nicknitro71

In the end it just comes down to one of Dwain's quotes: "Well mate, sometimes you've just got to put a bullet in the chamber, give it a spin, and pull the fuckin' trigga." Memento Audere Semper 903

Windy as shit today, I'm bored. How's this one? Memento Audere Semper 903

Not knowing any Norwegian I just figured out that touching the purple clouds give the dude extra altitute! Memento Audere Semper 903

Funny stuff, pounding the guy sub-ground! I was able to get 640,693. I think the trick is the get the first arrow at 180 and the second one at 45. Thanks for the laugh! Memento Audere Semper 903

I understand that's your opinion so here is mine: Totally inappropriate and out of context. Sam, I could not agree more. Maggot, understand that many on this board do not have sense of humor so don't be surprise to get these types of responses. On a different note: The 4X4 rental is ridiculously high...I have to save money to buy lots of ropes to bring down the Maggot next time he tard-overs Memento Audere Semper 903

True, I have a Swift with flat braided dacron lines. I also use the same flat braided for lower control lines on all my sport canopies. For some reasons (maybe due to the surface exposed to the rings) it wears less than the equivalent round braided. Memento Audere Semper 903

Ask this guy who his mentor is: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?username=yuri_base; I got the feeling the two of you might hit it well together. Memento Audere Semper 903

I don't quite agree. A larger PC does not equal harder openings. In BASE we do not chose the size of the PC because we want to tame the openings. The size is dictated by the delay taken. We also want to avoid center-cell strip because we do not use a free-bag. In skydiving the reserve is free bagged, so no center cell strip to worry. Also the PC or main canopy (in the case of the skyhook), once the reserve is out of the bag, flies away leaving the canopy to open normally in slider up territory. I'd had no problem using the main as a terminal PC to open my reserve because I know the opening is not going to be much harder than with a normal PC. Maybe harder snatch force but not opening. Memento Audere Semper 903

One more thing: I know some TIs who hook it and I would have no problems having my loved ones being passengers. I know some Tis who never hook it and I would fear having my loved ones being passengers. Again you are not factoring in experience/skills. Memento Audere Semper 903

Dude, With all the due respect your math does not make much sense and also you are using angle of attack (AOA) when you should have been using angle of incidence (AOI). Yes the L/D is a ratio and of course the higher the better for our purpose. However you do not take into account velocity, and AOA. As we all know, the relationship between velocity and both, L and D, is not linear. As velocity goes up both the L and D go up by a factor of v^2/2. Now, the AOA. AOA is defined as the angle between the airfoil's chord line and the direction of the airflow. Usually the best lift (NOT L/D) is generated around 18 degrees AOA (this varies a bit for every wing section). After this number the lift drops sharply. Drag behaves differently. Drag goes up exponentially usually past 14 degrees AOA. At around 22 degrees AOA, no matter what wing structure is used, drag completely overcomes lift. The critical AOA is usually 16+/-2 degrees. The best L/D is usually at 0 degrees AOA regardless the wing (subsonic). Fortunately for us (because we fly at subsonic speeds) lift and AOA have a liner relationship at least until the critical AOA is reached. Another variable that applies to us is the Reynolds number: RN = rVd/m where r = density of the fluid d= length of the airfoil m = viscosity of the fluid The Reynolds number is a linear relationship with V until the flow become very turbulent then it drops sharply. Usually the higher the Reynolds number the higher the lift. Unfortunately there is not much we can do to change density and viscosity and the length of our airfoil is dictated by the length of our body. Now let's talk about the AOI. The AOI is defined as the angle between the wing's chord and the longitudinal axis of an aircraft. Although we as humans really suck at flying we do have one luxury that many aircafts do not: we can change our body AOI in flight! This point is very, very important. On an aircraft the AOI is usually set at a 6 degree angle with the fuselage. This makes possible for the fuselage to fly leveled. This number does not apply to us though. For one because our body does produce probably just as much lift as our wings and two because we can change the AOI of our body (not the wings). On "conventional" aircraft the vast majority of the lift is produced by the wings not the fuselage hence the AOI is never zero. There are few exceptions but think about a conventional airplane flying subsonic. Again because we produce lift with both, our body and our wings, IMHO the AOI of the wings should just be set close to 0. There is another little thing that very much applies to us: the longitudinal dihedral AKA decalage. This is the angle between the wing chord line and the tail chord line. And guess what? We can change this as well when flying our WSs. The angle is very much related to the CG that varies quite a bit from jumper to jumper. Hence each jumper should work on moving their leg wing up and down to find the best decalage angle for her/his own CG. Said that, Robi thought about all those things and then some long before anybody else. I agree with him that a near zero AOI for all the wings is the best compromise for commercial suits. Just my 0.02. Memento Audere Semper 903

It totally depends on the TI's experience. If they can hook it safely more points to them, and yes there are TIs out there who can do it safely. If they can not do it safely every time then IMHO, they should not do it ever as one day they will hook it in. I do not have the experience to hook tandems but I do not judge TIs who do it safely on regular bases just because they have more skills than me. The surging technique by the way has its dangers too. Stalling a Tandem @ 100' I bet it ain't fun! Now the metaphysical part. Setting a good or bad examples in the face of who? FAA? Manufacture? USPA? DZO? S&TA? Other jumpers? Students? Other TIs? Lawyers? This should not be about "setting any examples" good or bad; it should and only be about safety, not politics. If it can be done in a as safe or safer manner than in a "normal" straight in landing, then what's the big fuzz? Just my 0.02 Memento Audere Semper 903

