Michele 1 #26 May 14, 2002 If I knew it was a mal, I would have chopped it....my question was simply about how to recognize one if I ever have it again...the point of the thread was, and remains, I didn't know the difference at that point. Thanks to some of the answers here, I now believe I would know the difference. Enuff said from me. I'm outa here....(and I don't think I'll be asking any more questions here, either).Nice night to all-MicheleIf you really want to, you can seize the day; if you really want to, you can fly away...~enya~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alan 1 #27 May 14, 2002 Michele,Sorry, no, I hadn't read your apology.....our posts overlapped, that happens. I'm also sorry if my responses strike a nerve with you. My intent is not to irritate or provoke you but simply to provide honest, straight forward answers. I even gave your flame red responses the benefit of the doubt and assumed that it was just an efficient way for you to distinguish your comments from mine. Yes, you did misinterpret my "pet peeve".......if I am tired of addressing an issue, then I ignore it and don't reply. That seldom happens. More often than not, the regulars here pick up the ball and a thread develops with the right answers. I tend to be blunt and that doesn't seem to sit well with you. In a later post, you comment that you doubt if you will be asking any more questions here. That disappoints me and I would hope that you would not let your dislike for my writing style be the cause. You received quite a few replies from knowledgeable regulars here that I think gave you the answers you were looking for and didn't seem to strike the nerve that mine did. I'm not sure now if you really wanted to know if you had a streamer vs a slow opening or confirmation that your slow opening actually took 1200'. No matter, please keep using the forums for your questions and if you wish, I will leave the replies to the others.alan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 558 #28 May 14, 2002 Michelle,Your original question was valid.Unfortunately a few guys got a bit too loud.Please continue asking questions. Curiosity will keep you alive in this sport.My 2 cents worth. Sounds like you had a slower than normal opening on a lightly loaded Spectre. Spectres are designed to open slowly, to make the cameramen love them. I don't know your exit weight, but I suspect that you were loading your Spectre 230 at less than 1:1, which would explain the slower than normal opening.My experience has been that the lighter the wing-loading, the slower the opening. For example, the SET 400s - that I normally jump - open firmly within 500 feet when I jump with students weighing more than 200 pounds. On the other hand, if I take a sub-100 pound student, a SET 400 will open very softly and snivel for 1000'.The bottom line is to stick with your personal hard deck. My personal hard deck is 1500' (as per USPA guidelines). The last time I busted my hard deck was two years ago and I still have nightmares about hanging under a lineover at 1400' over the Fraser River.Hard decks are a personal decision. Hard decks for students and junior jumpers should be in the 2500'-2000' or 6 seconds after pulling range. Most licensed jumpers set their personal hard deck around 2000'. USPA recommends making a decision by 1800' and pulling more handles by 1500'. Taking it as low as USPA guidelines makes me uncomfortable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,406 #29 May 14, 2002 >Basically to get a 1200 foot opening you are under a sniveling canopy for at least> 8 full real seconds. I personally would chop at 6 real seconds if nothing is> happening.Agreed, although on some tandem canopies, you really do sit there watching your altimeter waiting to see what it's going to do. We went to 6000 foot opening altitude for that reason on the Set-400's - because we were seeing 1000+ foot openings which on rare occasions would put us at 4500 feet before we had a fully open canopy.-bill von Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dumpster 0 #30 May 16, 2002 More feedback from a happy Spectre owner - I'm loaded at about 1.25-1.3 or so- depending on recent beer/pizza intake-I leave the nose hanging out, and roll the tail maybe twice before flopping it on the floor- I get a pretty decent opening this way and actually got a slightly hard opening once- But they are prone to painfully long snivels- You got lots of good advice here from the all the posts!-Enjoy!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E150 0 #31 May 17, 2002 My mal was a streamer too. The slider was bang up at the top, nothing was happening at all!From the few short snivelly openings I have had, you can see things happening. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
