Hooknswoop

Dan- great to have you here. I'm sure you don't remember, but we did a few 4-way jumps a couple of years ago. As I went over your back (intentionally) all I could think was "I am going vertical over Dan BC. Cool". Again, glad you are here. Hook

Was, he is sponsored by PD now. Hook

How many of these landings were "less than ideal", i.e. hurt? Hook

Right, initial cost is very high, but single turbine engine, carries a lot of jumpers, fast turn-around times, low maintanence costs, fixed gear, nose wheel, easy to fly. Hook

How did that happen? Did the toggles come out in free-fall and wrap around each other? Hook

What if the cows come home at 12:30 PM? Hook

I copied that off a web site. I understood that Mach speed varies w/ the viscosity of the medium, faster through water than air at sea level, slowing down as the air got thinner with altitude, eventually reaching 0 mph in space. Is this correct? Hook

"A less familiar measure of speed is the use of a Mach number. This is a ratio and has NO units. It is a measure of how many times faster an object is moving than sound does in the SAME medium and under the SAME conditions of pressure and temperature. Usually the medium is air - but it does not have to be - it could be water. Thus Mach 1 is the same as the speed of sound, Mach 2 is twice as fast and so on. The problem is that the speed of sound is not constant in any given medium. It does vary quite considerably with the pressure and the temperature. In the case of aeroplanes, as they go higher, both the air pressure and temperature become less. So Mach numbers do not give an exact speed unless all the surrounding conditions are known. To get some idea of the size of a Mach number, the conversion done in the calculator is based on the speed of sound being 331.5 metres/second, which it is at sea-level at 0°C.' 331.5 m/s = 644 kts = 742 mph http://www.januranusjaymartin.de/air/aircraftspeedsatmachspeeds.html Hook

"SERVICE BULLETIN: # FSI-SB-1005 rev (1)` APPLICABILITY: All Reflex harness/containers manufactured before January 31 2000 excluding serial numbers 1765, 1769,1771 and 1775." Your'e safe from this one, but I would check them anyway. "SERVICE BULLETIN: #FSI-SB-1003 DATE: DECEMBER 27, 1996 SUBJECT: REFLEX MAIN RISER COVER STATUS: MANDATORY BACKGROUND: There have been three reports from the field where REFLEX owners experienced delayed main riser cover release during normal deployment. Fliteline Systems, Inc. was notified and the REFLEX harness/containers were returned to the factory for further testing. Testing identified a variance in the stiffness of the ballistic cloth used in the riser covers. Under certain conditions this can cause the riser cover to experience a high friction release or remain closed. IDENTIFICATION: REFLEX harness/container P/N RA01-1 () and RS01-1 (). Serial numbers 000228 - 000301 inclusive, 000312, 000313, 000322, and 000330. " The container is not affected by this one either. Also check if the Raven is affected by(-M's built before April 12, 1999): SB20011221r1 If it is affected it will cost you $50.00 + shipping to get it fixed. PA has a S/N search link on their web page, along w/ the complete SB. Hook

Insurance generally requies 500 hours tail-wheel time for the pilot. So you have to find the right pilot, and probably pay more because they have the required time. It is harder to fly than a nose-wheel airplane. Even the Army managed to ground loop it's Porter. It is a great airplane though. Hook

Not to say that turbulence won't turn or affect a canopy, but sudden side gusts don't just come along and push a canopy over. That severe of turbulence will generally fold in an end-cell. Usually turbulance causes a canopy to drop, sometimes climb, or slow it's descent. How many high speed canopy pilots do you see crash and burn because a gust blows their canopy over? How many tandems suddenly turn at low altitude and land crosswind from a sudden gust? Why don't experienced/excellent canopy pilots complain about sudden side gusts? I really am not trying to harsh on you, just trying to stop people from blaming side gusts for landing issues. Hook

Not to harsh on you, but "crosswind gust"? Every time i see someone flare un-evenly, then reach for the ground with their hand and leg, making the canopy turn to the wrong direction to fix the un-even flare (exact opposite response needed to keep canopy over their head for a good landing), they blame a sudden side gust. I challenge anyone to stand out in the landing area and see how many "sudden side gusts" they feel, strong enough to move a canopy. Sorry but I put sudden side gusts, line dump, canopies have naturally turning downwind tendancies and the lock ness monster all in the same catagory. Hook

I am training Fox to chase the fur-ball and terrorize it as much as possible, but it is hard to teach old dogs new tricks. Hook

Safe bet that for operating costs vs. income(# jumpers per load and loads per hour), the Grand Caravan is hard to beat. Downside is initial cost. Hook

