erdnarob

We were just at the base of the clouds at 1900' and I was the second for jumping out of a Cessna 182. The door was open, the first jumper went, I followed and the rest of the load too. Since I hate slow opening I waited 6 seconds and pulled. After deployment my altimeter was reading 1000 ft (I had no AAD). Unfortunately I had packed my Sabre for a slow opening by rolling and creasing the 4 nose intake folds on each side. I saw a guy passing me in free fall and opening at 800'. We all landed uneventfully and mentioned the people on the ground who wanted to jump they were all grounded. NEVER again. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Has that canopy been jumped in South West in sandy and sunny environment ? Sand goes everywhere and can hide between the stitches. Sun and its UV rays is weakening fabric rather fast. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Yes bad spots exist and for many reasons such as : 1) pilot's mistake or GPS system temporarily out of service 2) poor visibility of the ground seen from 13500', clouds, haze... 3) first jump of the day and people taking a guess 4) winds aloft quite different than those on the ground level 5) first group too slow to exit 6) first group exiting way too early because of many other groups following including tandem ...etc Generally spots are OK but one bad spot could lead to disaster like dropping jumpers in the water, on a mountain slope, in town, in an industrial area... Not being able to get back to the DZ is in my opinion a source of potential hazards. Anything can wait for you at landing like moving vehicles, electrical or telephone lines, junk yard, trees or even alligators... I am at a DZ where we have a lot of place for landing even if we miss moderately the spot. I remember a couple of years ago when a VIP came for a tandem jump accompanied by wife and several employees. It was the first jump of the day and a warm weather front was coming for the South West. The person in charge of the spot took a guess according the winds at the ground. Unfortunately, winds aloft were up to 45 knots. First they drifted badly in freefall because of the winds above the opening altitude then the tandem and cameraman couldn't crab enough to come back in the landing area. They all landed in a field at 2 miles from the airport. I was at the ground trying my best to answer wife and employees questions about such a situation. That VIP was director of a hot air balloon festival and it was no wonder we have never been invited to do a parachute demo at this festival. That prompts me to think about a program to calculate the spot given the winds at different altitudes from the aviation forecast. A friend of mine mentioned he was going to design a computer program using EXCEL to do so. Since I have a HP 48GX graphing calculator I tried to do a program on this calculator and succeeded to get one working fine. My program is using 10 wind data (5 speeds and 5 directions). Winds are given every 3000 feet. I use the winds at 12000, 9000, 6000, 3000 and at ground level and enter the 10 data in a specific order. One push on the menu SPOT and I have for instance : 4700 feet at 245 degrees. I use a satellite picture of the airport and draw radials and 500 feet circles on it and it is easy to show people where to exit and for the pilot to show him the best direction to take on the jump run. Anybody interested to get my program is more than welcome. It is well explained. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The Skyhook seems complex but it isn't. Seeing it working in both modes will convince a lot of people. Last year I had a demo of the Skyhook for the whole Summer. See the picture attached to this post. It has shown a lot of people that there was nothing to worry about. On the other hand your reserve will be open within 75 feet instead of 150-1200 feet as it could be seen on the Skyhook video. I had 2 totals therefore I had to pull my reserve handle and the Skyhook was released automatically as it is designed to do so. The Collins on the Skyhook will make sure that when having an accidental release of the right riser (the one with the RSL) due to a broken riser or a 3 ring breakdown..., the left riser will be released preventing having an entanglement between the reserve and the main still attached to the left riser. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

This is why I became a rigger, it was first to help myself. I started jumping in 1973 and became a rigger in 1977. No regret at all. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I would believe that the Storm is a more modern canopy and seems to have a good reputation. To be more convinced you should read more about the Storm on this web site. The Storm is known to have a very good flare, which not bad for a 7 cells canopy. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The velocity has 7 cells and each of them is divided in 3 sub cells. Those sub cells have pieces of fabric between the bottom skin (against the rib) and the corner diagonally opposed on the top skin (triangulation) or cross braced. That keeps the airfoil of the canopy more rigid therefore stiffer like an airplane wing and increases the performance. Note: Velocity has 7 x 3 = 21 sub cells Sabre 2 has 9 x 2 = 18 sub cells Spectre has 7 x 2 = 14 sub cells Icarus Extreme VX has 9 x 3 = 27 sub cells You got it ? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Are you sure that the pilot chute pocket/velcro location on your rig has been well made ? Compare it to another container of the same manufacturer. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

