ph8068

I can easily reach my risers in my GTi. There are advantages in buying a 2nd hand rig which doesn't quite fit you properly

Has anyone much experience of this, either with BM suits or other V1s? I'm a little worried that as the V1 would be flying in quite an inefficient position, it might be quite difficult to maintain precision and control. Thanks for your help.

Yup, for an efficient wing, the air over the top and bottom surfaces of the wing needs to meet smoothly at the trailing edge. This requires the trailing edge to be sharp, just like an aircraft wing.

If anything, strengthening the trailing edge will actually decrease aerodynamic efficiency, as the trailing edge will now be less sharp. Strengthening would probably only be an advantage if you were experiencing flapping of the wings. And this could probably be fixed by body position.

Surely a BASE canopy opens WAY faster than a Spectre though. So you must get some real bad bruising in BASE? Or are you just happy to be alive Serious question though.

I've noticed in several BASE videos that deployment is from full flight, rather than after collapsing all wings. The theory is, I suppose, that if you are properly flying, then the airflow is smooth over the top of all your wings, and so there's no burble for the pilot chute to catch in. This would mean a much more reliable deployment? I've been tempted to give this a go, but have always bottled it. What are the pros and cons of this method? Is there a reason it is not suitable for skydiving? In case the answer is purely opening characteristics, I jump a Spectre by the way. Thanks for your help, Paul.

I'm not so sure. Consider Loic's mountain swoop. What speed do you reckon he was flying at? 100mph? Now if he popped the suit down on the slope at this speed, for sure he would tumble and roll dramatically. But would it be fatal? Well, pro-skiers have slip-ups at 70mph and do exactly the same thing, and then walk away without a scratch. Also, there's no rules to say they can't speed up his deceleration once he's on the deck. In skiiing, they use "layers" of collapsable fencing, designed to bring tumblers to a stop without hurting them. Also, it wouldn't be all or nothing. For practice runs, and aborted runs, just fly off the side of the piste, just like in Loic's video.

In addition, a lot of wing high up your body would generate a lot of lift high up your body. This may cause your centre of lift to be too high, and so may prevent you from getting that slightly nose-down attitude from the horizon which will give you a decent forward speed. Just thoughts from theory and not much experience though.

Angle of attack is the relative angle between your body and the approaching airflow. Angle of pitch is the relative angle between your body and the horizon. If you are flying almost parallel to the horizon, your angle of pitch is very low and your angle of incidence is very high. This will give you a very slow forward speed. Now if you lower your pitch angle (i.e. go slightly head-down) then your angle of attack will decrease dramatically, and your forward speed will increase. Which method gives you the lowest vertical speed is an entirely different debate!

So how come you couldn't get out of the twists? Fair enough, you had lots, but also 2000ft to play with. If I saw that many twists, I'd cut away the wings in half a second flat, rather than playing with zips. Any reason you didn't?

You know what they say - always good to practice your drills

I have 3 jumps on a Decelerator 150 loaded at 1.2 including one at terminal - no issues at all. Openings were snappy, and its got loads of flare.

I did exactly the same with my Pro-track and it now works absolutely fine. It was on at the time as well and I'll never forget the whaling noise it was making when I opened the door. Incidentally, it recorded 3 skydives which, had they been real, I would have got a severe grounding for! Remove the batteries and discard. Rinse for a long while under running water to remove all the soap suds. Leave the battery cover off and dry for a week on absorbent paper, probably two weeks to be safe. A fresh set of batteries and its ready to go. Of course, you could post it to L&B but there's surely some point at which they will have to stop such an excellent service.

From Omniskore: The Gollywomper Mark 42 turbo hauler. 8-Way FS will be done with two of these in formation, half the team jumping from each. http://www.omniskore.com/comp/2004/WPC_FS_CF_SA/index.htm This is a joke, right?

You sure? The Merit brakelines are split into 3 rather than 4. This is the case with most PdF canopies. Is this what are you getting confused with perhaps?

