Hooknswoop

LOL- I'll be there tomorrow evening. Hook

She is on her way (or already there) to Perris. AFAIK she plans on still doing the record attempts. Hook

Seen Skykat (Kelli) yet? Hook

Do you really have a Lap rating? Hook

Yep, I read his e-mails a second time, thinking I just mis-read them, but no, that is how he wrote it. So I read it a third time to translate it. Like a nightmare, kinda like I'll get a call saying it was all a mistake and he is fine. Hook

I am still coming to terms with this. Because I wasn't there, it doesn't seem real. I half expect to get one of Duey's discombobulated e-mails with a "Pepsi Generation" version just for me tacked on the bottom. Duey is a straight shooter. He always has that grin, regardless of what is going on around him, he never rattles or gets upset. He always thinks of others, especially his sons. Duey- recover quick, Pepsi quick. Hook

Next to nill. It will stay on the reserve flap in a reserve deployment. It would have to be yanked off to get past the tabs that hold the reserve flap shut. The Velcro is covered until you peel it to stow the slider, and the loop part of the Velcro is on the end of the keep. Hook

The Issue: There has been some debate about weather a slider keeper around the reserve flap is a good idea or not, specifically, will it release the slider in case you have to cutaway after stowing your slider? The Hypothesis: If built correctly and installed correctly, there should be no reason for a slider keep to not release the slider in the event of a cutaway. To test this, I built a slider keeper, installed it around the reserve flap and after stowing the slider, cutaway. I used my intentional cutaway rig. The Design: Type IV, 1-inch tape, double the length of the reserve flap plus 1 1/2-inches. A 2-inch by 1-inch piece of loop Velcro and a 1-inch by 1-inch piece of hook Velcro. Mate the Velcro to form a loop around the reserve flap. Opposite from the Velcro to form the loop, sew perpendicular to the loop another length of 1 inch, Type IV. The length is set by where you want to keep the slider at, where the yoke sits on your back, and the size of the slider, but it is not a critical measurement. A 1-inch by 1-inch square piece of hook Velcro is sewn over the junction of the loop and vertical slider keeper Type IV. Fold the other end of the Type IV back onto itself one inch from the end and sew a 1-inch by 3-inch piece of Velcro 3/4 of an inch from the fold-over. This leaves a 3/4-inch tab. How It Works: After opening pull the slider down, peel the Velcro and slap it back on. You have a 3-inch by 1-inch piece of loop to hit a 1-inch by 1-inch piece of hook Velcro with. In the event of a cutaway after stowing the slider, it can release the slider three ways. First, the Velcro used to actually hold the slider will probably peel, at most it is a 1-inch by 1-inch connection of Velcro. Second, the Velcro used to make the loop can release, again, at most it is a 1-inch by 1-inch connection of Velcro. Lastly, pulling the reserve will allow the loop to slide off the reserve flap, releasing the main. It is unlikely that either of the 1-inch by 1-inch Velcro connections wouldn't release before then. The Result: I cutaway after stowing the slider. I took an extra second or two to really mash down the Velcro. The slider keep released the slider as if it had never been stowed. Zero hesitation. Tests on the ground showed it wouldn't even come close to lifting the rig, a J-4. Tests with a spring scale showed maximum pull force to get the Velcro to release was 12 pounds. This is brand new Velcro and the 12 pounds was the highest reading, generated only after mashing down the Velcro as much as possible. The other tests were in the 5-8 pound range. The Conclusion: A slider keep of the design I described has almost no chance of preventing a cutaway. I would like to say that it has zero chance, but nothing is that certain. It is easy to use and keeps the slider down and out of the way. Hook

I teach try once, if the PC doesn't come out, try again, pulling as hard as you can. If it doesn't come out, it won't come out because you just pulled as hard as you can, there is nothing else you can do. Go to the reserve. If that doesn't come out, "repeat with re-newed vigor". Hook

The best line in the movie, "Who would choose this!?" Another full-time skydiving Instructor and I were the only two people int he room to bust out laughing at the line. Fun jumping is fun. Instructing is fun, if you also get to fun jump and choose when you do either. Having to Instruct to pay the bills and eat sucks. My advice: Don't do it. Hook

I never tell a student "arch hard". They picture a "hard arch" requiring a lot of muscle and force. I want them more relaxed. The more tense they are the more they de-arch. I haven't had a problem getting stable prior to tossing the drogue, reqardless of the student's body position. I tell them they 'should' (I changed 'must' to 'should' to try and help them relax) remember 3 things; 1) 'When we leave the airplane, arch for me, what I mean by that is, hips foward (demonstrate), chin up.' 2) 'Don't grab me (demonstrate by grabbing one wrist with my other hand), think about it, if you are hanging onto me, who is gonna pull?' 3) 'This is problably the most important, lift your legs for landing (demonstrate with one leg), kness slightly bent, toes pointed, lean back and squash me. Your job is to not touch the ground. If you knock the wind out of me, you did it right.' Bonus briefing material, goggles, making sure they seal around the bridge of their nose, and how to adjust the leg straps immediately after the parachute opens. Edit: I forgot, I tell them to 'hook' their thumbs under their harness for exit, release when I tap them. I've found that having them cross their arms tends to lead to a fetal position and hooking their thumbs opens them up. I don't have them do anything for pull time, just hold what they have. Hook

It is usually caused from the canopy opening very close or on the edge of a stall. The canopy falls back, surges foward, repeat. As it falls back, it drops, the PC gets dragged above it and it can either fall in front of the nose, fall just behind the canopy and get snagged by a line, or fall far enough behind the canopy that everything returns to normal. Check your line trim. If you have Spectra, the steering lines shrink faster than the rest of the lines, causing the canopy to deploy in deeper brakes over time. PC's over the nose seem to happen on larger lightely loaded canopys more often than than other canopys. Hook

