parachutist

Congratulations! More fun for your $$ It's not a race to the ground That will keep you aloft. And I bet you were only in 1/4 brakes... depends on how you define the 1/2. Is it 1/2 as far as your arms can reach, or is it 1/2 the way to stall? In my opinion 1/2 means 1/2 the way to stall point... and since you can't even reach the stall point unless you add on 2 foot long arm extensions... you were probably ony at 1/4 brakes. Don't worry about your instructor who's waiting on you below... he's getting paid so let him wait and enjoy the ride. Take in the scenery =]

Because if you know where the stall point is (find this point at high altitude) then you know how to avoid stalling your canopy at low altitude. One of the first things I do when jumping an unfamiliar canopy is stalling it to see where it stalls and how it will react. Also, if you know where the stall point is, then you know how to get the most flare out of your canopy. The last little bit of flare that you can squeeze out of your canopy occurs right before the stall point.

I'm 225 lbs. out the door and I do lots of hop n pops from 14k. When I first started jumping I'd get bruises on my legs where the straps go around them. After a while I quit noticing it and I think my legs adapted to it, because I don't get those bruises anymore, and I don't feel uncomfortable in the harness anymore (same Dolphin D-2 rig the whole time) Chris

that's what happened to me at Panama City Beach last year. I enjoyed every minute of it, and realized how much I need to learn =] Chris Warnock

I had an easy canopy to follow: Rusty Vest was flying a bright yellow Lightning and he had a flashlight mounted to his helmet. The light was shining directly up to illuminate his canopy, and turned his canopy into a glowing target for me to follow. Nice dock you put on me, Mike Chris

I had very similar canopy progression: I went from a 195 Clipper to a 149 Safire at 150 jumps. There are two changes that are affecting your openings: 1) Changed from a square canopy to an elliptical. Ellpitical canopies are more fickle during openings than square canopies 2) Changed from a 190 to a 145. The smaller the canopy, then the more fickle it is during openings. My third jump under my brand new Safire was a cutaway because of line twists that would not stop. So I was pretty annoyed and I went asking everybody what in the world was the problem. The best advice I got was: Watch the horizon during opening. Up until that point I'd been in the habit of looking down, watching for people below me, etc. during openings. I still check where everyone is and make sure that no one is below me, but as I reach back for my pilot chute, I look out at the horizon and make sure that it's level, make sure that it's not turning. Maintain that level, non-turning body position throughout the opening and you should have an uneventful deployment As far as the pack job goes: It's not the pack job that causes line twists. Just don't roll the nose or push in the nose. Getting the Safire in the bag was frustrating me too because it was brand new... I got some good lessons from a packer... that requires showing the tricks in person though... you really need to see someone do it. I'd suggest finding an experienced jumper who has a tiny rig and ask them to show you next pack job =]

Or maybe try once, try twice, then go through your emergency procedures. If you had your hand on something and didn't know what it was, then you didn't know what may be trailing behind you to entangle your reserve. Cutting away takes an extra 2 seconds, but I think it's very worth the extra time to clear out any trash you may be towing, if you're above 1,000 ft.

Like Chuck said: pick a packing style and stick with it. Also it seems as though you need a rig that fits properly. The one you have right now apparently has a neck strap, not a chest strap. When you're under canopy and you look over at either your right or left shoulder, how much space is there between the top of your shoulder and the shoulder of your rig? Chris

Kelly, You can get some first hand experience with bi-planes, side-by-sides, and down downplanes if you'd like to try some CReW. Just come by Skydive Atlanta this weekend and let me know you're interested. I have some CReW canopies there. Chris

Detailed explanation of what to do is found in your SIM: http://www.uspa.org/publications/SIM/2004SIM/Section4CatA.htm#1h

I have always thought the run-around-the-canopy idea is a hokey technique to teach newbies because it only works in low to moderate wind conditions.... when you don't *really* need it. A method that works every time is the previously-mentioned one: drop either toggle... reel one brake line in hand over hand til you get to the fabric... reel the fabric in hand over hand and very soon you have the entire canopy wadded up in your lap. End of problem in a few seconds. Shortcomings I find with the Run-around-your-canopy idea: 1) You can't do it in 30 mph winds 2) You can't do it when you're getting dragged on your back 3) You can't do it when you land on top of a building Chris

Prodigy is the only canopy I know of that has Nossir toggles. Nossir toggles are like brake toggles because they pull down on the outside leading edge only, instead of pulling down the whole riser (Very heavy front riser pressure if you grab and pull down the whole riser.. so the toggles make the pressure manageable). They're right where your dive loops would usually be. Prodigies are trimmed very nose-down, so as Eric mentioned they are not really compatible with the popular Lightning. But I've found that this nose-down trim makes for easy docking for newbies to CReW, because if they are making an approach on the base and they go low, they can just grab some rear riser and regain their position quickly. With the Lightning if you go low then you've pretty much hosed yourself. Max wing loading of 1:1 makes for good landings. Above that it becomes difficult to have a nice landing. The brake toggles have 2 sections: upper and lower. Use the upper section for landing (Allows you to get more flare). Use the lower section for flying up high & doing CReW (This gives you another 4" of slack so you can keep your brake toggles in hand and pull down on front riser or Nossir without deflecting the tail. For someones's first jump on a Prodigy I always quit doing CReW at about 3,500 & have the jumper go solo, find the stall point, practice flares, etc. below that (No stalls below decision altitude of course). Packing a Prodigy is slightly different from any other canopy I've seen. (the pack job is the same as typical PRO job, up to laying the canopy down and pressing all the air out. After that there are few unique steps to go through. I have to get out the door right now... if you do not have anyone local who can show you how to pack the Prodigy diaper + retractible pilot chute then let me know and I'll explain. Any other questions? Chris