Are you stoned? Memento Audere Semper 903

FreeFall Assist? I thought that was more like a "dry-humor" sort of deployment rather than a real one! Memento Audere Semper 903

Hey, Got the tickets already flying into Grand Junction, CO, just me thus far. PM me if you what to share a room/car. Later! Memento Audere Semper 903

Dude, Just out of curiosity and I usually try to stay away from mindless threads but, why are you so stuck up on ellipticity? Do you know that many, if not all, X-braced canopies are less elliptical than HP conventional 9 cell? Ellipticity is only one factor and by itself cannot tell you anything about a canopy. You got things that matter more like trim, line length, line attachment placement, and thus far. Memento Audere Semper 903

That I don't quite agree. A canopy regardless its design obeys to the same laws as any other canopy. Higher WL = less susceptibility to turbulence all other things being equal. Also higher WL and also smaller canopiy = faster inflation. Maggot is now jumping a Mojo 190 @ .84. That think opens faster and cleaner than any other canopy I've seen including vents/valves ones. Said that, I would not recommend the "average" BASE jumper to go down to such a WL. However, if you got 5000+ jumps, can do stand-up landings on a dime with ANY canopy that can get thrown at you at almost any "landable" WL, then a bit higher WL might give you an "edge". Just my 0.02. PS Talking about the crazy Maggot, last night he finally got his B and qualified for his BASE #! Memento Audere Semper 903

It's my understanding that the Viper is a new Reflex not a new Teardrop biuilt by Trident in CA not in UK. http://www.tridenthc.com/ Memento Audere Semper 903

I thought Para-Pack was for metrosexuals Memento Audere Semper 903

Being at least 20lb lighter than the average for my height I find wearing a weight belt indispensable in RW. I made mine out of 500 Cordura. It has 12 pockets. Each pocket takes a 1LB shot bag also made from the same cordura. I jump with 10Lbs and love it. Memento Audere Semper 903

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Sure, Here is the address of a really good one, perfect for a first jump even with skydiving gear: P. O. Box 747 Starke, Florida 32091 Call this number and they will open and run the elevator for ya: (904) 964-8125 You can thank me later. Memento Audere Semper 903

Oh my, that really gave me a good laugh! And Jimmy, keep 'em coming! Memento Audere Semper 903

I second that and PMed HH about it long ago. Gear forum for "what color should my rig be?" Rigging form for technical topics where only riggers can post but everyone can read. Memento Audere Semper 903

I guess my definition of non-determinism is different than yours and that would not surprise me because I encountered in at least three different types of indeterminism. At any rate, I am seeing this with a Systems Science (SS) view because we are dealing, at least I thought so, with a system here. In SS a non-deterministic system is one in which a state has multiple points of continuations where the p for the continuations is not known from previous states. Predictability or non-predictability is a feature of a system state but not the system label. In the deployment system the next state, at least from the jumper's prospective, cannot be determined and can have multiple continuations hence the indeterministic nature (one continuation is just as random as another). Now, if the most relevant variables were known, then the next state's uncertainty could be known (the deterministic system). I do not understand your point about Bells inequalities and how it applies to this situation. Simply put if hidden variables were present and those were responsible for the outcome then yes, the distributions generated will have to obey to Bells inequalities. Quantum mechanics does not suggest that this does not hold water, only that under certain conditions Bells inequalities could be violated but honestly our example does not offer any proof of this kind, unless I am missing something fundamental, case that very well may be. One more thing, many quantum physicists are still split about the deterministic or non-deterministic nature of the universe...I got my view but it's just an insight, if that. Memento Audere Semper 903

You first must define the initial condition. If the initial condition is the pack, then I can make it in a way that the behavior of the opening will be chaotic For our case, let's assume the initial condition is the body position (1) and the chaotic motion the canopy deployment (2). Is 2 sensitive to 1? You decide. How do we know, or don't, that a body in FF does not follow periodic orbits and transitive flow? How do we know, or don't, that the opening of a canopy gives rise to strange attractors? Honestly if I had to bet my few pennies, just out of gut, I'd say that it does. I think the first point to be analyzed is the determinism or not of a BASE deployment, that nobody has addressed quite yet. Is a BASE deployment a deterministic or non-deterministic system? Here is my ignorant 0.02. From the jumper's view at the exit point, the deployment is clearly a non-deterministic system. He only knows enough variables to be unable to determine the next state. However as 460 pointed out, sometimes going by "feel" could lead to some sort of determinism. This leads to my other point. Knowing enough variables, a BASE deployment could be a deterministic system. Now, the problem is, how many variables do we really have to know in order to have this system of deterministic nature? Do we need to know every single wrinkle in the fabric of the canopy, the relative humidity of the air at every single point of the deployment, a front coming in that is 300 miles away, the location of dark energy? Bottom line is this before I get too damn metaphysical: I think that a BASE deployment is very much dependent of the initial condition along its variables, whatever the initial condition might be. The system as far as we are concerned at the exit point is non-deterministic however knowing enough relevant variables, it might be possible to model a BASE deployment with an isomorphic deterministic system. Maybe. Memento Audere Semper 903