faulknerwn

And it used to be that experienced jumpers would do all you are talking about for free. Not for a free jump and $5. But for free because they love the sport. You're at a Cessna dropzone - that's where you normally see more of the sharing for the love of the sport instead of money or free jumps. When I do coaching jumps at my drop zone, I pay my own slot. I don't get paid. And I enjoy it. I've probably taught at least 2-300 people on their first CRW jump. I've never charged $5, a jump, a pack job - I pay my own slot and teach because I love it. I get as much out of it as they do. I remember years ago when I was fresh off of student status doing a jump with Derek Thomas and another couple that same weekend with Roger Nelson. I had no idea who they were at the time, but they jumped with newbies for free, just teaching for the fun of it. I feel sad that at many small dropzones now experienced jumpers want a free slot and money to work with a newbie instead of sharing for the good of the sport. I was practically broke when I learned to skydive - struggling to come up with $15 for a jump - I just borrowed gear from friends and packed myself - paying $68 for a jump would have cut my jumping my 80%. Luckily the sport wasn't nearly as money-hungry back then or I probably wouldn't be jumping today. People helped me for free, as I'll do the same for others now. W

Let's see - I'm at 13 reserve rides in 3400 jumps. 4 were spinning ellipticals 1 was a hung-up slider (packed by someone else) 1 was a reserve ride on an old-fashioned round system I was jumping for fun after I couldn't find the handle 7 were from CRW incidents. I also probably have ~20 intentionals cutaways I've done with third canopies. Also to note - I've never had a malfunction on a square (only ellipticals). I've probably got ~1500 elliptical jumps and ~1900 square jumps.

Read my student logbook - I was a horrible student doing the same things you did. I don't have advice for you on how to get better, but it might make you feel better. I figured it out eventually. W http://crw.boxofclue.com/skydive/howcrw.html

In theory yeah. But there have been misfires since he died as well. Basically I'm paying ~$200+ a year if I had a Cypres betting that I don't knock myself unconscious on exit. If I weigh the odds of me killing myself on exit (and almost certainly a Cypres would not have saved Brad - it would only have made for a better fuyneral :-( - versus the odds of a misfire versus the odds of me needing it. I'm borderline on my 3 freefall rigs - I figure it would help more than it would hurt but $3600 worth of Cypreses (the cost of the Cypres 2 on a Racer) versus the odds of me being knocked out in freefall - they're iffy. And the odds of me needing a Cypres on my CRW rig versus the odds of it killing me - I figure they're at best even - at worst less than even. I almost never jump King Airs. I normally jump Cessnas where the pilots are experienced. I never jump up on exit. And Cypres misfires do happen. If it wasn't for the expense, I'd outfit 2 of my 3 freefall rigs. The 3rd is too small to hold one. But my CRW rig - the odds are at best 50/50 - on a good day - of it being more beneficial than dangerous - and I'm not willing to spend $1200 on a device that has as much chance of killing me as saving me.. Freefall is one thing.. CRW is another. I DEFINITELY would never take a downplane low with someone wearing a turned-on Cypres. I really miss Brad. I still think the odds are not with having a Cypres for CRW.

I've never jumped anywhere like that. Don't actually intend to either. Its like the last world meet in France - I know of teams and such from various countries that were required to have AADs (including for accuracy and CRW) who borrowed old FXCs and Sentinels and such for the meet and then just didn't turn them on. These days I'm inclined to buy an "expired" Cypres cheap and then just put the console in the Cypres pouch on my rig and cut off the batteries and the rest to appease people like that. W

My first rigger was a non-jumper. She's been in the parachute industry for years. PD actually uses "little-old-ladies" instead of skydivers in the sewing of their parachutes - they figure skydivers would just shrug and say "it'll work" while the non-jumpers are much more cautious! W

Just remember - there have been Cypres misfires - and if one happens on a CRW jump - you're probably dead and so might be some of your friends. Lots of CRWdogs use radios to talk or countdown or whatever in formations. There have been several cases of student or airplane radios firing a Cypres. There was a tandem Cypres that fired 100 feet off of the ground - can you imagine landing a 2-stack and having that happen? The risks outweigh the rewards in my book. W

Repeating my comment above...unless you have an AAD. That has the potential to kill you if you hit 750' (give or take) without a fully open parachute just as much as the ground. Except in this case the aircraft only went to 1250 feet - i.e. it never got to 1500 feet for the Cypres to arm. W

Basically the way I did mine, was take any kind of durable fabric - really doesn't matter tho nylon/parachute material would be a pain. I attach it along the seem of the tail so it dangles off the back - if you stiched it like it comes from the factory, you'd have to undo the tail and its a pain in the neck. Mine is just attached right along the seam of the tail center cell so it didn't require any canopy disassembly (took ~ 10 minutes to sew it on.) Make some attachment points for rubber bands and you're good to go... Basically it just boils down to a square dangling off the tail with a place to stow rubber bands. W

