Hooknswoop

Absolutely correct. I watched a 3 way break at about 1200 ft (ish), and track. All 3 went for their mains. The one Cypres on the the 3-way fired. Hook

Best line: "Who would chose this life?!" Hook

My understanding of Cypres Maintenance and Battery Replacement is the 4, 8 and 10 year services have to be done +/- 3 months from when it is due. The batteries are no good after 2 years from the date of installation. So if the battery replacement is due in two months, you have two options, 1) Have the rigger pack it w/ a note on the Reserve Data Packing Card stating that the reserve inspection and re-pack is due in two months (when the batteries are due). Or, 2) have your rigger replace the batteries before the re-pack. Same thing for the maintenance, if it is due in 3 months, the rigger can pack it and note that the inspection and re-pack is due in 3 months. Hook

***post your thoughts on "proper body position" during deployment under an elipitacal main. iu used to try to steer through the openings, trying to keep the canopy on-heading. For quite a while now, I simply look at the horizone and keep my hips level w/ the ground through deployment. If you were sitting in a swing set and I turned you 90 degrees and let go of you, you would immediately turn back forward. i think it is the same w/ canopies, keeping your hips level will bring the canopy back on heading and if it doesn't, then just take the off heading opening. I should have an article on line twists, prevntion and cures being printed in a magazine soon. Hook

Definition: A condition of fluid flow in which the flow is not smooth. The speed and the direction of the flow changes rapidly. The best way to deal with turbulence is to avoid it. Become adept at predicting where turbulence is likely to be encountered and avoid those areas. Down wind of buildings and other obstacles is a prime area for turbulence. As the wind flows over the obstacles, it becomes turbulent, similar to water flowing over a rock. A rule of thumb is turbulence can be found up to 20 times downwind the height of an obstacle. If you fly behind another canopy, you can encounter the wingtip vortices coming off the wing tips and he disturbed air behind it. Behind a running aircraft, the propeler(s) create a tremendous amount of turbulence. Dark areas (asphalt, or any area darker than the surrounding area) on warm days soak up the heat from the sun and release it into the atmosphere, causing up drafts. Flying over a dark area and then a light area or vice versus it is possible to encounter turbulence. Thunderstorms will bring high, gusty, turbulent winds with them. Before each jump, look at the landing area, check the winds and look for areas that will likely contain turbulence. Plan your approach to avoid these areas. Have a back up plan in case of traffic, long spot, etc. Be prepared to account for turbulence in a new landing approach if the wind changes. If you find yourself in turbulence on final approach, fly through it at full flight (toggles all the way up), making small toggle inputs to keep the canopy flying into the wind. The more forward speed the canopy has, the more internal ram air pressure inside the canopy. The higher the internal pressure of the canopy, the more resistant to collapse it is. If you canopy buckles or folds, use the toggles to keep it flying straight, and prepare to PLF. Don’t ever give up. Hook

After landing under your reserve, there are several things you can do to make your rigger's task/job easier. First, place the toggles back on the Velcro. This will prevent the hook half of the Velcro from damaging the lines. Secondly, daisy chain the lines. Use the slider to keep the daisy chain from unraveling. This will keep the lines untangled. Be very careful with the canopy. Get it out of the sunlight and into a large plastic garbage bag and then into your gear bag. Be careful when zipping the gear bag shut to not get any fabric caught in the zipper. As long as it is clean, put the reserve pilot chute and free-bag in the center of your rolled up reserve. This will protect the spring inside the pilot chute from damage. Do not take the main canopy off of the risers to untangle it. It got tangled on the risers, it will come un-tangled on the risers. Taking the canopy of the risers, or worse, off the links, will only make the job of untangling the main more difficult. Put the cut away cables and reserve ripcord back into their housings and the handles back in their pockets. This will prevent any dirt on the cables from getting on the reserve. If you lost one, or both handles, order them and have them shipped to your rigger. Also, if the free-bag and reserve pilot chute was lost, order a new one and have it shipped to the rigger. Make sure when ordering handles or free-bag to order the correct size for your harness/container. In the gear bag, put a 3 X 5 card with your name, address, phone #'s, and any special instructions, such as remove/install soft links, remove/install RSL, "I need the rig by this weekend", etc. If you have a Cypres, check your reserve data packing card to see when the scheduled maintenance and 2 year battery replacements are due. If the maintenance, make arrangements with your rigger to ship the unit or have your rigger remove it and ship it yourself (your rigger will need the original Cypres box to ship it). If your batteries are due, check with your rigger to see if they have new batteries or if they will need to be ordered. They batteries will have to be replaced if there is less than four months remaining in the two-year cycle. Your rigger can pack the reserve, but the reserve inspection and re-pack will be due when the battery replacement is due. Taking care of your reserve will save you time and money. You don't want to discover Friday evening that your rig will be in the loft over the weekend, canceling your skydiving plans. Hook

