relyon

Very true, as it was in the days of Claude and Bad Spot Bill before them. Once I traded my main for my reserve on a CRW jump about a mile west of Geotz Rd at around 3500'. The prevailing winds were moderate from the south and the cutaway drifted north toward town. A couple of my companions followed it to the intersection of 4th and D streets, landed there, stopped traffic, and got my canopy. I was happy to buy a couple rounds later. Bob

I remember those "Chug and Hit" dives! When the drinks were done, it was time to do CRW. It was best to turn backwards in the harness or risk wearing your drink ... not that I know from personal experience or anything ... Bob

I've done multiple point 4-ways and even a single point 8-way from single or formation Cessnas with ceilings no higher than 2500' ... in the rain, too ... CRW, of course. Bob

I've done over 1200 clear and pulls ("hop and pops") with over 1000 of those on CRW jumps. Many were well over 10K with the highest ones from 16.5K. My last "real" freefall (over a couple of seconds) was a cutaway almost four years ago. 'skies, Bob

I've had nine reserve rides on Tempos, all after good CRW jumps gone bad. One was on a 210 and the other 8 were on a 170, typically after 6-8 seconds of freefall following the cutaway. The highest was deployed at 8500 feet and the lowest at 1700. In every case, my reserve opened swiftly, cleanly, flew on heading, and provided me stand up landings even in no wind conditions. Compared to a competition lined PD Lightning, I found a Tempo to be somewhat sluggish, have higher brake pressure, and a slower flare; exactly the kind of performance I wanted in my last parachute. For all the negative opinions I've heard or read about Tempos, I've never had a problem. YMMV. 'skies, Bob

Pretty interesting thread and pretty cool work. The hovering really isn't as difficult as it looks, but does take considerable experience to develop to the level shown. Similar to driving right next to another vehicle while going 80 down a curving road. Like most helicopter operations, the real challenges are in things that aren't readily apparent, such as when the conditions change or a mechanical issue crops up. The Hughes/MD 500 series is ideally suited to this kind of work, both because it has good power and performance characteristics, but also because of the fully articulated head design. I'm surprised something like a Bo-105 (twin engine, rigid head) hasn't been adapted to this sort of operation. Personally, I prefer offshore operations where there are just as many challenges, just different ones. 'skies, Bob

The aspect ratio of a wing surface (eg. a canopy) is how long and skinny the width (the span) is compared to its depth (the chord). 9-cells tend to generally be longer/skinnier than 7-cells. The calculation gets more involved for non-rectangular planforms (eg. an elliptical), but the idea is the same. Canopies that are long and skinny in general turn faster than ones that aren't, so they tend to wrap faster and easier. They also tend to reinflate slower after a [partial] collapse. Both are usually undesireable qualities in a CRW canopy. That's a big reason I'm decidedly not a fan of so-called HP CRW, particularly when those doing it have little to no CRW training to begin with. I'm doing pretty good all things considered, and hope to complete a full recovery by the Dec - Jan timeframe. Thanks for asking. 'skies, Bob

Primarily because of the difference in the aspect ratios, where a 7-cell's is typically lower than a 9-cell's. In general, the higher the aspect ratio, the faster a canopy reacts in the case of an unintended turn (i.e. no toggle input). Such turns can develop either slowly, at an acceptable speed, or very fast, depending primarily on the aspect ratio and to a lesser degree on a few other design parameters. Unintended turns can happen with offset docks when an end cell encounters the body burble of the person receiving the dock. It can also happen in the aftermath of a more aggresive dock if there is collapsing/collapsed end cell. As far as the canopies shown in the article pics, they are all PD Lightnings. The camp was in preparation for the upcoming CF world record attemps this Nov. 'skies, Bob

I'd be happy to do this. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I really don't see what is so hard about heavy landings. There's more risk on takeoff. I fly helicopters in the gulf of mexico and perform max gross takeoff and landing operations in high DA conditions to area smaller than a two car garage that's 100' off the water all day long. It takes power management and foresight (ie. staying ahead of the machine), but overall isn't that big of a deal. It's been a few years since I've flown fixed wing, but I don't remember it being much different. As far as using ballast in lieu of people goes, it's not really practical. Once I had to move 25 cases of water (about 650 lbs). It filled the baggage compartment, seats, floor, hat rack, and every other available nook and cranny. Took quite a while to onload/offload too. It's far more practical to use people if at all possible. Bob

The landing characteristics of any canopy - notably recovery arc and pendular action - change considerably with line length. I jumped a sequential trim L126 with 6.5' lines in competition, and the same canopy and trim with 8' lines recreationally. It flew quite differently and required different landing/flaring timing and technique. The short lined version had noticeably less margin for error. False. There's more margin for timing the flare with the extra speed, but it's not necessary. Bob

A few things: There are three trims. sequential, rotation, and demo. Sequential is the "flatest" and demo the "steepest" (demo is the same trim as the old PD main series). WR isn't a trim, it's a line length spec. Competition is whatever the team decides, but most use sequential trim and short lines. They land like shit because the recovery arc is very short and pendular action high. ZP Lightnings have been taken to terminal many times, but the opening shock can be brutal, even with a solid slider. There are definitely better alternatives for doing a little CRW after a freefall jump, notably Triathlons and Spectres. I prefer to do CRW under my Lightning and get a little freefall time after cutaways . Bob

