davelepka

Here's a neat idea, how about a skydiving helemt with clean aerodynamics and low snag potential for lines/risers? I know it sounds crazy, but it just might work.

Welcome to skydiving. Bill Booth, the guy who invented the three ring release, and the skyhook has a saying about skydivers which is that for every safety improvement you make, skydivers will only find another way to kill themselves. Many of the statements you made are not true. The vast majority of skydivers do not undo their chest strap under canopy. Some do loosen it for various reasons, and having a loose chest strap has been thought to be a contributing factor in an incident or two, but the connection hasn't been proven. Jumping with a Cypress will do you no good if you cutaway too low. By the time you accelerate up to Cypress activation speed, you're too low for your reserve to deploy anyway. An RSL or Skyhook is always a good idea, but the over-riding factor os that you need to be mindful of your altitude, deploy your main on time, and if need be initiate emergency procedures above your hard deck. As far as people being retarded, you hit the nail on the head with that one. People are, and you being a person are also retarded. Just because your retardation hasn't reared it's ugly head at the DZ just yet doesn't mean it won't. Be patient, and you too (god willing) will find yourself standing the landing area after a jump, shaking your head at your own stupidity, and thanking the good lord for letting you get away with it. Any jumper that has been around for a few years has at least one story or soemthing they did that was as dumb as dumb can be. That's where the phrase, "No shit, there I was..." comes from. When a guy starts a story with that line, listen up because it will be a good one. Fatalities are going to happen. It sucks but it's true. 2007 was a good year, and 2008 looks like it will be a rough one, but the two should average each other out. Don't expect a significant change in the numbers until there is a significant change in the training, and operational procedures at DZs.

Hey, fuck you shit-for-brains. I'm the first guy to give any real info, and you turn around and call me a jackass? Further reading of the thread reveals that you didn't even ask the question properly, you weren't even sure what you wanted to know. Welcome to the forum, and fuck you very much for nothing.

It really is a retarded question. Either way I would guess the forward speed to be in the mid 20mph range in a no wind condition. If you factor in the descent component as well, your actual speed at impact is going to be more representative of a much higher speed. Unless of course you flare the canopy, at which point all of these numbers are moot.

Hey friend, have you given any thought to the concept that if so many people have thoughts contrary to yours that you may not be as right as you think? How about the concept that these people have a combined experience of at least 50 years in the sport, and 20,000 jumps? Wouldn't you think that they might have learned something during that time? Are you even open to the idea that maybe those who have spent time under slower and faster canopies may have some additional insight into safe canopy flight that you don't poses? You're making the fundamental mistake in all of your arguments that your enjoyment of your canopy ride is a factor. It's not. Job one is safety. All of your decisions under canopy should be based on what is the safe and prudent course of action for you and the others in the sky. How much fun you're having and how much fun you want to have is of no consequence. What you may or may not realize is that this concept applies more and more as your canopy size goes down. The only fun I have under canopy is my swoop, and to get that swoop, I make a lot of sacrifices. I jump a small canopy which requires a ton of effort to operate safely in a sky full of lighter loaded canopies. When traffic or other concerns cause me to abort a swoop on a given jump, now I've done all the work and taken the additional risks for nothing. If I was assured that I would not get to swwop on a given jump, I would pick a larger, slower, more easy going canopy. Regardless of that, when it's not safe to swoop, I don't swoop.

Wow, advice from a guy with no jumps on his camera helmet for a thread that's 4 years old. Nice.

This is not an area where pride should apply. Is it nice that you stand them up? Sure. Should you develop a sense of pride connected to standing up landings? No. What you should be proud of is landing safely, without injury to yourself or others. When you consider standing up a point of pride, you skew your judgement on future landings in terms of you handle yourself. Many times, the best choice is simply to go down. PLF, or slide in, or whatever you can come up with is often times the better of two evils. Trying to stand up when the time isn't right is a sure way to injury.

