Di0

Simple, but also wrong, because, as I said, the drag formula depends on the surface (true) but also on the square of velocity so you cannot say that a Velo 90 will have a bigger parasitic (or even total) drag than a velo 79. Maybe. Maybe not. What's certainly true that drag is NOT the leading effect as to why a smaller canopy is goes farther into head wind than a bigger one. It might contribute, but it doesn't. Your argument is a bit like saying that the car with smaller rear view mirrors will go faster because it has less drag. Ok, that's maybe true, but you're totally missing the bigger picture. Also, since the OP is asking about using weight I'd think it would make more sense and being more helpful to talk about same canopies at different WL, rather than different canopies at same WL, that doesn't interest him as much. But yes, at different WL for the same canopy, the parasitic drag force will also increase (higher speed -> higher drag, bur roughly same efficiency L/D). I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Parasitic drag is a force that depends on surfaces area, down wind or into the wind has the same effect on the surfaces, but certainly not on the ground speed and distance covered. A bigger wing of the same wingloading as a smaller one of the same type, will have an advantage down wind, and a disadvantage into the wind. There are other forces involved, I don't claim to understand them nor be able to explain them, but I know it to be true from experience and observation. How about that. Also wrong. Parasitic drag is a force, you're right. Its measured amount does not vary whether the canopy is flying downwind or upwind. Stop. The same canopy flying through the air at the same airspeed will produce the exact same parasitic drag*, which is a function of relative airspeed. You don't get an increase in relative airspeed when going downwind, therefore you also don't get an increase in parasitic drag. I'm not even sure what the second part of your last sentence means. As for the "advantage" of smaller canopies into headwinds, what you're really seeing is an effect of vector composition. A smaller canopy has higher vertical and horizontal speed, so a negative speed composed against your forward speed, will affect your glide angle less than if you have a smaller forward speed (i.e. big canopy). The same but opposite is true if you're downwind: the big canopy will "benefit" more. Drag has absolutely NOTHING to do with this. * and the same reasoning eventually applies to induced drag too, but passing through the lift equation. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Yes. Not sure where you read that it's 27 jumps AFTER AFF though. A license requirement is 25 jumps minimum. Most people get all their requirements signed off in time for their 25th jump (total, that includes AFF), it could be a couple more, but that's generally the standard. I don't see why you'd need 34 jumps total (27+ 7 AFF?). Theoretically there is no maximum number, so for example if you can't pass a certain level, it could take you 100 jumps to get your A-License, but that 34 number is just as arbitrary. Also, in your count, it's two hop and pops, one from 5500, one from 3500, they are counted as coached jumps though. There is not a minimum set of solos you need to do, I think most people only do a couple of them, certainly not 11, I mean, you *can* I don't think that would be useful, probably more harm than good if you get bad habit that early. As for the first rig, talk with it with your instructors but generally speaking, there is no point in looking for one before getting your license (again, some people have done that, but it's not the "standard" way to go at it, whatever that means). Hope this helps. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

If you want to keep a discussion on energy levels alone, then there is no need to introduce other concepts like drags etc. The potential energy of a heavy person is higher, true. But a bigger wing will have lower speeds overall, lower trim speeds, lower dive speeds etc. (also because of drag, true, but not only). In the energy balance, speed is squared, so reducing the speed by a just a little is intuitively more effective than the small increase in weight you might have with a weightbelt. The rest of your post is wrong, parasitic drag is a force that depends on relative airspeed, downwind or into the wind does not make much of a difference (except for some second degree effects during transition states, that I remember discussing on another topic). I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

+1 for ragged out PC. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

I wouldn't go smaller than 135 if you plan on specializing on wingsuits. It's not the WL or the skill, it's that the lines will get shorter so your deployment will be more and more affected by the burble. Sure, people jump much smaller canopies with WS all the time, and 90% of the times it works all the times! I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Well, that's important and all but have you ever been in the middle of a jump and realized "Oh shit, I forgot to turn on my camera"? That is worse than the holocaust! You land, you did a sick 4-way, you ask "you have the video, right?!" and they disappoint you like that. I mean those people are, literally, worse than Hitler. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

