Vectracide

I am putting together my own FF Suit out of 4-ply taslan and have run into problems using the nylon thread, type 69 that I used to sew the panels together, to satin stitch my designs on top of the panels. Yeah, its obvious overkill on the thread size, but its the only nylon that I have and the town I live in doesn't carry crap for nylon or polyester that is strong enough. So the million dollar question for those that make suits, what size poly or nylon should I be using for this application? Also, are you using bonded or soft thread. Just so I am clear, this is the zig zag that completely covers the designs that overlay the main suit. I can't walk into a store in this town and test and look at these threads, so I am left with online stores and ordering blindly can get expensive. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Were you using the CPA function of your alitimeter? ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Craptrometer...... ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

True and quite insightful Greg. However, I would like to expand on your concept. You see, the ionic plasma produced by a hypervelocity swooper dive can be analyzed to determine compositional information for the original particle by using a time-of-flight mass craptrometer. Such methods have been adopted on interplanetary Uber detectors to perform in-swoop analyses of encountered gates, for example, the Cassini Cosmic Phat Analyser (CPA). In order to more fully understand the data returned by such instruments, it is necessary to study their response to impacts in the laboratory. Accordingly, data are shown here for the mass spectra of ionic plasmas, produced through the acceleration of multi-rotational dives via a 2 MV van de Sphincter accelerator and their impact on a dimensionally correct CPA (remember, the Cosmic Phat Analyser) model with a rhodium target. The microparticle dusts examined have three different chemical compositions: metal (Femur replacement), organic (testicus maximus and intellectualus minimus) and mineral (Taurine and guarana). The advent of new low-density, microcanopies with highly controllable attributes (composition, size) has enabled a number of new investigations, or swoop-particle, in this area. The key is the use of the testicus maximus, either as the particle itself or as a thin overlayer on the organic magnatron, commonly known as the viscous liquid that determines the CPA rating. This conductive coating permits efficient yet unintelligent charging and acceleration. Here, we examine how the projectile's chemical composition influences the ionic plasma produced after the hypervelocity impact. This study thus extends our understanding of impact plasma formation and detection as it relates to velocity and speed. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Couple things to think about for a quick reply: Front riser = increased speed Speed = lift Lift = increased toggle response Toggle = drag due to lift Drag+lift = decreased speed Decreased speed = slow, sluggish toggle response So, when you riser turn, you speed up, thus increasing your speed that gives you faster toggle response and more lift when you really need it. When you toggle turn, you increase drag and lift, which gives you the direct response of a turn, but on the bottom end of the turn, you suffer form the aforementioned drag and lift. Your toggle response for a flare will be slower and less effective. These turns are called toggle whips and are to be avoided when near the big hard rock as a performance manouver. As Chachi mentioned....when you toggle whip...it puts you really high over your canopy and you need to make up that distance with time......time that you might not have if your low. If you riser, you are in a much better position to right the wrong if you need to....the toggle response will be there. Don't waste it up high. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Errr....perhaps I should have done a search. I thought this was a new camera that just came out. Crap. Oh well. Disregard this thread. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

So, with Sony abandoning the skydiver market with the disappearance of the upright models that we have so many helmets designed around, it seems that Canon has produced a model to bridge that gap. This little sucker has the same profile as the PC models and sports the larger 37mm lens with threading. The cameras dimensions are almost exactly that of the PC120, being only 1/2 inch taller and .2 inches wider (not thicker). This camera will not only fit into the bonehead drop-in boxes, but the older molded clam style for all the PC series. Thats a big bonus. It's outputs are: Firewire, USB, Component, and AV minijack (anyone know what that one does? Will this port work as the Sony Lanc port does? I can see that being a big problem with the vidiots. The batteries are obviously different as is the charger, but this wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. So do any of you out there have this camera yet? It appears to be a good candidate for the lack of Sony upright models, and has quite a lot of nice features that even the Sony models don't, such as the high res still shots at 3.1 megapixel and a non-pop up flash that works like a video light as well. Price is quite attractive at under 1k. I'd like to hear from anyone that has this baby or has experimented with it. Edit to add link to camera: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=448812&is=REG&addedTroughType=search ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Good lord.....have you been under a rock for the last 5 years and not heard of Google? Or were you born very lazy? http://www.google.com/search?q=skydiving+freefly+suits&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Oh shit....now that right there is some funny stuff. I have been sitting on my couch during these shows saying damn near the same thing to my wife. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