Relax friend. If you read my post, you'll see that it's not directly addressing you or anything you personally do. It's simply a breakdown of the rear riser/slingshot situation, and what needs to be considered or accounted for. In terms of your rear riser stall comments, the speed at which you enter, and the pitch of your canopy when you enter will effect the stall characteristics. Angle of attack and pitch are two different things, but closely related. They both move along the same axis, but pitch angle is related to the ground, and angle of attack is related to the relatve wind. When in a dive, your pitch anlge is a high negative number becuase the canopy (in ptich axis) is waaay off of horizontal. Your angle of attack however is not far off your canopy's trimmed angle of attack with regards to the relative wind. The way you recover from the dive is to pitch the canopy up, which you do by adding some sort of input. This gets you moving forward under the wing, and bringing the nose up. This is actaully the basis for the slingshot theory, that being that if you use a little input to scoot yourself forward under the wing, you can come forward faster and thus loose less speed in the transition from diving to level flight. Back to the stall situation, if you were to dig on risers, you're essentially over-doing the slingshot idea. Once you accelerate your movement under the canopy, you create momentum which can cause you to come too far forawrd, and cause the canopy to pitch up too far, increasing the angle of attack, which as we know leads to a stall. To compound this is the G-loading you induce by pulling out of the dive. When you combine that with the increased airspeed (and airspeed of course increases the sensitivity of your controls), and the possibility for you to 'slingshot' yourself too far forward under the canopy, you do a have a situation where the stall characteristics will be different than you may be used to. Additionally, the faster the canopy is flying, the faster everything happens, including the speed at which a stall will break. This is why I mentioned that this type of stall will be different than a rear riser stall at the end of a swoop. In that case the canopy is level, the pilot's position under the wing is fairly stagnent, and the airspeed is slow. Many, many times I flown my rears to a stall at the end of a swoop and quickly switched to toggles before getting dropped on my ass. It's not a big deal because the stall is very tame, with a slow and even break, and it's a snap to manage. This is the scenario that most swoopers are used to when it comes to rear riser stalls, and I want to make sure you understand that is you find yourself in the corner on rears, the stall will be much different, and the consequences will be much higher.

As previously stated, on some canopies at some WLs there is a benefit to using some input to squirt yourself out of the bottm of a dive. The problem with the way you describe it is that when you plan to do things a certain way, you tend to stick with that plan. If you leave the plane thinking that you want to be a hair low, and you're going to 'slingshot' out of the corner with your rears, you set yourself up for trouble. Your tolerence for being low will go up, meaning that the point at which you realize you're low, or become concerned that you're low will be at a lower altitude than on jumps where you don't plan the 'slingshot'. The real problem with this is that you've got your hands firmly on the rears, and you have every intention of using them. When a little low turns into too low, and the 'slingshot' turns into needing to dig out, your hands and your brain may still be thinking 'rear risers'. It's important to understand that what you refer to as the 'stall point' of your rear risers is actually the angle of attack of your canopy. At different speeds and in different flight modes (such as diving as opposed to level flight) your canopy will reach the critical angle of attack at a different rate. What you're used to in terms of stalling your rears at the end of a swoop is completely different than the stall behavior you should expect when in a high-speed, high-G manuver like pulling out of dive. In terms of 'planning to do this every jump before you leave the plane', that should never be your thought process when swooping. The things you do every jump are fly a good pattern, be overly cautious in terms of traffic management, and try to be consistant with where you start your turn. Beyond that, each swoop will be different, and require a different response from the pilot. Once you roll into your turn you begin to evaluate the quality of your set-up, the rate of your turn, the rate of altitude loss, your accuracy in terms of the gates (if there are any), and you adjust as needed for all these factors. This will also have an effect on how you fly the bottom end of your swoop, be it rears, or rears to 'slingshot', or straight toggles, or even a bail out on toggles (never on rears). The bottom line is that if you mentally lock yourself into one idea before you leave the plane, you really back yourself into a corner (no pun intended) before you enter the dynamic enviornment of swooping (or skydiving in general for that matter).

That's not the way it works. Buy what you can safely jump today - at your current weight and skill level. When you have significantly changed one of the two, then you look for different gear. Money should not be a factor. Establish a budget, and find what would be safe that you can afford. In terms of future planning, if you make smart purchases, and take care of your gear, you can sell you old gear and replace it with newer/smaller/faster without too much pentaly. You may even find a great deal on a newer/smaller/faster rig and be able to downsize with no cash out of pocket. Kit knowledge - we've already established that you are lacking in this area. This is not something that buying the wrong rig will help. Looking cool - for who? Anyone who knows the difference between a rig with a 150/150 or a 170/190 is going to be an experinced jumper. The only way you look cool to them is through your performance, not that of your gear. I know a few older, highly experinced jumper who jump 150s or 170s whcih they land straight in. Just by watching their approach and landing, there is no question that they are skilled canopy pilots, and in complete control of the situation. Jumping gear that is not properly sized for you will show in your performance. Everytime the canopy gets the better of you, people will see, and they will know that you are not cool. All of this is leaving out the very real possibility that you may end up injured or killed, neither of which is cool. This is not the best idea. You should be jumping gear that you are able to handle in the worst scenario possible, not just when you're feeling fresh and on top of your game. Things can happen in freefall that will have you far off of your game, but you've already chosen your rig for that jump, and now you have to land it. This is all not to mention the additional risks you take renting gear. Did you pack the rental? Are you sure the rental has been properly cared for? Do you know the jumper who previously jumped the rental? You stand a much better chance of avoiding problems if you own, pack, care for, and oversee the maintainence on your own rig. I have follwed this plan, and have zero cutaways in 5000 jumps. All of that leaves out the dammage to your learning that switching from one canopy to the next will do. Wind and temp will change from day to day, and challenge your learning on your canopy. If you add to that different canopies, than you further hamper your efforts. Find a reasonable wing, and stick with it.