If you relate to the Vector III with Skyhook incident with a Cessna, well for me it is a Cessna door handle problem. It's the responsibility of the airplane owner to make sure the jump plane is fit for skydiving. If the door handle represented a possible catch for skydiving equipment, it should have been changed. My DZ uses Cessna airplanes and we make sure to put heavy tapes on any parts which can hook, cut or catch the jumper or/and his equipment. It is also the responsibility of the jumper to make sure his equipment has no protruding parts. Any rig could have been caught by this door handle like an exposed 3 ring cable metal housing, a tape across the reserve pin cover that people install to store their pilot chute, the reserve pin cover itself, a camera on the helmet...name it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The Nitro is a full tapered canopy and has almost the same shape than a Katana (seen from above). The big difference between those canopies is that the Katana has a 18 degrees trim angle while the Nitro has only 13.5 degrees. BTW I jumped both of them and they are not for beginners. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The example with airplane is an illustration. The main idea here is to put all the chances on your side and avoid being confused when high stress decreases you ability to perform at your best.

You can rub beeswax on both side of the leg strap where it is threaded thru the adaptor. The beeswax will make it more difficult to slip. You can find beeswax at Paragear or at any store dealing with fabric and stitching. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

A slightly tapered canopy like the Sabre 2 shouldn't be a problem at all even for beginners. BTW the Spectre is slightly tapered too if my memory is good. The advantage of the Sabre 2 is that it is a 9 cells and will provide you a stronger flare than a 7 cells. Remember that your student canopy was a 9 cells. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

A option I would suggest on the Wings container is to change the AAD cutter location from the bottom of the reserve container to a flap above the reserve decreasing that way the length of the cut closing loop under the pin in case of an AAD firing. Shorter is the length, less zigzaging thru the flaps, easier launch of the pilot chute. But I am not sure if they will accept such a change. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Speaking about reserve packing small, I always have wondered why the spanwise construction used by Paraflite Inc. in the 80's for reserve and main hasn't been used by other manufacturers. I know there is a patent on that type of construction but after 20+ years, it seems it should be tried again. That kind of construction has some advantages like packing smaller and because of lateral seams a cell couldn't tear off from nose to tail like other type of construction. In 1983, I have had a Paraflite Swift reserve 5 cells made spanwise. I never had to fly it but it was packing very small and the size was 179 sq.feet (if my memory is good). Later on, Paraflite made the Swift Plus which was a 7 cells reserve also made spanwise. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You really would be surprised how confused one can be in a high stress situation even with the right and the left especially when having a first malfunction. People should put all the chances on their side. There is a thread on this forum about dealing with: WHY PEOPLE DON'T PULL THEIR RESERVE RIPCORD ? I am sure those knew the difference between their right and left side. There is a big difference between knowing what to do and doing it. Keeping shape and color different for handles is safe and deals with ergonomy. Did you know that in airplanes the handle to lower the landing gear has the shape of a wheel and the handle for the flaps have the shape of a flap. Then do you still think the airplane designers are in the wrong activity? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Thanks for the clear explanation, I was assuming the lines had the right length. Unfortunately, people posting their problem not always give us important info like the no. of jumps on the canopy or else. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

This doesn't look like a line over. It seems that some lines are caught together at the rear left side grommet of the slider. I would say the problem comes from a tension knot between two lines (one from the rear and one from the front) which keeps the slider (rear left side) in the high position. Prevention of that. Have the right size of of rubber bands. You probably got a partial lines dump on the left side. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Beware of fashion versus function. Function is the most important especially when dealing with cut away and reserve activation stuff. When I say FUNCTION here I mean BRAIN FUNCTION (since both kinds of handle work). Brain function ? What's that ? In case of emergency (a malfunction for instance), the high stress situation makes your QI decreases a lot and you will not even remember the name of your mother, not to mention time and altitude awareness. The only thing you will feel or see or understand will be SHAPE and COLOR. That's why in my opinion the CUT AWAY HANDLE should stay a pillow type with a bright color different than your rig and the reserve handle should be silver, all of that to avoid confusion when you need the maximum of your reduced capabilities. However freeflyers prefer a pillow type reserve handle more suitable for what they do, same for CREW afficionados. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

