erdnarob

I was about to say...it was the custom agents !! Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Is your friend Amanda or Monique ?...I maybe know her or him. One of our jumpers is Vladimir Alexeenko, a Russian. I am myself Belgian born. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Yes but !!!!!???? I have jumped at Davis Yolo County in March 2011. I like that DZ and its airplane, the PAC 750 XL but all the time I had the impression to be shot at due to the riffle range just beside the airport. They also were shooting with shotguns, what a noise! Also, due to municipal bylaws (I was told), I had to register to USPA (3 months) for about 20$. BTW USPA insurance coverage is 50 000 $ while my association (CSPA, Canada) has a coverage of three millions dollars good for all over the world). This was the second time a US DZ asked me to join the USPA before being able to jump. First time was at Titusville Fl. Nevertheless I have good memories from Davis. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

120 mph is, say, the terminal speed and is reached in 12 second when falling on belly. This makes about 1483 ft according the books. When I was trying a new DBag (the MagBag), I tried to figure out the distance fallen in 7 seconds. Here is the chart I have been using (12 seconds falling on belly makes a speed of 120 mph (terminal speed) (see the document)). I also found one of the best fit mathematical expressions to match the known pairs of coordinates. You can see the function at the top left of the chart. Remember that you are falling into the air and as the gravity pulls you down faster and faster, there is more and more aerodynamical force on the surface of your body opposing to the force of gravity. That means the downward acceleration decreases and when the weight of your body (force of gravity) equals the upward aerodynamic force due to the relative wind, there is no more acceleration. On the chart you see the pair of coordinates (7, 646.1), this means that after 7 seconds, the distance fallen is 646.1 ft. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

When being in orbit around the Earth, you are still experiencing a good percentage (more than 80% at altitude of 400 km) of the Earth gravity and therefore the related centripetal acceleration, this why you are turning or orbiting. However, as you "fall" at the same rate than the vessel (shuttle or ISS...) you just seem to be at 0 G with respect to the vessel. Just a physics precision. Negative Gs or Neggies is the force generated by a dowward acceleration. When a pilot dives his airplane, he can accelerate faster than the acceleration of the gravity. He can get what we call the "red veil" due to too much blood trying to get upward mainly in his head. Anti Gs coveralls prevent that problem but he helps by contracting neck muscles to keep the blood down as much as possible. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