You really are missing the point. You're also furthering my point that you don't know what you're talking about. The pack job and the slider are what will effect the opening speeds, more so the slider. The pilot chute (be it spring loaded or hand deployed), an RSL, or a Skyhook have nothing to do with the spped the canopy opens. They are all related to the speed that the canopy is deployed in to the relative wind. Spring loading a pilot chute has nothing to do with the speed it will exctrat a bag. That's the size of the pilot chute that controls that. The overall point here is for you to realize that you really don't know what you're talking about, and your ignorance extends into the area of canopy selection. Whatever logic you used to make your choices is severely flawed. For the record, I've never jumped a round, and my first canopy was a Sabre. Yup, square and z-po. If you're trying to make the assertion that because I strated jumping 14 years ago that my knowledge of gear is limited the gear available 14 years ago, that's another mistake on your part. 14 Years ago my knowledge of gear was very limited, much like yours is today. Gaining knowledge of equipment and how to use it is a long term process, one which I am suggesting that you have only just begun. While I do have years of prior knowledge to build on, I continue to apply one of the ealry lessons I was tuaght in terms of gear and rigging which is that the learning never stops. You never know as much as you think, and on top of that there are always new developments. Continuing education in this area is key to being informed and up to date, so yes, I do know about things like RSL's and Skyhooks.

A main canopy is desinged and built to open slow. Have you seen the size of the slider on an x-braced canopy? They're huge. A reserve is desinged to open in 300 ft or less. The slider is F-111, and has a huge hole cut in it. How little you seem to know is amazing.

What for? Unless you're jumping a round, you don't need one. Get the winds aloft forecast, exit and open somewhere close to a good spot, and use your toggles to make adjustments as needed.

For some reason you think that being a bigger guy means that you have to load your canopies up, and that is just wrong. You also seem to think that talking to people, and reading about things will help you, which is also wrong. You want to know what helps? Training, experience, currency, and hard work. There are no replacements. All of the people you claim support the choices you make are not the ones who have to jump the canopies they are reccomending. Your weight may have you pushing the TSO on your gear, but youare still free to select an appropriate wingloading for your experience. In truth you could even stick to gear TSO'd for 300 lbs, and actually be smart, but that seems like it's asking for alot. Seeing how open canopy incidents are the number one cause of injury or death in skydiving, I don't know what could possibly make you think that the choices you're making are OK, but they're not. I'll be the second Dave in this thread to add that I don't even load my reserve at 1.8, and I have twice as many jumps as the other Dave, who have ten times as many jumps as you do. We all know skydiving is dangerous. Some of the guys who have been around longer also know that if you follow the mainstream 'rules', some very stupid people have been able to enjoy years of trouble free jumping. If you venture too far outside of the 'norm' some of the brightest and most gifted newer have jumpers have been forced into early retirement. Your plans are clearly outside of the norm. Far outside.

I don't think there is a norm. Let's say you jump a smallish canopy, like a Cobalt 105. You wouldn't want to follow down a cutaway main because you don't know where it's going to land. What if it drifts towards some trees or powerlines? Are you still going to follow it? Or maybe you followed it too far, and now you're stuck with some shitty options for where to land your 105. With more guys jumping smaller canopies, I would say that the chances of someone following your gear down get slimmer and slimmer. Now if you have a cutaway, and nobody even takes a look and has some input as to where your stuff set down, that's just plain rude. I'mnot going to follow your mistake down, but I'll spot it, and let you know where it probably ended up.

Sounds like the amplifier is giving out, maybe it's heating up and when it gets to a certain temp, it gives out. That might explain why you can hear the unamplified signal when you turn it waaay up. You can get a new AM/FM radio with a CD and an Ipod port for like $75 at Best Buy. You could probably spend even less, but $75 should get you a name brand item. Maybe wait for the weekend, and see what they put on sale.

It didn't look pretty, but I think you did the right thing. You clearly had a handful of drouge as you left the plane, and that was the only safe way to clear the aircraft. For those reading those who are not TI's, or who have not had the pleasure of packing tandems, drouges are huge. Between the drouge and the drouge bridle, there is alot of stuff jammed into the pouch. You could have what appears to be a good amount of fabric outside the pouch, and still have half, or more, of the drouge still in the pouch.

