JohanW

Much as I hate to be seen to agree with someone who'd call himself CrazyIvan (kidding ), the man has a very good point here: make at least one skydive before entering a wind tunnel. Richy has limited options of course, but in general I find myself starting to like the idea of TIAF more and more. Get them in freefall first, teach them to save their live second, if they like it, they can learn to fly. (I started on the static line. I had sensory overload served in small portions at a time. Does it show?) Johan. I am. I think.

I can't lay claim to your decades of experience, but in my humble 4 years of jumping I have seen one experienced jumper grounded. He 'liked the adrenaline buzz of hooking and then digging out of the corner' or something. Yes, it was a last resort, no, it was only for the day. Johan. I am. I think.

Nonsense. I've done it numerous times. You can psycho pack a canopy without the extension but the problems you run into are: 1. If you use a kill-line PC it can be a struggle getting it to stay cocked. 2. You risk possible damage to the top-skin of the canopy. OK, I take back the impossible. But I do have this huge mental block on psycho packing without the extension because of the risk of damaging the top skin of my canopy, and because of making a bloody mess of my packjob. You really have to pull the bridle attachment point and the attached top skin out to where they do not belong. Johan. I am. I think.

It's pretty much plain impossible to bag a psycho packed canopy without the extension. Try it with your own canopy on a slow day, you'll see. (Then just start over and PRO pack it.) And part of psycho packing is indeed not rolling the tail but spreading both sides over each other (this should be on the video). It's been a while since I watched it, but that was the other difference to a PRO pack. But nobody ever mentions that one. Johan. I am. I think.

What's the use in stalling a parachute for a long time ? Does it get progressively harder, or does it just take longer, to recover from? What's a hammerhead? Also, as a learning experience, is it useful to both toggle-stall and rear-riser-stall your canopy? Or is there no significant difference between the stall itself and the subsequent recovery? Oh, and Saskia, you are a wimp and CreW is scary. Johan. I am. I think.

I checked your profile, and it would seem you keep it updated. It says you have all of 14 jumps. I keep mine updated, but I'll tell you here: I have 300-odd jumps, and I jump a Silhouette 170. Have for the last 150 or 200 jumps. My wingload is ~1.25. What the manufacturer is saying is some sort of one-size-fits-all (well, not exactly of course ), so you would be right in taking those figures with a grain of salt. Not even you on different days are the same size. My, very personal, feeling about the Silhouette sizing chart is they were rather conservative. Honestly, at 14 jumps I would have been terrified under my current canopy. I was raised on Mantas. But you may be different, you may have been raised on Sabre 210's or whatever, I have insufficient information. So I really can't say they're off the mark, and see my above post in answer to Snowbird. BUT also keep in mind there's a huge difference between a 150 and a 150. The Spectre and the Silhouette are chalk and cheese. I demoed a Triathlon 175 when I was looking for my beer rig. Once. To me, it was a dog. The Silhouette and the Merit 170 and 190 made canopy flying fun again, after I had been doing two-stage flares on Skymaster 230's. Soooo, I'm not an instructor, I don't know what canopy you're flying now, or how, or how well. You want my opinion? Demo. Have those I's of yours video and critique your landings. Downsize a size at a time. Rent, borrow or steal sizes inbetween. Jump under known, conservative conditions. Learn to fly your landings. Experience the difference between a tapered 9-cell and a square 7-cell. Don't push the envelope. But also, do not say beforehand that a 120 would definitely be too small, because you just don't know. (It would of course, but how would you know?) Johan. I am. I think.

Snowbird, who has to land the d**n thing? You got a vote of confidence, but you made your own decision. To me, what you were told makes perfect sense (from here, in my comfy chair), and you made a (again, to me) perfectly sensible, other decision yourself. There's nothing wrong with listening to advice and then not taking it. Your supposedly reliable source did not force you to fly a 150, did they? They would have been comfortable with you flying a 150, you thought that sounded too small. Maybe the problem with you and the 150 is just between your ears, then again, maybe not. Did you demo a 150 under controlled circumstances? Johan. I am. I think.

Does anyone have opinions on the PD Silhouette? I jump one, but frankly I have no idea how it really compares to, say, a Sabre 2. Openings are nice, packing is easy, it's definitely fun to fly, but it is a semi-elliptical. A lot might depend on wingload. At 1.2, flying through the flare is recommended, but I'm still happy with it after some 200 jumps on it and have no plans to downsize anytime in the coming week. (Maybe I should admit I'm flying it a lot differently than I did in the beginning, and I may be one of those 'Get all the performance from your current canopy' types. But I shouldn't be the judge of that, I suppose.) Johan. I am. I think.

