Hooknswoop

Oh ya, you said you have insurance. Sorry to hear the tornado also destroyed your other three back-up skydiving rigs. ;-) Hook

OUCH!, glad everyone is OK. Give me a call. Hook

No took it out because of the wingloading and after talking to SSK. I got zapped w/ a laser gun at 93 mph in the dive (pretty near vertical) and 78 horizontal. So no cypres. Hook

Last time I talked to Chris, he hung up on me, but they both read this forum, so if they have comments, I'm sure they will make their feelings known. I wasn't trying to be unfair, all my posts are open to discussion and I have been wrong before. I did ask for opinions in my post. I think it is in bad taste what they are doing. Icarus paid for the fix on the affected Crossfires, why wouldn't PA pay for the fix on the -M? I carus took a lot of heat for that deal and they stood behind their product, PA said, oops, we made a mistake and you have to pay us to get it fixed. They are really not impressing me these days. Hook

VX-60 at 3.1:1 and a Safire 189 at 1:1 Hook

yep, Simon, nice guy. Hook

I talked to Icarus today and here is what I learned about HMA lines. I carus has done some preliminary testing and has discovered that HMA offerrs very little (72.9 Newtons for HMA vs. 72.5 Newtons for 550 Vectran on an 89, VX, I think) drag reduction. HMA seems to last the same as vectran, but doesn't show wear like Vectran, so when the line is bad, it breaks w/o much if any warning. They also found that while it is dimensionally more stable than Spectra, it isn't as stable as Vectran, which is critical on very small canopys. Apparently HMA costs about half of what Vectran costs. They tested the continious lines and the test jumpers didn't like the set up. I beleive they are going look at HMA some more before they decide if they will offer it on their canopys. I asked what they thought of PA re-lining Icarus canopys w/ a line that hasn't been approved and removing their labels from their canopys and they didn't know PA was doing it. That got me thinking, would PD re-line a PA canopy w/ a line PA didn't use, and remove the label from it? I don't think they would. And if they did, I bet PA would be pissed. Not illegal, but is it ethical? Opinions? I am going to try and get my hands on some HMA and re-line my VX (I'll leave the labels on :) ) and see how the line holds up. Hook

I am in the process of doing more 2-out jumps w/ dis-similar performance & sized canopys. The army tests where done to test 2 out under student sized gear and w/ similar canopys. I think the PD test where close to the Army tests. I am pretty sure that both tests involved only a few jumps. Check PIA website, there is some information there. Hook

Given the easy access to the tunnel, use it. Training in the tunnel takes the pressure of limited time out of the equation, allowing you to relax and learn. Explain to the person that works for skyventure that goes in w/ you your situation. They will coach you and when you head back to the DZ, you will have the ability to relax and complete your level 6. The confidence you gain in the tunnel will help you relax and make the dive easier. I've got about 8 hours of tunnel time and it doesn't matter how good you are or how many jumps you have, the tunnel is an outstanding training tool. Hook

i just measured a Sabre 135's lines. The outside "A" line has shrunk 5 1/8 inces and is 2 1/2 inches shorter than a center "A" line. The lines are still in decent shape. The new line set will make a big difference. Hook

twenty seven square feet..................hhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm................

Just like learning anything else, the more you do it and the harder you work at it, the better you get. The key is to never stop learning. I alway feel stupid when I figure something out, like the rigging tool idea I came up w/. Not exactly a brilliant idea, but a good idea, so why didn't I figure it out sooner? Learn as much as you can from Bill and always strive to improve your rigging skills. He has probalby forgot more about rigging than I'll ever know. Make a checklist and don't rush. Make as many of your own tools as possible. Whenever you meet another rigger, trade ideas and tricks. I wish i knew then what I know now. Have fun and be absolutely sure. Hook

-----Strangely, my throttle always seems to stick while pulling out of dropzone driveways...---- See!, must be a defect. You should get that fixed! I could have been injured!! Of course this was pulling INTO the DZ driveway.:-) Hook

Oops, thought he meant his 3-digit code, not the actual press. Ya, you have to buy that. Good luck getting your investment in rigging back. I doubt if I will ever come out ahead:-) Hook

From my post: The difference between a 210 and a 190 is about 10%. (20 sq ft is 10.5 % of 190 sq ft). So w/ the increase in wingloading, ----------------you can expect 11-14% increase in performance--------------------------------. You're right, it isn't linear, ecspecially as you get smaller. The differrence in perfromance when downsizing from a 210 to a 220, all other things being equal is pretty small. Going from a 80 to a 70 is a large difference. Hook

"Man, those were the days...." that is one way of putting it! :-) I'm not sure who was more scared on your level one, me or you :-) Hook

Cyndi is next in line, where did I put the video explaining the "Tequila Girl" nickname????? Then Ann. Of course I never run into you these days, but eventually, :-) Oh ya, the highest bid was $10.00?????? That's it?????? :-) Hook

Moderator......Someone.........HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lock this one, fast! It's not my fault, the throttle stck, ya that's it, the throttle..........speaking of throttles, I know smoeone that is going to get throttled..................:-) Hook

"Sort of like if you put cross members in a standard 7 cell, without the square non loaded cells?"- Right, put cross bracing in an elliptical 7 cell that attaches at the bottom skin at the load bearing rib and at the upper upper skin between the load bearing and non-load bearing rib. That is the design. I'm not buying the "quad" cell stuff. Hook

They usually leave when you point a loaded Glock in their direction. If they don't leave, pull the trigger :-) Hook

The difference between a 210 and a 190 is about 10%. (20 sq ft is 10.5 % of 190 sq ft). So w/ the increase in wingloading, you can expect 11-14% increase in performance. These are rough numbers, but best I can do. As for gear weight, smaller rigs don't weight all that much less than bigger rigs. I have a Micron 304, VX-60, and a MR-109-M and w/ a jumpsuit and helmet, adds 25 lbs to my exit weight. Fabric isn't very heavy so downsizing doesn't save much weight. The harness will weight the same for a smaller container w/ a little less cordura for the container. Adding rings to the harness increases the weight. I use 25 lbs for gear unless the container is really big (tandem which IIRC is about 45 lbs.) Hook

I agree w/ everything except lumping the VX in w/ anything else. There are some more 9-cell x-braced stuff coming on-line here soon, but the VX is in a class all it's own. Hook

A square (rectangular) wing is like an Twin Otter's wing. a tapered wing is like a Cessna 182's wing. An elliptical wing is like a Spitfire's wing of WWII fame. Skydiving canopys aren't truly elliptical. What is called semi-elliptical is actually tapered like the Cessna 182. What is called elliptical is actually tapered on the leading and trailing edges. I have seen canopys that have more than one taper, but I haven't ever seen a true elliptical. From what I can tell, even on "elliptical" canopys the center three cells are the same length (on 9 cells). I'm sure someone can explain this better than this. I think I confused myself:-) Hook

You should have gotten your seal code right away (at the sucessful completetion of the exam) and your cert # is your social unless you request it otherwise. Hook

Cool- I wasn't sure:-). I do hear it the other way a bunch. Kinda a pet peeve, hope I didn't jump on ya:-) Hook