polarbear

I got asked a question like this on my rigger exam. I was asked if you want to install B-12 snaps on the leg straps of a rig (to replace thread-thrus), and you can buy that rig new with B-12's, then is it an alteration? The answer was yes. If you change a piece of equipment from its original configuration, it is an alteration. It doesn't matter if you are changing to a different configuration offered by the manufacturer-you are still altering THAT piece of equipment. In the end run, it is clear that you must follow manufacturer's instructions. Call them and ask. As far as replacing lower brake lines (or changing their length) or attaching toggles, that should be a senior rigger job. I think the DPRE in this case is going overboard. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

I have never thought it a good idea to try and clear a lineover (on a main). When you see it, chop it. Hook's little exercise is a good example of why. Line overs are for the most part due to packing...pack carefully and enjoy the fruits of your labor. A good quality hook knife is, in my opinion, an essential piece of gear. They aren't that expensive, either. I see a lot of knives in the field with rusted blades. Seems like checking the blade once in a while might be a good thing. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

Ditto. The G3 still kicks ass, though. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

I just had my second save on Sunday because someone pulled unstable. They also got tangled up in their lines. They kept a cool head and got the lines off their legs and arms, cutaway, and deployed the reserve with plenty of altitude to spare. They made good in a bad situation. It is important to pull while stable, but statistics says pull when it's time to pull. You broke rule #3...thanks for not breaking rules #1 or #2. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

I just got mine (G3) in March. Hey, the G3 kicks ass, too. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

But it will also probably increase the pull force. The test specifies that the MAXIMUM pull force be 22 lbs - this is in the direction that gives the highest pull force, which is not straight down. In addition, in actual use, a real ripcord will probably not be pulled straight down, but out to the side. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

I've never used a positive tension device (the so-called "donkey dick"). I use my packing paddle and closing plate, which I suppose is a form of positve leverage device. I also check to see that I can move the pin with my fingers...that is my rule of thumb. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

Generally speaking, I try to listen to everyone and weigh the usefulness of what the are saying. Some credentials do mean something... Total number of jumps can be useful. Generally speaking, someone with 1000+ jumps can do at least something in the air pretty well. I am usually more interested in currency...how many jumps in the last 6 months? The last 1 month? I also look for RELEVANT experience. Experience/success competing can say a lot. Licenses don't say much to me. Ratings are useful in some situations...riggers ticket is nice for gear questions, instructional ratings are nice for questions on teaching or newbie-type questions, etc. Some people are teachers...they can find a way to explain something to someone in such a manner that that person will understand. Others are not teachers. Instructional ratings unfortunately don't distinguish the two. I guess generally it is hard to really qualify someone with a few credentials. As I said in the beginning, you have to use your brain...listen to what they say and weigh its merit. Some people do things very well, others may not do it as well but can explain it better. If you are going to accept advice based on credentials, I think you have to know the person pretty well. I would like to suggest as a constructive criticism that recently in the forums I have seen several pissing contests develop over "credentials". Some people amass knowledge and then turn around and focus on sharing it with others...they are the ones to listen to. Others focus on showing off to everyone how much they know. If someone is throwing their credentials in my face it is a turn-off. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

You are right in saying that 7-cells tend to glide more steeply. That is a function of the aspect ration, not neccessarily line trim. 7-cells do not necessarily have to be trimmed steeper than 9-cells. Toggle pressure is also not neccessarily higher on a 7-cell...that is mostlty a function of the planform shaping and the steering line setup (cascade lengths, where the lines are attached to the canopy, how many are attached to the canopy...). Other characteristics of 7-cells are that they tend to roll in to a turn faster, but they have a slower ultimate rate of turn. The tend to be more stable and open on-heading. Given equivalent wing-loadings, 7-cells will also tend to malfunction less violently. They are also less prone to line-overs. The stability, opening, and malfunction characteristics is why they are often chosen for reserves. Phreezone: Base canopies and reserves open fast because of the way they are packed (nose flaked open and exposed to airstream) and because the sliders are often small, have holes cut in them, or are missing completely. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

Again, I don't know that Cypres mix-ups have actually happened. The information I have is 3rd-hand at best. It doesn't sound like anyone out there has experienced this problem, so it looks like it is either untrue or a fluke. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

I probably should say that the person I heard about this from said nothing about SSK. They could have been dealing with Airtec. Hell, they could have been working through a rigger or gear dealership, and THEY got them mixed up. In my effort to not start a rumor I managed to implicate SSK...Sorry about that. I have sent 2 Cypreses (Cypri?) to SSK and both times have gotten good service. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

