Hornets, Brake settings, and Bucking...

[Merrick 0]

Quotes from another thread:

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Little hint \on the hornet...I had to raise my brakes 3in out farther than the preset ink mark to get good front riser truns with NO bucking...
.....we let them out 3in and now it flies soooo smooth when CRANKING on the risers and theres still plenty of flare at the end!!!

Just a quick question, I've heard that you should lengthen your brake settings on the Hornet on more than one occasion. Now that I've had my Canopy for over a month & my container should be in shortly as well I may actually get to jump the thing sometime soon. LOL Would it be a safe bet to go ahead & let the brakes out a little first (say, 3"), or should I keep them at the factory setting until I get a chance to jump it? Just curious on the different opinions... thanks.
Blues!
"Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

[rgoper 0]

leave them at the factory settings, do a hop-n-pop at altitude, check out the "bow" in your steering lines, if it is adequate, and your flair is decent, fly it like that until you think further adjustment is warranted. when adding brake line length, 1" at a time would be my routine, until i got them where i wanted them. good luck, take care
Richard
"Gravity Is My Friend"

[Merrick 0]

Yeah, this was almost my exact plan, but after hearing that almost everyone that uses their front risers (on the hornet) have problems with the bucking at the factory setting... just thought I'd save a little time, I jump at a small DZ that puts out a LOT of students, that simple plan you just plotted could actually take up to 3 weeks or so for me (not that it matters). Thanks, keep 'em coming.
Blues!
On second thought, I'm not taking riser length into consideration... I'll have to look & see what length risers I ordered & add that info as well to see if there any similar setups.
"Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

[rgoper 0]

better the 3 weeks than the alternative. the riser length will probably be the deciding factor. i didn't grasp the fact you wanted to use your risers (i'm assuming for hook turns?) in that case, i can tell you right now, ther're too short. mine need to be lengthed for this very reason. when you put your new main in your container, the excess brake line stow will give you a pretty good idea of where to start. when i added the hornet to my existing C-19 harness and javelin container, i noticed about 3" of excess brake line stow, compared to the 6" of excess brake line stow on the triathlon i was previously flying, and sure enough, there's very little bow in my steering lines. the hornet offers lot's of forward glide, and is very responsive in turns, i had to land mine 3 times before i finally shortened my final approach, now it's all good!
Richard
"Gravity Is My Friend"

[freeflir29 0]

I would let them out at least 1 1/2 to 2 in from the factory settings. Fly it once on a H&P and see how you like it. Do plenty of playing on the risers and make sure you have enough slack. Do lots of practice flares!!!!! Then add more if you need it.
"It's all about the BOOBIES!"

[riggerrob 558]

Better to wait until you have a few jumps on your new harness before you start adjusting brake settings.
There are so many variables involved in riser length, dive loop configuration, harness fit, etc. that you will just end up repeating the whole brake adjustment process after you switch to a new harness.

[lazerq3 0]

HEy Merrick..... I jumped mine a few times and played with everything first then had my DZO jump it and see what he thought... he said it flew great but thought the brakes had to come out more...... we imedaitly just went out 3in....and it flys nice and smooth when pulling on the risers!!...plus there is still enough flare at the end to tippee toe it in!! But like everyone else said I'd fly it at the factory preset and go from there!!! But of coarse I'm no expert!!!!
jason

[cloud9 0]

Hi Merrick
I haven't had to make any adjustments at all to mine. It flys great there's enough slack to riser turn with no problems and I still have great flare for landing. So I'd make a couple of jumps at factory settings and go from there.

[Merrick 0]

Excellent guys, I appreciate your opinions.... I'll probably do just that, jump it a few times first before I decide. The question stemmed from one of those nights of laying in bed not being able to sleep because the gear-shop had called that day telling me my container would be shipped the next day!!! Thanks again, and now that I'm thinking more clearly I really wouldn't have messed with the settings before I jumped it.
Blues!
"Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

[skymedic 0]

I bumped mine out 3" my self....after I jumped it a few times and got the bucking....after taht....it was schweet!!!
GOD DO I LOVE HORNETS!!!!
Cheers....vasbyt
marc
"it's hard to be anal with no anus!!!"-Dogma

[bmcd308 0]

Curious - after one h&p on my Hornet 190, I feel like the toggles needed to move UP, rather than down. I was unable to stall the canopy with them all the way down, and the toggles were well below my shoulders just to plane it out.

[Jimbo 0]

Just out of curiousity, what do you consider a stall to be? Why do you think that it's important to stall your canopy in order to land it properly?
-
Jim

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

If you can't stall it, chances are you're not getting the most flare you can out of the canopy
Wynona's got herself a big brown beaver
and she shows it off to all her friends ....

[Jessica 0]

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Why do you think that it's important to stall your canopy in order to land it properly?

Just a guess, but I think it's important to know where the stall point is so you don't inadvertently do it near the ground.

[Jimbo 0]

Quote

If you can't stall it, chances are you're not getting the most flare you can out of the canopy

And you can't fly a stalled canopy either.
My brakes, after much trail and error, are set so that when my arms are at full extension they are just above the stall point. I get more than enough lift to set me down gently and rarely take more than 3 steps to stop. I'll stand by my statement that it is not necessary to actually stall a canopy in order to land it safely.
-
Jim

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

I'm not saying you do need to stall te canopy to land it, but if you can't stall it, chances are there's a "gap" between the toggles all the way down and the stall point, which could be used to give you a better landing.
Wynona's got herself a big brown beaver
and she shows it off to all her friends ....

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

I'm not saying stall the canopy !! Wynona's got herself a big brown beaver
and she shows it off to all her friends ....

[steve1 5]

I set my brakes about 2 or 3 inches longer than the factory setting on my Hornet. The first thing I did under canopy is check the stall point. I went all the way down and it wouldn't stall. So I guess my stall point is below that somewhat. I don't know if this is a problem though. My landings were super with plenty of flare. I plan to continue playing with them. I need some jumps bad but the weather has been crappy nearly all spring. Maybe this next weekend. Steve

[bmcd308 0]

>>what do you consider a stall to be<<
Perhaps my word choice was poor here - I was unable to induce reverse flight, where the canopy loses all lift and starts to turn into a ball of s**t.
>>Why do you think that it's important to stall your canopy in order to land it properly?<<
I do not think that it is important to stall it in order to land it properly. I do not get as much flare power as I expected, though, and I speculate that the reason for that is that I was not able to pull the toggles down far enough.
Addendum:
I pointed out the lack of ability to stall as a piece of evidence - if the canopy stalled out with the toggles at my shoulders and I "did not get as much flare power as I expected" the solution would obviously be quite different.
Another reference was the toggle height where the canopy planed out as I approaced the ground - I was well below my shoulders. This weekend I will pay attention to the amount of bow in the lines in full flight, and if there appears to be a bunch of excess, I will get the toggles moved up. If not, I will learn to fly my new canopy better.