At Lodi, Parachute Center DZ, located at 35 minutes driving South from Sacramento CA (on highway 99), you will pay 15$ a jump at 12500 Ft. This is seemingly the cheapest place on Earth for jumping. Better yet, if you buy 50 tickets, you will only pay 13 $ each (not transferable). If you are a low altitude jumper, the ticket is 5$ for 5000 ft. This is certainly the favorite place for your budget. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hello Alex89, probably Alexandra. Well your problem is common on DZs. There are people who shouldn't be in contact with the public because they are not able to deal with. If one day you come to jump in Quebec, more specifically, at Nouvel Air Farnham Qc, you will see there what should be a staff dedicated to public. The staff will welcome you and will take care of you. First, up there, people at the desk are 3 or 4 depending on the attendance. There is somebody for the phone and registration, somebody else for the account and money, and somebody to register and call the loads and this in French or English. Since the DZ is located in Montreal area, a lot of immigrants are jumping there. I have jumped there with Russians, Czec Republic people, Bulgarians, Serbians, Belgians, Chinese, Mexicans...name it. The lady at your DZ is probably doing those tasks all together and losing easily her temper due to overloading. But anyway you as a customer, you should be treated royally. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hello cbuffalino. As you know probably, reserve have no rubber bands, just (generally) a safety stow for two grommets closing the Dbag flap. The rest of the lines is stowed in a pocket closed by Velcro. However, if you have the chance to get the February 2012 copy of Blue Skies magazine, you will see my article about the tests I have performed on the main MAGBAG Dbag designed by Jerry Baumchem. There is only two rubber bands or two tube stows for the Dbag flap. This is so far the most simple design I know for a main Dbag and I can tell you that after about 80+ jumps, it works very well. The packers after getting used to it like it very much. I am now using large tube stows. The first set I have installed lasted for about 65 jumps. The MagBag is made by Jerry Baumchem, AeroSports USA. So, you can contact him if interested. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Well, not docile in this context concerns the canopies having short toggle range. They will have a more snappy reaction when you use them in comparison with long toggles range. If your toggle range is longer, the same toggle deflexion leads to a slower response than the other type. I also found that just the name KATANA scares a lot of people who have never jumped it. The Katana as all highly and fully elliptical canopies can give you a lot of emotions but driven conservatively gives the impression of lightness on toggles, easy going and predictable ride. A not docile canopy is also a canopy which can stall without warning at all. It depends on the design. On the other hand, very docile canopies are the student ones for obvious reasons. In comparaison, airplane are like that too. I have been a pilot for 22 years flying most of the time Cessna's. They are docile in the sense they are predictable and stable as far as you don't push them. On the other hand I flew a couple of time a Maule tail dragger which was very touchy in all situations. For sure you get used to it but undocile canopies or airplanes require more concentration and focus and are way less forgiving even for little errors. I do sometimes flat low turns with my Katana when I have to without any probem. It is like a sport car (roadster), very stable, easy to drive and last but not the least, a very fun canopy to fly. At my second jump on mine, the spot was too short and found myself having to do accuracy in order to land in a glade in Florida. I was over a forest when I spotted a glade. I wanted to land lengthwise for maximum space in front of me and had to fly very near a tree to do so, a sort of accuracy. I succeeded doing so but unfortunaltely, the glade was covered with small shrubs unseen from altitude. My landing was not so bad considering the conditions. It took me a good half an hour to get out of the forest. It was at ZHills Fl. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The Stiletto is a flat ride canopy while the Katana has the highest pitch angle of all canopies I have measured (ie. 18 degrees) and therefore is ground hungry. But if you apply some brake or rear risers, you can come back from a long spot as well. The Katana has a long recovery arc which makes it build up a lot of speed for swooping. I am not particularly a swooper with my Katana 170 but I like the speed associated with the high pitch angle for it provides me with incredible strong flare at landing. The Stiletto apparently needs to be stopped by applying toggles in opposite direction when you want to come out of a turn. This is not the case for the Katana. I recently tried a Katana 150 loading it at 1.9. I was a bit nervous for landing but while the feeling on toggles was one of lightness, I made sure to have a lot of space in front on me at landing. I got an incredible nice landing. I even got up by one foot before walking softly in the grass. I seems to me that landing with a K150 was better than landing in the same conditions with my K170. If you want a soft opening canopy and have a lot of fun while having a good flare, you should go for the Katana which seems to be the most popular canopy right now. The Katana is a docile canopy with long toggles range as far as you don't push it. Don't make a 180 degrees turn too low because it banks and gains speed rapidely. After 40 years in skydiving the Katana is my best canopy ever. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Arching is a good way to fly in freefall but it's not the only way. For sure, it helps to be able to arch in order to be stable and for the speed range too. You should be able to compensate that problem by a bit more of practice until you will fly in the box position when the body, arms and upper legs are in the same geometrical plane. You are able to bend the knees and to move up or down your arms which will allow you to change your speed. Practicing that in a wind tunnel should help you a lot. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Your spin is probably due to an asymetrical position of arms and/or legs without you noticing it. In order to better know where are your arms and legs in freefall, tense or flex your toes. That will make you know exactely where your legs-feet are in 3 D and will allow you to make the correction. For the arms, do the same with fingers and think about rising your hands at ear level. Tell us if that works.

In 2007, I wrote an article on Dropzone.com at Skydiving History & Trivia with title The state of sport parachuting in 2007. Have a look at this article, you might find few answers to your question Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I believe that the main reason why people don't skydive is that they have to overcome one of the three insctinctive reflexes of all living mamals : fear of falling, fear of strong unknown noise, fear of fire. Instinctive reflexes are deeply rooted in our unconsciuousness and rule us to a certain extent. You have to go past your basic insctinct to jump out of an airplane and some people just cannot overcome their instinct by being rational. In their youth a lot of people have been overprotected by parents and see themselves restricted from a lot of "modern" activities like swimming, travel with airplane, jumping from an airplane...etc. Personnaly I am a jumper since 1973 but when comes the time to go on a roller coaster, I give up. I did try roller coaster in the past but I maybe don't trust now people who do the roller coaster maintenance. I am also scared by launching myself into starting a business. When young, my parents were never talking about money and business, never. This could be the reason. That being said, everybody has his fear here and there. Those fears are just not the same for different people. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

If you are going to do a hulla hoop jump, choose a large rigid one. It will be more stable in the air and will be easier to go thru by jumpers. The hulla hoop should preferably be held sideway but near the bottom and important thing, ask the jumpers to go thru aiming at 1/3 of the diameter from the bottom and not go too slow. That will makes sure the legs and feet of the jumper will not rip the hulla hoop off from the the hand of the holder. Have a look at the picture included. This is myself going thru at Rantoul Ill. at the WFFC. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

BTW I have the DB COOPER #290 certificate from jumping out of the Boeing 727 in 1992 at Quincy Ill. We were 180 people in the airplane. I jumped it again in 1998. Later on I added the DC9 by doing two jumps out of it in 2006 at Rantoul Ill. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

And flying over the North pole !! Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

