riggerrob

... Lets say you have a Velo 89 and a reserve of same size or even a bit bigger they are not going to like each other because of how different both wings are ... ............................................................................ Agreed! Since most many modern skydivers have never jumped a medium-sized, 7-cell main, they are silly to wear tiny, 7-cell reserves.

We saw a massive increase in "two out" malfunctions after electronic AADs became fashionable about 20 years ago (mid 1990s). Guys had been "sucking down" for a long time. Most sky-gods refused to wear FXC 12000 AADs because everyone knew that FXCs were imprecise and frequently miss-fired below 3,000 feet. I watched one FXC 12000 miss-fire at 7,000 feet. All the rest of the FXC miss-fires occurred below 2,000 feet. Why was any licensed skydiver still free-falling below 2,000 feet? Then Cypres came along with far more precise electronic altitude measurement methods. So skydivers started complaining that Cypri malfunctioned between 1,000 feet and their official activation altitude of 750 feet. Why is any skydiver still free-falling below 1,000 feet? S&TAs tended to ground those (Cypres-equipped) whiners until their AADs returned from the factory with fresh cutters.

Because tiny reserves make your ass look fat! ... err ... they make your ass look FAST! Hah! Hah! Reserve sizes have nothing to do with logic ... rather, they are all about fashion.

***I may be able to shed some light on the original rig for sale. Talon is a brand made by Parachutes Australia. My first Talon ... ...................................................................................... To add to your knowledge ... Talons are designed and built in the USA. Rigging Innovations opened their first factory in Perris Valley, California during the mid-1980s. By the end of the century, they had moved to Eloy, Arizona. Rigging Innovations licensed Parachutes Australia to build Talons. I have packed Talons from all three factories. I even worked in the California factory during the mid-1990s.

............................................................................... Sorcerer was never TSOed. Mark Hewitt only sold a few Sorcerers and quit making them when he left California about 20 years ago. About a decade ago, Jump Shack (aka. the Racer factory) tried to revive the concept with their BASEr harness/container. The BASEr is basically a 2-pin BASE container sewn to a certified Racer harness. A (certified) Pop-Top reserve container can be snapped onto the chest to make it legal to jump from American-registered airplanes. Jump Shack never sold very many BASErs. I did not even see a BASEr at the last (2013) PIA Symposium. The only (legal) other option would be one of those (certified) German BASE harnesses with a (certified) reserve snapped to the chest. Quick! How many active skydivers have even SEEN a chest-mounted reserve???? ... Even rarer are active skydivers who have jumped while wearing chest-mounted reserves. My last jump with a chest-mounted reserve was in 1986! Hah! Hah!

.................................................................................. Yes

Again, country dependent. I believe the only country that actually has a TSO program is the US. Other countries have some sort of similar process. ............................................................................. A long time ago, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa adopted the same TSO C23 standards as the USA. The current European Joint TSO is pretty much a photo-copy of the American standard, so they can be legally jumped by American citizens out of American-registered airplanes. That was the standard for testing and manufacturing parachutes. Whether you can legally jump out of an airplane - without a TSOed parachute - is a separate question. In many countries, the civil aviation authorities know even less about parachutes - than the American Federal Aviation Administration - and care less. As long as civilian skydivers keep the fatality rate low, the civil aviation authorities prefer not to regulate skydiving. Jumping out of airplanes without reserves is dumb in any country. Do it often enough and you will die. Die too often and the civil aviation authorities will write rules that you cannot understand, much less enjoy.

Boeing is going to wipe up the market with that! They will leave Arbus sucking dust! The best Airbus has ever done has only four decks (crew rest, first class, cattle class and cargo).

The best coaches do not rely on cameras. The best coaches start by tickling their own brains - as they walk back from the landing field. Secondly, they tickle the junior jumper's/student's brains by asking them how much they (student) remember. Thirdly, the coach tells the student what he/she remembers. Fourthly, they both go watch the video together. Finally, the coach gives the student a few pointers on how to improve their next skydive and dirt-dives the new moves until the student "gets it."

................................................................................ Nice try ... but the new Pilatus is a monoplane.

Nope. It looks like this ........................................................................... Is that the Russian's first or second attempt at re-engining the Antonov 2? Back around 1990, they hung a turbine engine on the front end of an AN-2, but never sold any and lost interest. Then, last year (late 2013), they published photos of a second AN-2T prototype. The second conversion was motivated by Russian oil companies quitting refining aviation gasoline.

What in dog's name is that pipe and orange thing hanging underneath the tail? .................................................................................. My first guess would be a spin-recovery chute for spin testing. All that extra surface area forward of the center of gravity has got to de-stabilize the Antonov a bit ... er ... all that extra surface area might stabilize it so much that it refuses to stop spinning ... er ... something like that. My second guess is that it (the orange gadget) is some sort of magnetic anomaly detector for tracking capitalist submarines when they try to sneak up on the peace-loving Russian people ... in the Crimea.

Only slightly more pricey than a Canadian jump ticket. If Black Vortex is anything Hoop's previous books, this book will tickle your testicles as much as a jump ticket.

