dragon2
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Everything posted by dragon2
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They do. I just found it hilarious that a VIGIL might fire on the way home if you forget to switch it off. And heck, I always make sure I switch my CYPRES on when I come to the DZ. If I'd ever happen (has never happened yet) to notice it's on, I'll switch it off before proceeding any further. I have my mantra regarding gear and stick to it no matter the stress or pressure. I think everyone who has an AAD should use it with a sound mind and not just think it will take care of every circumstance. But CYPRES comes close to it and in my mind is the most reliable AAD on the market. Not that hilarious... Earlier this week, a Dutch/Belgian instructor/rigger had his vigil fire under canopy (velo?) during a jump in NL. According to him probably due to the fact that he didn't switch off his vigil after leaving a Belgian DZ with a higher elevation. Luckily he ended up with a stable biplane. ciel bleu, Saskia
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Your booties probably won't come loose in freefall when you just fold them under, provided you stick to flying on your belly. But now think about where the relative wind is coming from when someone is sitflying or in a stand-up, like this jumper is wanting to do. ciel bleu, Saskia
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A diablo is a one-of-a-kind type of canopy. It's also not made anymore, but some people do love them. The closest canopy I think is the stiletto, as that canopy also is famous for its roll action on toggles. I called my diablo a "split personality triathlon" - sometimes it behaved like a square 7cell, ie very tame, then sometimes it would surprise me by acting all high performance all of a sudden, more divey and roll-y than my vengeance. I couldn't get rid of my 120 fast enough as like I said it plain scared me a couple of times. So good on you that you admit you might not be ready for a canopy like that
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The Diablo is the canopy with the most roll, more than a stiletto. It scared the hell out of me a couple times @ 800 jumps. I wouldn't recommend it for a newer jumper at all. It also is a totally different canopy from a sabre2, in just about anything you can think of - sensitivity to body position is quite high during opening and also after (you can turn it into linetwist just by undoing your booties... at least that was what happened when I loaned out my diablo 120). It's a 7cell. On risers it won't do much, on toggles however it TURNS. And GOES DOWN. Flare is way less than a sabre 2. Swooping potential for a diablo is the same as for a triathlon - almost zero. If you want something like a sabre2, get a fusion, or otherwise stick with a medium performance 9cell like a safire or maybe a pilot. ciel bleu, Saskia
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No, as mentioned before it's a different system. The risers do not have a hole but do have a flap for the grommet. The big ring (the one on your rig) is placed a bit different so the angle for release is better. These 2 go together, ie you shouldn't put reversed risers on a "normal" rig. You can put regular risers on a "reversed" rig though (although the manufacturer might not agree). I have 2 PdF rigs, one has reversed risers, one regular. No? Dunno? Guess what you mean by "not funny". There's a lot of different ways to attach and stow your toggles, if you have to pack a system you're not familiar with, ASK. Think about it. Force, levers and all that. You want the attachement point for a dive loop to be as high as possible to get the most "reaction" out of them. I think I see what you mean (@0:46). No clue about that one. ciel bleu, Saskia
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LOL yeah but you forget to mention how "high" you load a 185 ciel bleu, Saskia
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That. I can look up all the info on the internet to check winds aloft, and I do that. A number of times a day. I still like to watch a couple of loads if I can, to see where people are exiting and where they end up opening, and how much forward speed they have on various altitudes under canopy. This helps me when spotting for myself/tandemrun and for any student or solo jumpers that go out lower or go before the tandems. While in those cases I usually spot (although the pilot has gps and we do have a "green light = go" sort of system), I really appreciate it if those students/solos can tell me where they expect to exit, themselves
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It's sort of like a sabre 1, a little less performance I think (think old-skool square student-type canopy-ish). These days, I wouldn't pay usd 800 for a new sabre 1, so no way would I pay that for a "copy". But that's just me. If you need a tame square 135 that will likely open brisk, and this gets you in the air, why not. It would make a decent wingsuit canopy if you don't load it too much (I'm not sure how much you can load a zp exe, I wouldn't go over 1.4 myself maybe lower). ciel bleu, Saskia
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controlines too short on katana 120
dragon2 replied to daleskydive's topic in Swooping and Canopy Control
Vectran shouldn't shrink that much in 300 jumps, but the lower control lines are microline yes? 300 jumps sounds like a good time to replace the lower control lines anyway. It may not even have been 300 jumps but more (2nd hand canopy, it happens...) and/or the previous owner might not have cared that the canopy couldn't go 360 on risers. Almost every canopy I ever bought 2nd hand had too short steering lines... Anyway, your rigger should have the line specs, you probably just need to lengthen the lower control lines a bit. If the canopy is out of trim, maybe the middle part too but still, it's not an expensive fix. ciel bleu, Saskia -
Sell it on ebay as a decoration parachute. ciel bleu, Saskia
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If you have photoshop, you can use photoshop actions (actions are like macros) to do that. For example, this what I use to edit pics for the web: resize, add logo, save for web, close original. If you want more customisation, photoshop script offers more flexibility but you need to understand the script language. ciel bleu, Saskia
