benlangfeld

Sure, I understand that. My question was more along the lines of: if one were designing a rig from scratch today, and patent licensing were not an issue, but one did not wish to include a MARD, but only a traditional RSL, is there any reason not to include a Collins lanyard? Assuming one is included in the design, is it true that that forces the RSL to be on the right hand side (assuming the cutaway handle is put in the usual position)?

Is it not the case that a Collins lanyard requires the RSL to be on the same side as the cutaway handle? Is a Collins lanyard not useful with a basic RSL and no MARD? If that’s the case, why are all RSLs not equipped with a Collins lanyard and mounted on the right hand side, MARD or not? It was a Flightline Systems Reflex R460. The incident report states that approximately 12cm of the left side cutaway cable was extracted because of the movement of the housing.

A recent fatality in Brazil came down to an RSL without a collins lanyard. In this case, an RSL had been added as an after-market modification to a rig from the 90s which never had one. For some reason, it was added to the left riser. The housing through which the cutaway cable passed across the yoke became detached from the yoke and worked its way down through the reserve container until such a point as the left riser became detached, and the user of the rig left the aircraft with it in this state. When he pulled, the main activated the left-side RSL, with the right riser still attached, through which the reserve deployed. As a result, the user disconnected the main, which climbed the reserve lines and choked it. The resulting impact was of course fatal. By my understanding, cable length differences would not have helped avoid this, and since the RSL was on the left riser, a collins lanyard could not be installed. What possible reason is there for a left-side RSL?

Yes, I know, I was just trying to help identify the title/author.

This is the book, I believe. Not sure where it’s for sale. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XJ6A44/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_IO3hCbJSD6YNQ

I switched my Viso 2 for an Ares 2 and love it. I have had no problems with it at all. It is a fantastic altimeter, very robust, and significantly easier to see in freefall than the smaller Viso. Just don’t wear polarized sunglasses and you’ll be fine.

1.1

What other canopies would you compare the Zulu to?

I spent 4 days at Perris in August and jumped with the LOs there. It was amazing.

Totally not an answer because I’m not qualified to give one, but curious if you’ve considered the Aerodyne Zulu. From the marketing it sounds like it fits what you’re looking for.

Hello all! I'm a new jumper, with a year in the sport and 150 jumps, and my home dropzone is Skydive Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. It's a Caravan DZ that operates only on weekends and typically sends up about 15-20 loads on a Saturday and 10-15 on a Sunday. I want to train and compete in 4-way, but I'm having trouble finding anyone else with similar goals. In Brazilian nationals this year, there were 2 teams in the Inter category, so no-one got a medal. Open was a little better with about 6-8 teams, but still small. I'd like to do ~15-20 training jumps a month and compete in the Inter category next year. I'd like to take training seriously with a real team. At my DZ, there always seem to be a lot of students, but then they seem to vanish. There are a lot of casual fun jumpers who do maybe 2-5 jumps a month at most and treat skydiving more like a fun way to hang out with friends than as a sport, but I expect the cost is a lot to do with it; these people typically get out and try to build a star and that's about it. The people who jump seriously all seem to want to do angle or VFS. There is no 4-way culture at all, and I don't see any teams training. So, here's the question: am I wasting my time going after this? Is the downward trend in RW participation unstoppable, or is there a way to get people interested in it again and build a RW scene at a dropzone where it's not fashionable? Any tips would be great! Blue skies.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4581656

The world of skydiving does not. You should think about why, especially if you’re experiencing mental health problems. The two do not mix.

It's built better for sure. Haven't jumped a smart so can't comment on how they fly. Built better? How so?

Because I'd have to physically transport it off-site (where?). I trust the replication of cloud storage more as a backup solution. That solution also ignores the "accessible from any device" requirement.

First up, I did search the forum and found mostly references to storing miniDV tapes, so maybe it's time to bring this topic up again I have a growing collection of video (both inside and outside) of training jumps currently stored on a 1TB USB hard drive. That the drive might get lost or damaged concerns me, so I began looking into options. First up, the things I'm looking for are: * Indefinite storage - not looking to delete these * Cloud-based (a-la Dropbox/iCloud/Google Drive/Amazon S3/etc) * Doesn't occupy space on my devices' local disk * Cached locally for re-watching in the short term * Easily ingested * Easily indexed and viewable from various devices (iPad, iPhone, someone else's computer) Dropbox and similar services don't cut it because they simply mirror part of the contents of a local disk, and I don't anticipate having enough disk space (at least continuously attached to a computer) for these videos. Typical backup solutions fall in a similar bucket, and don't do a whole lot for making individual videos easy to find and watch without doing some sort of restore operation. Uploading to YouTube might be an option, but it's a very slow and manual process, and simple things like grouping the inside and outside video from the same jump is onerous. The best option I have found so far is the Apple Photos app, which has an "optimise local storage" feature which holds only low resolution versions of media on local disk, and full resolution on iCloud storage. The collection of images is available on a Mac, in a web browser, and on iOS devices and the full resolution versions are downloaded on demand and cached locally for some period. On the other hand, the downsides of this are that one is somewhat locked-in to Apple's product (there's no metadata export function), and the iOS apps don't permit viewing or editing metadata (eg jump number in the video title). So, what does everyone else do to store their hundreds or thousands of training jump videos? Are there any better options out there?

