davelepka

Thanks ma'am, that's some fine advice. If you were a real man, you would reach your fingertips over to your PC from a max track and let it fly. Of course, I'm not a real man either, and I sit up if I'm dumping out of a track. Sat looks good this weekend, I'll bring some extra tampons in case you need to borrow one.

Theoretically all sorts of things should happen. In reality alot of people get popped when they dump in a track. Falling straight down was the way that canopies and containers were designed. They're the most reliable when used in this way, and are generally packed for deployments from this body position. You change one thing (body position), other things will change as well (the opening). Belly to earth is a more reliable position from the standpoint that the speed and attitude can be easily repeated from jump to jump by most people. Tracking is a different skill, and many people don't have the skill to reliably repeat the indentical track jump after jump. Mnay jumpers onyl track for a few seconds each jump, and this does not build solid, repeatable skills. Yes, in theory, you should be able to dump right out of a track, no problem. There are probably mods you could make to your gear to overcome the differences in tracking skills, and get good openings on all tracks, but this is not the reality of things. The relaity is that the gear was designed for deployment falling straight down. Use it outside of that mode at your own risk.

Two different stalls, yes, but the two exits were the exact same thing, the only difference being the second one was about 20 seconds from the start of the climbout to the stall, with the first being 27 seconds to the stall. Both seemed to be fairly long climbouts, but after seeing the results of the first, why would you duplicate the exact same scenario for the second? I think I read that a jumper was injured exiting during the first stall, and you were lucky that was the extent of the injuries. If either one of those had progressed into a spin, anyone left inside the plane would be at risk for injury as they would be unsecured 'cargo', and subject to being tossed around the cabin. Even one revolution would be enough to throw everyone into a wall with a good deal of force. I don't think it's a tough concept to understand that if you stall an aircraft with a certain exit/climbout, that you not repeat the same manuver verbatim later that day.

If you have the time and the money, yes. It will let you experience solo 'freefall' before you go into the real deal. Of course having the body position wokred out is a help, but also having that knowledge before you jump can ease the nerves, and help you to relax during the jump. Aside from all that, it's just a good time. Maybe you can talk some of your non-jumping friends into going with you, and spending some time in the tunnel themselves.

From an engineering standpoint, this would be the best bet. The reason being that your skills need to be a constant in an experiment between two canopies. Of course there are other variables, the wind, the temp, the humidity, the type and condition of the two canopies, but those are easier to account for if you can perform the same way every time. Another thing to keep in mind is that everyone gets lucky or unlucky from time to time, and that you want to put a few jumps on each canopy, and see what results end up repeating themselves, and what was an anamoly. Now let's forget about engineering, and focus on reality, you've only got 6 jumps, and it will be quite a while before you become a reliable machine for testing canopies. Also, as a student, you will be jumping many different models of canopies in the next 30-ish jumps, probably the most diversity you'll ever have in a 30 jump block. Do your best to pay attention to how the different canoipies turn, flare, and glide, all the while taking note of the winds for that day. Keep in mind that there is no 'best' canopy, but there is a 'best for you'. If something seems to work for you, and it feels good, than use that as your standard and compare everything else to that. If it's better, keep jumping it, if not, go back to what works.

This comes back to what I said about the speed of your climbout not being relative to the aircraft stalling. The aircraft config on jumprun needs to be such that the pilot can maintain control for as long as the jumpers need to be out there. Even the best laid plans (as above) can go wrong, and if the AC airspeed is degrading the whole time, you are on your way to a stall. Not a road I want to be on. Just to touch on another point made, even if the pilot has the correct config for the exit/climbout you're doing, that doesn't mean you should take your time. Extra time spent outside the plane is additional time you're at risk for a premature deployment and a hang up on that low tail. It's unofrtunate for the tail, but it's directly downwind of every jumper who climbs out of the door, and more people spending more time outside is just stacking the deck against the tail. Let's also remember that these people are moving around, trying to position themselves, and maybe not thinking about their pins and what they might be coming into contact with.

