P-dro

Surely in an ideal world, just not the one I live in..... Electronic systems do fail, true, they just fail way more rarely than humain beings.... That doesn't mean that an audible should replace situation awareness, simply that audible are an important safety device, like it or not....

Yeah, just try to do a little serious RW without audible and let me know how it goes....

Yes. The specificity of the Optima, is that you have canopy alarms. That's where you realise how loud the thing is when there's no wind noise to cover it.... Needless to say I don't jump without earplugs if I can help it....

My Optima even on the lowest setting is painfully loud. Each time you got ringing in your hear, you have sustained PERMANENT hearing damages. They are simply not noticeable at first. but the effects are cumulative over time and when you notice the problem, it is already to late....

Yeah, round 10 is incredibly smooth and fast. the 56 is technically amazing, but I don't find it that fun to watch....

Mathieu Bernier....

All french jumps here: http://www.facebook.com/video/?oid=20094229958

same here (I put them on before boarding, remove them after landing). They protect my hear from wear and damages: aircraft noise, freefall noise, audible noise (my Optima at minimum level is extremely loud, and actually painful under canopy without plugs). On the plus side, it's easier to concentrate in the plane when you can block out ambiant noise (I mostly do FS jumps)

One more example. A friend of mine decided he could ignore the wingload BSR that exists here. He knew he he could handle it because you know he was careful. He had roughly 150 jumps and bought a 150 where he should have been under a 190. One day he ended up in proximity of a canopy he didn't see coming, close to the ground. He gave a sharp input to the toggles and smashed into the ground. He fractured his pelvis and his leg in 3 places. He stayed screamning in agony on the ground during 40 minutes before being taken to the hospital by the paramedics. He remained uncertain of wether he could walk again normally, or even have normal genital functions for 3 months. To this day he still limps and has quit jumping. Most probably a larger canopy would not have prevented the accident (he may still have had more time to look around and spot the incoming canopy) but would have certainly mitigated the consequences. Johan has perfectly resumed it:

You have no business under that type of canopy. First under normal conditons at your jump number, you should land nicely 9,5 time out of ten. If you have already several PLF, something is very wrong. What are you going to do when you have a have spot and have to land on concrete or between obstacles ? And that's for a "normal landing". A friend of mine took the same shortcut you took. He knew he he could handle it because you know he was careful. until a day he ended up in proximity of a canopy he didn't see coming, close to the ground. He gave a sharp input to the toggles and smashed into the ground. He fractured his pelvis and his leg in 3 places. He stayed screamning in agony on the ground during 40 minutes before being taken to the hospital by the paramedics. He remained uncertain of wether he could walk again normally, or even have normal genital functions for 3 months. To this day he still limps and has quit jumping. Please be reasonnable, keep this canopy if you wish, but quit jumping it for the time being. Find something like a Silhouette to learn on. And when you're a little better prepared, come back to the Diablo.

If it's not a lousy joke, you're lucky not to have killed yourself...

I am getting some good swoops and the coach mentioned above indicated that a change to a Katana would enable me to continue learning at an optimal rate. Quote I don't know who is this person but this a dangerously stupid advice. You have no business to be under a katana until you have completely mastered all aspect of flight under the Sabre 2 and even then you should go to a smaller Sabre 2 until you have at least six or seven time more jumps....

Ok, thanks. What make the Xaos specifically less demanding? EDIT: OK did a research found a lot of info, even to my 1st question. Bottom line "learn the xfire inside out and you'll see later" got it ! )

Question: when reasonnably experienced (around 900 jumps) but with a relatively low jump volume (150/year) is it plausible to go beyond, let's say a Crossfire@1.7. ? I heard several times that you shouldn't be under a Velocity if you don't make at leat 3/400 jump a year. Are there other xbrace that may be less demanding ? Or all x-brace demand a high level of currency (given enough experience of course) what's your opinion ? PS: Yeah I confess I'd like to jump that kind of canopies, but most probably wont never exceed 150/200 jumps a year)

Obviously, you wanna play the tough guy on a subject on which you have no hands-on experience. I repeat, the Katana 170@1.3 is a fantastic canopy, I liked I way better than the Sabre 2 of the same size (more fun, better openings). I didn't purchased it cause I knew I would be donwsizing and that resale would be next to impossible where I live. In between PD released the Storm that could be a better choice for video, but that doesn't make the Katana a bad choice for a 1000+ jumps jumper.

It's funny how some people have definitive opinions on canopy they have not flown. A Katana at "low" WL can be very pleasant for someone with some experience.... Maybe not the best choice indeed for video, but it can be preferred to more classical choices such as Sabre 2 (Katana opens better and is more fun if you know what you're doing) Topic covered in this thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3154580

I had 120 jumps on Safire, more than 350 on Sabre 2 210/190 my current one being a 150. I liked both, I didn't found that the Safire has a significantly better opening, I like the flare and recovery arc better on the Sabre 2. I concur that the smaller sizes are better behaved than their bigger sisters (one or two very hard opening on 210/190, absolutely none on the 150) Where I live the Sabre2 is much easier to find second hand. Either would be a good choice, always better to try if you can...

The Seven has both TSO and JTSO homologation.

Mine is cracking after only one season...

Hmmm, in this context ? it was when the catholic church sold absolution? But it was in the 16/17th century....

Hello, I am not a religous person myself, but I think if you come in Europe and see how the Christian church works here (I live in France), you'd see it's vastly different from its US counterparts. Concerning scientology they have been condemned for extorting tens of thousand of dollars from people selling bogus devices and "lessons", and after sucking them dry threatening and blackmailing them an their families. They use tremendous psychological pressure to isolate their member from their entourage, so they can be more efficently milked. It has nothing to do with any form of religion I know, except if you count organized crime as a religion... You simply cannot compare other traditionnal cults with scientology. Beyond that, I know there is a lot of tele-evangelist in the US which case is not as clear cut. But even ads on the TV requesting donation has nothing to do with extortion....

your loss....

A person I know had a stuck brake, she didn't want to chop, she tried to land it and broke two vertebrae. she won't jump for a while, if ever.... Of course given the correct skillset landing on rear is definitively feasible, but for most people I see on the dropzone (ie with very basic canopy skills, a shame but true nevertheless) it can be a dangerous bet....

650...

I dont really understand how an experience overseas is not as informative as an experience in the US... Just in case we have a team in France equiped with lazy bags, and they have hundreds of jumps, most probably thousands with them and they like it very much....