If you want to travel in the air or come back from a long spot and have a very strong flare, choose a 9 cell Sabre 2. If you want to get a more steep descent take a 7 cell Storm which is in a way the successor of the Spectre. If you want something with very light toggle pressure, travel a lot in the air, easy packing and average flare choose the PD 9 cell Pulse. Talk about that to an instructor who knows you very well. Your canopy has to reflect what you need and what kind of flying you prefer. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

If I suppose the 150 main canopy is suitable for you, I suggest you buy a 143 PD reserve of which the actual size is 151 square feet according Paragear catalog at page 285. You still have to match the volume of both canopies with the container size. Ask the harness/container manufacturer what size you need for the canopies of your choice. I do not recommend you to have a reserve with lines the same length or longer than the lines of your main (in case of a double deployment). Shorter lines for the reserve will likely provide you a steerable configuration like a biplane since the main will take the lead. This is what I think based on a single experience. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Any kind of AAD's is allowed in Europe provided you complied with the manufacturer's directives about their products just like any parachute rigs. In France Vigil II including the type 3 cutter is not a problem. Elsewhere Vigil I are OK provided you have the type 3 cutter. This is what was requiring Advanced Aerospace Designs the Vigil manufacturer. Your rigger should be aware of this since he/she should received the Technical Bulletins from USPA or CSPA or else. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

With the Spectra ripcord there is NO PROTRUDING part at all unlike the metal cable and ball which shows a good 2-3" extra and represents a possible catch (it happened in Germany few years ago). Now why change something which works (for 70 years) ? Because the Spectra ripcord while being stronger than metal cable and having no protruding part decreases also the problem related to a floating ripcord (having NO ACCESS to a reserve ripcord is a major issue isn't it ?). I have jumped my Vector III equiped with Spectra ripcord at 2 major boogies ie. SDC Summerfest and Tiki Bar boogie at SNE, NO TRACE of wear on the Spectra rip cord at the handle. I don't even think that the Spectra rubs against the packing carpet when packing. Same for the 3 ring white loops. Moreover I had to open my reserve container recently (I have felt no difference with respect to an all metal ripcord) and this time I made 400 move back and forth with a Kevlar line (twice the amount of moves than the precedent test), and no significant damage on the line. Now, could you check the swaging of the ball or/and pin of your metal reserve ripcord ? No at all. You only can do it if you have a machine to test them at 300 lbs for 3 seconds (by the way, I have designed and made such a machine). Could you check the pin itself and see if there is any micro cracks in it like it happened few years ago when some pins broke with almost no stress on them ??? With the Spectra ripcord, you can check easily the two bartacks securing the fingertarp at both ends. All of that is an actual advantage and the rest represents pure speculation but as I said on other issues, you have the right to prefer to keep your old slippers.

I believe you got your answer but I would add that if the gear life limitation would have been 15 or 20 years in the 60's-70's and even in the 80's, well the parachuting would be now quite different or wouldn't exist at all since at the time, we were using army surplus. That made possible for the sport parachuting to get more and more popular paving that way the road for what we have now. We are rigger or have access to them, therefore we have to use our judgment if the gear are airworthy or not. Airplanes having more than 20 years are common even among airlines and military. DC-3 are 60 years + old and 1000 of them are still flying in the world. Why do some people want to wash more white than white ? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Sorry, I didn't try the front riser turns or else. What you say is not surprising (a lot of front riser pressure) since I believe PD put more weight distribution on the front risers and that would be compatible with the low pressure on the toggles and the impression of lightness when flying the Pulse. In other words, it's not an agressive canopy. Well, you will have to burn altitude by applying deep brakes without getting tired. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.