tdog

Shhh... Don't give those DZOs that read this forum any ideas.

Ya, I read that too in the forums and thought why the heck not??? There is a thread on this topic if you want to search for it!

I have heard some very experienced “experts” (at the DZ and DZ.com, names removed to protect the guilty ) give some advice that just does not make sense. This has been argued in old threads as hijacks – but since I still hear it often I am pulling out my “Mythbusters” thinking cap and asking a fresh question for today’s audience. The advice they give goes something like this: “Dear student/friend. Say you have a long spot. You need everything you got to go as far as you can. What you do depends on the wind. If the wind is to your back, pull down your brakes and make your body as big as possible. BY PULLING DOWN YOUR BRAKES YOU WILL CHANGE THE SHAPE OF YOUR WING INTO A SAIL AND THE WIND WILL PUSH YOU AND MAKING YOUR BODY BIG WILL ACT LIKE A SAIL TOO.” There is no argument that flying with a major tail wind can be a major advantage on a long spot… BUT HERE IS MY ARGUMENT…. There is no way a canopy floating/flying/in equilibrium with a moving flow of air, can turn into a sail!!! Imagine a hot air balloon for a second… When it is on the ground, the breeze wants to push it over, and you see the balloon either dragging the basket, or laying down on its side in the breeze. This is a sail trying to overcome the resistance of the basket on the ground. The second the balloon lifts off and is no longer attached to the ground, it is floating in the moving breeze… For the first few seconds, there IS a sail effect, as the breeze has to push the balloon to equilibrium with its environment… Once the balloon has the inertia energy it gained from the “sail action” from the breeze – its ground speed will be exactly the speed of the wind it is floating in – but it’s airspeed will be zero. I have proof from my balloon jumps… We were trucking along groundspeed wise, but there was no wind across our face in the basket. We were going exactly the same speed as the molecules around us. Our skydiving wings are no different than a balloon floating in space – our wings will find the equilibrium with the wind direction and fly with it’s designed forward speed thru that air, regardless of ground speed. Even with deep brakes, most of our skydiving wings will still have some forward speed, and having a massive amount of fabric pulled down will not turn into a “sail” to push us along, as the relative wind is still coming from the front, not back! Sails only work when there is resistance against the fabric, like a sail on a boat using the wind to overcome the friction of the hull in the water. Or like a parasail pulled behind a boat… Or a kite flown in the park. Or a hot air balloon tethered to the ground. All these examples the fabric is tied to something that is putting equal and opposite force against the “push” of the wind – a sail. Our canopies are not tied to the ground! Our canopies find equilibrium when flying thru the wind, not resistance against the wind pulling an object with ground induced drag. Here is the simple test… Turn with the wind to your back on a windy day. Pull deep brakes to make a “sail”…. As long as you are not stalled, look at the “sail” your wing made on its tail. Which way is the relative wind coming from? Likely it still is coming from the front, there is nothing that is acting like a sail above your head. (And, imagine if it did act like a sail, the wind would push the back of the canopy forward, changing the whole angle of attack into a downward forward dive. That would not “get you home” safely!) So anyone else agree – “Myth Busted” – that pulling your brakes to make a “sail” of your canopy is not technically possible or the right explanation of why slow flight with a tail wind might work to your advantage? Or, put me in my place and show me where I am wrong… Ok, at the sake of making this post even longer… Here is what I learned when I first learned how to fly my first fabric wing, which was a paraglider. I believe the same argument applies to our canopy, and I want to know what you guys think. For the sake of discussion, the headwind is not so strong that you are flying backwards… My instructors taught there were two control settings. “Min Sink” and “Best Glide”. Min Sink turns your energy into the most amount of lift so you stay up longer but sacrifices distance. Best glide turns your energy into the farthest distance you can go from that altitude but sacrifices the time you stay up. If you are flying into the wind, or the wind is less than about 5 MPH in any direction, fly at “best glide”. This control surface setting will provide the most distance for your given altitude. You are going to be fighting the wind, so an efficient descent that consumes your energy quickly giving you the most forward distance is desirable. If you have a tail wind of 5MPH or more, consider using “Min-Sink-Speed”…. Min sink reduces the distance you will travel on your own, but turns that energy into lift that keeps you up longer. However, since the tail wind is GREATER than the airspeed you LOST by going to min-sink – the net effect is you will go farther using the winds energy added to your own. The opposite is true too. If you fly at “best glide” with the wind, you will come down faster and not use the wind’s energy to give you the most distance by staying up in the wind as long as possible. If you fly at “min-sink” into the wind, you are losing twice. First, because you are staying up longer, thus fighting the headwind longer, and second, because you have already sacrificed distance for time. So clearly, flying at the wrong glideslope will negatively effect your spot just as much as flying at the correct one will help you out. Anyone want to comment??? Am I right or wrong??? I am all ears for the sake of learning.

If it was me... Bright color contracting of your rig/what you are likely to wear (jumpsuit). My rig is red and black, so my cutaway is yellow.

Right where I was standing 8-10 seconds before... Felt the hair on my arms go up while in Moab - and ran. Was not looking back, so I don't know how fast I can run in 8 seconds, but the char mark proved where it hit.

Please look into the process of cleaning a main before you do the nasty... It can be difficult.

