erdnarob

I have encountered that problem several times and I have tried several type of bands like: ordinary flat ones, silicone silly bands (expensive), O rings (not much elasticity but durable), tube stows (expensive), surgical rubber tubing (home made rings using a knot placed at the bag retainer, not outside), black rubber girl bracelet...name it (see picture in attachment). The idea is to have something elastic holding your lines firmly in place. Therefore, on a main packing, you have a lot of choice as long as the bands are tight enough. If you use very tiny rubber bands, fold them several times. Another principle is to have the bands installed by pair to guarantee as much as possible symmetry at the deployment. So when changing the bands change them by pair. In your case another solution is to take off a good stow band already installed then make 2 narrow ones by cutting longitudinally this band in the middle, reinstall them and this is how to make two using one . Your bands will be weaker but it's a temporary solution isn't ? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

In Canada if you follow the CSPA basic safety regulations and recommendations, you need to have a B license to do FS. When having an A license you can do two way FS with at least a B license holder having 100 jumps or more with the permission of the DZO. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Resist to the peer pressure to use a hard shell helmet if you don't feel for it. Use a helmet you find the most comfortable and having a good peripheral vision. The frap hat leather helmet is one of those. A good test is the following : with your helmet on could you see your reserve handle ? A lot of them are not allowing that. With full face helmets, even with your chin against the chest (actually the chin side of the helmet), it's generally hard to see the reserve ripcord handle. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Belly Flying has some basic requirements (B license, having some experience with a safe approach, being able to dock horizontally with no momentum, being able to track properly...etc). In other words, some discipline ! A lot of new jumpers do not want to follow that process and believe wrongly they can be good faster by doing freeflying. The best freeflyers in the world are positive : Get good in belly flying first then join the freeflying. Now, the DZO has a very important role to play. This is by showing the example or making sure to promote such and such discipline like belly flying for instance. But often, they are too busy making money with tandem. If a DZO hired load organizers for belly flying, you can be sure the word will be spread and FS will become healthy at this DZ. There is also big organized boogies like the Summerfest at Skydive Chicago or at a smaller scale Skydive New England where there is load organizers for FS. If you are over 40 there is the POPS society and the SOS for 60 years old or more. Those two organizations are dedicated primarily on FS or belly flying. I am myself in the same situation and travel to fulfill my needs. This the best opportunity for me to meet a lot of different and interesting people. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Maybe you have heard or not but there is a new AUDIBLE GPS made in Canada. Check this site : www.flysight.ca It tells you your GLIDE ANGLE, your HORIZONTAL SPEED AND THE VERTICAL ONE as well when under the parachute. The cost is about 250.00$ Canadian dollars. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You don't even have to use a plastic bag to test a FXC12000. You can just "envelop" the sensor in your two hand palms as much as possible and blow with your mouth suddenly thru the opening left between your thumbs or so. I used that trick quite often to show my students the way the FXC (removed from the container) works. But later on I was told not to do this since there is no resistance for the spring like pulling an actual pin, and that there was possibility of damaging the unit. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Here is the list of the planes I have jumped. My favorite for jumping in FS was the Hercules. My favorite for the fastest ride to altitude were the Boeing 727 and the DC9. My favorite for the service aboard was the DC9 with three flight attendants (jumping after us, see DC9 JUMP RANTOUL on YOU TUBE), my favorite for the most quiet was the Firefly hot air balloon, my favorite for the wildest ride was the Bell 412, my favorite for the most good looking was the Bell 230... as one can see, there is many airplanes which are my favorites but in different ways. Aerospatiale A-Star (H)* Arava* Beechcraft 18 Beechcraft 99* Beechcraft King air* Beechcraft TwinBonanza Beechcraft Queen Air Bell 206 (H)* Bell 412 (H)* Bell 230 (H)* Boeing 727** Caribou Carvair Casa* Cessna 170 Cessna 172 Cessna 180 Cessna 182 Cessna 185 Cessna 205 Cessna 206 Cessna 206 (float plane) Cessna 207 Cessna Caravan* DC-3 DC-9** Enstrom (H) Fairchild Porter* Firefly (hot air baloon) Helio Stallion* Hercules* Hughes 500 (H)* Loadstar Maule Rocket Norman Brittain Highlander Norseman Pac 750 XL* Pilatus Porter* Piper Chieftain Piper Navajo Piper Seneca Skyvan* Tripacer Twin Otter* H helicopter * turbine aircraft ** for jet engine Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Very good answer Wendy. When there is a problem with an AAD it's not that simple to determine what has happened. There is so many factors contributing to a firing. Too many people react emotionally and are prompt to blame such and such company without knowing instead of trying to stay calm and get a well written technical report. I know that a complete report takes time for having had myself to do an expertise once in a case of a fatal accident. Expect also to never get a certitude about what happened. This is not only right for AADs but also right for airplane accidents. But there is a way to know more about what happened: The only company which provides an interface to customer to download figures and diagram altitude-time of the last 16 minutes recorded on an AAD is Vigil. When an AAD fires or anything "wrong" happens in the air, it is very interesting to see a diagram of what has happened. On the altitude-time chart, one can see dot of different colors for start of the dive, opening altitude and firing within fraction of a second including altitude. On a Vigil a red dot is the start of the dive, the yellow dot is the opening and the blue dot is the firing if any. The chart or diagram shown in the attachment illustrates an actual firing of a Vigil 1 at Perris Valley in 2005. The firing was due to a low pull, too many people above me at the separation (not an excuse ) (no. 17 on the Vigil web site). The firing occurred at 1099 ft (1100ft) since I was in an upward position while my main parachute was beginning to deploy. Therefore there was no differential pressure between chest and back equivalent to 260ft. This is why the Vigil 1 fired at that altitude (840 ft is the firing altitude when flat on your stomach) and in an upward position it is 840 ft + 260 ft = 1100 ft. The chart shows that if I had pulled a fraction of a second sooner, the firing would have been inhibited. The result : a beautiful biplane which I landed without any problem. The green curve is the altitude-time curve. The yellow curve is the speed-time curve. Even if the speed curve is referring to sudden changes of pressure, the AAD software does a sampling and rounds up the data to "decide" if the firing speed is met or not. This diagram was available using my software and interface provided by Vigil as an option. This diagram therefore wasn't done by Vigil. I got it from a computer. Protrack can also provide the same type of chart if using their software and interface. Since on Dropzone.com we are restricted at 200k picture, the picture in attachment was the best I could provide. Note: I am also using the capability of the Vigil interface and software for using the chart to determine how long it takes for my main to open. Sabre 2-170 340 ft (average on 10 jumps) Katana 170 600 ft (average on 10 jumps)

