scottjaco

I've noticed that the Stilleto/Vengance is the only "high performance canapy" that is available in sizes larger than 120 sq ft. Why don't they make larger Velocity/Katana/vx27/xaos27 canopies for people that want to have the high peformance at a safe wingloading?

LOL!! Well fortunatly the weekend crowds have gotten better, thank God. I was getting embarassed at the turnout. I didn't want Mike to think we were a bunch of deadbeats.

LOL!!!!!!! Well OK then, I guess Taft now qualifies as a real dropzone!

Well, it is always nice to see our sport get some exposure. The skydiver in the ad looked like he just got off student status though. (The helmet and the oversized container are a dead give away) I was a little dissapointed that all they showed was a guy doing belly to earth.

People upgrade their gear when somthing better comes along that is an improvement over what they had before. Otherwise what is the point? We have already established that age doesn't effect a reseve canopy. A while back, having a 20 year limit on a reserve might have served a purpose. People were jumping round reserves, then the 5 cell reserves which lead to the 7 cell reserves. After the late 80's, the progression in reserve technology slowed down. Notice how nobody jumps with a 9-cell eliptical reserve made of ZeroP? If you buy a brand new reserve, It is still going to be 7-cell F1-11, just like the reserve you jumped 20 years ago. Sure, the manufactures use clever marketing but is it really that different? I'm no gear expert, this is just an observation, it sounds like rig manufactures want you to buy a new rig every 4 years!

I have an original Sabre 150. Some tips for a soft opening, ( I have about 120 of my own packjobs on this canopy). 1) Roll the nose.....tightly! This creates a longer snivel 2) Don't 1/4 the slider, pull the slider as far as you can in front of the nose. (this has had the biggest impact on my openings) This prevents that pop at the end of the snivel, however, be prepared to stear with the rear risers on opening because the canopy opens in a near stalled state because it is not fully inflated. 3) Roll the tail a few inches higher above slider grommets, tightly around the lines. This reduces snag force, and has a trap door effect when you pitch out. These are tips that people have given me, that work for my canopy. I'm not an expert but I don't think you are at any risk to try these tips yourself assuming you know how to pack. Let me know how it works out for you!

Yah, it's the best deal in Southern California. Apparently the Japanese group that was suppose to come to Taft cancelled. It's a long story. Aparently the leader/translator/Japanese DZ owner of the group is not coming because he is being blamed for a recent tandem fatality. The drouge got stuck and would not release. The reserve entangled with it and they bounced. He is being blamed for this fatality, although I don't really understand why. What ever happened to the phrase "You are negligent, even by attempting to skydive"? Few of the 60 or so Japanese are making the trip this year. I hope Mike comes back next year, his plane is too awsome for people not to use it! I don't know why all these clicky Perris/Elsinore jumpers are afraid to get in their car and drive by themselves (god forbid) to a new dropzone? Don't get me wrong, Perris/Elsinore are decent dropzones but aren't people at all interested in this plane?

I belive Basic Research has a 150 jump requirement. If you are going off the bridge in Idaho, I don't think there is a real problem. It's legal, It's daytime. You can have an off heading opening and there is a lot of places to land. The odds are stacked in your favor. Is this unsafe, probably not. It's the nightime jumps off the cliffs with tiny landing areas that make it dangerous. You are leaving yourself with few outs, and everything has to go perfectly if you don't want to die. Thats where the people with 3000 skydives are going to do better. It all depends on what kind of Base Jumping you are planning on doing.

Rigging Innovations no longer sells metal riser inserts. They only sell plastic ones. They come with directions for you rigger. The mouth of the riser channel is sewn half way shut so the plastic insert cannot slip out. There is still enough opening to route the cut away cable.

Why not? everyone else does it First of all none of us have actually seen you fly/land your canopy. Secondly, if you have to ask, you probably aren't ready to downsize yet. I would hold off on buying the rig until you have an idea of what your goals are....don't buy some oversized canopy/container that you are going to get bored with after 15 jumps.