This is not the correct way to look at it. You should never put yourself in a situatiuon where you have to get set and off the aircraft in a certain amount of time to avoid a stall. If that was the case, than the pilot did not properly configure the AC for that jumprun, or the climbout you had planned exceeded the capabilities of the AC. The airspeed on jumprun should be such that with all floaters outside the AC the pilot can maintain control of the AC for an 'unlimited' amount of time. If the load outside of the AC causes the airspeed, and therefore control, of the AC to degrade, then the airspeed of the jumprun needs to be raised, or the number of floaters needs to be lowered. Time used in a climbout should be monitored for the sake of spotting alone, be it for the group climbing out or the rest of the load. Any situation where the length of the climbout will effect the pilots ability to maintain control of the AC should be avoided at all costs.

No sir. For a first rig, you want to look for a wing loading of about 1 to 1, meaning one square foot of canopy for every pound suspended under it. Your body weight plus the weight of the gear puts you closer to 190lbs. out the door. You'll need a canopy closer to 190 sq ft, and you'll also want to look for a different model than a Stiletto, it was not designed for beginners. Of equal importance is the size of the reserve. Often times you'll be flying your reserve under less than ideal conditions. Typically you will be open lower then you had planned, under a great deal of stress, and landing in an area other than where you planned. For these reasons, the reserve should be as big, or bigger than the main. Main canopies, containers and reserves can all be purchased seperately, and this is usually the better way to go. The chances of finding complete used rig that fits you and has the appropriate canopies are somewhat slim. Be sure to have a rigger inspect any equipment before you buy, and consult with one of your instructors as far as what size and type of equipment would suit you and your abilities at the time of purchase. Finally, understand that improper selection of equipment can quickly lead to injury or death. There is a wide variety of equipment available for a wide variety of applications. When shopping for a first rig, only a small portion of that would be applicable for your situation.

The upside to the whole thing is finding out you were pushing 90mph at 350ft. That's fast as hell.

Keep in mind he said $35 was the no-edit price. Drop off the tape and memory card and you're done. I get a few bucks more, and I also just drop the tape. I don't own any editing equipment, CD burners, printers, DV tapes, DVDs or CDs, and I don't spend any time working on/with any of that stuff. If I had to edit my own, and provide my own equipment or media, I'd be looking for more per jump.

For starters, the jumper had exceeded 78 mph. so even if we use 78mph as the number that equals 115 feet per second, or three seconds to go from 350 to the ground. At 78 mph, three seconds is a fair deployment time. Give the PC a second to get to the end of the bridal and get the bag moving, a second to get to line stretch and strip the bag, and the canopy needs a second to inflate. Keep in mind that a reserve PC at terminal has about 30% more airspeed to work with, so given the lower airspeed, the deployment time is right on track. Besides, if the thing fired at 354, the AAD is done for the day. What happens after that depends on the rig and the rigger. Any delay to the deployment after the AAD fires has nothing to do with the AAD.

That's what this was all about? A pilot chute? If $100 pilot chute puts your panties in a bunch, you might be in the wrong sport. I wouldn't buy a used rig without giving it a once over. A new pilot chute, or at least a fresh kill-line, a new set of slinks, probably a new set of brake lines, a couple of closing loops and a fresh reserve repack. All of that stuff would be $200 or less, and is cheap insurance against whatever the previous owner did to the rig.

Why would they do that? The unit worked as designed, and fired within it's design perameters. It's no secret around here, and has already been mentioned in this post, that multiple rotations starting from more than 1000ft, puts you at risk for an AAD fire with a conventional AAD. A very brief search on this site (and we all know you've been on this site plenty of times) would have shown plenty of information on the subject, and some of the incidents that revealed the problems with swooping with an AAD. As also stated earlier, Argus and the Speed Cypres have systems in place to avoid firing during a swoop, what system, if any, does the Vigil have in place to prevent such an occurence?

