cs_troyk

Is it bad idea to went from [email protected] to [email protected]? Hell yeah - should have gone with the VK79, or possibly 74.

I currently have a Petra (77.7, 3.25:1) and a Sofia (72.7, 3.5:1). The Sofia is pretty much specifically for XRW, and at that w/l, is pretty well in the groove. Would probably need to weight up to use the Petra, but the Sofia works so well I haven't bothered yet. Also have a 59 Sofia (intent is for XRW with smaller suits) and an 86 (experimental - not sure what it will be best for yet) on the way. I have a couple Leias; 84 - too big and flat for XRW), and a 66.6 - haven't tried it yet, but would imagine it will work well. I'll report back on this thread when I give it a go.

I took delivery of my SS3 a few weeks ago and have had a chance to try it twice so far. Trying to capture ground video of my swoop, a LH 630 starting at 1600'. Setting the camera up about 20 yards downrange and off the side of entry gates. The good: it's picking up my tag right at the initial flare for the swoop at 1600 feet. It's tracking the general path of the swoop. The bad: It gets ahead of the track to the point where I'm not in frame. So far, have tried "tight" and "medium" telephoto settings. Upcoming: They have released a new software version that's supposed to improve tracking. I'll be trying this new version along with "wide" telephoto mode to see if I can get the swoop. I think this has promise if we can get the tracking working just a bit better. If the new update doesn't do the trick, I'll be contacting them to see if there's anything that can be done to optimize for this environment.

At over 250 lbs on my Optimum 99 reserve, swooping it is the only way to get a good landing, especially when taking a downwinder.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Current AAD's are incompatible with high-performance canopy flight. I can hit 110MPH vertical on a high-perf turn. What's the threshold for the speed cypress, again? We'll see if someone is able to come up with a unit that takes more data into account. Until then, remove it or leave it off if you're going big.

Heya Pat! This is Troy from the Freedom Jam days in the early 2000's. I have more years under my belt than I care to admit as a database designer and developer. I've done extensive speaking and some writing on the topic of db design, for example: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Data+Modeling/61526/ Shoot me a dz.com message if you're still looking for help on this project - it looks like good fun!

Opinion: mix some meat into your diet. At those numbers, you're only getting out the plane at about 180 lbs. You need to get up to at least 225 geared up, then you can get the VK75 and be an even 3.0:1.

Sorry for the tangent, but I just wanted to mention that people were well aware that swooping could fire your standard Cypres. I demonstrated this under controlled conditions in 2003, and there were a couple of (thankfully non-fatal) "unwanted deployments" that same summer. And it wasn't until after Adrian's death in 2005 that the new speed Cypres was released, so there was definitely awareness of the issue. Now, I guess, the question is whether people understand that even the "speed" Cypres is subject to firing given the latest and greatest canopy designs. OK - back to the rather interesting debate on the fly-bys.

Simple answer - get the multi-mode and change it to the mode appropriate for your measured speeds (e.g., "normal" 78 MPH mode when you're starting out on a larger wing, then "speed" mode when you're on more aggressive wings doing more aggressive turns, then "off"/"removed" mode when you're on a competition-class wing). Get some form of instrumentation (Flysight, or somesuch) so that you know when you get to the point of "tickling" the unit. It may happen sooner than you think if you're not careful. A jumper in Colorado popped a Vigil while jumping a VK96 at a little over 2:1. Be careful out there.

Is this competition coming up this weekend? Where's it going to be? Spectators welcome, or is they only gathering video to show after the fact?

Don't know what the camping situation is at the DZ's these days, but if you're looking for lower-cost accommodations, "Backpackers" (http://backpackershawaii.com) up the highway is a good choice. It's about a 20-minute drive to the airport. As far as which company (Skydive Hawaii or Pacific Skydiving), I'd try either or both (they're right next door to each other) if I were you and see which one you like better... at the same time, trying to stay out of their ridiculous feud.

Perfect explanation for the 20-some-odd AAD threads going on right now!

I'll say - the link is posted upthread.

It took a few swooping misfires on sponsored jumpers and Adrian's death before CYPRES came out with the speed unit, so I don't hold out much hope for them offering anything new anytime soon. Maybe David can shake things up: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4719416

The vertical acceleration profile for a well-executed HP turn looks too much like a cutaway+noPull event for my liking. I think that to the extent that any of the current AADs account for the latter, they are likely to fire under the wrong circumstances. Putting it simply, wingloaded HP landings where the turn is initiated above 1000 ft. (possibly lower) are not compatible with current AADs. I own 4 rigs -- the only one with an AAD is my "big rig", the Infinity I-44 that I jump a JFX 126 or Safire2 169 in. If I ever put one of my all-sail JVX's in it (which I probably will - those thing pack HUGE), I would not turn the AAD on for that jump. And you can damn sure bet I'm not jumping an AAD with my Leia 66.6 - I can dive that at 110MPH no problem.