If money isn't an object, get all the options for whatever container fits you well. All FF friendly rigs work the same damn way, the main tray is below the reserve tray, with 2 handles in the front. Now buying based on what everyone else is buying isn't doing yourself justice. Try on different rigs that are owned by people of the same build to get an idea of what is comfortable for you. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but don't be a lemming and buy what other people think is the best. Buy what YOU think is the best. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Decent vids....get a little lower on the tandem and you seemed to get a little too close to some of the drouges when you floated up on them. Easy fixes. Also, if you want more variety with your vids, get a wider lens for your hybrids and FF jumps. Waycool lenses are a good bet right now....avoid Royal-lens...they aren't shipping or giving money back right now for some reason. On the other hand.....for the love of god, either drain and fill in that ditch, or get a canopy coach out there....SOON. Since its such a small patch of water, jumpers are fixating on hitting it and are going to....and did smack the ground. Most of those were low turns. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Yeah, that has got to be quite an experience. The last vid I saw of this guy flying his wing, it only had 2 turbines on it, and was only able to maintain level flight. Now there are 4 turbines on the wing and he is able to climb at a 45 degree angle, loop and roll. Friggin amazing. Given the chance, hell ya. In a New York Minute. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

You didn't sell my Xfire to afford it did ya? ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

There is an unoffical VR of a 9-way that took place last season in Oregon. We plan on smashing that this season, with actual judges this time. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Although this doesn't give the direct # to Max himself, there is a couple numbers of his web client. They might like to know that they are supporting a guy that is using their service to conduct fraud. If enough people hound them, perhaps something will be done. http://www.who.is/whois-com/ip-address/royal-lens.com/ Here is a better # for the host. John Bacan 440-331-0560 john.bacan@biz-edge.com ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Ian, I agree and disagree at the same time. I agree in the respect that this IS a jumper awareness issue, totally. We have been policing ourselves since the beginning of skydiving when it comes to our safety. This idea should continue and never leave the minds of every single skydiver. "I am responsible for myself, and the safety of others around me with my actions" I tend to believe that most would agree. Now for the unfortunate negative part......where has the above gotten us? Has this attitude improved our safety as a whole, or at a couple sole DZ's where EVERYONE is on board, including the DZO. I have to tell you, I for one have not seen this anywhere I have ever jumped. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, just that I haven't seen it. I have seen it to be as close as it's going to get at a couple DZ's, but there is always those couple of individuals that seem to think that they reserve the right to put everyone else at risk. Call them locals, or staff, or the know-it-all. I just don't see the fix coming from self-regulation, because we (skydivers) have talked about this being the solution to our problems every time this happens. Unfortunately, it isn't ever really successful. Of course, we can't expect a 100% success rate, but there hasn't really been any appreciable improvement on the matter either. I agree that passing the buck is not the right way to deal with the issue. The responsibility for safety, no matter how you look at it, is in our hands as individuals. Some take this matter seriously, and some think that the bad stuff they read on Dropzone.com will never happen to them. As I don't advocate a governing body telling us what we can and cant do, I would like to see something come from the USPA. Albeit a BSR, or perhaps even another rating covering canopy progession and individual canopy piloting ability. Now I know that this would not have prevented what happened in regards to Tom, but its a start. There will always be tragic events within this sport, no matter what rules, precautions, or steps we take. Its just how it is. But at the same time, in light of that, it should not preclude us from doing everything we can to give each individual the ability and options to make it to the ground alive. Respectfully....... ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

>>This will also work - but it is a solution that I fear will not be implemented at most DZ's due to lack of available area/inconvenience. A 'hybrid' approach if you will is to allow swooping in the main area but only during specific passes (i.e. hop and pops.) Agreed. Don't get me wrong, I also would like to see some in air changes in addition to a separate landing area as well. At this point in time, I see there a need for the USPA to step up and use the money we pay them to research the issue and find a solution that will be part of their regulations. I am tired of seeing the same issue happen over and over again, and to the normal every day paying member, it appears that the USPA does not care what happens at DZ's as long as they get their membership money. It took Nascar one definitive crash/death (Dale Earnhart), to implement a mandatory Hanns device. Now the logistics of cost being shared by each racing team is much easier than forcing the cost of a seperate landing area by a DZ. I understand that there are some huge hurdles here to alleviate the situation.....but my question is.....does or will the USPA ever care enough to do something about it? ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

