bobsoutar

What is brown and black and looks good on an attorney? A doberman pincer! What is the difference between a lawyer and a vulcher? A vulcher doesn't get frequent flyer miles!

Anyone know the cheapest way to get hold of a Cobalt 120? A buddy of mine wants to order one this week as we are going to be doing a load of jumps in December. Any dealers out there doing a special discount at the moment? We live in England and will be jumping in Perris and Elsinore for 2 weeks in December. I know it will probably be cheaper to pick it up in the States - can he avoid paying California State Tax if he orders it from another State and gets it shipped across?

Fully agree. I meant that you can't afford to be timid. If brakes are applied too close to the ground you lose air speed and in turbulence with a high wing loading the canopy may drop you.

She might like to try the new Faqtor which is made by Paratec. I test jumped one a couple of weeks ago and it has incredibly light front riser pressure. In the meantime she will probably find it easier if she puts the brakes on fairly hard, releases and then pulls down on a front riser.

Springo is what the BT140 should have been. Better openings, bit more solid in flight and much, much nicer to land. Stilletto is great too, more twitchy and the response isn't so instant so you kind of develop a feel for it. Did nearly 300 jumps on one and loved it - prefer the surf on the Springo though, the Stilletto didn't have that nice bit of lift at the end.

Yep, 7-cells are often more prone to this than 9-cells particularly in turbulence. Well done for trying this stuff up high - this sport is all about having fun safely.

Apologies (I think) bit of a flippant reply but I get p...d off with people trying to run before they can walk and injuring themselves and/or others in the process.

Judging from your previous antics (ouch) you might like to try a 150. Square reserves are good too!

Anticipation is the best defence. Flare early and react as soon as you see things are going to happen. If you do go low, realise it immediately, turn 90 degrees to the formation (you don't want to fly under it and really spoil your day), hug that beachball hard and with everything (forearms and head especially) and belly hunched up like it's just been punched (my girlfriend says it's like getting on top!!!!) then match the flall rate of the rest of the group and maintain it as you dock.

Why not just do the same thing upside down in a head-stand? (Safety tip - put a cushion or rolled up towel on the floor first). Works pretty good.

Had exactly the same problem when I started sit flying. Thing that worked for me was a coaching jump by a guy from Babylon who told me that sit-flying is "a very proud position" (not like sitting on a toilet) push your chest out, keep your head upright, your arms wide and slightly bent and your knees wide and down below your hips. Have fun & good luck with it.

~disconnect any RSL's ~Carry at least one hook knife, 2 preferred. maybe a jack the ripper and a smaller one - accessible with either hand - yep, the plastic ones suck ~establish a minimum break off altitude for all docking - and stick to it!!!! ~long shirts and pants prefered. ~none of those boot hooks on shoes. ~confirm youre on the same page in case of a wrap. You should both have the same plan for the same emergencies. pull high - 8,000 ft is good. 14,000 will tire you out real quick! mobile phone or phone card for way off landings - you may laugh but.............. get wing loadings right - makes it easier for everyone even if you need weight use chest mounted altimeter and retractable bridle line if possible pop-tops can be bad news don't attempt unplanned CReW (actually the only rule that we have in the UK) have fun safely (the only rule that I always apply - to all aspects of skydiving)

The stuff you wrap round risers is called "vet wrap" and you can get it in a variety of cool colours from a vetinerary surgeon or a horse riding store. Wrap some non-adhesive bandage around you risers first to stop the vet wrap weakening the webbing.

Sure, but from the profile the guy has 82 jumps and using a Sabre 190 which I assumed wasn't likely to be heavily loaded. Probably should have suggested "as soon as the the canopy has settled down".

Don't know about the brake line length. Bought mine slightly second-hand (with only 17 jumps) from a rigger and the lines were spot on.

I've got a Springo 140 loaded at 1.55 and find it a no nonsense, easy to fly canopy with normal mainly on-heading openings. I use it as a second rig for camera work and in big formations/boogies where I don't want to p... people off jumping my Extreme (best to fly at the same rate as everyone else if there are a lot of you). My girlfriend loves it (the Springo, that is) loaded at 1.2 but had a few bumpy landings until she had the nerve to land it properly. It is not a novice canopy (PDF rate it for experienced pilots only). You have to fly it in on full drive for landing and smoothly ease on the brakes to keep the glide going - it will then reach a point where you can coast along the ground - step down when it finally runs out of steam.