I'm by no means an expert but I will share my experience. My first canopy was a Monarch 215, which I had loaded at 1.0. I had a brake line snap on opening once and decided to land it in rear risers. I didn't stand the landing up, but it was soft enough. I was fortunate enough to have had someone film that landing, and now that I am a little more experienced and knowledgeable about canopy flight, I can review the video and actually see the problems with rear riser flares. I started the flare at about the same height as I would with the toggles. I flare by pulling down only about 2". The canopy begins to plane out, but does so slowly. I realize I am not planning out quickly enough, so I haul in another inch or two of rear riser (what I would normally do on toggles if I was not planning out). You can see a distictive dimple form on the top of the canopy at this point and the canopy stops trying to plane out. It basically drops the rest of the way (luckily only about 5 feet) with a relatively high speed and angle of descent. I think if I had started the flare higher and just held the first 2" of rear riser flare, I probably would have planed out OK. I wish I could show that video, because I think it displays quite nicely what can happen with a rear riser flare. Luckily, I was jumping at a relatively low wing loading and was not swooping, so my airspeed and descent were never that high. From what it looks like to me, using rear risers to flare seems to be something that requires a certain amount of altitude to do. If everything is set up right, you can haul in an inch or two and hold it until you are flying flat across the ground. But, if you are too low, I think you have to recognize that quickly and instead of hauling in more rear riser to try to plane out more quickly, get on the toggles and land that way. I don't think you can think of rear risers as a substitute for toggles...they act differently and require different thinking. I would also agree that during a swoop using rear risers to land after snapping a brake line during the flare is a fat chance. I sure as hell would try if I was in that situation, but I think you basically have to prevent that one from happening. Keep an eye on your brake lines and replace them when the show any wear. I have started playing around with rear risers up high on my Samurai and it feels weird. I have noticed it is awkward to grab on to the rear risers evenly without looking at them, something I don't want to do during the flare. It also seems to be harder to "feel" if the flare is right (with the toggles, you can feel when you are getting enough lift - I haven't experienced that on rear risers). I suppose eventually I'll try using rear risers to land, but that is on the very bottom of a long list of things I could do to improve swoop diatnce. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

Ouch. I have seen that happen a couple of times to other people...nice landing, just missing skin on whatever was dragging. As much as I like to freefall with bare feet, I wear shoes almost always to prevent abrasions on my landing gear. Same thing with gloves. It sucks to have a good landing and still get hurt. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

It is not of major concern, as long as the two conditions you mentioned were met. But how are you to know? Think of this situation...you need batteries changed and a 4-year check. You change the batteries before you realize it has to be sent in. So, you send in a unit for ONLY the 4-year. SSK returns you a unit that has had ONLY the 4-year, which is what you paid them for. But, it doesn't have new batteries, since you didn't pay SSK for them. If this is true (which again I have not experienced this first hand) it shows that SSK is unwilling to spend the time to track the original owner, which I think would be lazy. AGAIN, I want to reiterate that I do not know if this really happens; I am interested if anyone out there has experienced this. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

I have heard someone say that "they know someone" who shipped their Cypres in for 4/8 year service, and a different Cypres was sent back instead of the one they sent in. Has anyone else experienced this? I want to make certain everyone understands that I do not want to start any rumors! I have not seen this happen; only heard of it. I want to know if others out there have experienced this. "Holy s*** that was f***in' cold!"

I also have the short 18" risers from mirage and have a similar problem with my Samurai. When I get cash I'm going to order some 20" risers.

I agree as well. Most people don't need a D, and getting one has become a matter of ego for many people. That is all fine, but that ego will crash if you lower the requirements. Whether or not it is still called the "master" license, the fact that it is the highest license granted implies a high level of competency and experience. The current requirements for the D do not, in my opinion, require all THAT high level of competency in today's skydiving world. If anything, they need to be made more stringent. Don't want to meet the requirements for the D? Fine, no problem, don't get a D. You probably don't need one anyway. If anyone cares they are just being egotistical. Just don't lessen the requirements. I don't really want to write my thesis; maybe I should petition U of I to give me my Master's without writing it.

Anybody know what the entrance requiremenat are for the intermediate event?

I am not familiar with PA's tests. I would guess that the line set that lasted 1000 jumps was taken well care of. I doubt they laid it in the sun for 4 hours before/during the 1000 jumps. Maybe they did. I would believe this. Stows on HMA have got to be TIGHT...I would bet there are quite a few rigs out there with loose stows, which could contribute to a hard opening, which could contribute to a line breaking. I mentioned elsewhere that testing done by a manufacturer is good, but may not be conclusive. The people who run those test know what they are doing, and if they don't intend to, might bias the results because they don't make stupid mistakes like the average jumper does. When you put it in the hands of the average consumer who is NOT and engineer, aerodynamicisit, rigger, canopy designer, etc., new problems are bound to come up. Who knows? HMA is still new. As I said before, Time will tell.