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Direct bag deployment on a ram air is not a good idea. Sparky Another "why not?" from me. We do a good number of square direct bag SL jumps here in The Netherlands every year. There is no other method allowed for (square) SL here, it has to be direct bag. The one drawback for direct bag is the high chance (I think we run 3/5) of linetwists. On our DZ (I think we do the most SL jumps here yearly) the SL canopies are pro-packed, I think on one or more of the smaller DZs they are flatpacked but don't hold me to that. ciel bleu, Saskia
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Your own (analog) altimeter should be fine even for use during your student jumps, and you cannot go wrong with a Altimaster Galaxy
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You could order one from The Netherlands, a friend of mine found a couple leftovers here: http://www.camera.nl/Catalogus/BekijkProduct/SONY/HDR-CX-115-ZWART-4905524662108/ ciel bleu, Saskia
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Yes, that's normal procedure. In fact, if you're not planning on making at least 1 jump per month after your 2nd groundschool and until your A license, and 1 jump per 2 months after that, this may not be the sport for you as it is going to be refresher training again and again, with associated costs... ciel bleu, Saskia
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For real? Sounds awesome Wouldn't work over here though, here tandems+cheerleaders bring coolers with sandwiches and drinks. Very seldom we get offered something, but usually not. ciel bleu, Saskia
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You said it, your best bet is to wait for your own instructors. Freefall control is only a (small) part of what you'll be learning on your first jump course. Basically you'll get so much information before your first jump, that any theory you read or watch on video is probably just too much information right now, information that might even conflict with what your instructors want you to learn/do. For now, just go to the course, take it all in, do a couple jumps - and have fun doing it of course ciel bleu, Saskia
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Are the spelling mistakes on both websites too? Anyway, I don't think there is anything wrong with small cessna dzs. Like mentioned before, you spend a longer time in the plane with big windows to boot so for the passenger it's way cooler to sit and enjoy the view for a while, instead of supervanning it to altitude. For the instructors, yes a bigger and faster airplane is nice. For regular funjumping, I prefer the fast planes too. For a tandempassenger, I think a C182 might actually be the better deal... That I find funny, would any tandempassenger actually do such a thing? ciel bleu, Saskia
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Opinions may vary on that... After I get the shots of the passenger's face I'm happy with, I like the TM to turn while I go back and up, to get a dynamic overview shot of the surroundings (in this case, the nice clouds in the background). This only takes a few seconds. I stick to the passenger's face the rest of the 30-45 seconds of freefall. (BTW my photo makes it look like I was much farther away than the video does, it was shot with a 10.5mm fisheye) ciel bleu, Saskia
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Flying up to the drogue is nice and all, but it looks to me like you are way too close to it. For a drogue shot you should go up and back ,not just up, that's not safe. ciel bleu, Saskia
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As mentioned above, don't use a bungee with a wingsuit. Disconnect it, or better yet, just buy a kill-line PC. On another note, are you jumpnumbers correct? I've owned and flown a number of old(er)-skool wingsuits, and I found the skyflyer 1 by far the most difficult to fly. It is very easy to go unstable with it, due to the narrow leg wing. Flat spins might not be out of the question. It's not a suit I'd recommend to a new wingsuit flyer. I sold mine and got a skyflyer 3 instead, which feels much more balanced and stable. ciel bleu, Saskia
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Should you steer the opening?
dragon2 replied to lookoutbelow's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
That sounds like a fun situation to find yourself in. Maybe too fun. Happened to a guy at my DZ years ago. Hand got stuck in the risers some how, he could not get it out, canopy started to spin, he gut away and luckily his hand was released. Don't put your hands on your risers! I had both hands stuck behind my neck during my first malfunction. Safire twisted up, I stuck my hands in to untwist but the twist kept going and grabbed my fingers+gloves. While spinning on my back with both hands trapped I remember thinking I was NOT gonna die that way, and managed to get my hands out after a while, by sheer force. ciel bleu, Saskia -
This is how I fly, see the first attachment. Big wings, keep them closed when needed, and if needed put on some lead. The passenger here was a 16yr old lightweight kid + "normal" weight TM, so I have some wing open. Bringing my elbows in closes the wings for heavier tandem pairs. I was flying a bit flat here for a moment, usually I look up a little more. On opening this is exaggerated, see the second attachment. ciel bleu, Saskia
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A fusion is similar to a sabre2. I would advise at least 100 jumps for a big fusion @ 1.2 rather than 50. It is a canopy that is somewhat sensitive to packing and body position on opening. It is not a stiletto, but it is not a student type canopy either and it will roll more than a spectre, safire or pilot will. It wouldn't be my first choice for a new jumper, at that WL. The people who know you can evaluate your choice better, but the problem in your case is that is it the DZO selling the rig, so frankly any advice from staff might not be 100% selfless. ciel bleu, Saskia
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The bettery is rechargeable :) Not on the airplane or in freefall. It's not that the battery can go dead, but rather WHEN the battery can go dead. It have a battery indicator :) Scenario: On your previous jump with your gee-whiz altimeter watch the low battery indicator came on. You want to make one more jump before sunset. Do you: 1) Ignore the low battery warning and go ahead and make another jump hoping that the altimeter watch will still work properly, or; 2) Stand down and NOT make that last jump you wanted. What is your decision? Since I've seen a jumper go up for a nightjump with a low batt warning, I know the answer to that one (3 seconds of freefall with an alti, the rest of your nightjump without, you're braver than me) ciel bleu, Saskia