Nice to meet you all...(Newbie Gear Question)

[skyyd1ve 0]

Hey everyone,
I am new here, although I've been registered on dropzone.com since september. My name is Rebecca - I just started jumping this past august and I absolutely love it.
I do have a question, though...
I recently bought my own gear - a Javelin TJN with a Sabre 135 and Micro Raven 135 reserve. I haven't used it yet, because I've been insanely busy. My question is that because I did my first 32 jumps on a 200 square foot canopy at 115 pounds, is it a bad idea to go straight to a 135 square foot canopy at the 100 pounds I weigh now? I know that it wouldn't hurt to downsize more slowly, but I'm not sure if it's even worth it since my wingloading is a ratio of 0.89:1.
Thank you for any insight!
~Rebecca

[dan_iv 0]

first, if you weigh 115 and your going to jump a 135 your WL will be around 1.0:1.

Second i'm sure everyone here will tell you to step down, atleast put a few on a 190 170 150 before you loose 65sqft of material...

[AggieDave 6]

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Second i'm sure everyone here will tell you to step down, atleast put a few on a 190 170 150 before you loose 65sqft of material...

Not quite.

I would say before that is done that she needs to sit down and chat with her instructors and the S&TA at her DZ to determin the steps that she needs to take to gain the ability to jump a 135.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[skyyd1ve 0]

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first, if you weigh 115 and your going to jump a 135 your WL will be around 1.0:1.

Second i'm sure everyone here will tell you to step down, atleast put a few on a 190 170 150 before you loose 65sqft of material...

i weigh 100 pounds now... i meant that i was 115 when i bought my 135 canopy. however, i've lost 15 pounds so now my wing loading would only be 0.89:1.

[Buried 0]

Recbecca, dan is right,
the Sabre is a nice forgiving canopy is probably a good choice for you once you get to that point. DONT rush into it. Step down at your own pace. No one here can suggest that you should go down to a 190, then after 10 jumps a 170, etc. You should downsize once you are comfortable and once you talk with your current or former instructor. Are your landings good, etc?

You may be able to go from a 200 to a 170 in 3 jumps or it may take much more. It will take longer to go from a 150 to a 135 tho

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

[PhreeZone 14]

Go talk to Sonic and Tom B at the Ranch about what you are wanting to do. They will both be able to directly assist you in making the right decision.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[TALONSKY 0]

One thing to keep in mind is if you are under a slower canopy the only thing that will happen (provided the winds are not too strong) is a longer canopy flight. If your under too fast of a canopy there is not a lot you can do other than pray and try to fly it. Getting under a smaller canopy is not like taking a Ferrari for a drive. In the car you control how fast things go, under canopy you have no control of how fast the canopy fly’s in full flight and if you use some of the brakes to slow it down you have less brakes left to stop it at the end. As stated before talk to the S&TA and downsize slowly to your Sabre 135.
Kirk

[GravityGirl 0]

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under a slower canopy the only thing that will happen (provided the winds are not too strong) is a longer canopy flight

Extrememly lightly loaded canopies can also be more unstable in turbulent conditions. Even if the winds are not strong.

I agree that some steps should be followed to get you into your 135.

If you have Tom B. as an asset in your back yard, please talk to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[Treejumps 0]

What everyone else said, plus.... A 135 is a very small canopy no matter how you load it. The lines are very short and even at 1:1 wing loadings it will be quick in flight and fast to turn. It has the potential to spin very rapidly if you had say a line over or even a fired brake line. You would be well served to practice on something larger until you can stand up all of your landings and land in the peas 9 out of 10 times.

Be safe.

[dan_iv 0]

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Second i'm sure everyone here will tell you to step down, atleast put a few on a 190 170 150 before you loose 65sqft of material...

Not quite.

I would say before that is done that she needs to sit down and chat with her instructors and the S&TA at her DZ to determin the steps that she needs to take to gain the ability to jump a 135.

ok you proved me wrong Dave... talking to your instructors and S&TA is always probably the *best* advice to follow....

[dropzonefool 0]

Hay,
IF you weigh 100 lbs and you jump with 35 lbs of gear than your 1:1 on a Sabre 135. Ask you Instructor or S&TA and have a look at Brian Germain's WL chart.
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[skyyd1ve 0]

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Hay,
IF you weigh 100 lbs and you jump with 35 lbs of gear than your 1:1 on a Sabre 135. Ask you Instructor or S&TA and have a look at Brian Germain's WL chart.
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i did add the weight of my gear and the wing loading is under 1:1.

thank you all for the advice, though. i will talk to instructors and the S&TA at my DZ. i appreciate all your suggestions!

[freakflyer9999 1]

And as mentioned in another current thread, don't forget to add any weights that you will need to wear in order to do Relative Work with other jumpers.

[op5e 0]

There was another thread about this topic not long ago. I learnt alot from it so hopefully it might be of interest to you.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1289336

[Remster 24]

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you will need to wear in order to do Relative Work with other jumpers.

Yes, dont forget that. If you lost 15-30 pounds in the last year or so, you will fly very differently then before.

We dont know what kind of flying you want to do in the future, but at 30 jumps, some RW basics are always a great base, and unless you are 4 foot tall, at 100 lbs, you'll need lead. How tall are you?

Finnaly, your wing load, without any lead, is gonna be about 1:1. Its not very high, but its much higher then the 0.75:1 you had on your last jumps. Add 10 lbs or lead, and you're almost at 1.1:1. Again, its not very high, but its getting higher and higher. Its not something you will used at.

Talk to your instructors and Sonic if you are at the Ranch, see if you can borrow some intermediatly sized canopies to step down, and practice life saving maneauvers up high like flat turns.

Remster

[skyyd1ve 0]

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you will need to wear in order to do Relative Work with other jumpers.

Yes, dont forget that. If you lost 15-30 pounds in the last year or so, you will fly very differently then before.

We dont know what kind of flying you want to do in the future, but at 30 jumps, some RW basics are always a great base, and unless you are 4 foot tall, at 100 lbs, you'll need lead. How tall are you?

Finnaly, your wing load, without any lead, is gonna be about 1:1. Its not very high, but its much higher then the 0.75:1 you had on your last jumps. Add 10 lbs or lead, and you're almost at 1.1:1. Again, its not very high, but its getting higher and higher. Its not something you will used at.

Talk to your instructors and Sonic if you are at the Ranch, see if you can borrow some intermediatly sized canopies to step down, and practice life saving maneauvers up high like flat turns.

i am 100 pounds at 5'5. i didn't think about the lead factor - thank you for bringing that up!
i might be going down to crosskeys tomorrow since i am not sure if anyone is jumping at the ranch...and i am going to use their student gear, most likely. hopefully i can do some jumps on a 190, then a 170, then 150, and finally my 135.
thank you!