Non-CRW canopies (notably high loaded, elliptical, microlined, or any combination of these) can't be made more CRW-friendly by coloring the lines. Doing CRW with these means smooth, gentle center cell stack docks at speeds where identifying the line by color isn't necessary. Bob

My wife and I were looking at apartments in the area and I missed you by minutes ... twice. Damn. Next time. 'skies, Bob

Kevin makes excellent points. I did vote suck it up, but that's really a hold over from competition freepack openings where my feet were always on the horizon on deployment. I still freepack a tail pocket, but roll the nose very tight back to the A lines. I get acceptably smooth openings. As far as bags go, I think a freestow bag is the best for CRW canopies. A single closing stow with the lines s-folded into the pouch (like a reserve). A large stainless grommet reefs the PC, making the bag act like a kill cone. Bob

True for most operations, but there are plenty of exceptions, notably in construction, utility, and logging. Plenty of days those jobs rarely get out of a hover. I've spoken to Columbia's BV-234LR (civilian Chinook) pilots and seen their logging work in the Sierras. Repetitive max gross 150' OGE hovers over 45 degree slopes at 12000'+ DAs for 9 hours/day. Not for me. Same ship putting out a load of jumpers? Sign me up. Think of the autos! It really depends on the load and conditions. What a 206 runs out of at 10000' is tail rotor authority, not power. Bob

If you don't get a briefing, ask for one. Questions? Ask them! Approach from the front or side as directed and stay away from the rotor systems. Do a thorough pin check, especially if the doors will be off. An open container could rapidly become disasterous for everyone onboard. As always, following the pilot's instructions. A helicopter doesn't fall out of the sky following a power failure, as it can be autorotated (ie glided). Autorotations can be entered and maintained with forward, zero (hover), or reverse airspeed. The descent rate is usually 1500 - 2500 feet per minute depending on the model and load, and far less than a skydiver's terminal. The approach to the flare and touchdown is done with some forward speed (50 - 60 knots). The touchdown can be done with little to no airspeed in a very small space. Helicopter performance (notably out of ground effect hover performance) is very weight sensitive. For this reason most skydiving operations don't come to a full hover, but rather slow down to the 5 - 20 knot range. This allows for the "no air" sensation while maximizing available performance (altitude, load, power required, etc). It is entirely possible to perform a full OGE hover at freefall altitudes (12000+) given the right machine, load, and pilot, but it's usually not done for skydiving operations. Bob PS trivia - the highest helicopter takeoff was done in May 2005 on Mt Everest

It looks like Chico had to call off 12/15-12/17, but I'm still up for then or 12/29-12/31. Bob

Chico sent e-mail to the crwdogs list asking if anyone was game for Dec 15-17 somewhere in FL. I'm up for that - other weekends will depend whether I'm off hitch at the time. Bob

I agree that a hybrid should not be used for aggressive CRW. The droop nose does not reinflate nearly as fast as the competition model, and there is no reinforcement. How do you figure that? The canopy is the same fabric, planform, construction (other than the retraction system), line length, and line trim as the stock Triathlon. All dacron lines will open a little slower with less opening shock, and fly at an unnoticeably slower airspeed. There is no discernable difference in the flight characteristics between dacron and spectra lined standard or hybrid Triathlons. As Kevin points out, you will notice a difference if you get entangled by an all or mostly spectra lineset. For the sake of your fellow dogs, buy all dacron. Bob

Remember, potato in front. Lanyards, skydiving gear, and CRW? Bad juju. Keep the cell phone in an inside pocket and wait until you're on the ground to call. Bob

Good point. I've tried just about everything, but have come to prefer a simple riser arrangement, having only Vetrap blocks front and rear, and nothing else. My risers are 19" so I can reach the lines directly if necessary. I rely on good dive engineering, slot/echelon positioning, smart flying, and when all else fails, arm strength. Bob

Your rigger's ticket will come in handy Bob

I got into skydiving from the aviation side of things (as opposed to the thrill seeking) and knew I wanted to do CRW the first time I saw a picture of it (I had 30 jumps at the time). Fortunately for me, I was jumping at Kapowsin which, at the time, was a hot-bed of CRW activity. There were pick-up 16-ways on many weekends ... now that DZ is history. My learning curve was practically vertical because my teachers were a 4-way team getting ready for nationals. I lurked on their practice dives with my Trathlon 160 watching in fascination until one of them top-docked me after break-down. After a dozen or so jumps like that, I ordered a new Lightning and got one-on-one coaching from a guy who'd been cut from the 4-way. It's been fun. So far, over 1000 CRW jumps, 9 cutaways, countless entanglements and wraps, 7 canopies, dozens of boogies, 3 nationals and a world meet, a half dozen world records (the night 25-way was the best), and loads of wonderful memories. Friends in the CRWdog community literally all over the world who are the greatest. I haven't been as active as I'd like in the past couple years (career change) and missed that last world record (major bummer), but I'm working on changing that. I still get the same rush every time I exit and pitch the pilot chute. My last freefall was a cutaway 'skies, Bob

I've never found it anywhere near that bad, and I've docked last on 8 and 9 planes many times. Here are my thoughts from a previous thread. Bob

"My last freefall was a cutaway" Bob