We were looking at that last night. Looks like they applied some of the Voodoo upgrades and some others to the Talon 2 to get the 3. Hook

From Poynter's X-2TEN-R: P/N 81-0065-02. A 210 sq. ft. seven cell ram-air reserve canopy made of zero permeability ripstop nylon fabric and 425 lb. Dacron suspension lines tied to four #6 Rapide links. Volume 389 cu. In. Weight 6.9 lbs. Uses a free bag (82-0102-01) deployment system. TSO'd in the Low Speed category. Popular as a reserve when used with the identical X-2TEN as the user has the same canopy whether under main or reserve. Introduced in July 1982. In February 1983, GQ and the Jump Shack grounded all harness/container systems with X-2TEN-R canopies. In three cases the steering line guide rings failed. Rings should be checked and replaced, as applicable. Line Trim: Line Group X-2TEN Inside "A" 10' 9 1/2" Outside "A" 10' 9 1/2" Inside "B" 11' 3" Outside "B" 10' 9" Inside "C" 12' 4" Outside "C" 11' 2 1/4" Steering Lines: 1. Overall Outside 14' 2. Inside 13' 2" 3. Toggle Grommet to 17-3/4" Center of Brake Loop Damn, Lisa beat me by 6 minutes, but I got the line trim specs Hook

They are very similar, SCUBA is skydiving in slow motion. They are both 3-dimensional They both require different body movements to move around than on land (tracking, swimming) It is difficult to communicate w/ others, they both use hand signals, and if you are close and very loud you can hear a little They are both time-limited Altimeter/depthguage In both sports you are reliant on your gear to keep you alive If you run out of air in either sport, you are in very serious trouble Hook

Kittens are good, but try breaking a puppy's tail...."snap". They hate that. Hook

So they inspected their gear, didn't know what the long yellow thing was for, didn't notice the rip cord/PC was missing and put the rig on and jumped. Hmmm. Hook

Right, the "Performance Option" replaces the upper control lines. Hook

If you have Spectra lines, they may have shrunk to the point that there is no longer enough excess steering line to place the toggle far enough down on the control lines to prevent bucking. Where, in relation to your body, are your hands when you finish your flare? 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. 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 and you can get the most out of your canopy. What type/size/wingloading is your main? Hook

I did one jump at Skydive Santa Rosa. It is in Santa Rosa at the Santa Rosa airport, about an hour from Napa. They have a C-182. it is Class "D" airspace, so you can't land or even over-fly the airspace. Very busy airport, we had to wait until 4 other aircraft took off before us. A van brings you back fro the landing area, about a 10 minute drive. You almost have to have a Cypres. They say the require one, but let me slide. Hook

It has been proven that people tend to revert back to their initial training in a high strees enviroment. "Just pull this handle" could kill them w/ a two handle system. I have never had or even heard of a student being killed by a two handle system. Of course, to be honest, I haven't heard of a student killed by SOS or a new jumper killed because they were trained on SOS. I have heard of jumpers trained on ripcord not throw the throw-out PC (seen this first hand), and pull their reserves, ending up w/ 2 out. I believe throw out, 0-P mains, and two- handle system is the way to go for student training. Teach them on what they will jumping for the rest of thier skdiving career. Hook