[reply IMHO - I don't see why someone would do a poised exit on an emergency exit anyways. Get the f^&* out of the plane as fast as possible, i.e. dive out and down. I think that was the first mistake - doing a poised exit. I've gone over that scenario time and time again in my own head - if the pilot tells me to get the hell out of the plane, I'm diving out, not wasting any time. If she did that, she would've been fine. Just as a note to this - if you practice head-high exits regularly (I've got 1500 CRW jumps) you can exit stable head high just as fast as people can dive out. I'm in a better position for deployment too - but like anything else - you can't do it fast unless you've practiced it. A couple of years ago we had an Otter with an engine problem and the pilot asked us to leave at about 1300 feet - I wouldn't particularly want to be diving out at that altitude... W

Most of my cutaways have been after CRW jumps, and I normally freefall back to terminal as I fall clear of the formation. Terminal opening is no biggie. W

I'll admit I agree with Billvon and the older guys. The biggest point of emphasis is that if you wouldn't do a jump without a Cypres, you shouldn't do it with one. Whether its a big-way, freeflying, or whatever - if you wouldn't feel comfortable doing it without one, you should think long and hard about whether you should do it with one. My personal anectdote - a few years ago I went out with a friend on old-timey gear. The belly-mount reserve was older than I was, and everything was freshly repacked. I spotted and jumped out with a friend. He pulled at 7k like planned, but when I went to pull I couldn't find the ripcord. It had come out of its pocket and was floating, and while I searched extensively for it I couldn't find mine. I remember thinking as I was going through 5k that "Wow - old, somewhat unfamiliar gear, no AAD, no RSL - whether I live or die is completely and absolutely up to me." I ended up dumping out the belly-mount reserve after flipping over on my back. And that - out of 3300 jumps - remains my favorite and most empowering jump that I have ever done. W

Read my student logbook :-) http://crw.boxofclue.com/skydive/howcrw.html I've got about 3300 jumps now but was a really lousy student :-) You can do it... Wen

do demo's come both ways from PD? PD's got both setups on their demos. I think a lot of times its the luck of the draw which type you get. W

I do pretty much the same thing, except I don't s-fold the canopy. I fold it in half, and then in half again - it looks somewhat like a sleeping bag roll. It stays in place a lot easier and is nowhere near as "squirmy" as s-folds. Tail-pockets are definitely easier to pack than bags... W

Please use real CRW canopies - especially for learning. Its much more dangerous on what you're doing because they are so unforgiving. After that, definitely don't plane these canopies. Pilot chute entanglements are one thing, and I can bet that the bottom canopy will dance widely. Not safe. Thirdly - what little CRW I've done with cross-braced tells me that cross-braced canopies are NOT compatible with Stilletto's and Cobalts and the ilk. Thir descent rate is extreme comparatively and they don't work. If you insist on learning CRW on this sort of canopies (which I HIGHLY recommend against) - use 2 Stilllettos or 2 cross-braced but not a mix. And definitely don't plane them...

Nah - it doesn't hurt at all being dropped straight out of the dragplane - its like a really good swoop. What I enjoy is being in a 2-way downplane - - either with leg grips or some method where you can have your hands free. The bigger canopy can go into deepp, deep brakes, and the bottom canopy can front-riser, and you can do a 2-man dragplane. They're fun. I've been so vertical like this my canopy actually went silent - rather wild. But being dropped from upside-down is no biggie... W

You can pack a canopy with a tail pocket in a bag if you wish. You can also add one after-market. I personally prefer tail pockets because they're easier and faster to pack, and they're a lot more likely to open on-heading, which makes the mass exits and such safer. I've taken lots of decent-length delays on my tail pocket and it opens fast, but Lightnings open fast no matter what you do so its a negligible difference. Overall, I much prefer a tail pocket over a bag - pretty much just because of the on-heading openings and the ease of packing. Oh - and scaring the freefallers :-) W

In case anyone missed the thread in talkback, there are some good pics and video of Ballunarfest taken by one of our birddogs here: http://www.interone.net/vid/crewswoop/index.html http://www.interone.net/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album20

I don't particularly like it in the US, but ADORE it in Ireland. Its not the same beer. Make sure if you ever are in Dublin to try it. W

I've got rigs which range between 12-20 lbs. The 12 lber has a 75 sq ft main and had a 109 sq ft reserve.

Just to reiterate the above - the bridle comes with the canopy, and I've always just gone in my rigger's shed and grabbed whatever old pc I saw. As far as slinks - you definitely need to keep the slider up high - you'll never be able to pull a slider down past all the @&**( on CRW risers :-) It also will make it harder to change the trim if need be... W

I agree about the flat packing. I don't even know how to properly do it (I learned to pro-pack on student status) but I know we've had only one student malfunction in all the years I've been at this dz - and that was a spring loaded pilot chute over the nose of a tiny girl (We use BOC now.) I'm definitely a believer in a lower malfunction rate on the flat packs.\ W

I've always had people add brakes from the bottom up when a big stack starts to wobble. Of course I practically never do big stacks. I also just exit normally in a regular arch. But that's no biggie... W

I recommend Racers all the time - especially to small people. For small people they are so much more comfortable than anything else on the market. I've managed to accumulate 4 Racers over the years, and with well over 3000 jumps on them - doing CRW, RW and freeflying I've never had any problems. If its comfortable, and it fits you well, go for it. And I've got ~ 11 reserve rides on Racers - the pilot chute launches very cleanly. And the red cutaway cables on modern Racers - I'm still in awe at how well they work. W