Ho often do you clean your cutaway cables and flex your 3-rings? Hook

Or Spyder (Spider?)Aviation on Savannah International Airport, they re-build L-39's also. http://www.l39.com/Ejection%20seats.htm "There are several time replacement items in the seats, Rocket motor – 9 years since manufacture, cartridges – 2 years from installation. Parachute packs (seat and drogue) - 6 years total life ( two year repack)" http://www.yakuk.com/AAN%20G-OTAF.doc Book 17 Part 2 Servicing ejection seats + Book 6 Book 17 Part 3 Parachutes and oxygen http://www.aggressor39.org/index.asp?pageid=L39%20Manuals Book 7 Ejection seat, 400 pages http://www.aggressor39.org/index.asp?pageid=downloads Egress and Ejection Briefing Powerpoint (right click and choose save as to download) Don Kirlin's Site: http://www.air-usa.com/ "One of our strengths is that we have the only factory trained ejection seat maintenance person in the United States." http://www.aero-contact.com/Index2.htm They sell manuals. Edit, this is the most I could find on the seats. Hook

I will be able to get a time-out student Cypres very soon, within 3 months or less. Hook

I don't doubt any of that, but will they recommend a competetor's product over a PD product? What would happen to a PD sponsored pilot that told a jumper to buy an Icarus Extreme VX instead of a Velocity? Sponsored pilots are biased, so I discount their gear recommendations. Hook

The last people I would take gear recommendations from is someone that is sponsored. They are paid, or given free gear in agreement to recommending that manufacturer's gear. Call a Ford dealership and ask them what vehicle is best for you……… I would say the next step is something cross-braced. It can be difficult to demo cross-braced canopys, so borrowing from other people may be the way to go. Demo what you can, borrow what you can't. You'll know what you want next after jumping several different canopys. Hook

Already mentioned is having the rip-cord handle in the same location as the BOC throw-out handle and throwing the rip-cord every jump. Seems cheaper and easier to simply use throw-outs. Given that, the vast majority of student pull stable, and a throwout PC works better than a spring loaded PC when they are stable. When they are unstable, they work the same. I see several advantages to using BOC throw-outs and I don't see any advantages to using rip-cords for students. Hook

Bill- I have a test chamber, I just need to either get the altimeter fixed or get a new one. SSK told me that they didn't know if an Expert Cypres would fire at 3.1:1, so I ditched mine. I would really like to put one in a fanny pack and jump it to see if it fires. I'm still working on that. I'll also take a 12 year, 3+ month old Cypres. Hook

For the riggers: I have seen several methods of sewing a patch. How do you sew a patch? I can't include the diagrams (maybe I can get skycat to post them), but this is the best method I have seen so far. * Note: Patch is sewn on the inside, make marks on inside of canopy 1. Identify the damage. 2. Mark out an area 1 ½ inches past all damage. This is your damage line. 3. With a hot knife, cut out patch 1 inch larger than damage line, so that it overlaps damage line by ½ inch on every side. *Note: Square patches are easier to sew 4. On the canopy, start at any corner, count down 10 blocks (on damage line), and mark an “X”. This is your start mark on the canopy. 5. On the patch, start at any corner (if patch is square), and count down 14 blocks and over 4 blocks from the edge. This is your start mark on the patch. 6. Align both start marks up. Fold under 4 blocks on patch. *Make sure patch is on the INSIDE of the canopy. 7. Sink needle, moving it by hand. 8. Check alignment 9. Start sewing. Sew line should be no further than one block from the edge. 10. Sew all the way around the patch, turning under 4 blocks. 11. Turn fabric over. Mark 7 blocks from sew line. Cut 3 blocks diagonal. 12. Very carefully cut out damage. Put your hand on the inside between damage being cut out and good fabric so you don’t cut the wrong fabric. 13. Fold French Fell Seam and sew inside. 14. Inspect patch. Hook

I've never mod'd a Safire1 144. Hook

Any way you could post it? How did it open? Tandems fall into my 'Maybe/possibly' catagory for line dump. Locking grommets are wide apart, heavy lines, Dacron or 1000 lb Vectran, Big PC, possibly very fast airspeed at pull time, and acclerating. Any video of a sport canopy inflating before line stretch? Hook

Right, but you also said: You have video'd lots of deployments, right. Any video of a canopy inflating before line stretch? I have video of a Sabre opening in about 75 feet, extremely hard, but the canopy didn't come out of the bag until after line stretch. I have never seen live or on video, line dump. I think line dump is possible, IF; the canopy has Dacron lines, very small locking stows, loose locking rubber bands, big PC and a high deployment airpseed, then maybe. If the D-bag grommets are 5 inches apart and you make 2 inch stows (not very big). That is 8 inches of line outside the stows and 5 inches between the stows. Gravity helps the stows stay in place, not yank them out. People have a hard opening and blame line dump, but no one seems to have any video of line dump. Lots of video of hard openings but no canopies out of the bag before line stretch. Hook

More technique and more work = more difficult. Any rig is easy if you know all the tricks, etc. Racers are harder to pack than other rigs. If I had to teach someone to pack a Javelin and a Racer, they would learn how to do a good job on the Javelin sooner, because it is easier. Hook

I can reach across and get the PC from the reserve side, or pull the reserve side main pull. It is a handle w/ a length of yellow cutaway cable that hold the top of the BOC closed. The handle is velcrod on both sides and when removed opens the reserve side of the BOC. The BOC flops open and the PC takes off. I've pulled a reserve side main pull a few times, worked great every time. Hook