Quagmirian

Members
  • Content

    707
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1
  • Feedback

    0%

Everything posted by Quagmirian

  1. The downsize which scared me was my first one. I went from a 280 to a 210, exit weight 160. When the canopy inflated after static line I thought I'd just try a left tu- OH MY GOD WHY AM I POINTING AT THE GROUND AND IN HALF A LINE TWIST.
  2. Please do take some pictures. I thought I had my head round what kind of lines there are, and now I have no idea. Here is a picture of what I have. The 400 lb Dacron I bought is on the left, with the narrower, thicker stuff on the right. Any ideas?
  3. You shouldn't be flossing up there mate.
  4. The PD pulse does pack about two sizes smaller though, so it shouldn't be overstuffing.
  5. Not many people plan to cutaway below 1000 feet. The videographer in Bill Booth's Skyhook video demonstrates this. Even though he responded well to his malfunction and made the decision to cutaway pretty early on, he took a long time to go for his reserve handle.
  6. I was under the impression that a hard arch is the worst possible position for a reserve deployment.
  7. Poynter's manual does say that 400 lb is the minimum for any sport canopy, and centre lines should be stronger than that. The only reason I'm using it for the suspension lines is because it's what I've got, it makes sense to use what I have. This model probably will never see the sky anyway, and if it does, it won't be going to terminal. I will strengthen the centre lines anyway though, as good practice. Anyway, I have been experimenting with the bottom loaded rib seams. I am going to be putting a piece of 3/8" type III along the whole length of the seam, and that, coupled with the leading edge tapes and line attachments will make my traditional rolled seam unacceptably thick. I am considering a spanwise lower skin to simplify and thin out this seam. Here are some pictures. Apologies for the crappy quality, these were taken with my button camera.
  8. Does anybody know what 400 lb dacron looks like? I nicked the stuff I have off an old swift reserve, R3 1660, Nov 1982, but it looks to be completely different stuff to what I'm seeing elsewhere. Help?
  9. When people talk about about using brakes to 'improve your glide' when coming back from a long spot I've always struggled to understand whether this is purely because you stay in the air longer or if your canopy's glide ratio is affected at all.
  10. Does this actually improve absolute glide ratio, ie would you cover more ground in still air?
  11. I found this video from a thread 2 years ago that may be relevant. http://youtu.be/HYIUjKGxagI
  12. Yes, the offer of 100 quid's worth of free drinks still stands, although you must land the canopy too.
  13. I had a very productive conversation with J Wragg; he answered a lot of my questions and make me think about a few things that hadn't crossed my mind. I may have hit a snag as far as testing goes, see the BPA ops manual: "Parachutes may only be used if they are manufactured for Sport Parachutists or Military Parachutists, by recognised parachute equipment manufacturers or riggers with the necessary qualifications." However: "BPA ‘A’ Licence parachutists and above may perform cutaways (at a club PLA/DZ) with a cutaway `rig’ designed for the purpose, provided they have CCI permission and have been thoroughly drilled in the cutaway procedures." So technically I could do a cutaway jump on my A licence, but I'd have to leave the test jumping for someone else for now.
  14. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sfboG5LIGs&t=32s Ignoring the line twists, anybody notice something else wrong with the canopy in this video? Apologies if it's been posted before.
  15. Oh, ok. As of right now I am looking for some decent pattern paper so I can cut out my parts and make a model. I'm also trying to find out more about slider stops.
  16. Apologies everybody, I was hoping that my post would be taken as satire. I now realise that it was not appropriate.
  17. You should make it a rule that every jumper on the load should be checked by someone, who then puts their initials next to the jumper's name on the manifest. I know that is a crazy idea and would literally be infringing on freedoms though.
  18. Is this the sort of thing you're looking for?
  19. >implying people actually spot these days
  20. HAW HAW HAW IT'S FUNNY COS I'M DEAD LOL.
  21. One time I plummeted out of a perfectly good aeroplane and my parachute failed to open! Good thing I was wearing a reserve I am so lucky.
  22. I was taking the piss out of people in this thread, OHCHUTE. You are not the only person on this forum who thinks people can learn from reading things in books and on the internet.
  23. Just in case you didn't see that, OHCHUTE.
  24. The reserve cutaway handle shocked me the most.
  25. A better way to start would be with an airspeed indicator and a rate of descent meter. That would give you airspeed readings rather than groundspeed numbers, which are sensitive to thermal activity and upper winds. To calculate the horizontal component of the airspeed, simply take away the square of the descent rate from the square of the total airspeed, and then square root the answer. That's a lot easier than it sounds. Once you have the horizontal component of airspeed, you can divide it by the rate of descent to give you a glide ratio.