Call the manufacturer and let them know what's going on. There is a good possibility FCI can correct the turn for you: http://www.flightconcepts.com/contactus.html Chris

Brake toggles slow you down (hence the name "brake"). So when you're doing braked turns as a part of a Braked Flight approach, you have the added benefit of your flight speed being slowed down... When your flight speed is slowed down, then everything is easier to predict, and problems are easier to deal with because you have more time to react. Rear risers do not slow you down nearly as much as brake toggles... and if you pull them down far enough to actually slow your flight speed down, then for most canopies you're already at the stall point, and this is not a good place to be when you're landing off in an unfamiliar area in an emergency situation. *thud*

Gus, If you get a lot of line twists in front of your head, then there's a good chance you will not be able to look down to see your cutaway or your reserve handles easily. Emergency procedures are: Arch, look, reach, look... etc. So personally I'd rather have the line twists behind my head, pinning my head down looking at my cutaway & reserve handles. Then if you cutaway a spun-up main... one that's behind your head will lift away from you without resistence, but if the risers are in front of your head I'd expect them to slap or grab part of your head on their way up after a cutaway. Chris

Ok, interesting. I'm unfamilar with PD's Reserve Slinks. It makes sense that they'd be a good bit thicker Chris

Mike, It seems that one of the rapide link's purposes in these pictures is to keep the deployment bag from sliding down the bridle toward the pilot chute (the rapide link will not fit through that grommet). So if a Slink is used instead, will the deployment bag remain near the canopy's bridle attachment point, or will the bag slide down over the pilot chute? Chris Warnock

That 30 second rule is for 4-way Rotations. For 8-way Speed CRW competitions the clock starts when the first team member leaves the plane, and stops when the formation is complete. I believe that 4-way Sequential competitions do not use the 30-second rule either. FAI's Canopy Formation competition rules can be found here: http://www.fai.org/parachuting/documents/cf_2004.pdf

All you need to start learning CRW is a USPA A license. Learning the basics of CRW can be pretty quick if you're already familiar with the functions of your risers and toggles. To become "good" depends on your definition of good =] I would not match someone who is wanting to learn CRW with someone who has little experience. If you have a knowledgeable, well-practiced CRW Dog flying with a newbie, the experienced guy can take care of 99% of potential problems because he or she knows how to avoid them. There are experienced CReW Dogs around the world who could give you a good introduction to CRW. Just drop into the CReW forum here on Dropzone.com and let people know you're interested and let them know what state you'll be in... there's a good chance you can find someone to teach you the basics. Chris Warnock

Good point Chris W

The IPC is an authority, and I would not surprised if someone who was trying to figure out how to calculate wing loading remembered "I read it on IPC's web page... let me find that again" They should understand it after graduating AFF, but in my experience many 1,000+ jump skydivers do not know the formula. I don't think "competitor's weight" implies much. Especially not to someone who is unfamiliar with the sport of swooping. I was interested in swooping after 200 jumps, and I was reading about it... if I had come across this definition at that time, there is a good chance I would have misinterpreted it. Yes I'm picky, and yes units would make a difference. I was focusing on my one point here. If I were going to put that definition into print for the IPC, I would certainly have been more thorough with it. And this airliner history does not make you think that some skydivers will miscalculate their wing loadings as a result of misinterpreting the definition I mentioned?

IPC's definition of wing loading seems to be misleading Section 2.10 of the IPC's Competition Rules for Canopy Piloting states: "Wing Loading: The mathematical ratio of the competitor's weight in US pounds to the surface area in square feet of the canopy he is jumping" http://www.fai.org/parachuting/documents/cpiloting_2004.pdf 'Exit Weight' is not defined or used in this statement, as it should be. If someone uses the statement above to calculate his wing loading for deciding what new high performance canopy to buy, then a gross miscalculation will occur and that jumper will end up with the wrong canopy. True definition of wing loading would be: Ratio of competitor's exit weight (weight of competitor + rig + cothing + any other gear the jumper will be wearing when exiting the plane) to the surface area of the canopy. Chris Warnock

No. It's always best to assume that you have no clue what's beneath some deep grass, and to do a PLF anywhere that you are unsure about the landing surface. I always assume that there will be a log, a hole, or something else that could break one of my legs underneath thick vegetation. So I think you made a good call and I'd say do the same thing next time. Judging when to flare, and how much to flare can seem confusing in such situations, especially when the vegetation is tall (such as landing in a corn field with 8 foot high stalks). If you mistakenly flare a bit too high and find that the grass is taller than you thought, it's ok... just hold the flare and PLF. Chris W

Wet shoes... those take forever to dry =p~ My experience was suck after competition was over & I got home, pulled my reserve out to dry, and found that the ink/dye on the red reserve data label had run right off the label and onto the yellow fabric... Also the red dye from the thread in the bar tacks had run down the spectra lines. Chris W.

Jedei, The best idea is always to downsize gradually... going from a 109 to an 81 is a major leap (no pun intended). It will cut your margin for error down to a fraction of what you have under the 109. btw, did you lose some weight recently? Your profile says that your wing loading for your X-Fire is 1.83. If that is correct, then your loading for the 81 Xaos would actually be like 2.5 (doh!) Chris W