relyon

I use outside A-line and/or B-line control on my Lightning (non-cascaded outside lines) quite frequently. I've also done this on an Express (also non-cascaded) and a Triathlon (cascaded) with similar results, so the answer is yes in at least some cases. Pulling (4"-8") the A-line has a tendency to collapse the cell when the topskin gets pulled below the stagnation point, so I use that less. Pulling the B-line has a similar effect without the cell collapse, so I use that most of the time. In either case both the glide angle and descent rate increase dramatically. Bob

Thanks for bringing this up and for your earlier reply. I know of a case where a non-pilot jumper was fined a $1000 and another where a pilot jumper had their privileges suspended for 90 days with no fine. In both cases no action was taken against the pilot or anyone else. I'm also aware of situations where punative actions were directed at the pilots with none against the violating jumpers. As many have stated, it doesn't have to make sense or be fair, and those involved are guilty until proven innocent. Bob

Point very well taken, and exactly why I noted in my post "I've never jumped a rig with an out-of-date reserve". That's no BS. I have certificates too, and no intentions of surrendering them for a skydive. Bob

Good for you John! I wonder how often the FAA spot checks airline pilots to make sure their name is on the aircraft registration. I've never jumped a rig with an out-of-date reserve, nor have I been spot checked for compliance. I've always been curious about the validity of such checks, though. To my knowledge, it is not against regulations to possess, pack, wear, or be on an aircraft with an out-of-date reserve. It is against regulations to jump with an out-of-date reserve. Without a witnessing an actual jump (witnessing the landing would suffice), how does finding an out-of-date reserve on a ramp check constitute a violation? Bob

Two dozen? That's a light load for a Mi-8. In Finland we had 40 on board for competition (seat belted) and 60 for the lake jumps (standing NY subway style with one hand on the ceiling). These days I'd rather be flying one though. For airplanes I really like a CASA - the exit is very reminiscent of the Mi-8. Bob

1. Whats your name? Bob 2. How old are you? 45 3. Why did you decide to start jumping out of airplanes? Love aviation. 4. Are you single or taken? Married? Married 23 years 5. Do you have kids? daughter 21 and son 16 6. What do you drive? Yellow 2002 Ford Ranger Edge 7. Have you ever done a kisspass? No 8. Where do you live? Covington, WA 9. Do you have any pets? No 10. How many jumps do you have? 1329 11. What color eyes do you have? Brown 12. What is your nationality? US 13. Have you ever dated someone you met off the internet? No 14. Favorite Movie? Blues Brothers 15. What do you do when you arent skydiving? Looking for work as a helicopter CFI 16. Have you ever BASE jumped? No 17. If not... do you want to? Perhaps the bridge 18. Do you have siblings? 1 brother (deceased) and 1 sister, both older 19. Where do you want to travel to the most? Went to the Netherlands and Germany last year and would love to go back 20. What's your favorite color? Blue 21. Where was the last place you flew to (not skydiving)? Pittsburgh, PA

I've been privately rated in ASEL for many years, earned my commercial helicopter two years ago, and just today I passed my helicopter CFI checkride. I always loved aviation and got into skydiving because it was yet another thing to do in the sky. I prefer to keep jumping as a hobby activity and fly helicopters for a living (the job hunt starts tomorrow). Bob

"Will be done" and "has been done" are two very different things. People have survived freefall impacts with no parachute, but I don't see too many people willing to get on a 10 minute call for a no-rig skydive. I don't consider a jump that ends with an ambulance ride or worse very successful. Do the math: a 160 lb exit weight, 10 sq ft wingsuit, and a 20-knot landing speed will require a lift coefficient of around 2.6 at sea level. That's higher than a commercial jet at touchdown and greater than 95% of all experimental high lift research to date. Do you really think some genius at Birdman is going to invent a suit that performs better than the billions spent high-lift research over the past 80+ years can attain? Bob

What a rush - thanks everyone! Put me on the list for the N36. Bob

Try landing the wingsuit ... Bob

I've got 9 rides on Tempos. Far from a piece of crap, my Tempo appears to be a well-constructed quality reserve. It's always opened cleanly on-heading, is a docile flyer, and lands nicely. I've not noticed any turning tendency. So how many Tempo jumps do you have and what is you opinion of them based on? Why did you jump a reserve you think so poorly of? Bob

Yahoo! I'm off to check my cutaway cable lengths... Bob

No, not EVERYONE. There are a small contigent of world competitive CRWdogs that jump shortlined low aspect 7-cells in the 1.6-2.2 load range. These canopies are chosen for their flight characteristics and pressurization, and despite their poor landing performance. Landing one of these can be quite a thrill, but it's definitely not swooping. Bob

True, but there are those times when it's really nice they do because advice alone just isn't enough ... Bob