I asked a rigger about the 20 year thing. He said it was totally up to the rigger, and that there is no age limit on gear, since age doesn't dictate wear and tear or airworthyness, you rig could have stayed in a closet for 15 of those 20 years, and the reserve was only used 2 times. I though F-111 canopies could take a couple hundred jumps before the porisity got too low to flare efficiently?

that sucks ass! If I were an instructor, I'd be pissed! I thought most rigger lofts had insurance. I always ask before leaving my rig to get repacked. I guess thats a different situation though.

my question is, does the dropzone have insurance to cover the cost of the instructor's rigs/equipment?

Really? I usually put it in my car when I spend the night at the dropzone. scott

Has anybody seen the Elsinore website recently. I was shocked at the photos. I didn't realise how big that trailer was. What sucks even worse is the instructors losing their rigs along with all the student/tandem rigs. I hope the insurance covers all the rigs! I have 2 questions, 1) in some of the photos, it looks like the container and d-bag protected some of the canopies? Are they airworthy? How would you test a canopy that survied a fire? 2)Does anybody know Chris Doner, I heard he was one of the instructors there. He was my jumpmaster at Air Adventures West. Anyway, he got 2 rigs stolen from there just before we got shut down by the man. It would really suck to hear that he lost yet another rig to this fire. Although, I don't think he leaves his rigs lying around anymore Why do instructors and some local fun jumpers leave their containers at the DZ? Thats almost as bad as leaving your keys in the ignition. Let me know your thoughts..... scott

why don't you just call yourselves the Muff Divers?

damn!! that means you could watch most of the videos in real time without waiting to download. Most video streaming programs like Launch.com and MTV.com stream at around 300K with pretty good picture and sound. I just did an online speed test for my new Cable modem. The fastest download speed was 2940K per second. (basically it's a 3Mbs connection) Uploads were 249K per second, but thats only because Adelphia caps it at 250K to keep people from using their computer as a server (I guess they want you to pay extra for that) As you can tell, I need to brag to sombody about my new cable modem! It rocks! Can't wait to see the new website! scott

It might have been better to wait until the new website was finished before disconnecting the old website. This temorary FTP server is terrible! But what do I know?

thanks, I just added my comments to that thread!

Correct. Just release the RSL snap shackle if having the reserve PC in tow.*** and how do you do this during a high speed malfunction? it would be pretty hard to find that little yellow tab!

I just read the service bulletin. Have there actually been cases where the skyhook was sewn in backwards? Wouldn't a rigger catch this simply pulling the reserve handle and pulling the bag out by the bridle? (to see if it cleared) If you had a reserve pilot chute in tow as a result, it says it can be cleared by pulling the yellow relese tab on your riser. Are they kidding? how on earth are you going to find somthing so tiny in the event of a total malfunction with a reserve pilot chute in tow, it would be almost certain death!

Got a wife and two teenage kids*** yah, the "wife factor" is a big deal especially if she doesn't jump. Bummer...I just don't want Mike to give up on Taft and go somwhere else next winter. I heard some japanese skydivers are coming up soon to jump Mikes plane. I guess they follow him around every winter! scott

yah, it was really busy the first weekend, Its been slow the last 2 weekends. I don't really understand why. You can't beat the jump ticket price. Maybe people thought Mike was only in town for 1 weekend. He will be here through the end of march. scott

I am a little disapointed in the recent turnout at Skydive Taft, CA. I want to let people know that jump tickets on Mike Mullins King Air are only $10 before 9am. $14 after 9am. It's the only dropzone in Southern California that is getting jumpers to 14K in 7 minutes. This is not an advertisment.....I'm just a little worried with the turnout the last couple of weekends. If people don't come to jump, Mike probably won't come back next winter so please head up to Taft! It is definatly worth it! see ya there! scott

About the Havok... I put the helmet on in the plane, then flip the visor down just before jump run! It's nice because you can talk to people you are jumping with up until the last minute, then flip it down!. I think it's funny that people think it's "OVA engineered" What a load a crap!.....people who say these things are usually jumping with Gath helmets. Diablopilot, I'm suprised I don't see you using a Havok! what with all your vast skydiving knowledge, you need something massive to contain a head as big as yours!!