RichM

PIA has a fairly comprehensive list too http://www.pia.com/links.html Rich M

I'm not 100% on the skeleto-muscular system but while it is possible to articulate at the hips so that the legs are pointing behind the line of the spine the majority of arch will be achieved from flexing the spine with the flex focus at the spine / pelvis junction (sorry for being pedantic). This manifests itself as a forward thrust of the hips which is excellent exercise for numerous activities There are chest straps out there without the end turned over and sewn. These should be routed back in such a way as to prevent them accidentally working loose and coming out as any rigger can explain. Personally, I think it's daft and would have my rigger fold and sew the end to prevent this possibility. I would be interested to understand the manufacturers point of view on this? Rich M

I think Chuck probably has a good understanding of canopy piloting although I'm sure he'll be grateful for you offer to teach him some stuff Sorry, couldn't resist it Rich M

Is that where he's hanging out now? He should get himself on Chris Lynch's courses if he can still walk, Canopy Piloting on 25/10 and swooping on 26/10, both at Headcorn. I hope he's ok, no injuries apart from bruises? Rich M

I think the key is to be aware of all information inputs and ensure they all agree. If the winds are light (

Ramon - thanks man, brief and to the point, a very informative addition. I accept it's one persons view, but I personally don't know anyone with that level of 1st hand experience, so I'll have this vodka to you *burp* Rich M

Nice phrase, thanks, if you don't mind I'll use it in my teaching. I guess there is no ethical right or wrong in this discussion and it will be a judgemental call by the instructor. There are no blacks and whites but a myriad shades of grey, until it winds up in court at least Blue skies Rich M

Quick note here: applying a little brakes under a zp canopy in full drive will result in the glide angle flattening out. Skilled use of this technique delivers a "surf" or horizontal glide over the ground, but minor variations of toggle input can result in a flatter glide down, or even an uopward glide. All of these results trade air speed for lift, and as the canopy slows down so the lift reduces so more input is needed to maintain the flattened glide. With no further changes the canopy will eventually stall. I just want to encourage skydivers to understand the dynamics of canopy flight rather than thinking black and white. Rich M

Maybe some are, plenty are still learning the hard way. As skydivers, by nature, we are thrill-seekers and adrenaline addicts. Telling someone not to do something because it is dangerous is not likely to have a great impact in our community. I think there needs to be more advanced canopy control and swooping courses to give these people the opportunity to understand the skills and maybe, hopefully, more fully appreciate the risks. But we'll never stop us Rich M

I've recently completed the UK Basic Instructor course and it is quite clear that we do not instruct students to cut away. There are 3 main arguments that I have established but please correct me if I am wrong. They are presented in no particular order. - The person under the canopy is in by far the best position to assess the canopy as per their significant and repetitive ground training. They are 15 ft away from it, we are at least 2000ft. - There is often more than 1 student in the air and an instruction to cutaway may result in simultaneous cutaways by 7 students or more, some may be below survivable height. - If an instructor gives a command and the student dies or is injured there is sadly a significant chance that it will be dragged through the courts in a negligence case. Whether the case is won or lost it will cause serious financial and operational burden on the DZ, CCI and instructor concerned. Too many of these and skydiving will cease to be financially viable for many DZ's. Rich M

Would love to but demo canopies are hard to come by over here (UK). I keep trying for a Sam demo, but Brian just keeps selling any he builds to punters - so thoughtless I wasn't expecting a Cobalt to become available which is why I'm chasing it down - I agree with completely - jump everything and decide from personal and 3rd party experience. Thanks. I wouldn't buy either of those canopies for the following reasons: 1) At 100 jumps a year with occasional 2 or 3 month breaks I don't consider myself current enough. 2) Local DZ has a large PLA but really wierd winds due to local geography resulting in occasional off landings, which can be into tight fields in turbulent air coming over hedges. 3) Derived from the above 2, I like being able to walk Rich M