The engine is not the solution in that case. The p-factor on a single engine airplane causes the plane to roll in one direction when power is applied, more-so at lower airspeeds. Combine that with the possible distruption of airflow around the tail (the rudder is what is used to counter the tendency to roll) and you have a lose/lose situation. The solution is a satbilized jumprun with correct attitude and airspeed established before the jumpers begin to climb out. The more people you intended to put outside the airplane, the faster the jumprun speed should be. Of equal importance is the attitude, which should be nose-down, with a modest descent rate of a few hundered feet per minute. Pilots should be discouraged from trying to maintain altitiude throughout the jumprun.

You are not too old to jump. You need to keep in mind that skydiving is what it is. This is not Disneyland, where the rides are designed so everyone can have fun. There are areas in skydiving that you may or may not be compatible with. Skydiving requires a certain degree of physical fitness and flexibility. If you are unable to get into and out of small airplanes while wearing a 30lb. parachute pack, you will have a problem. If you cannot maintain an arched body position in freefall, you will have a problem. If you cannot bend your neck in such a way that you can see the emergency handles mounted to your harness, you will have a problem. If you are unable to handle the impact of jumping off of a picnic table, you will have a problem. None of this is to suggest that you personally will have any trouble, but all of the above are part of day to day operations in skydiving. I'm sure you can see why a DZ might be inclined to suggest that you take it slow, and see how it works out. The good news is this, I know many skydivers older then you and they have no problems. The other good news is that you have to admit it's a good sign that the DZ did not just take the lump sum for the full AFF program and worry about the outcome later.

I also think the MLW is too short. The leg pads would probably fit around your legs if they didn't have to go so far up your hips. As for the shoulders, the short MLW isn't helping that situation either. If it was longer, you'd have a little more 'space' inside the harness. One thing to keep in mind, from the pics you are either on the shorter side, or jumping canopies on the larger side just based on the size of your body in relation to the size of the container. There will always be some degree of that 'right angle' just based on the rig being as big as your back. Resizing the harness is not cheap, and I don't know who should pay for it in your situation. I do know that manufacturers will generally put corrections to new rigs on the top if the list, and will have the rig back to you quickly. Before you send it in, measure around your legs again, along the line the legstraps should follow, and then measure the legpads to see how they compare, just to see if you do need new legpads so they can change those as well. I'm sure it sucks, but you need to get this fixed, and it will be well worth it to have a properly fitting harness. I have jumped Wings that were not made for me, and I found the harness to be quite comfortable, so I would imagine that a properly fitted custom harness from them would be even better.

You know what, I changed my mind. Don't answer the question, just think about what the answer would be. Be honest with yourself.

Please note that I did not ask any questions, nor am I seeking an explanation. You posted your bit, and asked what we thought. Now you know what I think. I do have one question, however, is the DZO where you jump aware of your situation? Let's keep in mind that igorance does not imply consent, what would the response be if you approached him or her and said, "I wanted you to know that I have one year in the sport, and 200-ish jumps. I am jumping a Stiletto, and currently doing 90 degree downwind hookturns in preparation for doing 180 turns. Is this OK with you?" I'm sure somebody around here either knows, or even is, the DZO up at Fingerlakes, so we could find out for sure what the response would be, but I'm just wondering what you think the response would be if you posed that exact question.