At the number of jump you have, if you have a B license, you still can pull at 2200 ft minimum to be legal. The person who "attacked" you was probably scarred for herself in such a situation. Now the situation seems more dramatic from the ground when you pull at 2500 ft while everybody else pulls higher. You then become the bad guy who pulls LOW. If you have a Protrack or another device registering the opening altitude, just show the "attacker" the written opening altitude without any comments. Now the choice of opening altitude depends on many factors like : type of parachute, your experience, your readiness for emergency procedures, people still tracking above you in formation skydiving...Whatever you do, there will be people to criticize you. She was not right to do what she did. She could come to you and say : « what happens, you seem to have pulled low». Don't let anybody to put you down, never. Next time she does it, just start laughing at her... Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You are entering a grey zone here. A horseshoe is one of the worst scenarios. If that happens first thing is to pull right away your pilot chute if it is still in the pocket. If that doesn't solve the problem that means your main is attached to a part of your equipment or your body. I think I would pull my reserve and hoping for the best. Time is valuable and you don't have to waste it especially if pulling the cut away handle has a lot of chance to be useless. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

On the Pro mode, it takes 3.5 to 4 seconds to reach 35m/s which corresponds to a vertical distance of 262 ft (for 4 seconds). Using a Vigil in this case, your reserve will be deployed at 840 ft which is 1.7 second after reaching the activation speed when leaving at 1400 ft. As you see it doesn't take too long to get the activation speed therefore your assumption is not exact. There is an actual risk of not being protected in such a case if not using a Vigil. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The article was on the French review SCIENCE & VIE of October 2010. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I just wonder if we are not in a case of a pilot chute hesitation here. Downloading the data will tell us if the AAD was well set up and fired at the right altitude. IMO this case also tells me that jumping with an AAD should be a personal choice (not for students) and that no entities should make it compulsory. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

It seems that you got a slider away from its stoppers. When you are bagging your parachute, comb the lines near the canopy toward the top to make sure the slider grommets are still against the stoppers. Make sure to have the right rubber bands. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Antonija, good things are hard to get. Some strategy to order is to do it in October and go and pick up your rig in Florida in March.