Yup, and JohnMitchell is one of those terrific folks. Thanks John! Bob

The Northern Lite III was originally built by Para-Phernalia and later by Larry Chernis who purchased the rights in 1991 and started Northern Lite Enterprises. It's a good, well-built harness/container and is the common ancestor to both the Infinity and the Javelin. I put a few hundred jumps on one and sold it to crwmike who is still jumping it. Kelly Farrington bought Larry's shop and started Velocity Sports Equipment. I believe he's capable of building replacement parts for the NL III. Mine had a ROL pocket and I had Kelly add a BOC pocket as well. Bob

Nice catch, but I believe you've come to some conclusions you don't have facts to back up. skymedic has a reserve that was sent to Precision and came back with type III and two bartacks. It's not so obvious that the reserve wasn't sent in. The work may have been botched by the factory. How do you mark a reserve as unairworthy? Bob

I'd venture few to none. I'm not aware of any cuts in international skydiving competitions as a result of drug testing in recent years (it was done in Gap). Serious skydiving competitors and weekend jumpers are very different. It takes a lot to get to a world meet and the folks I know wouldn't jepardize themselves or their teammates for a buzz. Bob

How? Once the risers clear the three rings there's no difference except possibly stability, which is likely to be better in the case of a good canopy. Hold on there. One moment I have a reserve to cover me, but the next it's a mal? Which is it? I think jumping main canopies that have a reputation for unrecoverable line twists is a whole lot more illogical than deploying reserves that have a reputation for opening correctly. I also believe there's been way more injuries and death from high performance maneuvers done under good main canopies than from intentional reserve rides. Skydives are unecessary as well, and are considered illogical and dangerous by the majority of people. Did your friend analyze why his main mal'd to begin with? What about the reserve? This just proves that riggers are fallible, but I'll guess most skydivers already realize that. If you want to guarantee you won't die while skydiving, don't jump. Just to be clear, I'm not advocating intentional cutaways for dual pack parachute systems. I hate reserve rides and if I never have another it will be too soon. I just don't think a clean intentional is nearly as stupid or dangerous as many things I see happening at the DZ on a regular basis that many jumpers think are extreme cutting edge moves to strive for. JMO. Bob

I've seen it done with mesh sliders, box sliders (normal slider with the material hot-knifed out), and X sliders, I haven't seen it with done with no slider, though I can't imagine it would work much different. I'll take a guess it's not a good idea with zoo toggles. Bob

What are you referring to? None of the Farrington's jumped in violation of USPA BSR minimum age limits. Bob

How "clearly" is arguable, though we all know what that means with the FAA. The only reference I'm aware of is under §105.3 Definitions - "Reserve parachute means an approved parachute worn for emergency use to be activated only upon failure of the main parachute or in any other emergency where use of the main parachute is impractical or use of the main parachute would increase risk." What constitutes failure of the main parachute is not defined, nor is emergency use. Taken to a literal extreme, the definition could be construed to mean it's illegal for the TSA to pop a reserve or a rigger to deploy it for inspection and repack. I have no need or desire to intentionally deploy my reserve having done it a number of times unintentionally, but I wouldn't think twice about if I did. Given the complexity of what can go wrong with intentional cutaway systems, I think I'd rather take my chances under a dual pack system. Having never jumped a tertiary system, I'll admit my lack of experience with them. So far, CRW has provided me plenty of thrills I'm not interested in surpassing. Here's a couple devils-advocate questions: If you're not willing to cutaway the main and deploy the reserve under the best of circumstances, how can you trust your gear under what will most likely be less advantageous circumstances? How is it ok to jump a highly loaded pocket rocket known for spinning line twist deployment mals and go silver screaming through 2000 ft but an intentional cutaway from a good main at 3000 ft is nuts?Bob (0 main deployment mals; 9 cutaways/reserve rides - all CRW)

That's the setup I've seen used in competition. Just pitch and grab the toggles. By the time you get them off the velcro the canopy is off your back and inflating with the brakes pulled to about the same as a normal brake setting. It's real easy to steer through the opening and/or correct an off-heading. Bob

I'm very much in agreement with getting repacked every 120 days, like it or not. I do find statements such as "Your pilot is legally responsible ..." and "... you get off without a hitch but the pilot in command ..." interesting though. FAR 105 applies equally to the jumper and the pilot, and they're both legally responsible. I've known pilots who've received punitive action, but I've also known jumpers that have been fined $1000 where there was no action directed at the pilot. It's entirely up to the FAA as to who gets tagged and who doesn't, and it doesn't have to make sense. Bob

Many CRW competitors pack with brakes unstowed so they can steer through the openings. I've done it a number of times on my Lightning. The canopy opens a slower and you can either just stab both brakes to get full inflation or wait and it'll open by itself. Unless the canopy is giving slammer openings (in which case something else is probably wrong), I don't see any advantage to packing brakes unstowed for freefall. Bob