Look friend, you're just mistaken if you think that at 200 jumps you have maxed out anything, or have dialed in anything. It's just not happening. I know for a fact that at least 30 or 40 of those jumps were not hop n pops or dedicated to canopy flight. It's called AFF, and student canopies, and in case your math skills match your canopy skills, that means that 20% of your jumps were not canopy related, and I'm being generous with my numbers. Here's the reality, you seem to think you have this figured out, you're going about it the right way, but honestly everything you posted has been to the contrary. Canopy chioce - very poor. The Stilettos was designed for jumpers with 500+ jumps, and is commonly known as NOT being a good modern swooping canopy for the jumper looking to move to an x-brace canopy. The real bitch for you is that this info is not related to jump numbers or hop n pops, just doing your homework. It looks like you didn't do your homework. Downwind 90s? - You really think that the way to get ready for a 180 is to move your 90s to downwind? That's retarded. Either way you look at it, your ground speed will be higher, be it from a downwind 90 or an into the wind 180. The difference is that the 180 has a limited amount of increase in speed, while the downwinder is only limited by the wind speed of the day. I'm not sure where you got this idea, but it sucks. No flare on your downwinder - again, this is simply a fucntion of airspeed running out while ground speed remains, it's not rocket science. You clearly did not understrand this before you started doing downwinders, despite your claim to have taken many canopy course, and that you are dedicated to canopy flight. Remember the part about doing your homework from the paragraph about canopy selection? It's back, and it's biting you in the ass again. It doesn't take jumps to research or understand aerodynamics, but it does take an understanding of aerodynamics to swoop. See your mistake? Where does this leave us? Well, I'll tell you how I see it, and you may not give a shit, but the bitch of it is that I'm usually right about this stuff. Let's take all these factors - Jumping a camera right at 200 jumps (the generall accepted starting point. Jumping a Stiletto when you're well below the reccomended jump numbers for the canopy. Thinking that at 200 jumps you have anything figured out, maxed out, or dialed in. Thinking that a downwinder is a good way to prepare for a bigger turn. Not doing the book work to understand what it is your canopy is doing. And last, being so stoked about your downwinder that you had to post it for everyone to see. It all adds up to you pushing too hard, and thinking that you're 'the man'. You're letting your cock or your ego run the show, when your brain should be the one in charge. More times than not the only thing that shake you out of this is a good hard shot from mother earth. You may or may not walk away from this. It may sound dramatic, but remember two things - the fisrt is that injuries under open canopies repersent the largest percentage of skydiving injuries. It didn't used to be this way, but canopies and what we do with them has changed, and now this is the way of the world. The second thing to remember, I'm almost always right about this stuff. My last point, where you insist that these are your choices, and your risk, you openly admit that your directional control was poor, and that you needed to manuver to avoid a bush, all the while swooping through a landing area full of jumpers who made enough good choices to land safely. Now they are at risk from you taking them out. So you don't want me to be a dick? I'm not. This is the most constructive advice you're going to get. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's wrong.

How about learing to swoop into the wind before going downwind? This way, when you run into something you won't be going as fast. How about selecting a better canopy for your experience and intentions? With 200 jumps, it's great to see you doing downwinders with a Stiletto while wearing a camera. Real nice.

I think in this case, especially if hosting nationals is a money loser as has been suggested, the DZO is taking a loss (or at the minimum risking a loss) and should be able to conduct his business free and clear. In terms of what the USPA does for DZO's in general, just in the course of daily business maybe the USPA does spend a disproportionate time on DZO business as oppposed to skydiving business, but that's in terms of Joe DZO and Jim Skydiver who are sitting at home on their duff not making a contribution. For the guy who ponies up and hosts nationals, he should get a pass on the USPA dipping into his pockets. And in reply to the other post about "You have to spend money to make money" and "The adverstising of hosting nationals is worth the loss they will incur", I'm not sure how valid that argument is here. How many jumpers have never heard of Skydive Chicago, SDA, or Perris? Even if they hadn't, after one nationals they would have, so where's the incentive to host (and lose money) again? There are only so many DZ that can handle hosting nationals, what do we do when all of them get sick of the trouble and don't place a bid?

