USPA opening altitude

[mentax 0]

I hear that USPA increase pull altitude for D license holders. 2500 feet As I understand you must to be in full canopy on that altitude? Is that rule or recommendation? I usually pull less than 3000ft and was on full stable canopy on 2000 - 1800ft. I feel absolutely comfortable with that. So, if I will continue to open on my comfortable altitude(3000-28000) what will happened? I have a D license...

[evan85 0]

2,500 ft is minimum container opening altitude, same as the old 2,000 ft rule was. If you (with a D license) deploy at your comfortable 3,000-2,800 ft altitude you will be unaffected.

http://skydiveuspa.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/uspa-raises-minimum-deployment-altitude/

[mentax 0]

Well, some time my canopy take about 1000+ft to open, some time i'm really low when my canopy is finishing opening (1300ft). Can S&TA ban me for it ?

[evan85 0]

I didn't go back and read the SIM or the BSRs, but my understanding is that there is no requirement for main opening or "in the saddle" altitude, just pack opening altitude. Safety-wise that is a different question, but I understood your question to be just about the rules.

[indyz 1]

mentax

Well, some time my canopy take about 1000+ft to open, some time i'm really low when my canopy is finishing opening (1300ft). Can S&TA ban me for it ?

As an S&TA, if I knew of a jumper that was regularly getting a fully open canopy at 1300ft, I would have a talk with him/her. They might not be breaking the letter of the rules, but they are setting themselves up for trouble.

Of course, DZs can choose to have rules that are more restrictive than the BSRs, and the S&TA can (and should) help enforce those rules. I have jumped at several DZs that had a minimum "fully open" altitude.

[labrys 0]

Quote

Well, some time my canopy take about 1000+ft to open, some time i'm really low when my canopy is finishing opening (1300ft). Can S&TA ban me for it ?

It doesn't matter how long it takes your canopy to open. Just throw your pilot chute above 2500 feet.

Owned by Remi #?

[billvon 2,384]

>Can S&TA ban me for it?

Sure. But he'd ban you for being dumb and not understanding your gear, not for pulling too low.

[chuckakers 370]

mentax

...some time i'm really low when my canopy is finishing opening (1300ft)....

That will bite you in the ass someday.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[conwayte 0]

mentax

Well, some time my canopy take about 1000+ft to open...

I've been out of the sport for awhile and maybe I've missed something, but isn't that called a malfunction?

[mattjw916 2]

it depends on the canopy really, there are some really snivelly canopies out there... plus a lot of people add oversized or pocketed/domed sliders after the fact

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Eeh. The guys who pull under 2 grand will continue to pull under 2 grand (D-D-D-D-Dinosaurs! You know who you are!) and everyone else will continue to pull over it. It just gives the USPA plausible deniability if the AAD vendors want to raise their auto-deployment altitudes. I could see that having the unintended consequence of causing more people to jump without them, but if I'm under 2 grand in freefall something has gone horribly wrong and I'm going for the silver handle anyway.

I also usually pull under 28000 feet.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[wmw999 2,116]

Quote

I also usually pull under 28000 feet

Most people do

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

wmw999

Quote

I also usually pull under 28000 feet

Most people do

Wendy P.

Well the OP said he likes to pull somewhere between 3000 and 28000. This covers me as well, despite my lack of a D license!

Really, that's the BSR the USPA should adopt! I guess that's why I'm not a chairman on the USPA heh heh heh.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[chuckakers 370]

conwayte

***Well, some time my canopy take about 1000+ft to open...

I've been out of the sport for awhile and maybe I've missed something, but isn't that called a malfunction?

The introduction of zero-porosity fabrics and elliptical wings in the late 80's and early 90's also introduced the sport to a new realm of opening characteristics issues. Zero-P fabrics don't allow air to bleed through like F-111 did, making those 400-foot "soft", metered openings a thing of the past.

The answer - or at least the one that was decided upon - was to create slow, sniveling openings. A typical "nice" opening today is something greater than 600 feet on some quicker opening canopies and as much as 1,000 feet for the longest of slow openings.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[kallend 1,621]

mentax

Well, some time my canopy take about 1000+ft to open, some time i'm really low when my canopy is finishing opening (1300ft). Can S&TA ban me for it ?

First the S&TA would have to accurately measure your container opening altitude. I've yet to see an S&TA up there with a tape measure or radar altimeter.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[normiss 620]

No he would not.

I've seen people grounded for opening too low without any measurements made whatsoever.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

kallend

***Well, some time my canopy take about 1000+ft to open, some time i'm really low when my canopy is finishing opening (1300ft). Can S&TA ban me for it ?

First the S&TA would have to accurately measure your container opening altitude. I've yet to see an S&TA up there with a tape measure or radar altimeter.

If you have a digital altimeter or an AAD, I'm sure they'd provide adequate evidence if evidence were required. If you have an AAD fire (reserve or 2 out) that's also evidence.

I have a couple of sub-2-grand "depl" altitudes on my Neptune. I'm told that's the altitude where you're fully deployed and in the saddle, which is borne out by the fact that I check my altitude at that point and sometimes during the deploy if it's being a particularly snively bitch. Those deployments were right after I moved my pull altitude to 3.5. I'd wave at that point and throw. Now if you subtract 200-300 feet for the wave, that still leaves you with a snivel of 1000-1200 feet! Once I realized how bad the problem was, I moved my wave altitude to 4000, which usually put me reliably in the saddle around 2800 or so.

Funnily enough, my current canopy is a Safire 2, which has a reputation for being snivelly. But it usually opens reliably in 600-750 feet. While it takes less altitude than most of the rental canopies I've tried, it also manages to open more softly than any of them. I don't know how they do that. I'd guess some sort of sorcery is involved.

The one D license buddy I talk to on a regular basis has an opening altitude similar to mine. He says he wants plenty of time to deal with malfunctions. I figure you're just going to pull wherever you're comfortable pulling and if you've survived long enough with your habits to have a D license, you're probably not a jackass anyway. I've never met a D who I thought was a jackass. Plenty of As and Bs. Hell I'm probably a jackass but I at least try not to be "that guy" heh heh heh.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?