So would it be fair to say you are against SOS? I think that SOS should not be used for student training. If only riggers were assembling the main w/ the dual cutaway system, I wouldn't think there would be an increase in the failure rate of the release system. You have pointed out 2 serious points against the use of a dual cutaway system, any thought of improving the idea to make it work? Hook

Or try your rigger. The silicone that comes w/ a cypres packing kit has food-grade silicone in it. Hook

Pull Priorities Priority #1 Deploy Priority #2 Deploy at assigned altitude Priority #3 Deploy while stable Hook

Check SCUBA shops for food grade silicone. I have 2 cans of "Ace Pure Silicone Lubricant" (recommended by RWS for cleaning/lubricating cutaway cables) and it is definitely not food grade. "DANGER! EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE", and "HARMFUL OR FATAL IF SWALLOWED", etc. on the can. Hook

Kill line pilot chutes wear at several points. The following is what to inspect and some suggestions for increasing the life span of your kill line pilot chute. The Spectra kill line shrinks from the heat generated from sliding through the bridle as the pilot chute collapses and the bridle stretches over time, affecting the original calibration. Because the change is so gradual it often goes unnoticed until you begin to experience hesitations on deployment. To check for correct kill line length, cock the pilot chute and watch the kill line. Does it become taunt before the two white ribbons that run from the apex (the top of the pilot chute) to the bridle? If it does, then the kill line is too short, not allowing the pilot chute to completely inflate. When cocked, the two white ribbons should be taunt and there should be some slack on the kill line. Also, if the handle of the pilot chute being pulled through the small opening at the base of the pilot chute on deployment, the kill line is too short. Your rigger should be able to replace the kill line, or if the kill line was manufactured with enough excess line, your rigger can simply extend the kill line. Check the stitching that holds your handle to the pilot chute. If the handle rips off, you would have a total malfunction. Check the bridle, especially where the pin attaches to the bridle. If any of the stitches have come out, have your rigger repair it. If the pin rips off of the bridle you would have a pilot chute in tow malfunction. As you fly your canopy, the deployment bag is free to spin around the bridle. Eventually the bridle will wear out and break at the grommet. Have your rigger use waxed nylon cord to tack both sides of the rapide link to the reinforced part of the deployment bag to prevent the bridle from rotating in the grommet. Some manufactures sew the pilot chute bridle to the deployment bag, eliminating this problem. The disadvantage of a sewn-in pilot chute is they are difficult to replace, usually a job for a rigger. Lastly, have your rigger install stainless steel rapide links instead of the plated links. They won’t corrode, reducing wear on the bridle. Whether your pilot chute is a kill line or not, the Z-P or F-111 fabric wears just like the fabric on a canopy. The porosity of the fabric degrades with use, decreasing the drag of the pilot chute. Eventually the pilot chute will not have enough drag to deploy your main canopy, leaving you with a pilot chute in tow or a bag lock. An indication that your chute may have problems is a pause between throwing your pilot chute and the canopy coming out of the bag. A patch on a pilot chute would be difficult to sew and could cause it to spin on deployment, creating lines twists. As the mesh wears, holes will develop. Once the mesh tears the hole will become larger quickly. Replace a pilot chute with holes in the fabric or mesh. Checking your pilot chute every time you do your 30-day three-ring maintenance is simple and could prevent a malfunction. If you are not confident inspecting your pilot chute, have your rigger help you. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I haven't had any problems w/ using the rapide link inside the D-bag. Hook

Pro-Track and Jump Track2. I have them and like them a lot. Excellent customer service, great product. Hook

And there isn't any "illegal" ie. non-rated JM's doing AFF in the U.S. either. The USPA has no backbone, they don't enforce their own rules. Let the USPA advise the FAA on what should be taught to jump pilots and let the FAA be responsible and handle the enforcement. A USPA jump pilot training requirement would be ignored at many DZ's. Hook

Do you have a kill line PC? The groment in the D-bag shouldn't get knisked or dented w/ a kill line PC. I remember the thread. Sounds like a good idea to me. Hook

He wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. Hook