>>?? Why wouldn't they? Exit order is determined by separation at opening time, not by landing order. Which is how it should be. As Bryan Burke among others have pointed out, relying on opening altitude for _any_ sort of separation just doesn't work. When you are conducting a swooping only load, which is what I was clearly talking about when using the above plan, the highest loaded pilot leaves first....every time. We are not talking about exit order for an otter full of multi-disciplined jumpers. >>So it comes down to the 8-way getting out first for freefall separation issues. They may have big canopies, they may have small canopies. You don't put a 2 way freefly out first just because of their canopy sizes. Correct. I do not argue this point at all. Lets keep the point on topic. I am have not confused swoop loads with otter loads. >>You misunderstand. I don't want anyone "taking it lower." Relying on opening altitude for separation doesn't work. ***Swooping load. If there's a jump run set up specifically for swooping, it might well make sense to have the larger canopies pull low and the smaller canopies to pull _very_ high, say at 5000.*** You did say have the larger canopies pull low. In swoop loads, there is no pulling low. You are already low. Getting out at 5k is low. Due to opening characteristics of some of these canopies, regardless of what was said earlier by a non-swooper, there is a necessary precaution to be taken when considering opening altitude. Swoopers with comp. canopies and comp. RDS sliders, do not like to pull lower than 4k. I know, as I am one of them. It takes time to stow your stuff. I don't want to be worrying about a large canopy that is below me, as my canopy plummets twice as fast, while I am doing this. Regardless of how it plays out on paper, Bill, the techinque you promote does_not_work with swoop loads. >All this time, there is natural separation between all pilots based on how fast their canopies sink, due to the highest loaded getting out first and the lightest getting out last. This is how it is done at every DZ I have done swoop loads at. It is the safest way to do it, hence why it is practiced at swoop comps. >>Right, and that's an excellent way to set up swoop-specific loads. The heavier loadings sink faster - so even if everyone opens at about the same altitude (which happens; snivels are unpredictable) you still have separation at landing time. The additional separation you might get from high openers helps even more. This is why I suggest that heavier loadings should land first even on regular loads. During swoop loads, even with uneve opening altitudes due to snivel, the pilots are expected to keep the landing order the same as the exit order. If this is a big concern to pilots, then allow more seperation between exits. More often than not, the swoop load will be out of a Cessna and no more than 4 people. Even in Co. CPC Championships there was 4 passes of 4 people out of an Otter. The first pilot of each pass will take it to lowest he feels comfortable, such as 4k, and the other pilots will not take it below that mark....and ususally stack it higher. This works perfectly, and there is no need to change it. >Finding a solution to this problem should involve a slower, safer flying configuration . . . >>That can be accomplished by having the larger canopies fly with a bit of brakes. Now this is where I lose you completely Bill. How, in one hand can you suggest that larger canopies get out first followed by higher loaded canopies....then in the other hand agree with me on slower traffic by suggesting that the first out larger canopy hang out in slight brakes? They are already going quite slow comparatively, so why for the sake of Pete would you want them to slow up even more....allowing the possiblity of the higher loaded faster canopy to catch them? Once again...the only possible solution to the problem is a totally separate landing area for swoopers. And to be specific, one who's pattern is not converging. That is a bad idea, which leads to exactly what Preezone talked about. On normal jump days, pick a right or left pattern....and stay with it. Competitions, on the other hand, are totally different and controlled. There can be 4 guys in the sky, setting up for 4 different degree's of turn....and we will not have a problem. It's all about being heads up, taking others into consideration, giving them space and not boning the pilots above you. We can do this, as we know what to expect from the other pilots during swoop loads and swoop comps. When you put the 1:1 and the 2:5 in the same landing area.....its a crap shoot, no matter what you plan for at exit time, or deployment time, or group size, or freefall disicipline. There are way too many variables to create an effective algorithm for this. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

