rehmwa

Back in.  Got the visor upgrade and love it.  This old helmet, though, in the tunnel, when I'm on my head and the wind is up,...now the visor pops open at random times.  Wondering if the newest models stay better.......

I'm thrilled with this tunnel.  The new generation tunnels are fully round, so this 12 footer is effectively bigger than an 8, 10, 12 sided 12 footer for us.  4 way is fine in there.  We've done decent with the following blocks (new 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, new 13 (not fully free, but a good workable practice), 14, 15, 16, 17, 21-ish).  I haven't tried the other yet, but expect to able to find ways to make them work.  The question will be if the workaround helps or hinders practice.

That said, greatly enjoying getter better on back and sit also. (head down within the month likely)

The best is being able to coach this stuff without planning a big trip.

I expect great things from this tool for our local talent.

wolfriverjoe

***Since everybody is getting into the minutiae, I suppose turning the rings might make it easier to tell if they've been stretched/warped/oblonged. Varying the direction in which they take the load of opening shock may help prevent them from becoming so. Whether that's better or worse than the grease/dirt/wear issue is something I'm sure one of you will speculate on.

There was a bad batch of rings a while back (like decades ago).

There hasn't been a problem with rings ovalling since.

None at all.

yup - spinning the rings is old school, but a hard habit to break. Another consequence we were told (don't know if true today) is that spinning will deposit a film from the rings into the harness material and that will make the harness stiffer - which is to be avoided.

I still touch each ring during a check. I can't for the life of me remember if I still turn a ring when I check the rig I'm wearing though. I don't intend to. I don't when checking another's gear....

DJL and wendy's

LAND FUCKING ELSEWHERE IN THE DIRECTION DECIDED ON THE GROUND.

FOR FUCK'S SAKE, PEOPLE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO LAND IN THE LANDING AREA ALL THE TIME.

YESSSSS!!!!!

1 - The DZ needs a policy and 'whatever' it is, everyone follow (whether it's follow the guys, set landing area, or into the perceived wind) it. The idea is predictability is safest as a good general rule not some specific option.

2 - Then, if some asshat breaks the rule, go land over in the alternate landing area and avoid his shit and the fallout from it.

Cause I don't like the idea of the 3rd guy down now posting a thread about the confusion the 2nd guy added to the mix.

Gimmicks are stupid. Avoid them at all costs. Clean air flow is what you want. So clean fabric surfaces are optimal.

IMO - anything other than standard (but full sized) booties are a DETRIMENT to performance. So an extra $100 and 3 week delay for something that's worse? silly

regular booties are absolutely more than fine (especially if you are small)

you will be amazed at how much power you gained (once you learn to fly them correctly) - you should be super happy

Edit: RockSkyGirl's comments are perfect and I won't repeat them as she did a better job

JerryBaumchen

Bambi pondered the question; then, finally, said, 'That was the decision George Washington had to make before he crossed the Delaware.

You just stole 17 seconds of my life

I want them back.......


(nevermind, I would have wasted them anyway)

wmw999

He's not trying to make it friendly, just cheap and production line, sounds like. The People Express of skydiving.

Wendy P.

Hi Wendy - FWIW

every time I've jumped there I've had a great time and SUPER positive and friendly attention from both Bill and Kathy.

The only other DZ in the region I've visited was ok, but not even close to as welcoming

It's been a long time, I don't get to Cali much anymore. But if I did, I'd go jump there.

For your situation, you are right. Smooth surface beats flapping skin and normal fabrics for going faster (99.99999% of the time). It probably still applies, even if you have booties and bigger grippers - no booties and smaller grippers would speed you up even more.

But I think booties are a MUST. get a weight belt, take some mantis training with fall rate drills. You'll be fine.


In general, you can get a suit fit and fabric combination to speed up, slow down, etc to some extent.

For that matter, even if you want to slow down, I'm not a fan of bagginess except as a last resort. Skin drag (material type) is better. Bigger control surfaces and things that DON'T FLAP can slow a person down without sacrificing fine control in freefall. Fast or slow, you want a suit that you can fly, not a suit that flies you.

Suits are more than just fall rate control. The right cut adds stability, good designs provide more predictible air control surfaces, sturdy material protects your skin, etc etc etc

JohnMitchell

When you track, you're developing lift. If you do that well enough, you'll develop enough lift to slow your rate of descent, as well as move horizontally across the sky. I've heard of some trackers in RW suits, nothing special, log descent speeds in the mid-80s while tracking. Prof. Kallend comes to mind.

I'm a bit proud to say I had a friend express amazement after one jump of how I "flew up and disappeared" when I tracked on breakoff.

I'm not a big fan of calling that "lift". But I know what you are trying to convey and agree with your intent.

Kallend is an excellent tracker, Whitey, and a few others I remember from Couch when I was learning had it figured out and I learned a bunch watching.

My best experience was local. We had a few bigger loads and someone on the ground pointed at one flyer simply screaming away from the rest of the group at breakoff. A local packer said "oh, that's probably Bill (me)". That made me proud that he assumed it was me.. (it was, on that jump).

Be careful assessing from the ground though, angles can hurt or help one's impression of how someone is tracking.

kuai43

'Flattest track' is simply falling straight down on your belly.
Think about it.

no, not even close

Hooknswoop

The track that will give you the most horizontal distance from other jumpers is the flattest track.

You want the track that will give you the most horizontal distance from your starting point - if everyone does that and the lines are separated evenly, then that gives the most separation on average from the rest of the team. (exceptions for organized tracking groups where you pretty much want to just go to your targetted opening region)

And since we choose an opening 'altitude', not a 'duration of tracking time' - then that means your shallowest glide angle relative to the planet. (take into account that we are all drifting en masse in the same air column, so just visualize that on a no wind day)

Think of it in these terms - breakoff at 5000 ft, open set at 3000 feet - you want to travel as far from the center point in 2000 feet. That's a purely distance based metric.