Colorado has a no-call-list so I don't get calls at home anymore. Now, at work... We get a call every hour... Dillon, my dog, is "Director of Toner Cartridges", "Director of the Watercooler", and "Director of what ever else you are selling." When someone calls asking for the person in charge of X, we say, "Hold on, let me forward you to Dillon James at extension 29." That way, next time they can dial the extension direct! Then, people call back asking for Dillon. Makes it simple to know who is telemarketing. AND EVEN BETTER... My favorite was a telemarketer who said, "I just was TALKING to Dillon and I have one more question. Can you connect me real quick?" That was funny. Dillon now gets more mail than I do. Attached - Dillon getting his mail at the office.

And those are????

HYJACK ALERT: I jump 1.15 to 1. In a canopy class I was strongly urged to collapse my slider, pull it down, and loosen the chest strap. I had always collapsed it and just left it up there, thinking no reason to pull it down. The second I loosened the chest strap a few inches the canopy changed it's glide slope so much that it felt like I raised my brakes a few inches if not more. My heart missed a beat, I was not expecting something so drastic. Now I always do it (after I am 100% sure I have time, sometimes I am flying in traffic the whole way down and have to live with a flapping slider up there) because my canopy does fly and land better, just as my canopy instructor promised. And, that is at low wingloading.

Education... My parents opened up after they watched 24 training 4-way jumps from a camp weekend... They said, "wait, everytime I see you standing in the doorway that is a NEW jump?" My mom is doing her tandem for her 60th birthday tomorrow... She really wants to do it, so bad that she told EVERYONE but me so it would be a "surprise"... Of course EVERYONE was morally obligated to tell me, so off we go to the DZ.

There are may posts after this one that I have not read yet, but I am VERY upset by this comment... It made me laugh VERY hard before I was ready this morning and I think I pulled a muscle!!!!

Well, I am a sport bike fan and that is what I own... Ya I know... But, I would say a definite improvement, and if I was not allowed to have a sport bike anymore, I would 100% take your new bike. Awesome! Love the style of the Fat Boys.

Here is my commission to someone who has a few hours... Either a big way - or a hybrid... Or maybe a wingsuit flocking jump.... I see a lot of possibilities here.

"Because red flames are just not me."

Have you ever tried to fly an otter in heals??? Me neither, but I imagine it is hard.

Hey, my dog has got much more than that last time he went to the vet... You would think he was a pro-swooper. He has two metal plates and 18 screws in his legs from both ACLs being torn! edit to add: he is fully healed. This morning he swam in the river against the river current for 45 minutes like people run on a treadmill.

"I'm going to Disneyland!"

Ya, but I think wild just linked one done by someone else... I might be completely wrong, but I think I saw that one on the "best of" link...

Ya, yours is better than mine.... ;-)

So, I just wasted the morning doing these... For the 4way-ers out there: http://www.fabrica.it/flipbook/flipbook_player.php?id=1121354463-7056354 And, for the freeflyers: http://www.fabrica.it/flipbook/flipbook_player.php?id=1121351936-7056354

Call me silly on two counts: 1) Because I am giving up an idea that I could make money at if I sold. 2) Because it sounds silly going in. I think it is funny that skydiving does not have more of a following once I got into the sport... But before I got in, it was overwhelming, so I can see both sides. I wish we had double the people in the sport, because double the dropzones and double the gear sold, would provide more cash flow for R&D and even make things cheaper. Reality TV... A commercial for our sport???? First there was American Chopper... The guys who yell a lot and make a motorcycle every once in a while. Now they are millionaires. Then there was Airline - a show about passengers flying Southwest. I am sure Southwest loves the weekly half hour long ad. Then there was a show about the remodeling of a cruise liner... Only 4 episodes long, but still a show. Blowout is a TV show about Jonathan, a guy who opens a Hollywood salon. He opened a second salon and even has his own product line from the exposure. You can see his Mercedes got more expensive as the season went on. Now there is Miami Ink - a new show about 4 guys opening a tattoo place. The next millionaires. Hey up and coming DZOs... How about a TV show of the politics and real life drama in a DZ. Who would have thought watching a guy cutting hair would make it to the second season, I think DZ politics could make a great show. From packers to TIs in a midsized DZ, there are many stories to be told. Throw in 5 minutes of skydiving a hour and you have Xgames meets Reality TV. Anyway, that is my weird idea of the morning.

Has anyone said this one yet: "Slippier than snot on a doorknob."

So, you just impressed the shit out of me, assuming you did not google it... Perhaps we have a lot in common???

I am taking my mom for her 60th on Saturday - but after watching my 4way footage and the tandem on the Today show, she actually asked... AND - on her real birthday, Thursday - she is requiring that the company go with her to Six Flags to ride rollercoasters instead of the usual out to lunch thing we do... So, I guess my mom is in a different boat than yours. I will caution you on this... If your Mom does not want to go, don't pressure her into it... Why not just take her to the dropzone and say, "Mom, I would really like you to skydive with me. Here is how it works... But, if you really don't want to, after you have met my friends, then I will buy you something else." I just know Tandem I's hate payload that are not 100% committed to the jump. T.

So here is one from a classic 80's movie from my middle school years perfect to say to the high strung individual: "There are many decafinated brands on the market that taste just as good as the real thing." Now, if you can name the movie, I will be impressed. AND - don't get me started on them, but Airplane and Spaceballs provide me with enough material to cover any awkward situation. Those movies could be the basis for a whole new bonfire thead!