I think not. Once, I had a friend turn it on in the plane (while still on the ground, the second we entered). It was one of those days where you show up, you know it's weathered out, so you don't bother turning it on first thing in the am as it's my routine, then a hole comes through, gear up and go call, I forgot. Now I turn it on when I take it out of the trunk, even if the weather looks shit. Not proud of it, of course but hey... shit happens, learned my lesson the easy way. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Yes. It's 3 variables and you need two to find the third. It could be forward and vertical, glide ratio and vertical, or, well, that's it, really. After that, it's just adding and subtracting. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Not discouraging, but alas, you're wrong on ALL levels. You are better off base jumping with base-jumping specific gear. There is a reason why base jumping started with skydiving gear and evolved into its own set of gear. To answer your question directly, very hard. Unless you're already a well known athlete that will bring them money and publicity, I'd dare to say "extremely hard". If you think it's a spot you'd go with 0 base jumps to "experience base jumping for the first time". Well, then pretty damn near zero. And I'm being optimistic. Beside, if risk is your deciding factor, you're still much much better off jumping from a "beginner's" bridge with proper gear, than from an advanced object in a city with improper gear. After that, plenty of walls that are ~2500ft to base from. But the only idea that can make base jumping safe (and skydiving, to an extent) is watching it on youtube. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Don't you mean Canopy B? Jerry Baumchen Sorry, yes, canopy B, my bad for copying and pasting without correcting that. Thank you! Yes, I agree, that was also the first time I saw that distinction made with those two terms, it can work or it can help make things clear, but it's not universal, generally speaking the glide ratio or glide angle are measures over the ground so, yes, they'll change in different conditions of wind. Of course, if not specified it's a 0-wind measure, but as I proved with the example, it does not, alone, define how a canopy will perform when navigating with wind so, by itself, is not necessarily a measure of how far a canopy will go "in real life", which is the reason why I was being picky. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

And I believe this is the only information the OP was looking for. Just a simple answer on what canopies have the best glide ratios when other factors are not considered. In my experience the Stiletto is one of them. On a related note, since we said that Glide Ratio doesn't change too much with WL and other "external factor" but it's more a characteristic of the canopy than anything else, it's a shame that manufacturers don't publish their glide ration or glide angle in the specs of a canopy. I'd think that to be one of the many deciding factors, or at least it'd be nice to know. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

I'm an aerospace engineer and I spent years studying performance and mechanics of flying, so yes, I am "obtuse". The number IS meaningless if you don't correctly specify the hypothesis under which that number is calculated. It has absolutely no meaning. Untrained people use the right formula in the wrong context all the time. Also, think of this. Two canopies, same glide ratio (unrealistic numbers to make math easy). Zero wind Canopy A: Horizontal speed: 40 mph Vertical speed: 20 mph Glide Ratio: 2 Canopy A: Horizontal speed: 20 mph Vertical speed: 10 mph Glide Ratio: 2 20 mph headwind Canopy A: Glide ratio: 1 Canopy B: Glide Ratio: 0. Both changed, and both to two different results. Where with no winds, both canopy would have landed in the same spot, now they are landing in two very different spots. It's not just nitpicking, it's an important difference. Of course, the aerodynamic characteristic, and the relative performances, of the canopies don't change BUT the glide ratio is a number that can be used to estimate whether an aircraft with failed engines will make it to a landing area or not, etc. so not considering the winds is only half the picture. That's why it's important to specify that the glide ratio is generally a "0 winds" number, and you can define glide ratios with different wind conditions. EDIT: I read the link from Parachutist, they basically define Glide Ratio as an absolute measurement and "Relative Glide" as a "Glide Ratio with winds". That doesn't even make sense from an English perspective, as they talk about a "relative glide" which is missing the actual term "ratio", a "relative glide" is not a measurement of something, although I see where they're going with it and the simplification is worth the tiny inaccuracy, we can agree that "glide ratio" is in 0 winds, and relative glide ratio is the glide ratio with winds. I'd be ok with that. Either way, they're both glide ratios. That doesn't change the fact that winds will differently affect two canopies with the same absolute glide ratio to very different results. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Since its definition is simply: H: Horizontal distance across ground V: Vertical Distance across ground and the Glide Ratio is just: H/V. Yes, it does. The result L/D is the result of some simple calculations, substitutions etc. and assumptions, namely: glided flight, no wind, rigid wing, being in the linear part of the envelope of lift and drag, and others I might forget. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Agree with most of those, except (counter-intuitively) wingloading. Within reason (i.e. wingloading not so high or so low to noticeably "deform" the canopy from its intended shape), W/L doesn't affect the glide ratio of a canopy, yes, it affects the vertical and horizontal speeds, BUT the glide angle should remain reasonably unchanged. If I don't remember it wrong, the glide ratio is only a function of Lift/Drag, which are mostly aerodynamic parameters, i.e. they vary based on canopy design, shape, efficiency, etc. Now, this is *strictly* true for any fixed wing design, on a canopy the suspended weight alters the trim so that also alters the L/D, hence the glide ratio, but I suspect that to be a relatively small effect. I could be wrong. I'd like to be corrected by anyone that has every studied the problem from in a rigorous manner (not the "I was flocking with my buddy once and...") I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