Please, HH, don't try to get me to post-whore. I've read several thousands of posts but I'm very restrained in posting myself. Johan. I am. I think.

From a jumper's perspective: depending on the particular plane and governing rules it'll carry 20-odd jumpers who pay normal prices for jump tickets. This can't be useful to you. I guess you really want to talk to an operator? Johan. I am. I think.

Five. SL jumps. No questions asked, none necessary. I went to my second dropzone after doing my FJC making five jumps in a week at DZ #1, made 4 more SL jumps in one day at DZ #2, then winter came and after that I had a refresher course at DZ #3, made 1 SL jump there, went back for three days to DZ #1 to pick up 3 prepaid jumps and 2 more since I was there, another winter came and I did a second refresher course at DZ #3, 4 SL jumps and then freefall jump #1, followed by one more SL jump because of clouds and nerves. That same season I moved to DZ #4 at 44 total jumps. All of this was just convenient, no politics, people, gear or plane considerations were involved. I now jump regularly at DZ #2, which for practical purposes is actually DZ #5 (6, actually, counting one previous boogie). By some standards it took me a long time to get off the static line, both in time and number of jumps, but I've never regretted the number of jumps. Freefall isn't the be-all and end-all, I still (in some respects, again) love to fly canopy. Johan. I am. I think.

I do. As do many Europeans. Atoms however are manufactured by PdF, who seem to have a problem with exporting their product to the US. It's a fine rig, as is the, also French, Advance. Both have excellent bridle and (main and reserve) pin protection and are very nice stylish rigs. I actually prefer the Advance (though I jump an Atom myself because I could get one for a price I was willing to pay), hip rings and a main flap that folds and tucks in upward. Great feature on my Atom: window in the reserve flap that allows for checking the pin without opening the flap. Only rig I wouldn't buy is an Invader because of the riser covers, choice between the rest mostly comes down to personal preference and where you can convince yourself to hit the price/performance curve. I do not, however, have all that much first hand experience with American rigs. Caveat emptor. Johan. I am. I think.

I'm missing an option. Some of the rentals have Cypreses, some have FXC's. What do you want to hear?

In her most recent newsletter, she reveals her identity herself, as a candidate. I don't think it's an issue. Johan. I am. I think.

The Danish, not Dutch, team were jumping with experimental Dytters (or Pro-Tracks) (Larsen&Brusgaard is a Danish company, remember?), and the software couldn't handle a hold at altitude - it reset ground level. At 10k. If memory serves correctly, I've been told the cameraman followed them low and finally pulled, triggering the other four to turn to track, *poof*poof*poof*poof*. One hates to think about off-headings, but everyone made it OK. Turkey, ¿European Championship? Johan. I am. I think.

High chamber or high camber? If indeed high chamber, what does that mean? Johan. I am. I think.

Quote Chest-mounted tertiary reserves come in two styles: certified and non-certified. Both types are only available with round canopies. Cobaltdan's reference to chest-mounted squares is only available to smoke jumpers and factory test-jumpers. I have a square (PD-170) in my (non-certified) chest mount and Kelli has a Stiletto 97 in hers. Can Kelli cutaway her secondary? (I am assuming she can cutaway her primary.) Johan. I am. I think.

The Netherlands must be another part of Most of Europe. Granted, we speak dutch (I doubt you can read our language), but the RLD (cf. FAA) has a serious problem with jumping through clouds, once prohibiting jumps above 5000' for the remainder of the day at a DZ I frequent. We had been naughty, then again, there are issues with jumping through clouds. Do I really need to elaborate again, after others have done so rather convincingly? Please, stop and think.

>> Now what would happen if at 2000 feet the plane is in a dive and the >> pilot wants you to get out. >Hook up the uppers, strip the drouge releases and go. I can do that in under 5 seconds. If altitude permits I'd connect the lowers too, but it's not critical. If I had to get out even faster I'd skip the drouge releases and pull the primary after exit. Out of curiosity, under what altitude would you go straight for the reserve?

>Or might they just be popular out side the Netherlands? Europe is a big country... PdF is popular in a lot of the western parts... Atair is popular in Eastern Europe from all accounts. I certainly am no expert; I tried to limit my statement to what I know, after four years and only one dropzone outside of my own country. Europe certainly is a big place, at over 30 countries :]

>More Info on the Cobra (named Spark in Europe): >The Spark canopy is a classical rectangular 9cell construction. It is offered to experienced jumpers as well as for students and is a real success in the skydiving market. Personally, I've never heard of it. >This version is very popular in skydiving schools all over Europe. Five out of nine dropzones in the Netherlands do not have them - all cater to students. Might you be speaking for Atair instead of on personal title?