TCMRigging

Dan set a new Texas speed record with 2.53sec. The average MPH through the speed course was 56.59 MPH. WOW that is freaking fast when you think of how fast he needed to travel through the first gates to get this overall average. Here is a handy calculator to figure speed over distance measured in seconds. http://www.csgnetwork.com/csgtsd.html Chris

The reserve cable can be too long or the RSL can be dumping the reserve. Have the person that was jumping the gear get into it with the rig fully packed the same as the skydive. Disconect the main three rings, hang it from a set of risers and get into it. Once fully loaded deploy the main and you will most likely see the problem. Most of the time the reserve cable does not have enough slack and will cause this problem. I have also seen the RSL do the same thing. Also if the reserve cable has alot of slack it can get locked in between your body and the harness causing the same problem during the deployment.

If I can get someone to video them I will post a video of it. TJ does have it down pretty good, I saw them on the Keen and Able video and he passed on the wisdom of how to do them to everyone when he visited my home DZ. They are a shit load of fun and I usually crank out a few on every jump.

Did this rig come to you packed? If it was not packed and in the hands of anyone else you cannot put the blame on the rigger in question because someone could have messed with the brake lines. However if this rig was packed that way with a seal then you should contact the rigger because he FUQKD up. Chris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-ehLDVoujI Enjoy

A refund if they use it on day 45? Hell no I would charge them more for making me pack the thing again. LOL Chris

A quick suggestion for the next post. When you post a pic demonstrating it done wrong please leave that pic and then repost it (not edit) done correctly. I was about to start making an ass of myself asking how people were seeing the loop pass through the RSL ring when it clearly was not. I think it also caused confusion down the line when people posted that they would jump it. Good job getting opinions though and double checking with your local dz before jumping it.

Lets look at it very simply, a $50.00 repack good for 120 days is worth 41.6 cents per day. So 41.6 cents for 180 days is about 75 bucks. If I was still rigging heavily I would still charge the same and just get more clients, someone would have to pay me about 500 bucks to get my lazy ass to pack a rig these days.

I honestly could not tell you the number of rotations, its allot though. I'm putting together some videos and can send you a link in the next few days to have a look at it. I can tell you that it eats up about 2000 ft, 1500 of fun and about another 500 just recovering from it. If you have a small highly loaded canopy you have to force both sides to stall to get out of it and you need to keep the risers very wide and your legs kicked out wide to stay out of twist. When they get going good your feet are in front of you and your body is laying out horizontal like a rag doll. Its a hell of a good time. At my DZ a group of us will open high and take turns doing the helicopters while everyone else watches. Video link coming soon. Chris

Sadly enough I have spotted and fixed many many RSL's in the plane that were either routed through the three ring, clipped to the three ring, routed under the reserve risers and some rigs have enough slack that the loose part of the RSL ends up in the three ring. I fixed one this past Sunday that had the slack pulled through the three ring. A little safety check in Parachutist may not be a bad idea since Javelins now require the RSL to be connected even if you do not use it. Chris

Does anyone have the line trim specs for an FX 88?

I did'nt mean for it to sound like I was replying to your post specifically. I was just replying generally to the xbrace being boring. You can do some wild stuff with these canopies up high that I have not been able to do with any other canopy.

If your bored with the velocity or other crossbraced then you just need a few new things to try in th air. I usually do some helicoptors. You can also get it into a spin and then do a toggle stall on just one side. That will give you some radical results. If you don't know what a helicoptor is then try pulling your rear risers to a stall point then pulling only one down further. You will deflate one side of your canopy and spin like a helicoptor. If your loaded over 2 to 1 you will most likely have to spread your risers very far apart and force a total rear riser stall to get out of the spin. It can get out of hand real fast so be ready for anything and before starting remove your toggles from your hands in case you need to chop. Chris

I used 88 ft long crete paper (black) and yes the color does effect fall rate for some reason. The white and black paper were a different texture and the white fell faster. I used 4 AA batteries for the weight. To set up the course we flew past each other and then dropped the streamers. We would then get close together on the course (one behind the other) and start racing. To make the turns you roll your wing up on its side then go into a full flare to make a tight turn. Basically like carving your wing on the ground. It is really wild to be right behind another canopy and try to make a pass. I may get a few people to do this over the weekend and post a video. Chris

Its not a major effect, but there is some and noticeable on a wing loaded at 2.0 or higher. Just give it a try sometime, when you lean forward or back your wieght is shifting in relation to the attachment point. I may not explain the dynamics very well, but I can tell you it does work. Chris