I'd like to chime in here for a sec. I believe that there are some important things that are going overlooked here when it comes to some of your examples and ideas, even though I respect your thought process and it makes sense on paper, but in real world, not so much. For example......In big-ways, there is absolutely no reason, or excuse to be swooping. I believe that there are some cases where this rule has to be applied, and this is one of them. Therefore, if it is applied and heeded by all, there is no issue here. I have not been on a RW big-way, but unless you have people slotted for the breakoff based on their loading, you still stand a chance of higher loaded folks opening a couple grand above the 1:1 people. As for the swooping load configuration.....it makes no sense to me whatsoever. Why would the person with the lightest loading get out first....just to have the higher loaded pilots catch up with them near the ground? Now I understand that you would like to see the lighter loaded pilot take it down much lower than the others....but this still doesn't fix the issue. Most swoop loads that I have been on, don't go much lower than 4.5k. Sometimes to 5k. This allows the highest loaded pilot to pull at around 4k and have his shit stowed and ready to go at no lower than 3k or so. All this time, there is natural separation between all pilots based on how fast their canopies sink, due to the highest loaded getting out first and the lightest getting out last. This is how it is done at every DZ I have done swoop loads at. It is the safest way to do it, hence why it is practiced at swoop comps. When it comes to your idea of having the higher loaded pilots grabbing a front riser and rushing it down to land first is just not how I see it fixing anything. In fact, it does the opposite in my opinion. I don't know what the highest loaded crossbraced canopy you have ever flown is, but I suspect that you do not fly a Velo or JVX loaded at 2.2 or higher. When you grab a riser full of these canopies, they absolutely fall out of the sky and eat almost 1k per slow 360 riser turn. With that comes massive bone crushing speed that would kill another person on impact if a mid air collision were to occur. Now I know that you don't mean to grab the riser and pull on it as hard and you can, but even small inputs to these canopies creates great speed and huge alti loss. So, I just don't understand how having the high loaded swoopers spiral thru traffic just to land first makes any sense at all. Yeah, you get to the ground first, and have no one in your way on the deck, but what about all the other people you had to fly past just to get there. It's not much of a tradeoff. Finding a solution to this problem should involve a slower, safer flying configuration......not adding a faster, hurrying type attitude that leaves no margin for error. I agree wholeheartedly with Chachi when he says that every load is different in its makeup and how it should addressed. Creating a general mindset that swoopers should hurry up and get down first is foolish and not a solution to the problem. In fact, I personally do not believe there to be a in-air solution to the problem that exists, when it comes to canopy collisions of swoopers and non swoopers. I stand by my statement that the only way this problem will get better, is to have separate landing areas entirely. There is no excuse for swooping in the same landing areas as 1:1'ers during boogies, such as the Xmas boogie at Eloy, or any other boogie for that matter. We as a sport have come to a crossroads where there is a dangerous mix of piloting, each with thier own right to exist, that will only become more dangerous as long as swooping continues to become a mainstream discipline. If we continue on this road without making some rules, you can bet that we will see this again, very very soon. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

You sure that wasn't TJ? ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Maybe your were just allergic to TJ. But no worries....hes gone now. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Not a single person here can give you the advice you are asking for. No one knows how you fly your canopy, what kind of habits you have, ect. ect. The only person that can honestly give you this kind of advice is someone that has given you the time you need at the DZ to evaluate your current skill level and progression. What people here can do for you is tell you the flying attributes of specific wings and how each one relates to different piloting desires and needs. Don't let anyone that doesn't know you, or have seen you fly TELL you what you need to buy. S&TA's would be a good resource for you. Even better than that is to go take a canopy piloting class. Not only will you get a professional giving you the best advice for canopy purchase based upon what he sees, but you will get valuable skills early in your skydiving career. Remember, a vast percentage of people that die skydiving do it under their parachute...... ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Try this......set up your iPhoto to open when you install a disk with images on it. Burn all your photos to a disk from where you currently keep them. Take the disk out when your done and reinsert it. iPhoto will pop open and ask you if you want to import them. All this might be unnecesary as iPhoto from iLife 06' will categorized your photos amazingly well. You can make albums to your hearts content and smartfolders that will create a folder to your specific specification, such as dates taken. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

This is exactly the order I do it in as well. It also makes it easier to stow the excess bridle under the right flap. Although I have never had, or seen this problem on my Wings or any other...it really appears that your loop is extremely too long. If you cant make it any smaller and still close your container, check the size of your rig to the canopy you are trying to stuff in it. They may not be compatable. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Awe shit.....I hope I still have that receipt....... ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....