Not Another downsize Question?

[tasmanianjumper 0]

I am NOT going to make people roll thier eyes by asking "Is it okay for me to jump a blah blah blah.. or a blah blah blah" I have some solid and sound advice and feel it's time to downsize. I feel comfortable with my 240 and completed all of the USPA CP card.. and my next available rental rig is a 200... That will be a HUGE change in wingloading..

Pulling early to do some practice turns to see how it handles high up is probably a good idea... Practice flares, ETC. I know my forward and downward speed is about to slightly increase losing 40 square feet of canopy (or maybe going from .96 to 1.2 wingloading it will definately be a big increase)

When you DO on your first "I'm going to feel this out for my first time" and if you've been caught in a "Holy Crap, I'm screwed situation" other than prepare to PLF.. Any Ideas?

You can roll your eyes with that question ;p... Thanks!!

Blue Skies!!!

Taz

[billvon 2,463]

>When you DO on your first "I'm going to feel this out for my
>first time" and if you've been caught in a "Holy Crap, I'm screwed
>situation" other than prepare to PLF.. Any Ideas?

1) Level the wing
2) Start the flare
3) If you flared _way_ too high, go to half brakes, keep the wing level, and prepare to PLF

In the meantime, learn to flat turn and flare turn, practice landing downwind (in very LIGHT winds and without other people in the pattern) and learn about what your front risers do.

[AggieDave 6]

Talk to your DZO to make sure they're OK with it, but then you can call up PD and get a Navigator demo in an appropriate size to help you step down with less of a jump in size. You'll only have 2 weeks to put jumps on it, but it is still better than nothing.

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

[Arvoitus 1]

On my jump #93 I went from 220 sqft Navigator loaded at 0.92 to 170 sqft Sabre 2 loaded at 1.2. The winds were pretty much at zero during the jump. I knew even before boarding the plane that it was going to fly faster and it was going to come down harder.

Exited the plane somewhere around 6,5k and pulled after few secs of FF. As soon as I got the canopy flying I realized just how much faster it was flying. After that I did a lot of practice flares and started preparing for the landing.

When I was coming down on the final I flared somewhat too soon since the ground rush was much higher then what I had gotten used to but the landing beyond that was uneventful. I think I stood it up after few running steps.

When you're coming down and start getting the ground rush just ignore the 'holy shit I'm going to bounce like a fucken balloon' thoughts and concentrate on the landing and the flare. And be ready to PLF.

Your rights end where my feelings begin.

[voilsb 1]

Quote

Talk to your DZO to make sure they're OK with it, but then you can call up PD and get a Navigator demo in an appropriate size to help you step down with less of a jump in size. You'll only have 2 weeks to put jumps on it, but it is still better than nothing.

I second this and want to add: if you talk to PD, they'll let you keep it longer, especially on less often demoed equipment. I had an Optimum they let me keep for 5 weekends. I put 35 jumps on it and only sent it back because I got my new canopy in.

As for the progression, a 200 at 1.2 is a little hot for 40 jumps. Conventional wisdom says stay below 1.x, where x = jumps/100. so for you, stay below 1.04. Brian Germain's chart says you should be jumping 230 (1.043), even if you have mad skillz.

Brian