On this same subject, and to help me understand how wrong this is (or isn't), does anyone know what's involved in the 'bidding' process for a DZ to host nationals. I guess I've never put much thought into it previously, but sort of assumed that the 'bidding' process was more of an 'offering' a DZ made to the USPA in terms of, "We can offer this many Otters, this big of a pond, this many team rooms..." and so on, and then the USPA would choose the best venue. Is there more to this? Does anyone know what sort of, if any, business arrangements are made with the DZ and USPA? I guess in terms of this latest development we'll have to wait and see exactly what they're looking for. If they're preparred to make some consessions in one area of the deal in favor of getting a cut of the sponsorship cash, then that's a gamble the DZO's can choose to make or not. If the USPA just thinks it deserves a cut, on top of whatever else has traditionally been in place, that starts to sound like a cash grab. And what does the USPA plan to do if said sponsor is offering goods/services as opposed to straight cash? Do they expect two cans of Red Bull for every case they provide? Or do they expect the DZO to kick in the cash value of the USPA's cut even if the DZO collects no cash? It seems to me like the competitors already pay into the admin. costs through registration. If the USPA cannot run the show on that money alone, either they need to raise the registration, or slim down the show and run it within their means. I'm not sure is Nationals is a money loser or if it's profitable to the DZO's but in either case, the USPA should leave them be. If they're spending money to host the meet, of course they shouldn't incur additional costs, and if they're making money how about just let them make a buck? It's not like Perris or SDA has never done anything for skydiving, right?

I know it seems cheap, but if I was you I'd be weary of buying a rig on your own if you only have 4 jumps. Even if you had 24 jumps, I'd still reccomend that you run this idea past one of your instructors or a local rigger. I'm not trying to screw the OP out of a sale, but this gear has a variety of limitations that cannot be ignored, and unless you happen to be of the very small minority of jumpers who this rig would work for, your money is better spent elsewhere.

I get your point about time on the phone, but that's where it's up to the DZ to staff the phones with someone who's good at dealing with people and who can stay 'on message' and give just enough time to each call to satisfy the customer. The other point is that if you're trying to get and retain students, then they are worth the extra time you'll spend on the phone. Yeah, it might take extra time to speak to them, but you're after a long term relationship with these people, and there's no such thing as a free lunch. If you want a cookie cutter tandem student, they can make a reservation online. If you want to make a new jumper, you might need to work for it. As I replied to another post, the money thing is only part of it. Of course you need the 'perfect storm' of a student with time, money, and desire, but when you look at the ratio of 5 SL jumps + one freefall to 2 AFF jumps for the same money, the value is on the side of SL. Let's keep in mind were talking about $500. If that's a weeks take-hone pay for a guy, it's a big slice of the pie to drop on a new, unknown hobby, but if you can hook that guy, bringing home $500 a week is enough income for a guy to become a skydiver. All of this is leaving out the basic concept that the SL FJC is half the price of a tandem, and afforable to a wider variety of people. Even if they don't make jump #2 or beyond, you get them to the DZ and make money off of people you might never get out there for twice the price. Again, let's keep in mind what a guy can get for $200 or $225 these days. That's a (small) car payment, a months grocery bill for a small family, utilities for a month, things that people need way more than a 'ride' at a DZ. Cut the price in half, and it's much easier pill to swallow.

The argument has some merit in that if you could never afford to spend $300 in one day at the DZ, maybe skydiving isn't for you. Let's face it, gear will set you back a few thousand bucks, and jumps aren't free. But I think there are plenty of people who could afford to skydive if they thought it was worth it. I for one wouldn't hesitate to spend $300 on jumps for a busy day at a boogie. Add to that the cost of travel, food, beer, wear and tear on my gear, and it's an expensive day, but one I've paid for many, many times. Now from what I understand, top level golf courses can have greens fees that are in that same price range, but I would never consider spending that type of money on an afternoon at a golf course. I guess if I started at a local public course, and developed my skills, and eventually wanted the challenge of a top level course, then maybe that money would be worth it, but for my first afternoon ruining a good walk, it wouldn't happen.