I wouldn't call that a "sane" weekend. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

I don't think the two statements to be mutually exclusive. I would consider the xfire2 to be a great all-rounder, while also being fully elliptical. It has great openings, even compared to the saf2, it has a flat trim which lets you come back from bad spots if doing video, a great amount of flare from half brakes when landing in a tight spot. At the same time it's fully elliptical so it reacts fairly well to harness, it can be swooped quite decently etc. To make a comparison, while I think the katana to be a better canopy to learn how to swoop properly, and certainly has more performances to squeeze out of it, making all the more worth to learn proper techniques like rear risers induced recovery etc. (something that is not really that rewarding on a flatter canopy like a xfire), and is a good stepping stone going into a crossbraced canopy because has similar trimming characteristic to a, let's say, velo... I don't consider the katana as good as all-rounder. I mean, of course you can do everything with it, but it requires a lot more "maintenance" and attention, and it's not as forgiving when it comes to flattening, landing it etc. I certainly have a higher "workload" when flying the katana then I had flying the crossfire2. So depending on what type of jump you do, your experience etc. I would say that fully elliptical doesn't necessarily mean you can't use the canopy as an all-rounder. From what I've heard the crossfire3 will be intended along this line, while the "Extreme fire" or whatever the name will be, is more geared toward a "dedicated" canopy pilot. Just my 2c, since I have a couple hundred jumps on xfire 2 and on a katana so that's my idea... but I know nothing about these new models. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Yup! I agree, as I said in my post I think atmospheric boundary layers don't get enough "credit" for how they affect canopy performance, I check Mark Schultze wind data every morning, and I see I often fly through 14-18 kts differentials in a 6-8 seconds turn, that must affect the shape of my diving arc by quite a lot. Also, I think, another big factor is that most people set their turn to a "90 deg" wrt to the wind-direction, whether it is a 90 or a 270, or a downwinder or a into-the-wind landing, all these configurations put the jumper into a 90 degs crosswind setup, which means that we are flying the canopy with some "rudder input", to keep it flying straight wrt our intended final, ie we are altering the way it flies and the initial conditions of our turn, from what it would be if the wind weren't there. That also must affect the final recovery arc/flight cycle. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