This past winter, I had to change my risers and ordering new ones at UPT Vector. I asked them to provide my new risers with rear loops. Those loops are actually placed at the front of the rear riser. My concern was that in case of a broken steering line, it would be way easier to steer the canopy (a Katana) using those rear riser loops. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Very nice tandem exit but what kind of airplane is it ? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Like all gyroscopes, the directional gyro or heading indicator will have a drift after a certain time, therefore the directional gyro or heading indicator has to be reset manually every 15-20 minutes to match the compass when flying. Provided being in a straight level flight, the compass is a reliable device and has to be calibrated every 12 months by an aviation mechanics. The mechanics establishes a compass correction card as well mentionning if the correction was been done with radio on or off. The airplane compass has also a logbook to record each calibration. I am surprised to read that the use of compass in aviation seems to be old fashion for some readers. When you lose electrical power on an airplane (that happened to me), you lose the vaccum pump which drives all gyroscopic devices including the DG but your compass is still working. I am speaking about Cessna airplanes but basically, other airplanes have similar systems. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

3 ring set up is OK. In this picture there is no tension on them. The ring web attachment will be against the ring below when under full load. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

ANOTHER COMPARISON BETWEEN VIGIL AND CYPRES : Both Vigil and Cypres will switch off automatically after 14 hours. For the Vigil if within those 14 hours you leave the DZ with the AAD and go at a place located at + or - 150 ft above or below the DZ or more, the Vigil will stay on. This is not the case for the Cypres. Suppose now that you switch on your Vigil at 8:00 AM and you take off for a night jump at 9:50 PM, even if normaly the Vigil is set to switch off after 14 hours, in this case at 10:00 PM if on the ground, being airborne it will stay on and you will be protected even past 10:00 PM. Not the case if you have a Cypres, therefore you will have no protection. A guy at Farnham Quebec with who I had this discussion, told me that story happened to him. He was equiped with a Cypres and found out that he has not been protected for a night jump because he had exceeded 14 hours during the airplane ascent. Conclusion : whatever is your AAD, if you do a night jump, switch it off and switch it on again before the night jump. If you are not going to do a night jump, switch your AAD off after your jumping is over for the day. Also, before every jump, check your AAD status on the console window. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

In my precedent post on this thread I have mentioned that we are not all equal concerning health. I am in the sport for 40 years and I am 67 year old and still able to fly in an acceptable manner. Just to encourage you, here is the picture of the 102 way new Canadian record which was performed on Friday July 13, 2012 at Nouvel Air DZ, Farnham Quebec Canada. I am in royal blue jumpsuit in the six way base at 9h:15 (see included picture). But if you prefer to see the record video have a look at : http://youtu.be/FvURXQ43788 At the video beginning I am just in front of the cameraman breathing oxygen at 18000 ft. This video is quite impressive for it shows from an interesting angle how the record formation was built. Moreover, I am not an exception, if you look on the picture at about 9 O'clock on the second last helix in white jumpsuit, there is a lady friend of mine few months older than me. In last April she was part of the POPS new record, a completed 60 way in California. She also has been on the 182 way Jump for the Cause in California few years ago. Don't forget, see a doctor regularly. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

If you want to stay with Performance Designs line of canopies, the next step (according John LeBlanc) for you would be a 9 cell Pulse which has a flat glide. The Pulse is a hybrib canopy (top skin is zero porosity while the bottom skin is slightly porous) which is very funny to fly. Low toggles pressure and easy for packing. Flying a Pulse gives you the impression of lightness and provides you with a nice long glide. Just in case you want to have a better flare and still stay with a 7 cell canopy, try the Storm also made by Performance Designs which has more downward and forward speed than the Spectre and which provides a very strong flare. A Crossfire is also a flat angle glide canopy but you should wait for it since it is a fully elliptical one with corresponding fast reactions. The best would be for you to talk to an instructor or a rigger who knows different canopies and who has tried them. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

My first reaction when I heard details about the incident was that being on our back at deployment time makes things highly uncertain. And obviously, skydiving rigs are not designed to be used when being on our back at deployment. Anything can happen in that position. My experiment is a step forward for finding what happened. As I said, I will repeat the experiment with my own rig and other rigs as well but after what I have witnessed I don't expect a different outcome (ie. no extraction).I may be wrong. In this forum, it is important to concentrate on the essential instead of semantics ie. what are the contributing factors concerning the no extraction of the reserve Dbag by the bridle and pilot chute...design of the upper part of the reserve container, size of the reserve (this one had the maximum compatible size), size of the pilot chute....???? As you see...a lot of possibilities. My first post was written to expose the facts and conclusion after the experiment. The purpose of my thread is to catch the attention of everybody about this incident and its unexpected outcome. Now is the time to debate this question : should a reserve Dbag be able to be extracted in any body position ? What can be changed in the rig design to give more chance for the extraction ? Years ago skydiving rigs had their flaps able to open completely with no sewn corners, that makes the main and reserve Dbags more prone to fall down in case of a premature release of the pin. On the other hand, having the Dbag encased in the corners garantees that there is no extraction before a completely extended bridle and inflated pilot chute preventing that way an out of stage deployment. Is it possible that by solving a problem designers have created another one. This is the type of discussion I would like to see. After all, that kind of situation can happen to any of us. Debating about this is maybe trying to find how to avoid the same situation. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.