All hail gear checks, sure. I vote we all hail being mindful of our gear at all times, and treat it like a lifesaving device, not a portable backrest.

It's the same way you slow down in any freefall position - show some more surface area to the relative wind. Bending at the knees is one way, and it will have some side effects. Opening your arms also works, and has different side effects. You have to try all sorts if different things, and see how it goes. Once you get a feel for the different techniques, you can use the one that will best suit the situation at hand.

I've been following this thread, and the other nine threads about exactly this same thing. The issue has boiled down to how and when to unstow your brakes, and what to do with your chest strap as it applies to that situation. I think one thing that's being looked over in all these threads is the root cause for the incident at Elsinore. For the purpose of this discussion, we'll assume that the 'official' report is correct, and it was a half-hitch of a steering line around a guide ring, leading to a cutaway, and a no-pull due to harness placement, and possible camera wing interference. All the talk about chest straps and when to unstow toggles has not addressed the half-hitch around the guide ring. If you look in the similar thread in the camera forum, before the report on the incident was out, I gave my reply, and I do indicate that I unstow my toggles last. One thing to keep in mind is that well I do unstow them last, it happens within 10 or 15 seconds of my slider coming down, regardless of how high I open. The idea that anyone would leave their toggles stowed any longer than they have to is retarded. If you're so lazy or weak that you need to leave them stowed to get you back from a long spot, maybe skydiving isn't for you. Back to my procedures under canopy, what you'll notice is that on two occasion I inspect my toggles and excess steering line. Once before and during pulling my slider past my toggles. It's a tight fit, any problems with my toggles would make it much harder, and a real possibility for the slider to get stuck around the toggles. Fast forward 15 seconds, and I'm ready to unstow my brakes, I do another inspection, ensure that my excess steering line is free and clear, and carefully unstow my brakes. Both inspections, and actually unstowing them are not fast processes. This is the biggest change in configuration my canopy will experience, and once it's done, there's no going back. As such, I am careful, and take my time to ensure that all things are in order. As far as the incident in Elsinore goes, I cannot see how a steering line can half hitch around the guide ring unless the excess was stowed in a sloppy manner, allowing a loop of the excess to interfere with the guide ring. Even then it seems unlikely as the nose of the toggle should pin the guide ring down underneath it, preventing anything from looping over it. While I respect your message about unstowing toggles and chest strap placement under canopy, I think poeple need to put more focus on preventing the cutaway in the first place, and take care when stowing their toggles and excess steering line. It may seem like a trivial issue, but this incident has proven that even a seemingly small problem can easliy develop into a big problem. We all know that shit happens. The key in skydiving is to do everything you can to make sure that when shit happens to you, it's the only thing happening to you, and you're free to take care of whatever it may be. Any additional problems you may have when shit does happen to you will just team up with the shit, and form the first few links of the chain of events leading to an incident. Slow down out there, and really think about everything you do, and how and why you do it that way.

The first thing I do turn off my cameras. I think it's first because I do it just as my slider is coming down, and my hands are already on my risers, right next to my cameras. Next I work with my slider, and the loops around my hands. I have two suits, one where I can reach my slider with the loops on, and one where the loops are too short. Depending on what suit I have on, it goes - loops then slider, or slider then loops. From there I move down to loosen my chest strap, and then on down to unhook my camera wings. The last thing I do pop the brakes. This is because once they're off, it's time to fly, and not time to screw with other stuff. I'm not concerned about a stuck brake because as I pull my slider over the toggles, I take a look at the toggles, and excess steering line. Additionally, I take another look at that area before I actually unstow them. With the exception of inspecting the brakes on those two occasions, all of the above I do by feel, with my eyes scanning the area for traffic, and using my harness to keep myself headed the right direction and out of trouble.

Lodi is the exception to the rule. You're right about international rates though, there's a huge swing if you're a world traveler. But in the states, it's about the same everywhere you go.

According to the Spaceland website, $130 is for the first freefall AFTER you have a tandem, and pay $50 for the ground class. $295 at Houston is for an AFF level one, no previous tandem required, and ground training included. I've got news for you dude, skydiving costs about the same everywhere you go. Anytime there's a significant difference in pricing, there's a reason for it, such as you're comparing apples to oranges.

The only saddle time that counts in swooping is the time you spend under 500 ft. Add that up, and you've got 1/10 of the experience you think you do. High pulls are fun, but I've got news for - canopies only do three things; left turn, right turn and flare. Unless there's a large object right next to you (like the earth, or maybe just a cliff face) you're just guessing how much of each you're doing. So you need a Velo? What you need to do is stay away from people who give that kind of advice.

Maybe a blockage in the coolant passages in the engine itself. Replacing all that stuff won't help if the coolant can't circulate.