Miami

The cadets we put out have no one in freefall with them. I don't know of any other program that does this. Miami

Yea, no kidding...imagine how we were laughing here when we saw it! Miami

[replyYeah, what was up with the dual FXCs? I know my tax dollars are not going to a $400 toilet seat so why can't the chair force afford a couple of Cypri (or whatever the plural of Cypres is)? A bunch of rigs actually do have cypres' on the reserves, but all of them have fxc's on the mains. Yea...as an affi it was very odd the first time I put one of these students out. By themselves. On their first jump. With no static line or instructor. Very weird. Miami

Why don't you have them come and do a show about your student training program...if you think it would be less lame. Just poking fun...to us jumpers it wasn't really anything but a days work, but to the wuffos it was pretty exciting. Our training program isn't anything like AFF. We put about 800-1000 students per year through a 5 jump program where they exit from 4500ft for a solo 10 sec delay (while equipped with dual aads). They get about 35 hours of ground training before they jump, to include multiple levels of vertical and horizontal suspended harness, PLF's, canopy control, etc.. Miami

Fandango. Miami

If the answer is 16:1 for the length and 256:1 for the area then I think it is a good challenging extra credit question for a 6th grader. If I'm wrong then I think it's too hard! Hope this helps... Miami

That could be a factor...the 27 has noticeably shorter lines than the 21 of the same size. My brake trim is also much different from one canopy to the next...I have to have a lot more slack with the 27 than the 21. No problems with the limited number of landings with rears I have done with the 21 though. Miami

Does he post on here, or is there another way to contact him? Thanks... Miami

That's what I found out yesterday...just before the point where I would normally transfer to toggles the canopy just fell off behind me, with very little warning. I went up on a high h&p on the next load and was not able to recreate it. I'm just really curious if it is worthwhile to continue to try and get more proficient with the rears for landings or if I should just stick to toggles at this w/l. I know this w/l is horribly inefficient for distance, but I am really in it for the speed! Miami

Anyone have experience with rear riser landings on canopies loaded at 2.8 or so? Any problems with sudden stalls while on the rears while at or around this loading? Just curious for any input from the rest of you. Thanks... Miami

I'm still jumping an FT-40 (version they made before the FT-50). It has about 3000 jumps on it over the past 7 or 8 years and I have had no problems with it. If the FT-50 is anything like that it would be well worth it to pick one up cheap. Hope this helps... Miami

If I were to buy a new container I would keep my main the same size at 78 and bump the reserve up to a 150. Miami

Stan, Since you are posting anonymously anyway, why not identify individuals you feel bring this negativity to the drop zone? I would certainly like to know if someone felt this way about me, and any of my co-workers. I have only been jumping at Mile-Hi for a few months now, but I have not seen this negative attitude you seem to be experiencing. Miami

The rigs I currently have are the choice I would make over and over again. Racers, Xaos 21 and 27, and Raven reserves. Miami

I keep mine under my chin after I collapse it. Easy to stow and easy to undo after you land. Doing it this way you do have to be careful about not letting it come back up in front of your face...especially during landing. Having a double drawstring on the slider does seem to make this method more secure over the single drawstring. I've done it this way for close to 3000 jumps and had no problems. Hope this helps... Miami

First mal...#1601 My tandem solo jump while getting my rating. Second mal...#3100ish Tension knot on a tandem. No sport mals yet (knocking on wood). Miami

Can you post some vid caps from it? Miami

What...no pics of me??? Well...nice pics even if they aren't of me... Miami

That's an asinine statement. I guess I'm just not stating what I am trying to say very well. I think it is asinine that there are some riggers who refuse to pack a racer just because it is a racer. No other reason...just because it's a racer. Sunshine won't pack one because she has not gotten adequate instruction on how to do them well. Hooknswoop won't pack one because the "closing loop can be tightened from the outside of the rig, without disturbing the seal" and there is the risk of overtightening the loops causing a hard pull on his pack job (although really there are many ways to tamper with any rig without disturbing the riggers seal). Those are valid reasons for someone to refuse to pack any rig. So I guess what I was trying to say was that riggers who simply refuse to pack a racer solely because it is a racer, without backing that decision on experience or expertise on a racer system seem a bit close-minded to me and are not the type of person I would want packing my rig regardless of what type it was. Anyway...this is just my opinion, everyone is entitled to theirs, and it's a good thing I don't have to worry about who is going to pack my rig... Miami

Hey Sunny, I guess our ideas of "flat out refuse" are a little different from each others. You are willing to do them once you have been properly instructed...which should be expected of any rigger with any type rig. I absolutely agree with you on this and definitely think it is more respectable to be knowledgeable about a system before you attempt to repack it instead of just trying to do it. Miami

Not a rigger yet but have a little over 100 reserve pack jobs and 3 saves. I own 3 racers and my wife had a racer before we got pregnant and had to sell hers, so I have a fair amount of racer reserve packing experience. They are not that hard to close when you first start to pack them...and once you get them down they are downright easy. I wonder about a rigger's ability if they will flat out refuse to pack a racer, given they had all of the knowledge neccesary to do it properly. Edit to add: I'm curious if the riggers you spoke to who refused to pack a racer say that because they have packed them and were uncomfortable with it or unable to do it, or if they had just heard it was hard from someone else and don't want to attempt it? Edit again to add to my comment about a rigger's ability. Miami

Congrats on the baby! DO you know what you are having yet? Yes, you can wait to have your stuff repacked until you are ready to get back in the air. It's not a bad idea to have your gear thoroughly inspected by your rigger, but really they should be doing that every repack cycle already. Miami

To my understanding the zp reserves were actually made with CRW dogs in mind. They tend to frequent their reserves more than most, therefore wear out their reserves that much faster. Having a zp top skin reserve enables the reserve to be used much more frequently without wearing out like an f-111 canopy does. Supposedly a new f-111 reserve, or any new out of the bag f-111 canopy, does not fly all that different from an identically built zp canopy. F-111 canopies just lose their porosity over time where zp should not. Hope this helps... Miami

Because I was under the impression that it will fly better than an f-111. I was buying a pair of precision reserves anyway, at the time the zp option was no extra charge, I was going to be loading my reserve at 1.8 or so, zp seemed like the way to go. When I get the opportunity to jump one I'll tell let you know how it was... Miami

Both of my personal rigs have the Precision -mz hybrid reserves. No jumps on them yet so cannot comment on how they fly...yet. Packed them a few times, really no difference from a new reserve. Miami