Do you want another red fur-ball? I'll pay for shipping Hook

The length of the steering lines can drastically affect how a canopy flies. High performance canopies are affected much more than lower performance canopies. All canopies should have some slack or a slight bow in the steering lines. If the steering lines are too short and pull down the tail of the canopy during full flight, even slightly, the canopy is flying in brakes. If the canopy is flying in brakes, it will not have as much speed to trade for lift during the landing flare. Over time the steering lines shrink as a result of friction from the slider during opening, as much as 6 inches in extreme cases. New canopies or line sets adjusted to have no slack in the steering lines will begin to fly in brakes as the control lines shrink. To maximize the performance of your canopy it is necessary to understand the construction of the steering lines. The steering lines on a canopy are made of several parts. The upper control lines, usually four or five lines cascade or split at the top of the central control line and attach to the tail. The central control line attaches the upper control lines to the lower control line. The lower control line attaches from the finger-trapped loop (for setting the brakes) at the bottom of the central control line to the toggle. The lower control line is where your rigger can make adjustments. If you do not use your front risers, adjusting steering line length is a fairly simple process. To check your control lines, pull one toggle down an inch or two while watching the tail of the canopy in flight. The tail should not move and the canopy should not turn. If it does, your lower steering lines need to be lengthened. Make small adjustments, no more than an inch at a time. This may require several adjustments. It is better to be an inch too long than an inch too short. Once you find the correct length, have your rigger finger-trap and bar-tack the lower steering line to eliminate the knot next to the toggle which can hang up on the guide ring. Periodically check the steering lines to see if they have shrunk and need to be lengthened again. Micro-line can shrink 4 to 6 inches or more over its life span. Vectran tends not to shrink with wear but is not as durable as Micro-line. If you use your front risers, adjusting steering line length is more complicated. Having enough slack in the lower steering lines on a high performance canopy is more critical to how the canopy will fly. In a front riser turn you are pulling the toggle down a little with the riser and there has to be some slack to prevent pulling down the tail. If the tail of a high performance canopy is pulled down even a little when front risering, the riser pressure will be much higher and the recovery arc (the amount of altitude required to get back under the canopy) will be shortened. To check if the steering line is long enough, clear your airspace, do a full 360 degree front riser turn (keeping the toggles in your hands), and watch the tail of the canopy. As the speed increases, the drag on the control line increases and if there isn’t enough slack, the tail will be pulled down. You need enough slack so that the tail won’t be pulled down while pulling the toggle and the riser down at the maximum speed of the canopy. Another easy method of checking your steering line length is to compare the front riser pressure from the front riser 360 with the toggles in your hands to a front riser 360 without the toggles in your hands. It is important to have plenty of altitude and clear airspace before letting go of the toggles and front risering. Again, make small adjustments no more than an inch at a time and have your rigger finger-trap and bar-tack the lower control line once you have them adjusted correctly. With the steering lines correctly set, your canopy will dive longer and faster, have lower front riser pressure, and you can get the most out of your canopy. Hook

I know someone that tossed their cutaway handle and pulled their reserve only to look up and see the slider of the reserv epushing the cutaway cables down the lines. Fortunately the cables were below the cascades or they could have mal'd his reserve. Hook

AS was already mentioned, dis-connecting the RSL dis-connects the Skyhook. You could cutaway the main on the ground (for winds and no catchers) and it wouldn't pull the reserve pin or the sky-hook. Hook

I guess Bill could reply better than I could, but having it invisible is nice for the same reasons the Cypres cutter is invisible. It may not be feasable, just like the Cypres cutter, to make the Skyhook visable from the outside of the container. You trust the rigger to put it together correctly and don't worry about it. If the rigger doesn't route the closing loop through the cutter, that is a big deal. The Cypres, if needed won't deploy the reserve. If the Rigger doesn't hook up the Skyhook, no big deal, pull your reserve handle like you are supposed to. There isn't a need to include the Skyhook in the gear preflight anymore than to include the Cypres cutter in the pre-flight check. There are parts of a reserve that cannot be checked before each jump. The Cypres was designed from the start with specific objectives, but the cutter isn't visable from the outside. I don't see a down side to the Skyhook. Hook

Not being able to check it on a gear check doesn't seem like a big deal. If it isn't hooked up, the system works normally. If it is hooked up, the reserve comes out of the free-bag faster in a partial mal situation. I don't think it is imortant to be able to check it from the outside of the rig for the same reasons we don't need to check if the reserve closing loop runs through the Cypres cutter from the outside. I am looking foward to putting my hands on one of these, but from everything I've seen and read about it, it looks great. Hook

I train AFF students to spot out of larger aircraft the same way I spot out of larger aircraft. As I get to the door I check if the green light still on, indicating the pilot is still clearing jumpers to exit? During the time needed between exits, I check where the aircraft is in relation to the drop zone, taking into upper and lower winds I decide if the spot will be OK on exit. I look for clouds, the jumpers that exited before me, and aircraft. If I feel the spot isn't good enough, I call for a go-around. This all happens fairly quickly and needs to be taught to the student on the gound. If the student is spotting, I have them give me a thumbs up or thumbs down telling me if they think the spot is OK. I warn them ahead of time that I may veto their decision, either way (go on a thumbs down, stay and take a go-around on a thumbs up). I had a student get to the door and give me a thumbs down and said, "I don't think they [the group before us] is going to make it back". "Your right, they aren't". Hook

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1124816 Hook

Bono and Edge cross: 2 minutes Bono goes back: 1 minute Adam and Larry cross: 10 minutes Edge goes back: 2 minutes Bono and Egde cross: 2 minutes Total: 17 minutes Hook

Yes, so it doesn't fall in the hole and no, it wasn't HP. Hook