erdnarob

With no computer included : VISO, OPTIMA or SOLO all from Larsen & Brusgaard; NEOXS from Parasport With computer: PROTRACK from Larsen & Brusgaard, SKYTRONICS from Parasport; NEPTUNE from Alti-2 I personally prefer Larsen & Brusgaard products for their reliability and the incredible good service. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Years ago, canopy manufacturers were including the glide ratio in the specifications. Not anymore. But I agree it should be between 2 and 3 for the Sabre. This summer, I am going to use the application SPEED CHECK using the GPS of my iPhone to see what is the horizontal full flight speed of my Katana. Flying it downwind and upwind and checking the corresponding speeds should allow me to get the ground speed of the canopy and therefore the glide ratio if I take in account the altitude and the time of the descent. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

And I still have the same opinion about the Vigil II. No expensive compulsory maintenance, more rugged, more attractive, more advanced technology, easier to undertand, multi mode....name it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I understand you want to make a surprise to your boyfriend but if he is a very demanding guy with respect to the quality of his equipment, don't buy him a camera since he probably knows exactely what he wants. But for 200 Sterling Pounds you can buy him an ALTITRACK altimeter/computer for instance. You will have way less chance to disappoint him. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You certainly need a good refresh course. Why not registering for a first jump course (including Emergency procedures) oriented toward the IAD (Instructor Assisted Deployment) approach. It will be less expensive and soon your AFF experinece will serve you. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

With 13 jumps, just finished your AFF you should really continue the after AFF program leading you to the first license (A). Since you go in Spain, they should have a similar program. Ask for a manual describing what you can expect to do the air to continue your progression. Generally it comprises : 1) some freefall style or compulsory figures like DSE told you (turns, barrel roll, front and back loops and combination of those The goal of those figures is to get you well coordinated and able to recover from any position. 2) one to one Formation skydiving with no contact then later on with contact followed by tracking away including changing your rate of fall according to match your coach (up and down), back up, forward, flying sideway...then contact, 360, contact... etc The goal of those exercices is to get you able to move horiontally and vertically in the air with precision and to track away horizontally and open your canopy after a wave off. 3) canopy control with rear and front risers turns, slow flying near the stall point and recovery, flat turns... and accuracy landing at your level. The goal of those exercices is to make you getting experience with all kind of manoeuvers with your canopy and know how it reacts and go and land at a specific place. This is what you can expect. You should always report to an instructor and got a good briefing prior those jumps. Have fun and tell us about your progression. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Mario, you have to remember that Portugal is member of the NATO. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I fully agree. Having somebody knowledgeable taking your measurements will save you some problems. A jumpsuit costs a lot and that's why you should make sure to double check all the figures. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

And ignoring the past condemns you to repeate its mistakes. Beside that, buying an old rig can be like buying an old airplane. Who is not happy when seeing a Spitfire or a Mustang flying ? Personnaly in my skydiving life I am glad I went thru the most simple ie. a round army surplus parachute (T10) to the Para Commander to the US Papillon, Stratocloud...........and now one of the most aggressive, the Katana which is by the way as soft as a silk if you know how to pet it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Jerry, this was not the Greenstar express piggyback, it was a Greenstar with a chest mounted reserve. I had one of those in 1975 and made about 130 jumps on it without any problem. I had my first cut away on it using the one and half shot Capewell. This was the only cut away where I could see the beautiful Strong lopo reserve deployement with a diaper because of my sitting position. I know the problem Greenstar got with their piggyback and if I remember well that put them out of business. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

