tso-d_chris

Common first canopies include both 7 cell and 9 cell canopies. As a general rule, 9 cells have a higher aspect ratio than do 7 cells. Aspect ratio is defined as the span of the canopy divided by the chord length of the canopy. Span is the length of the canopy when measured from one side to the other. The chord length is the length of the canopy when measured from front to rear. Again, as a general rule, the higher the aspect ratio of a canopy, the more efficiently the canopy will fly, the better glide ratio it will get. The lower the aspect ratio, the more stable the canopy will be. This of course assumes all else is equal, which it rarely if ever is, which is why buying a canopy based purely on manufacturer's specifications, without demoing first, is generally not the best way to go about a canopy purchase. Common 9 cell canopies one might purchase from me as a first canopy include Performance Designs' Sabre2, Aerodyne's Pilot, or Icarus' Safire2. These canopies all have similar, though not identical, flight characteristics Common 7 cell canopies purchased as a first canopy include Performance Designs' Spectre, Icarus' Omega or Aerodyne's Triathlon. These canopies will fly in a similar manner, especially at lower wing loadings. Every canopy mentioned except Aerodyne's Triathlon are tapered (in some manner) planforms, as opposed to the Triathlon's rectangular planform. The planform is the shape of the canopy as you look up at it from underneath, like when you are flying it. All of these canopies are made from zero porosity fabric, commonly referred to as ZP or ZeroP. The other fabric, not as common for main canopies, is low porosity fabric, commonly known as F111 (one-eleven), which was the brand name of one manufacturer's version of low porosity fabric. ZP lets no air through, and newish F111 lets very little pass through the fabric. Most mains are made from ZP fabric. Almost all reserves are made entirely from F111 fabric. chris@tso-d.com

Fixed it for you!

Send the rig back to the manufacturer. It sounds like a main malfunction waiting for an inconvenient time/place to happen. For Great Deals on Gear

Not all manufacturers are created equal when it comes to coordinating orders. Some are squared away, and little time is required to get the order correct. Others require what accumulates to several hours worth of time just to get some basic questions answered. Not long ago, it took me over a month of phone calls and emails to get the status on a custom container. While not all manufacturers are this difficult to deal with, it is not an isolated case (or manufacturer). It isn't accurate to consider the profit the result of an hour of work. Selling skydiving gear is only easy work if you don't have to do it. Businesses have inventory costs, although this is not applicable to gear drop-shipped from the manufacturer.Quote Some manufacturers charge for drop shipments (shipping directly to the end customer instead of to the dealer from whom the gear was ordered). This adds costs to the dealer even though it doesn't contribute to "inventory costs." Just my $.02.

Most jumpers have the option of sending the rig back to the manufacturer for prettier repacks. If the local riggers miss the business, they will become more practiced on the rig. I would not recommend choosing a rig by how easy a rigger finds them to pack. Good criteria for choosing a rigger, but not a rig, IMO. It's hard to find riggers that like all rigs, and they seldom agree on which rigs they dislike.

I made my first wingsuit jump on that load. The jumpers briefed the pilot on the spot (load was all wingsuits, except a tandem pair that exited long before the wingsuits), but the pilot failed to put the plane in the proper place, and failed to inform jumpers about the different spot. While obviously other things had to go wrong for a bad spot to result in a fatality, it was the initial link in a chain of things going wrong for the jumper. I would consider the spot a much larger contributor to the fatality than the suit. Before I left the plane, my BMI told me to "forget the dive plan. The spot sucks. Fly straight back to the DZ."

True, But one with Fed-Ex plastered on the sides would make for better exit videos!

It should not create a problem, because the RSL side does not change on the container, for which the cutaway handle is designed. If the RSL loop is on the wrong side, the RSL cannot be hooked up.

I would recommend a used zero porosity canopy (such as a Spectre or Sabre2) over a new F111 canopy. The main and container you have mentioned will likely be more difficult to sell when the time comes, and may not bring as much of the original price as other choices will. Equipment sized for common body sizes and canopies appropriate for new jumpers maintain their resale value best, and are usually pretty easy to sell after a season or two, provided they are well cared for. There are a few containers that offer exceptional value. Feel free to PM or email me for more information and prices. Chris chris@tso-d.com

It's a TSOd skydiving rig, per your requirements. For Great Deals on Gear

I am curious about the logic behind putting trackers out before tandems. Tandems fall straight down, for the most part, while trackers can cover lots of ground, and need more distance between exit point and opening point. The best solution I have heard is Billvon's: It has been my experience that tandem exit points are about the right distance from the DZ to open at, but far too short to exit at. Treating trackers like (much less efficient) wingsuits should be beneficial to everyone on the load, offering separation and nice opening spots.

I'm not Fitz! Responding to a different post, perhaps?

Funny, since many, if not the majority of Racer and Strong Tandem fans I have encountered have been riggers. As far as Wings go, compare the rigs you mentioned to a Wings after a thousand jumps, and you will notice that some of the rigs that you consider superior do not wear nearly as well as the Wings system. Just because a rig costs more does not make it superior.

Have you thought about trying to get paid to have images of a partially eaten apple plastered all over some brand new gear, and just billing it to your expense account?

I used to jump an NJ with a Safire 129 and a Tempo 150. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is packing challenged. For Great Deals on Gear

First, consider a PR-193 reserve, at least. Your reserve is usually used when things are already going wrong. If you are steadfast in your decision to go with the PR-176, call PD for a demo canopy. If you can land a 176 well ten landings out of ten jumps, then it might be an okay choice, although a 193 would still be a wiser one. You won't be able to have a pillow reserve ripcord handle (similar to your cutaway handle) and a low profile reserve ripcord handle, which is similar to the D-handle you are (probably) already familiar with. I recommend the low profile handle. I hope this helps you.

Think of tracking as a naked wingsuit jump! The skills one learns tracking will be very helpful if they go on to learn to fly wingsuits. Flying a wingsuit is like morphing your body into a canopy, instead of just piloting one from below. If you are not flying horizontally, you are just falling down! BTW, careful with your spot on those tracking dives. For Great Deals on Gear

Yes I do.

You would be surprised what a good inspection will detect. Perhaps if you did a side by side inspection you would see that Wings really are built to similar quality standards as a Vector. Not all containers compare favorably, but some do. Some might even show more attention to detail.

I scrutinized a Wings and a Micron yesterday, and the build quality is essentially the same, very high. It boils down to personal preference, but not quality. For Great Deals on Gear

I don't recommend anyone buy an old anything for regular skydiving use.

I would have to question the velcro mating process at packing. I've seen way to much Racer freeflying video without problems to believe it's a poor design. Mate the riser covers incorrectly a handful of times, though, and it wears out prematurely. Of course the old racers without walrus teeth were none to expose the main pin, but that has long since been fixed.

Your right. They had nothing to do with our nature or our nurture. How foolish of me. Do you really believe companies would spend billions annually on advertising if they didn't know that it worked? No one is assigning blame, but one would have to be a fool not to see the family and cultural influences that can work strongly to help develop and nurture poor lifestyle choices. There is a lot of junk science out there concerning weight loss. Many overweight people are working very hard at the wrong things. They're not all lazy. why are you so quick to judge?

Again you are relying on statistics irrelevant to the conversation. If you are going to respond to my posts, you should at least respond to points I actually make.

Sadly, you don't seem to have any applicable statistics that compare the benefits of having a gun for a trained vs. for an untrained victim per my post that you are replying to. I suspect they would show that with proper training, having a gun is even more beneficial, while without training, guns don't help as much.