rrmtopo

But there's something to be said about actually being able to stand up in a jump plane :-) She may be slow, but she was good.

Bill Booth used to joke/say in the 80's he had a few "missionary position" harness made for the passenger.... :-)

Good posts by both Wendy & Airtwardo. Tragic as the loss of our friends will always be, lets not let their deaths be in vain. I personally would like to see better annual breakdowns by fatality type (I did not see this on the USPA website); I'm new back to the sport after a lengthy layoff but being able to see the annual trends of what are killing us should be a good indicator for jumpers to focus continued training. Maybe "sticky" in the incidents forum would be a good place to post these data.

Sounds like a really interesting project Lee, after looking at the X38 video again I was not sure if their deployment sequence was optimized just for the drop test or an operational deployment. Your regime is obviously a lot more complex than what was experienced there. Good luck and look forward to hearing how further tests go.

Very cool video Lee. Have you looked at what was done with the X38 (CRV)? Obviously they started with the lifting body vehicle, but a PC to round to square deployment sequence seemed to work when performing test drops. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OkiRt5Etbw&feature=related (skip to 2:00)

Back to skydiving after a 20 year layoff and getting my gear back together. I reviewed the jumpsuits available & talked to different jumpsuit owners at the DZ and Michigan Suits was at the top. I called to ask a question about the suit and Mike answered the phone, after giving him some background he was dialed in on what I was looking for and spent as much time as I needed getting up to speed with current jumpsuit design. I'm an Aerospace Engineer so I can be a "little" details orientated, Mike's ability to express his expertise in jumpsuit design made buying the Tetris a home run. The suit arrived on time and way above my expectations. Fit is perfect, and after one shakeout jump (my first with booties) I flew it for a smooth #5 dock on an SCR dive. Awesome suit Mike, thank you!

Brand new gear or just new to you? If brand new get the manufacturer to send you a correct bridle. Have you called them?

Brodi, if you're a student go talk to the instructors who have been jumping with you and seeing first hand what "the best" rig/canopy would be for where you're at in you're skydiving career (if you don't like their suggestions seek a second opinion or consider they know of what they speak). Internet opinions will never be more than supposition based on THEIR history/experience or their wild-ass-guess based on an incomplete set of criteria you've provided. Make your decisions based on YOU my man.

I have the Garmin Forerunner 305 and it logs my data, if you plan your test case you can just go back and look at the logged data after you're on the ground for the results.

Other than the one mandatory jump with an instructor, it's all up to you brother. I just came back after a 20 year layoff with 584 jumps. Did a refresher with the instructor (who was great) and when done he asked me if I was ready to skydive....after an honest assessment I said no. Paid the man and re-evaluated my plan. I ended up coming back that Thursday evening and going through the first jump AFF class on my own call which was fun and was enough to get where "I" wanted to be with EPs and digest the changes since I last jumped. Total support from the DZ who didn't even charge me for the class. We did AFF jump 1, the instructor said I was ready for the graduation jump but I chose to do a level 5 prior. Again, total support from the DZ. It's been a little over a month now and I'm shopping for a new rig....glad to be back!

Again, I'm new back to the sport after a lengthy layoff - I have scratched my head a few times the past few weeks when seeing DZ statements about their PAC750 jump planes as "the only plane designed for skydivers". While the performance attributes look good, that low horizontal skydiver magnet behind the door suggests otherwise (IMHO).

Thanks gentlemen. Apologies for my lack of recent event knowledge, only been back in the sport a little over a month after a 20 year layoff. As an aerospace engineer I have been voraciously reading what I can to get back up to speed with the sport and get comfortable with equipment advances. I'll stop the thread hijack John, thanks for your comments. Your expertise has been interesting reading.

Thanks for the mass Cookie. The changes possibly being driven by a manufacturing costs/availability issue (since no apparent durability issues have surfaced), but I continue to have a strong preference for the carbon fiber construction of the G2. Just a little customer input.

"Like an AAD the RSL only activates the ripcord. It does not take place within the deployment process." Curious, if the AAD cutter (not AAD pin puller) is placed above the RPC and it traps the closing loop instead of cutting it, doesn't that put part of the AAD directly into the deployment process?

If the canopy you're looking at is a PD, don't they have MAP? I've heard every dealer is supposed to sell at the same cost. If you hear different (dealer's name) please pass that along Chuck. Thanks! Also for the local shop, if they will not even call you back after an hour discussion about buying specific gear (and two reminder emails), I'm not going to beg someone to take my money.... :-)

Thanks, I know it happens. And as a group skydiving probably hasn't changed that much, no internet back then made most sales face-to-face so it never surfaced. Always going to be some segment who value maximum cash over character to eat & jump. On a forum for a different sport I enjoy, they have a rule no one can post in the for sale forum without at least 100 productive posts. It doesn't completely stop the less-than-honorable sales tactics of some sellers but they are very rare. Thanks for the kind words.

Another deal for a jumpsuit listed with a price or best offer. I offered $20 less & the seller came back in the middle. I accepted & asked how he wanted payment. The next day I got this email: Lack of character...guess this is the new face of skydiving. I'll just need to lower my expectations... :-)

So far I'm not very impressed with some of the folks selling gear in the classifieds.... I'm new back to the sport after school/work/life got in the way, and don't know if it's because I'm a little older and used to transacting business with some character and professionalism but WTF folks? Say what you're going to do, and then DO what you say you're going to do. Current seller I'm dealing with agreed before an offer was made for a complete rig to do an escrow deal through (my) very large, well known southern DZ through the DZ manager no less. Upon agreeing to a price he then says send him half the money. No, not what we agreed to, again provided detailed contact information for the DZ manager, seller said he would call and then ship. That was 4 days ago, today he says he lives in a small town and the shipping store will be closed till Monday (quick Google map search shows he is in a suburb of Seattle, with a UPS store 3.5 miles from his house and they were open today & tomorrow). So now the seller is lying to me. Welcome back to skydiving.

My first full custom rig ended up a puddle of goo when the Z-Hills loft burned in the late 80s. Got the call on Thursday afternoon that it arrived, showed up Saturday morning to still see the loft smoldering......not cool.

Does anyone know the actual weight differences (if any) between the G2 & G3? For the same size of course. Curious if the ABS construction was able to match the carbon fiber in mass.

Looks like a good weekend there Chile! One of the smartest things I didn't really do on purpose was to buy 8 500 round cases of .223 that was ridiculously cheap...about four months before the bottom fell out a couple years ago. Hopefully ammo prices will come down some more before I run out again!