the last competitions I notice the the Velo is the most popular. Why? OK, maybe because it performs better but is the difference so big? Is there a difference? If I look at the results of the competition at Sebastian I see that on a field of 27 competitors only 7 hav a (J)VX or Xaos. I expect the JVX to become a lot more popular because it's still a young canopy but what about the rest? Is the Velo outperforming the VX or are people just buying it because everybody looks at the PD team, they win most of the competitions so it should be the best canopy? In that case, very successful marketing of PD with their team! People tell me that the Velo is better than the VX, but these are not pilots who have enough jumps on them both be able to correctly compare them. (I think) Come on, shoot loads of info please! I'm not buying one, but I would like to have the comparison ...

I think Toby Scherrinsky has one, and Patrice Duquerrois also.

Whatever, very very nice swoop, and if you have swooped 665 ft then you know that more is within reach [ :) ] ... I'm really curious how those JVX's will perform next season, I hope they will perform nice, it's a very nice canopy ... but for me, I still have time to see how it will perform, need some more experience first or ...

We can go to the annual Catalan midget throwing championship if there is Tramontana or so. Unless those championships also have wind limitations, which is not unlikely. This year they will introduce a new discipline, freestyle midget throwing. Seems to be very exciting, but a bit unhealthy for the midgets.

4000 for break (flat flying), 3000 for pull, 1500 = flatline, meaning if I do not have a good chute at this moment, no more doubts, no more trying, but it's cutaway time. But I love to hear the flat tone when swooping tough ...

Why don't we try ground launching at Tora Bora in Afghanistan?

I fully agree

Actually, the guy posted that the unit saw an altitude BELOW ground level. -2300 feet according to the post and shut down. The Vigil saw the same event and decided to fire. The CYPRES2 saw the same event and did nothing. I think TDog is right. And just in response to Ron: you have to pass 120 ft before you pass -2300 ft. Everything which happens below below 0 ft in not important in skydiving. That's the business of the undertakers. Vigil still fires below 120 ft, Cypress doesnt. Anyway, nice discussion, everybody has his toughts and his ideas. Just one thing: if we don't give newcomers a chance we would still be jumping rounds. That's why I bought a Vigil, I was convinced it was a good product and I still am. I have seen it work twice. Congrats to the 400, pitty we have to wait soooooo long for the video Saskia. But she too has the right to party I suppose.

QuoteSo why did one brand fire and the other report an error code and lock out to say what it saw was completely abnormal after it saw a pressurisation well below sea level and well below the calibrated field level? Normally, an AAD should never know if he gets below sea level. The logic of what happened to me is this: You put on your AAD. At this moment it measures the pressure and says: This is ground level. The standard atmosphere pressure at sea level is 1013.25 hPa or 29.92 inHg. Now, for every 30 ft you climb, you lose, on average, 1 hPa pressure. If you know what the pressure is on the ground, and that you are lose every 30ft 1hPa of pressure you can start calculating how high you are. You can also calculate your (vertical) speed with this pressure change. Now, what happens basically during a skydive? You switch on your AAD: It knows the pressure on the ground. Never put it on in an airplane in flight: if you put it on at 2000 ft then it will think 2000 ft is the ground. So, it will fire your reserve in this case at 2800ft (about) and if at this time you are deploying your main, it will be messy. So, switch it on on the ground, never in the air. Easy. Ok, the thing is on , and after your little fight with manifest they have advanced you one load and you are climbing. Airpressure decreases, houses become smaller, tandems lose their colour. Now, at a certain moment you have reached your exit altitude. EXIT EXIT EXIT. Or maybe no drop for some reason... Here's the next thing: If you are freefalling, pressure starts to increase. If you are descending in the aircraft: pressure starts to increase. And if they are pressurising: guess what's happening: Yeah, pressure is increasing. But your poor AAD can NEVER know what is happening!! It can only determine the speed and altitude by the pressure it measures. Pressure is the only thing it has. Sow, if you come at the critical altitude/pressure and if at this moment the speed (pressure increase) is still too fast then again guess what: repack ... So, in my opinion, if the people are overpressurising the aircraft, the AAD should allready have fired, because it passes the lower pressure were it will fire sooner than that it goes in overpressure. And Vigil did this, which, in my eyes is great. If you are in the parameters to fire the reserve, it must be fired. That's why we pay all this money for the thing. I think : Vigil is OK. I also think Cypress is ok: maybe, when they were pressurising the aircraft, the cypress didn't fire because the speed threshold is just slightly higher when it has to fire than it was pressurising at that moment. Whatever. And then, because of that overpressure, the thing started to freak out a little bit. Summary for me: The Vigils fired, proving they are reliable and that you can thrust it. The Cypresses didn't, for some reason, but I also am convinced that it will work when it has to. They are both OK and there is absolutely no reason to not to buy one of these due to these very exceptional circumstances. Anyway, about AAD's: pull yourself!!! Worldteam: do it today!! Good luck people. Hey, and if they start to pressurise the damn Herc: switch off those AAD's will you plaese

Hello people. As a pilot and a skydiver I regret to say that reading these posts is a sometimes a waste of time. Collisions happen, and people are at fault when this happens but only kamikazes do this on purpose. Avoiding a collision is everybody's responsibility. Pilots and jumpers. If you are up there, only trust yourself. Never assume the other person or aircraft has seen you. It's your life, your family and friends that will miss you. Look out, use your eyes.Look out! It's hard for me to believe that somebody under canopy can not hear an airplane approaching. At least,if I can hear them so should you. Avoid to fly in the aircrafts pattern. Pilots are constantly looking out to avoid hitting you while they are flying the aircraft, selecting flaps, talking to control, talking to manifest, talking to other aircraft in the pattern, or aircraft performing airdrops, to provide separation for your safety. There is a lot of work in that little office. But they look out as much as they can, but they also have work inside the cockpit while flying, so they also have to look INSIDE. Hey, and they might be looking at you, turn away to avoid hitting you and hit somebody else, because he was distracted by looking at YOU!! So, avoid the pattern. Look out. Be safe. And jump as much as you can. Don't forget, it's a nice sport but safety is everybody's responsibility.

Hi, I want to make one small remark. As a pilot I tell you that pilots only use their instruments to land the bird in case of bad weather. If the weather is fine, like it always is when skydiving, you only use your altimeter as a crosscheck, but I would NEVER depend solely on a Neptune or so to start a hook turn. The visual picture should match, remember that an error of 75 ft is within limits for many aircraft, but if you end you hook turn 75 feet to low ... Ouch ... But, I bought one two days ago, and I think I can thrust it, but just be careful. Have fun!!!