Agreed, and immediately throwing a 180 degree turn the other way seems to work well too!

Haven't jumped an airlock canopy. I switched from a Stilletto to an Icarus FX (tri-braced) and hardly notice turbulence any more. Profile says you are a D licence but I wouldn't recommend you go tri-braced (or X-braced) unless you are prepared to be agressive under canopy (you have to fly them in pretty hard for landing) and have a load of experience under heavily loaded elipticals.

Try psycho-bagging it. 1)Follow the instructions for a psycho pack (pretty much the same as a pro pack until you flip it upside down) up to the stage that you roll it up. 2)Instead of rolling it, push the top of the canopy into the (upside-down) bag. 3)Move yourself round to the side and brace your knee against the pilot-chute end of the bag, place a hand on top of the bag flap and press down to hold it in place. 4)With your other hand grab the canopy about 8 inches down from the flap, pull it towards you and fold it on top of your hand and the bag, then lift up the flap and stuff the canopy under the flap and into the bag (on top of the canopy already in there) and press back down on the flap again. 5)You will probably have a bit more material left outside the bag, just S-fold it into the bag in the same way - on top of the rest of the material). 6)Flip the bag over so that the lines are not twisted any more and stow your lines as normal.

Try one and see! I would probably try a Stilletto 150 first to see if you like it and see if you still want to downsize as well. Maybe try a Sabre 2 and a Safire as well! Watch out for the openings on any eliptical though. Stay in a big spread while it opens (don't give in to the temptation to reach for the risers too early) and until you get used to adjusting your weight in the saddle, you can largely aviod twists by keeping yourself facing the leading edge of the canopy during opening.

The Sabre 2 (120 sq ft), Springo 120 and Safire 119 would all be good canopies to test jump. The new Faqtor from Paratec is also pretty good but dives quite steeply on front risers which isn't to everyones taste. The Spectre is nice but comes in a bit steeper and wont give you as much lift in the flare as the others. Wing loading on any of the above will be about 1.25 which would give you slightly higher performance, handle a bit better in turbulence and shouldn't be too scary after a few jumps.

A Clipper is not a good canopy to hook because it is not eliptical or zp. The manouver that you talk about is used for side slipping in CRW or for maintaining position on the outside of diamonds and offsets. If you start jumping a zp canopy try one after the other (hard front riser immediately followed by release and hard opposite toggle) - you will do a pretty impressive cartwheel so do it very high!!! Clippers are great at quick in-place turms - start at half brakes then bury one toggle (or bury one and let the other one up at the same time - for a more exciting time!). If that hasn't scared you try the same but starting at three-quarter brakes and beyond. Best plan is to pull high, check your alti before and after each manoevre, keep your head to make a smooth recovery and stop trying this stuff out by 2,000'.

Hi mate - long time no see! All the guys are right, just buy something about the same size but eliptical. Since you are in the sunny UK, a Springo 140 may well be an option. Point Zero (near Nethers) are about to get some Cobalts in to demo (very nice but quicker than you are used to - except the openings) and I understand that PDF are about to have a few Springos on the shelf next month.

I've got an FX114 loaded at 1.9 and finally love the openings. Trick was to reduce my zero p pilot chute size down to 21" and the bridle to 5' (on a pull out system!). A lot of our team guys jump VX's and would prefer my openings. They seem happier now that they are psycho-bagging them and tucking the stabilisers between the lines during packing. Try out a few and see.

I am around 195 pounds in my socks and had a Stilletto 150 for about 300 jumps. Occasionally got twists but with the canopy flying flat and happy so just a bit of a pain at the time - no need to cut away. Had 2 bad twisters which were probably caused by a steering line caught under corner of reserve tray - needed to chop in a hurry as you get wound up pretty fast (on your back usually). I now jump an Icarus Extreme for swooping and a Springo 140 for camera and big ways. The Springo is much less twitchy than the Stilletto used to be and tends to open a little harder (but ok) and on heading more of the time. Landings on the Springo are longer (ie you get a bit more of a surf) so you need to keep your nerve and sit there until it runs out of steam. Overall I find the Springo more of a no nonsense canopy but you may well need to drop down to a 120 if you want better performance than your Stilletto 135. Hope this helps. Bloos. Bob.