Yoshi - what did you think of those 2 canopies in comparison to each other? Did you jump them close together? Rich M

Best advice I can offer is to crack through relative (belly to earth) work either through the UK WARP system or the US Skydive University system. They both cover the essentials of flying on your belly with other people in the air. The other people with you bit is relevent to most skydiving disciplines at the moment. If you are UK based please pay particular attention to the comments on learning canopy skills. With the exception of Chris Lynch's canopy skills course there isn't a formal UK procedure and it's a mainly learn from your mistakes situation (if you can still walk). If you can get on Chris's course do so, it's advertised in the next edition of the mag. Once you have the belly flying sorted work out which direction you want to go and never stop smiling Rich M

Point Zero have 135 and 150 demo Cobalts inbound, due next week. Give them a call to get your name on the demo list - 01980 844130 Rich M

I assume you don't mean this is for all canopys, else I would need 9" risers under my Crossfire Rich M

0 jumps? Me: >200 sqft Student stuff 25 jumps @ variable Sabre 170 100 @ 1.0 Sabre 135 100 @ 1.26 Sabre 120 200 @ 1.46 Crossfire 119 150 @ 1.51 Rich M

Not at all, but I think it's fair to say that zp swoops more easily and surf length is generally longer for a given input. I haven't veen tried to swoop F111 as this means I'm on my reserve and already have my adrenaline fix sorted Rich M

I calculate that at 1.2:1 under the Hornet 170, which sounds fairly reasonable. But get the recommendations from instructors at your dz who see you fly, and if they ok it, try to demo one first, and demo lots of other canopies while you're there too. Rich M

Cheers, I'll go and play Rich M

Trig, I hear the shop at Nethera is due to get 1 or more demo Cobalts in. Will call them tomorrow and let you know what I find out. Rich M

I don't mean you any offense here, but the fact that you've asked the question says to me that you are already toying with the idea, because this is what you want to do. Swooping is about flying a canopy. You can swoop any zp canopy, but you have to learn to fly it and land it with exceptional skill. If you really want to swoop, learn to swoop the Spectre. It's actually a very capable swooping canopy. It's not fast, but speed does not equal good swoop. And if you get it all wrong, you will bite the dust more slowly. Speed does not equal good swoop. Have fun, take care Rich M

Coodja give me a core example please?? I've been playing with 2 stage 180s and they are working well, but like to know how you approach 270s. Cheers. Rich M

*cough* 5:1?? Thats big ballz Rich M

I would chop any of my sport rigs that had this happen, but I have landed a demo rig this way and my tactical rig also. Would it be safer to restow the fired brake so that the canopy is flying symmetrical, and then riser flare? Or does that carry more risk? Rich M

Well done, you certainly took the right action, that was one canopy the definitely didn't pass the "is it controlable" and "is it landable" questions. You deserve a big drink, in fact I'll get you one now It's going to ber impossible to work out what actually from the internet. The people best placed to figure it out are your instructors from the video footage and the retrieved canopy. You say the chest strap was cutting into your throat and choking you - were your legs straps done up properly - if not it would allow the chest strap to rise up. You say that you couldn't look up because you were being choked, but I am confused by this. Surely looking up would take your throat further away from the chest strap and relieve some of the pressure? If you couldn't look up it is more likely that this was because you had line twists down to the risers and these were preventing your head from tilting back. Under inflation on the ends of the canopy is called "end cell closure" and is a fairly common occurrence on big student canopies that are lightly loaded, and this on its own is not a cutaway situation, but then you were rotating like a spinning top There are a bundle of reasons why the spin might have happened and I'm sure your instructors and the dz rigger are all having a very close look at the canopy, dz's don't like students to have malfunctions. They don't like anyone to have mals, but students are their responsibility Best to slot it into the "shit happens" category and get back up there. You've certainly shown that you can deal with a violent mal. You stayed very aware considering it was only your 3rd aff, and that is excellent. Well done. Rich M