Has anyone else jumped the new suits from Arteryx? Mine only arrived on Friday, and I only got to jump it once off of Tree Top, Sunday morning. Fortunately, I got to stomp around the house in it all day Saturday, so my pecs were warmed up and I got a full charge on the air bladders.\ I jumped it off the West balcony Sunday morning as the gospel choir was warming up. Took me a couple of seconds to find the suit's memory of its best glide angle. I swooped the length of the football pitch, then started pumping with my legs, just before I slid face-first into the grass, the air bladders kicked in and I got some serious flapping going. With lots of huffing and puffing, I stalled onto the balcony railing just before my pecs gave out. Awesome first flight!\ Arcteryx makes even better wing-suits than rain-coats.

True red-necks solve their own problems. When I was too young to drive, I just kicked in the doors of cars that splashed me with gutter spray. Then I got "doored" by a car - as I rode past on my bicycle, so I kicked off her side-view mirror. "What are you upset about lady? You were not using that mirror." For a while, I carried an axe or machete in my trunk .. to chop off offending parts of cars that cut me off ... but now that I have grown up, I keep a chain saw handy. If you clip me with your rear corner, you will never have to worry about clipping anyone else with that corner of your car!

Maybe some of you old guys can help me .... Every time I open, I suffer a 45 degree line-twist. I am never certain whether the line-twist is to the left or the right, but it is always 45 degrees??? Spreading the risers does not seem to cure the line-twists. Squeezing the risers does not seem to cure the line-twists. Kicking my legs does not seem to cure the line-twists. It does not seem to matter whether I jump my Delta II, my Para-Dactyl or my PZ-81, but I always get 45 degree line-twists??? Any suggestions?????

Your helmet is so LAST WEEK! If you were as smart/fashionable as me, you would have bought the newest and shiniest GoPro Hero 6 helmet. I got mine with the yamulka and full ear coverage and the Google visor. The yamulka ensured that my $47 hair cut did not get mussed. The full ear covers cranked FULL quadrophonic sound all the way down. The Google visor had the full GPS-linked, IR-assisted, synthetic vision, so that even though I had never jumped Treetop before, and it was night and foggy, I still did a tip-toe landing. I was a bit annoyed that I missed the tuffet - on the football pitch - by 4 cm! Hopefully they will fix that glitch on the 2.0 software. Best, thing, the Google vision also works backwards. My buddies were able to track my entire dive - with the POV camera - without even rising out of their chairs in the Tree Top Pub. ... my buddy Bill tried to rise from his chair, but he was so deep into his cups that he fell over! Hah! Hah!

........................................................................... That Smart 135 was a perfect fit in an Icon I4 ...I14?. Thought the manual says that you can stuff a Smart 150 ... closing the side flaps would be a struggle.

The Triathlon 4.0 line set does not have a steering/brake line attached to the rear corner. Instead, they depend upon the stabilizer to stabilize the rear corner. The 4.0 line set has the same number of brake lines, they are just farther inboard. Aerodyne says to sew on a new line attachment tape farther inboard ... inboard of all the other steering lines Apparently the new steering line location make sit more responsive during turns. Aerodyne also says to cut off the old line attachment tape - on the corner - then re-sew the bar-tack, etc. Since I was too-close-to-deadline (read Friday afternoon before the Kamloops May Meet), I just left the old line attachment tape intact.