I have a 175 in an Icon I4. It flies like I guess you'd expect a reserve to fly. The one time I've had to use it, it was very similar to the PDR 160 I had previously had to use. Stood up the landing in a light cross-wind. Would have survived a no-flare landing under it. Checks all my boxes. Oh, and it's nice and soft and strokeable while you're explaining to everyone what you messed up.

Spectra goes out of trim and your wing starts flying less efficiently/accurately over time. HMA looks great until the day half your lines break on opening. I know which I prefer.

I know I'm getting into heresy here but I've always pulled my cutaway then went to my reserve. I've never done the one hand on each handle thing and I've never understood any advantage to it but plenty of disadvantages. But then I've never looked at a handle. I took Pat Works' advice and practiced until I knew where they were. On my fourth malfunction I'm convinced I'd have bounced if I hadn't broken two rules. One, never cut away a total. But I did and when the reserve launched the main released. It wrapped around the reserve but the risers were disconnected to they just sort of wound that way too and were tossed aside. It left some pretty good burns on the reserve but I was ok. The second was looking at the handles. I was going through a grand and head down terminal. If I'd had to tear my eyes off the ground to find my handles I'd have gone in. No two ways about it. As it was while my mind was being overloaded at the sight of treetops flying away from each other my hands pulled my R2s then the reserve. Always cut away a total. Always cut away a pilot-chute in tow. Reserve opening shock is highly likely to dump the main d-bag out and if it's not cut away it will unstow all the lines as it falls away and then tangle with tension and cause a problem. If it's cut away it will fall away with risers and lines together and not reach any line stretch. Even if it entangles it won't have any force and won't affect the inflated reserve. A friend of mine has only just got back in the air after having this exact scenario which had him in a wheelchair for almost a year. He pitched his reserve with a PCIT without chopping and the reserve opening shock dumped his main which inflated and tangled around his foot. The asymmetry of the pull on his body sent his reserve into twists from which there was no recovery possible. It's simple. Execute your EPs exactly as you've learned and practiced and don't try to rethink the decades of accumulated experience and knowledge when you have a mal. Any advice to the contrary is bad advice. I don’t think you should be so confident about that. I am Aware of at least one case of a PCIT to reserve deployment where the reserve did not fully inflate, but the shock did let the main out. Two partially inflated canopies saved the guy’s life. Had he chopped his PCIT he would have died.

What kind of helmet mount? I've heard of the color-light based altis but I get the impression you are talking about something else. Take a look at the attachment.

The flatter wing.

You'd still have to pull the rings down, at least on rears. At least that's what I see (I don't jump with an RDS) The last time I tried to stow the slider I accidentally pulled a toggle in the process, and the grommets got hung up making it difficult to fix. I feel it just adds additional risk for no reward in my application. I fly a slow, large canopy as I'm getting into WS. There is no performance difference with a stowed slider for me. I fly a Pilot 188 at 0.95 and can feel a difference in lift when flaring with the slider stowed. If you’re popping toggles when pulling it down, you’re either rushing too much or need to tighten your toggle stows up.

Hi [mbailey465], can you explain more please? I am a tunnel flier, not really planning to skydiving per say, but I find it super curious to read about how skills can be translated from sky to tunnel or from tunnel to sky. What do you mean by "flat body position", I arch when belly flying in the tunnel quite a bit, isn't it the same in the sky? thanks! Tunnel coaches will quite often encourage a flatter (arms and legs extended) position in order to keep wind speed down and therefore reduce risk. This is contrary to “arch like a mofo” that you typically hear from AFF-Is.

Actually, the SIM only recommends a C for flying a camera. It is not a BSR.

You could try the Altitrack (https://www.lbwebstore.com/altitrack.html), which has an analogue face but is in-fact digital (with the precision benefits of digital) and behaves as a log. As for an audible, yes they are all digital, but you can't see them during the jump so your preference for an analogue face has nothing to do with it. I'd encourage you to try on various models of helmet in various sizes. I tried two or three sizes of both the Cookie G3 (just didn't like the shape of it at all) and the KISS (which fit great). I bought a helmet, altimeters (Viso & Brilliant Pebbles audible), jumpsuit and gloves when I got my A. The jumpsuit and helmet are the most important, because student gear is disgusting. It's normal to buy several jumpsuits as you progress through different kinds of jumps. I bought a short (sleeves and legs) freefly suit to begin with because I just needed something that has been washed this century and I jump at a DZ that is regularly 35C and I was bored of dripping. I then got into FS and bought a suit with booties and big grippers. I use both all the time. If I get into freefly at a cold DZ I'll buy a full-length FF suit, and if I get into camera work, a jacket with wings.