What follows is my opinion only, of course, take it for what it is. Mileage might vary. If you have the concept of airspeed and groundspeed clarified, there are still reasons why your recovery arc might be affected by winds. The reasons why wind profiles affect your recovery arc is that, even when the wind feels "smooth" is always bumpy to a degree, so this will always make your canopy recover faster, or in another word make your turn lose less altitude. Another reason, wind profiles, I start my turn at over 700 ft, there winds are often 14-18 knots on a spicy day, and they might be next to 0 on the ground, as your canopy goes through this wind differential, so do your angle of attack, velocity vectors, etc. While it is true that for a perfectly constant wind, only ground speed is affected, when going through wind speed variations, inertia will make sure that your canopy does indeed reacts to this (dives more or "recovers" by itself), similar to what happens with gusts or when going behind an obstacle during a steady wind day, just more progressively. Stronger winds and higher wind sheer do affect your canopy very differently depending on whether you go head to tail wind, or tail to head wind, and in some cases these effects can be catastrophic, if they interact poorly with your "overamping" inputs etc. There is also a "human factor", say you're setting up for a 270, we instinctively (or deliberately) "fight" the winds, to set ourselves perfectly at 90 degree off the target, but in doing so, we use maybe harness inputs, which again, even if minimal they do affect the rest of the turn, it's not exactly the same as starting from a perfectly zeroed position: not only your weight distribution is different, your body position is off, but also your aerodynamic forces are different now, even if you are "zeroed" on the ground, you are have now a small slip angle wrt. to the airflow etc. It's like a plane landing with a bit of rudder to align itself up, yes for the most part it's the same, but it's clearly not *exactly* the same, performance wise. When you put all of these together, yes, I do think that one can say that wind affects the recovery arc in more ways than one and enough that you need to adjust for it. Then there is the pure perception element of course: your glide angle is greatly influenced by the winds, so that also plays a role. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Would you take part in a contact sport where you have a good chance of being kicked in the belly, while pregnant? I'd treat the wind tunnel in the same way, and whether your answer is yes or no, that's a deeply personal decision. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Personally, but that's just me, some of the best money you can spend in skydiving. It really depends on who you do the course with, but very generally speaking: they are all day things, plan for 5+ hop and pops. The way they work, they have theory classes and ground school with slides, video etc. where the instructor explains you the theory of how a parachute flies, why you do certain things, how your input affect the canopy flight etc. etc.. After each theory session, you perform a practice jump where you try certain maneuvers at altitude and then landing trying certain discussed techniques. The instructor usually films all the landing and debriefs you on specific points. Then wash-rinse-repeat. They are very very very helpful, I probably took tenths of them in my 3 years in the sport. I can't get enough of them. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

if you know you're landing in water/top of building/high winds, it might be worth a moment after you go past "no-cutawy-altitude". It might be tricky since you're probably low, so do that only if you can afford it, but it is a good idea to at least consider that. IMHO of course. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

The interface for the viso, optima, protrack is really awful, and complicated. That has nothing to do with the decades in which a person has lived. Agreed, but kids of the 80s are more used to remember long key combos for Mortal Kombat fatalities and special moves, so they might find changing altitudes or modes on L&B products slightly more familiar. As an example, UP-UP-DOWN-LEFT-R1-HOLD Y - TURN ON YOURSELF- PRESS SHIFT FOR 3.4 SECONDS - RIGHT- RIGHT - ATTACK - PULL MY FINGER - RIGHT 360, gives you the number of jumps on your viso. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

Atlas is the newest altimaster product. Viso2+ is from L&B. Let's start by saying, they're both great products and you can't go wrong. If you "only" need an altimeter, I'd go with L&B, cheaper, reliable, amazing customer service. If you need something that doubles up as an audible, then Atlas, much simpler interface when you want to change alarm settings, also really easy to dowload logged data with a USB cable, etc. The Atlas is considerably more expensive and I personally find it less rugged (this based on the N3, though, not sure if they have changed their casing construction?). The only other functional difference: the VISO2+ has a non-chargeable battery, which means you change the battery every couple of years. The Atlas has a rechargeable battery, which means you charge it with a USB cable every 1 or 2 months. That's pretty much it, both altimeters will satisfy your requirements and you can't really go wrong with either of them. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

To an extent, but that's also a dangerous mindset. If you don't have that many jumps, are barely current and using student rental gear, then even though you are "legally" ok to jump, you probably shouldn't jump in higher winds than a student would. We go back to my first post, if you jump occasionally, you shouldn't consider yourself to be much further than a student with the stuff you allow yourself to do, even if you eventually rack up 50-100 jumps, IMHO. The pressure of "I traveled a lot then I HAVE to jump TODAY", and since you have a license no one will likely stop you, is a great way to get hurt. I'm standing on the edge With a vision in my head My body screams release me My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.