I had resisted replying in this forum because I had too much to say. Luckily, Chuck said it for me. Changing the license requirements will be a bitch and will piss many, many people off. However, I think the license requirements will continue to make less and less sense as time goes on. The might as well be addressed now. One other point, while I am support of more advanced canopy training and even HP canopy flight, I do not think it is fair to require this for a standard skydiving license. The reason is because flying HP canopies or in a HP manner carries a significantly higher risk...true, night jumps and CRW jumps also carry more risk, but far fewer people get hurt or killed doing CRW or night jumps then swooping. If someone is "smart" enough (unlike me) to fly conservatively, I don't think they should be forced to do the riskier HP stuff. Exploring a canopy's basic flight characteristics is one thing...forcing them to crank a 180 and swoop is another. The only way I can see adding HP flight into a license is to make a whole new HP license. This isn't unheard of...pilots need different licenses to fly faster planes or do acrobatics. The way I see it, the license requirements basically center around traditional skydiving...accuracy, belly RW, and style. All good skills, but these days skydiving has more facets...freeflying, HP canopy flying, CRW, etc. The license requirements should reflect these. True, it could be argued that turning that 2-pt. 8 way for the D license doesn't have to be on your belly (you could sit or head down or whatever), but it requires a lot more skill and practice to do this head down than on the belly. Also, more and more people are starting to swoop with lower jump numbers...I don't see too many swoops end with someone landing within a 2-m circle for the D license. In addition to raising the jump number requirements, maybe more options could be added. Like for the D-license, you could turn a 2 pt. 8-way on the belly OR a 2pt. 4 way in a sit (or whatever would be appropriate).

It doesn't have to be on every fiber in the bundle to reduce the strength of the line. Maybe the overall loss of strength in the line will be much less, say 20%, but remember we are dealing with lines that are 350-440 lb breaking strength. Lose 20 % of that, then subject it to a shock load (ie hard opening or uneven loading)...that low elasticity comes into play, and you have a broken line. Maybe 60% is excessive, maybe not...cobaltdan gave that number. I'll let him supply a reference.

At first, I agreed with the idea of cutting a riser. But then I got thinking...if we are dealing with twists so severe that the risers are twisted, that means you will probably have to cut all four at once. This may or may not be possible with the hook knives most of us use. In any case, I would try to cut something. Risers or lines, the effect would be the same, assuming you were successfull...turn the spinner into a streamer, then chop it and deploy the reserve.

A spectra-equipped canopy will actually change quickly in the first few (50?) jumps. The center cell A and B lines will get longer (they take the highest opening force); the outside lines and steering lines will get shorter due to friction in the slider grommets and steering line guide rings. The friction-shrinking will keep occurring over a long time...by the time you have 500 jumps, I would expect a drastic difference. My last canopy (a spectra-equipped Heatwave) was out of trim on the center and outside lines after 50 jumps. Some companies take this into account when they make the canopy...you actually buy it with slightly long outside and steering lines and/or slightly short center cell lines. The canopy works itself into trim in the first few jumps. I check my line trim every couple of months, when the weather is crappy. On great big canopies, it won't matter as much...if you fly a little HP, it can be very important.

***i honestly don't think you can cut away all of the lines with a knife in time, (what if you drop your knife? time is a BIG factor here, once you initiate a plan, your "burning daylight") *** If you are going to attempt to "fix" or better a bad situation, you MUST keep your eye on the altimeter. My plan would be to try and cut the lines...I have 18" risers (with hard inserts; hopefully this won't happen); reaching the lines is no problem for me. A sharp hook knife should cut through a bunch of tensioned lines with relative ease...assuming you can fit that bunch into the mouth of the hook! How many of you guys routinely check your knives to see that they are in good condition? At 1000', I would deploy the reserve and face the challenge of two canopies out...hopefully it would be simpler and/or I would be luckier.

*** -a single fiber of hma loses up to 60% of its strength after only 4 hours of bright sunlight exposure. -hma has 1/8 the elasticity of spectra. *** Both of which can explain why a line snaps. 4 hours of sunlight exposure isn't too hard to get. Low elasticity means it won't tolerate shock loads too well. Spectra is already pretty inelastic...if HMA is less so, I would expect it to not like rogue hard openings much.