The one with the pilot chute launching the highest ie The VECTOR III. In case of an AAD firing, that feature will more likely make you avoid a PC hesitation when the time is precious. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Well it depends on the color of the alert (green, orange or red). Some years ago, in the checked luggage mode. a girl from Canada going South got her rig cut and damaged beyond all possibility of repair by seemingly ignorant people. She thought I guess there were no problem by not mentioning. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hello Fredo, would you post a picture of the nice tool you have showed me last weekend (tool for closing a reserve, that Andre had welded for you). That will be very interesting for all riggers. Thanks Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Good, the Infinity is a nice rig but you don't have a Skyhook on it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The cleanest collapsible pilot chute system I have seen so far is what I have on my Vector III. No rapid links to connect bridle or kill line to canopy, no kill line exposed staying into to the D bag...everything is concealed into the bridle. There is only a little window for inspection between the D bag and the canopy. And the installation is super easy. I suggest you have a look to this retractable pilot chute assembly on a Vector III at your DZ. Check on picture in attachment. Note, the kill line has been pulled a bit outside its window to show where it is attached. There is no stitching at all for attachment at that location just a lark head knot. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I always travel with my rig as a carry on luggage. As Indyz said, put just the rig in a suitable case alone. Mine is a TRAVELPRO case equiped with wheels and retractable handle. At the check I ask the supervisor and show him/her my TSA paper on parachute and AAD, the Vigil X-ray card and my skydiver membership card while mentioning there is a parachute into the bag.They generally used the X-ray machine plus a sniffer sample to be analyzed. Be ready to answer questions about what they see on the X-ray machine screen like, the AAD and its 2 cables, the pilot chute spring, the reserve connector links...which is another good reason to at least once be present when your rigger is packing your reserve. If asked why I take it as a carry on I answer this a a life sustaining device which has to be treated with a lot of care and the fact I don't want to get the item exposed to rain, heat, extreme cold or being tossed on carriage and thrown in the airplane cargo room. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I know the info in the Vigil manual. As I said in the precedent post, the Vigil design is a matter of choice. Having (few cases out of 15000 units) is part of the odds of all electronic devices. Why to recall their units when they choose that design ? I prefer to have a firing into the airplane that not being protected in case of a bail out at 1400 ft since we know that airplane engine problems happen most of the time after take off. Even if in such a case I have a little chance to stay alive, I want to keep it by being protected by my Vigil unlike others. It seems for me that a lot people are more impressed by spectacular events (a firing) than an unseen feature (no protection until 1500 ft for instance). We have to stay cool and use our brain to analyse the pro and the con of a device. ANOTHER STORY. I recently read a very interesting article in a scientific review. Here is an extract: Many electronic devices if not all have circuit board using tin for soldered joint. The problem can arise because tin used for soldering is applied on copper. After an undetermined amount of time, copper diffuses into the tin making a tin-copper alloy. That alloy is more bulky and generates a tremendous local pressure resulting into the appearance of wiskers outside the solder. Those wiskers, even minute, can create shorts into the board circuits and lead to malfunctions. Nothing is spared from that kind of problem. Nasa satellites, car airbag, computers and generally all kind of systems using circuit board including maybe AADs. Environment laws forbid now using lead for soldering. Apparently lead solder is less likely to generate the problem mentioned above. If anybody has more info about this "whiskers" problem when using tin-copper joint, I would appreciate to read about it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

What do you prefer ? A firing into the airplane in very rare cases (I have had a Vigil 1 and now the Vigil II without any problem with airplane, chopper...open door since 2005) or no firing at all in free fall then no protection if knocked out at the door due to the rush of jumpers in case of a bail out at 1400 ft. Life is a matter of choice. I prefer the first option, ie. being protected as soon as possible. It is very easy to inhibit an AAD firing until the altitude well above the firing altitude is reached, easy design. For me it is like an insurance car company not covering you within 14 miles from home for instance. That would save a lot of trouble to this company isn't it ? But for you that will be another story. Again statistics speak by themselves. Even few cases are not significant just like it is car airbags. Apparently 15% of them are defective (to be verified). Again, that shouldn't distract you from being safe. A friend of mine and myself (having both a Vigil II) had a Bell 230 chopper ride at the Summerfest 2010 at Skydive Chicago. The chopper stayed flying at few feet from the ground for few seconds, then climbed at 200-300 feet and dived to the ground again to finally climb for good at 5000 ft for jumping. NO PROBLEM. Yes the two passenger doors were removed. What better example can I give ?? I am sure you would appreciate that this info is first hand one and the fact I name the location and the conditions. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

A cheap generalization made here. What about millions of jumps using Vigil with no firing at all. What you say sends a wrong idea to the readers. We can call that intoxication. It's not scientific and completely wrong. When you see car accidents with a couple of Toyota, are saying that Toyota cars are all wrong ?. Are you ignorant to the fact that the main Vigil competitor recalled 1200 units 2 years ago for wrong pressure sensor. Just be way more careful in your statements. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Contact Jean Potvin and Gary Peek (Peek on this forum) from University of St-Louis Mo. They are specialized in low speed aerodynamics concerning parachutes. A person who could help you too is John Sherman of Jump Shack. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.