The jumper has had a main pilot chute in tow. Its the main pilot chute you can see floating about the reserve risers during reserve deployment. Not a nice situation to be in. Its advertising the PD99R.

What's the reduced dive pool for intermediates in the US? Or where can I find out? I've had a look at USPA and Omniskore but can't seem to see it. Also, what's the requirements to enter intermediates (max jump numbers etc.)? Thanks for your help.

Depends how much you weigh. Not as fast as you would think though as the rope tugging on your harness would pull you forwards and drastically increase the angle of attack of the canopy. No, as you asked before you tried.

Just got back from the Hercules boogie. One evening, the Swedish Air Force did a military parachute display from the back of the Herc. It ran in at 100ft (under radar), then suddenly popped up to 300ft and 6 paratroopers got out. I'm really not kidding about the height here - they were in the saddle for just a few seconds and one hit the ground still in line twists. Now that is hardcore skydiving. Check the photo here: http://www.herculesboogie.com/04/gallery/Anders%20Helgesson/helge_040729_0080x.jpg

Are there any jumpers from Denmark out there, or anyone else who could help? A group of us from the UK are heading to the Herc Boogie in Sweden this weekend. At the end of the boogie, we are driving down to Copenhagen to fly home from there. We were hoping to make a skydive or two in Denmark before heading home. We wondered if there was a dropzone close to Copenhagen where this would be possible? In the dropzones section of this site, there is a reference to a centre at Copenhagen but the links are broken and I'm not sure it exists any more? I've also done a google search and can't seem to find anything useful. If anyone could help, that would be great.

I need to work out how to launch big-ways from this aircraft. Has anyone got any information which may be of use. I specifically need to know: 1. Size of the door (relative to other more mainstream aircraft). 2. How many floaters are feasible. 3. Are the divers likely to be in single file or side by side? 4. Any other useful info. Thanks, Paul.

You're in freefall and suddenly you see a reserve above your head. You made no attempt to deploy either canopy and the main is still in the container. The reserve has suffered some damage - it is flying and is perhaps landable but probably not without injury. How you got to this scenario is irrelevant. (Quick note for newbies - don't panic that this will happen to you, it is most likely to happen to experienced skydivers in head-down positions). You consider the possibility of deploying your main immediately but realise the risks of entanglement or an unrecoverable downplane. You consider cutting away the reserve with your hook knife and deploying the main. If you can do this, likelihood is you will be safe and sound. Is this a good idea? Obviously, once you have started this procedure, there is no going back you'd want to be pretty confident of the results. Consider the following: 1. Will an average hook knife be able to cut through a reserve riser? Does anyone have any evidence to say yes or no, or can any riggers answer this question? My suspicion is that the first of the 4 risers will be easy, when they are under high tension. But once you get to the last one, the tension is less - will this be as easy? 2. Once one riser is cut, will the reserve want to spin or would it pretty much collapse about you? Would the spin be so intense as to stop you continuing the procedure? Depends on the reserve size I do realise. Again, anyone able to give evidence either way? 3. Would there be a correct "order" to cut the risers to make the procedure most likely to proceed? Both fronts first? Both rears first? Both on one side first? 4. How much altitude is the whole procedure likely to burn? 5. Can you suggest any further issues which would need to be considered?

If you raised your standard pilot chute up to head height and dropped it, the weight of the bridle is sufficient to get it inflated on its descent to the ground. So, I'm guessing the weight of even a small teddy would be sufficient. Of course, why does your teddy need a parachute - surely its soft and furry enough to withstand the impact from 200ft

I see you live in London. Netheravon DZ is not that far from you. For WARP coaching, they charge just 10GBP to cover the coaches slot. With cheap max tickets anyway at 16GBP, it will cost you only 26GBP per WARP jump - that's almost free! If your coach has a camera then you are sorted. Paul.

Actually, it will surprise many people that the Spectre actually has a flatter glide angle than the Sabre2. See http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/Spectre-Flight-Char.pdf