All books mentioned are excellent but to complete your new skydiver education you can go and download on the CSPA web site at www.cspa.ca and make your choice like PIM1, PIM2 for a good start. Moreover your local DZ should have probably its own manual about the first jump to the A or even B license. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I started jumping in 1973 with army surplus B12 container (4 pins) and chest mounted reserve either. Better yet in 1975 I made few jumps at Orange Massachussets with a Para Commander Mark II. Guess who was in the airplane with me going at 12000', Lew Sanborn D1 himself. I have also jumped the Norseman at Orange Ma. World is small. I have to go back at Orange. Maybe this summer. My first parachute jumps were made with a T10 of 35ft diameter but one time I have jumped a C9, it was to land into the snow. Good memories. We didn't have the best equipment but we were happy. I am still happy but under a Katana now. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

A zero porosity canopy is good for 1000-2000 jumps with relining every 400-500 jumps provided the jumping conditions are good and the owner protects it from the sun, adverse chemicals and high temperature. If the canopy is jumped in a sandy and sunny area like in the desert, sand is the big problem since it goes into the seams where the cells meet and has a grinding effect on the stitches and the material. Such a canopy will last quite less. A participant to this forum was telling us that a canopy having extensively been jumped in the desert blew at opening while the number of jumps on it was relatively low. The material was OK but the stitches were worn out by the sand hidden inside. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

There is nothing wrong with a old container until a certain extent because the container mainly hold the volume of the parachutes. The main concern should be the harness integrity since it takes the shock at opening. If straps are not frayed and the stitches are intact the rig should be good. Have it checked by a rigger anyway. I know a guy in Canada who has a sort of museum of old rigs and he have them refurbished and jump them with the vintage canopies inside like: Para Commander, Volplane, paraplane, Paradactyl, Double keel Paradctyl...name it. I even gave him an almost unused container /harness Green Star made in the seventies in perfect condition. For refurbishing some very old canopies, he has the cooperation of several canopies manufacturers. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The purpose of a seal is similar to the fact of closing a car or house main door with a lock when you are away. It is a sort of guarantee that nobody has opened the reserve container. The reserve is your last chance and you want to be sure it is ready to work. Since the seal has the mark (number) of the rigger, it is a way to track if your rigger is qualified. It happened to me to see a seal on a reserve not corresponding to the signature of the "packer". That rig had been pen packed. In an other case, a seal number revealed that the "rigger" had not a continuous rating then was not qualified and obviously not current. He had put the reserve bag the wrong way in the container. The seal is there for your safety and I think it's a good idea to have one. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

For sure a senior rigger can do it. I am one of those and I can tell you, a skyhook is so easy and simple to understand and set up in a reserve, you wouldn't believe it. I recommend you to assist when your rigger packs your reserve at least once to better understand your system. Ask your rigger to show you the 2 modes of the Skyhook actition a) when cutting away from the main b) when just pulling your reserve ripcord. I have personnally a Skyhook installed on my Vector III and have had 2 total mal since, not because of the main. Each time the Skyhook released itself from the reserve bridle as designed and without me noticing anything but having a deployed reserve above me in a sec. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I would be glad, curious as I am, to get some of them. Thanks. About ethics, well I still don't understand why some individuals are forging false seals or pen pack their rig. As long as they do it with their own rig they just harm themselves. But I have withnessed a case where a DZO was doing it with a tandem rig used by other tandem masters. For me it's a criminal offense. Fortunately the person is no more a DZO now. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Thank you for the very nice and complete report on the Pulse. If you have a chance, would take 2 measurements for me on that canopy. Here is what to do: 1) take one of the middle cell side seams and with some tension on the seam between 2 points, measure the distance between the A and D line attachment points. 2) take the same 2 attachment points (A&D) and pull the 2 lines taut and overlapping with somebody holding the harness and measure the difference in length of those two lines. 3) let me know the 2 figures and that way I will calculate the trim or pitch angle. Thanks Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Jerry, if you are thinking to develop paper seal for reserve, think about to incorporate a hologram in it to make a copy almost impossible to do. He he! Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