I got a sneak pre-view of the new Pilatus jump-plane when I was in Switzerland last year. They told me to keep quiet until they introduce it at a trade show this week, but now I can tell you about this new jump plane! I have been bursting at the seams! Pilatus flew their Pilatus PC-13 Bernese into Yverdons-les-bains one sleepy Tuesday morning. From a distance, it looks like a cross between a Cessna Caravan and a C-130 Hercules. The first thing you notice is the huge, 5-bladed propeller. The second thing you notice is the lack of wing strut. The third you notice ... er don't notice ... are the lack of wing struts. The fourth thing you notice are the massive undercarriage sponsons, Finally, you notice the T-tail. That huge propeller turns so slowly that you only hear it for the first minute or two after takeoff. When I asked the Pilatus test-pilot if it was another Pratt & Whitney PT6A engine he tried to change the subject. The PC-13 Bernese is the first airplane that Pilatus has built in decades without a trusty Canadian turbo-prop engine. But when I persisted with my questions, he admitted that it was a new General Electric turbine, built in he old Walter factory in the Czech Republic. he explained that a propeller brake was a major design goal. They originally got the idea from some Canadian bush pilots, who had installed propeller brakes on Twin Otters. It seems that they got tired of holding a propeller blade until warm oil penetrated the prop hub (preventing over-speeds) ... something about minus 40 degrees being a mild day in the Canadian Arctic. Pilatus managed to get their hands on a TXed PT6A engine, with the Canadian STCed prop brake, but P&W was not interested in manufacturing new engines with prop brakes. In classic corporate fashion, P&W never said no, rather they sent a lawyer named Flattery or Flatulence or some other old Quebec family name. The lawyer gave Pilatus so many delaying tactics ... meanwhile, GE/Walter sent them a prototype engine with a prop brake, digital fuel control, etc. The fuselage is a deep as a Caravan, with the baggage pannier installed, but when it gets closer, you realise that the baggage pannier is permanently installed and the cabin is a lot deeper than a Caravan, or Kodiak or PAC 750. It has a huge, 50-bladed propeller that you can barely hear. Mind you, it climbs so steeply that you only hear the propeller for the first minute or two. The next thing you notice is all the windows around and below the cockpit. Teh lower side windows, down by the rudder pedals remind me of a C-130 Hercules. The pilot can see almost straight down, so there is no excuse for sloppy spotting. The cockpit is quite high above the ground, but there are plenty of kick-steps and punch-in hand-holds. There is even a hand-rail just inside the tall door. The cargo door is almost 2 metres by 2 metres. You can slide in a pair or trio of LD3 containers with plenty of room to spare. Pilatus' original idea was to balance a pair of LD3 containers under the wing, with an empty LD3 container in the tail cone, but as soon as courier companies saw the prototype, they wanted to stuff in three FULL LD3 containers. Pilatus said "No problem as long as you fill them with pop-corn!" The cabin is almost as tall as a Skyvan. I (six feet tall) could stand erect near the rear door and only had to crouch a little under the wing. The T-tail is so tall that not even the clumbsiest wing-suiter could whack it. The Pilatus demo-pilot laughed at my comments, saying that they never even considered wing-suiters when designing the PC-13 Bernese. Instead, the plane is primarily designed for courier companies that want to do dozens of quick turn-arounds every night. Every aspect of the PC-13 ... all the innovations ... are optimised for quick turn-arounds. Even the tall T-tail was inspired by a clumsy truck driver, who whacked three Caravan tails in one week! Mechanics were the last to suggest the propeller brake. That was inspired by a Pashtun loader who walked into a spinning propeller. By the time the airplane owner (who prefers to remain nameless) had paid off all the surviving relatives, the local police chief, the district governor, the Afghan Ministry of Transportation, etc. they could have bought five new propellers! Just for giggles, he told me to walk towards the spinning propeller. Before I got within a dozen steps, whistles whistled, strobe lights flashed painfully loudly, air jets almost knocked me off my feet. I asked how much that warning system cost, and he laughed, saying that it was just a minor sub-routine of the theft-prevention system. Similarly, he flashed/projected the manifest on the fuselage beside the door, chuckling that the manifest was just a sub-routine of the advertising soft-ware. "See that tiny projector hanging under the wing-tip?" Then he ran a one-minute sales pitch, barking dog and all! He apologised for the prototype being only mono-chrome, but promised that production systems would project four colours on the fuselage. Even the retractable, fabric bench seats are just a sub-routine of the automated, cargo tie-down straps. In conclusion, skydivers may have been priority last when Pilatus designed the PC-13 Bernese, but the end result looks like ti is custom-made for a busy skydiving center!

"... Spectre 210 ... and that doing my CATTS checks (ie including 3 x full flare practices on opening) could actually have stalled the canopy. ... ................................................................................. And so you should. At your experience level, you should practice stalls shortly after every opening. Look around to ensure that you are well clear of other canopies, then practice turns, flares, etc. above 2,000 feet. Once you have figured out where the canopy stalls, raise your hands 4 inches and tap them against your hips. The tap will help you to remember where to quit flaring when you are close to the ground. ... plus the usual caveat about planning your landing pattern, etc. with a local instructor ....

Worrying about a reserve pilot-chute hesitation is more likely to kill you than an actual RPCH, because he who hesitates inherits the earth.

......................................................................... Next you are going to tell us to re-introduce pack-opening-bands ... to pull the reserve side flaps clear of the soft, reserve pilot-chute. Hah! Hah!

.............................................................................. Yes, the Woomera's reserve ripcord is left-hand dominant, but you could still pull it with your right hand ... sort of like a lot of RSLs. You can pull a lot of RSLs with your opposite hand. I have deployed both RWS and Strong tandem reserves (on the ground) merely by pulling on the RSL. I quit pulling RSLs after I kinked a few steel reserve ripcord cables. Since no strands were broken, I returned them to service, but they were not longer pretty. Since the Woomera's reserve ripcord is inboard of the main risers, it does not matter whether the main is gone ... or still packed.

Many DZs - and national organisations - insist on Automatic Activation Devices. All modern AADs require some kind of internal spring to start deployment. While it might be possible to design an AAD around a mortar (ballistic recovery system) or slug gun (ejection seat) it would be expensive and dangerous to innocent bystanders when deployed on the ground. When I get rich, I plan to develop an AAD based on the air-bags now installed in most cars. The gas-generating cartridge (out of the air-bag) will be installed in the pilot-chute and will propel the pilot-chute out to line-stretch. Try to picture a Vector 2 reserve pilot-chute with a bag case of flatulence! Hah! Hah!