Whatever it takes to get as far as you can horizontally by the time you reach pull altitude..

Frankly, the best trackers I know 'appear' to the rest of the group to do both - they go faster horizontally AND appear to also rise and track up and away (slower fallrate) relative the rest of the team.....

I have nothing to add beyond Derek's (Hooknswoop) original post.

If I'm in a situation where I'm concerned about the tracking abilities of my teammates (noticed before or during the dive), I might just focus even more on out-tracking the field (general dives) or being even more diligent if it's an organized track pattern. I'll look over my shoulder before squaring up, but that's an old habit and not always friendly to on heading openings with today's canopies. Barrel roll would have to be a very unique situation (very high, small group, I 'sense' an idiot right behind/above me)

Track your best, clear below, wave off big to help those above clear below them.

It speaks to society also, as a result of the isolation, impersonalization, and anonymity of social media. e.g. How far will a troll go just for laughs, how quickly mob mentality takes over, how quickly joining that mob can turn on you, the ease in which people dehumanize others, etc etc etc.

It resonates a LOT with what we see today.

Had a woman on a Cat A do the tuck and flip and I ended up with her in just a perfect two hand grip with her on her back just as stable as can be. the other AFF closing slow.

She looks at me:
- Super clear eyes.
- She makes eye contact, smiles......
- She calmly checks her altimeter
- and then arches just as pretty as I could have asked for
----easiest flip I could ever ask for.
---- I love it when they are aware and clear headed. so much fun

I also had a really heads up guy go to pull early and he eyeballs me and I smile and shake my head 'no'. he then looks at his alti a bit more, and then at pull time looks over and nods - essentially "how about now?" - that had me chuckling

I once also gave the 'practice pull' signal - at our dz it's an open palm. Student high fives it.

peek

As I posted that I thought that someone might think that odd. Actually, she was outrageously unruly, the worst I have had.
.
.

Until then I would never have believed that someone so small could do that to one average sized instructor and one very large instructor.

I just want to point out - these are seriously the most fun types of jumps I've had. I learn so much.

faulknerwn

You have to consider burbles as well - I have witnessed pilot chutes hesitating in the instructors burble (it was on video too!) and them backing away can help the pilot chute hit clean air.

This - Main side needs to help at pull time and then provide clear air. He's the most likely of the two to end up having only one hand on the student at that point. Give the ride-through to the guy most likely to have two hands on at the very beginning - he has a better option to stay there if needed. All goes well, drop one grip and ensure even better air (and don't get kicked).

In the end, IMO, it's still always the same for any question - just make sure both instructors agree on the plan and then execute that plan.

garywainwright

Thanks for all the replies. I found an article on the 100 and 120 in the December 1986 issue of Sport Parachutist which used to be the british magazine. Unfortunately no photo - would anybody have a link to one?

Sorry, hard to google it too for some reason

Big photo at my home DZ, my instructor was on the 100w record and those on either side. the pic of the 144 way diamond (opposed) is gorgeous

Also video in one of the Wally Gubbins vids. the 90 and 100 I think you can see my first rig in there - though I wasn't wearing it for the film.

SkyDekker

Quote

perhaps if he put it on a private server and let it leak in a more organic way.....(

This referred to whom then?

Didn't take you to be this intellectually dishonest.

you guys aren't so obtuse as to not recognize wry sarcasm - unless it fits your narrative

I'm out. waste of time

yoink

I think the function of the press should be to relate news with clarity to the public, but he's right when he's said that the 'scoring of points' mentality has been getting worse for some time, and I think that detracts from the quality of the reporting.

Minor errors in words when the intent is clear isn't news. It shouldn't be reported as a huge deal. Deliberately setting out to trap the person being interviewed is not conducive to telling the right story that is really in the public interest.

This type of reporting necessarily forces outlets to take sides - those deliberately seeking the 'gotcha' moments, and those that feel the need to defend when they happen. In the middle of it the more important news is lost in the noise.

seriously, you'll get accused of being 'above it all'

SkyDekker

Quote

what on earth are you talking about - this is a Trump thread.

Then why did you bring up Clinton?

you were the first to mention Clinton

bye

hardhatpat

while my stowless experience is limited

get some more experience with it and then come back and tell us what you think then - I expect you'll change your mind

(you must be pretty quick with bands though. good stuff)

SkyDekker

Do you have proof classified information made it to foreign governments through Clinton's email server?

what on earth are you talking about - this is a Trump thread. The idiot may have blabbed out info. I don't believe he did it through Clinton's server. I thought that thing was taken down.

How dare you minimize what Trump may have done by making false equivalencies to the Clinton scandal. Those are two independent scenarios and it's a really facile argument you are making to even compare the two. They are nothing alike - she was a Dem. He's a ..... He's a ....well, I don't know what the hell he is, but he's NOT a Dem (at least this week). She's female, he's male. She did what she did in order to serve her job better. He was just trying to impress some stranger he just met. She wears pantsuits, he wears gold thread laced slacks made from the tears of oppressed minimum wage sweatshot workers.

totally different.

billvon

> You like to see yourself as "above the fray" here -

wrong

off to the side of the fray - looking at it in horror and astonishment, thinking WTF and wondering what will become of us all

don't let that stop you, though

jakee

Your obsession with the idea that both sides are exactly the same, and all the things they do are exactly the same,

this statement.....you rock -

(it's not about the sides, it's about the amazing ability of the partisans to rationalize their positions again and again and again)

Quote

It's not remotely the same.

true - one person was horribly careless and irresponsible about how they handle classified material, the other one was.....something else