First of all, remember that your altimeter if of analog type measures the pressure directly with an aneroid chamber or pressure chamber transfering its change of volume into a needle motion on the dial. Therefore, if your altimeter is placed at a location where there is high alternating pressure fluctuation due to the air jam or partial vacuum no wonder the needle becomes crazy. The needle could even stop descending for few seconds when in freefall which means your altimeter is in a partial vacuum. Try to put your analog altimeter at another location. Digital altimeters are using the same principle (pressure chamber) but are taking a lot of samples (measurements) per second and give you the average result. What you did is super since when in doubt, you pull. But you don't have to put away the idea that your altimeter has a problem. If it the case have it tested where you bought it. You can have an idea if it works by putting it in the partially inflated transparent plastic. Put your altimeter in and close the bag and very gently press on the bag. That simulates you decending since you increase the pressure and the needle should move down indicating a lower altitude. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I have always been (as dealing with physics) amazed by polarized glasses. But I was surprised many years ago when I was taking flying lessons to hear that polarized glasses were to be avoided when flying airplanes. The windshield of an airplane polarizes partially the ligth and if the pilot wear polarized glasses some spots can become dark and hide an approaching airplane. For the same reason I think a jumper should not jump with polarized glasses and having digital liquid crystal display on a device to read since it can appear partially or completely black at certain angles. People who want to know exactely what I mean can try this: use polarized glasses and look on an electronic calculator, Cypres or Vigil display and rotate your head and see the effect. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Well we have to be careful here. What we know now about slinks has probably been developed in a basement by an amateur just like a lot of modern equipment parts. I understand that the slink shown on the picture is a bit unusual but the questions are : 1) Is the strength of this slink enough ? 2) is the bartack good enough to "lock" and stabilize the braids ? A master rigger can certainly use his judgement to evaluate that. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I just said "when it's windy". I didn't say "when winds were too dangerous to jump". My point is the following. From my experience**, I have found that not landing at the DZ because of a bad spot or because of wind exceeding the capability of the canopy is very dangerous especially at some DZ which are located in town or between the mountains or in the middle of forests. The advantage of having a canopy size at your body size is that a better penetration thru the wind can save your live. You never know what is waiting on the ground for you when landing outside the DZ in the type of DZ named above. Hydro lines, water, road traffic, junk yard, forests...name it. At a DZ there is generally grass and where you land it's free of any obstacles. Elsewhere, you can hurt badly yourself or worse even with a perfect landing. You just don't know. In other words, landing at the DZ is part of the safety because the DZ is designed to do so. This to illustrate what you can expect at the ground. ** I didn't like the time I had to do accuracy in the forest (in Florida) and pass on purpose at 3 feet from the top of a tree to make sure I would have enough of clear space ahead of me in the 100 ft glade I had chosen for landing with my Katana. **I didn't like it either when I was over another forest (Canada) and I have landed in a junk yard after passing a road and hydro lines. I just found out after a very nice landing that just beside the place I have landed on there were pieces of concrete with rusted steel bars hidden in the high grass. You can say that if the wind exceeds your parachute capability, don't jump. Easy to say but it's a bit more unpredictable than that since a wind can pick up after take off and on a Cessna DZ especially, after half an hour of climbing, conditions at the ground can be a bit different than the ones existing at the take off. Landing outside the DZ is very dangerous. A student was lost in 2008 in Canada after he landed in hydro lines not far away from the DZ. OTOH people who hurt themself or die when landing very small canopies (120 or less) are very experienced people, not the beginners. I have produced statistics on this forum showing that students are way less at risk than experienced people. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Why not using advantages of both technologies. An analog altimeter on the wrist and an audible/digital/computer in the helmet. Or using the altitrack from L&B on the wrist which has the digital technology but displays the altitude like being analog, and being a computer/log book as well. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Thank you for the precision. I understand that the method described on your PDF document is ONE of the acceptable methods. I am maybe a bit nit picking but the method described in that document doesn't seem to be a guarantee the safety braid to be broken when you pull the rip cord. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.