rsibbald

If something goes wrong, it could be in any direction, any axis, probably varying the plane of rotation very quickly.

Kind of a side topic - but if I bring my wingsuit up to Weston this weekend - do I need an AAD? .......I kinda sold it to pay for new gear

Roger - cheers - they look like they have a good chance of standing up to what I want. Spizz - unfortunately, velcro is almost impossible to shear when the pull force is at the wrong angle. Matt - I'll let you know when I have video I wouldn't want Jeb to beat me to it now.....

Roger, I'd be interested if you could either post that link you mentioned on here or PM me with it? IT sounds like an ideal system. Another idea I was throwing around in my head was a very small PC, small enough to be collapsed inside your hand. Therefore if you fall unconscious and release it, the PC will pull the cable from the cutaway mechanism. I can see lots of problems regarding entaglements with this though.

Nice idea

Hey John, Sounds like a funky idea - although that'd take more resources than I have avaialble to design and implement I think! I'd be interested to see what you have next time I'm up north. I might need you to crunch some numbers for me as well, regarding forces at different airspeeds....

Hey James, Hibaldstow, Peterlee, and I believe Weston, are all OK with your jump numbers Hinton will not be - you need 500 jumps first and BASE doesn't count towards that total If you're going flocking one weekend give me a shout, I haven't tried my Classic out in years! Ross

Just to be awkward: Both! The cutaway will always need to be manually activated before any deployment sequence is initiated. (Preferably less than £10 disposable equipment per jump) The cutaway will also need to be activated instantly upon user loss of consciousness, probably due to loss of control resulting in 'high-G' maneouvres. (Doesn't matter if this costs £1000 a shot) Both mechanisms may, or may not be, the same.

Sorry, I should have been more specific in the original post..... The canopy thing was just an example..... Think along the lines of a skysurf board....... except you definitely want to cut it away before you deploy anyway. I'm starting to think that a manual release switch is much safer than electronics that can possibly go wrong. It would be very useful to figure out a safe way of making the switch a reusable device though. Which it would need to be in order to repeat this type of jump without costing 2 cypres cutters everytime!

I would not be able to use a Cypres activation control box as the trigger, just g-force or lack of user input. I like the idea of having a 'push-and-hold-to-stay-attached-throughout' switch, (I would have my left hand free for this throughout the stunt). Do Cypres cutters activate upon supplying the right voltage/current, or do they need a coded signal to prevent e.g. static charge activations. Does anyone else have any mechanical based ideas? (Redundancy is always good!)

Possibly the simplest method I am currently thinking of, is some way of securing a spring loaded device so that if your hand let go of a trigger (due to you either falling unconscious or losing control), it would spring away from your body and start a cutaway sequence.

I am looking for a method of automatically cutting away in the case of continuous high-G loading. e.g. imagine a small canopy spinning up on you so hard that you go unconscious within a second or two. Does anyone know of any systems that can perform this? It can either be mechanical or electrical based, but it *has* to be reliable. Please add random thoughts and ideas, as I may end up developing my own system to cope with this eventuality. N.B. The canopy situation was an example, it is not the application I want to use this for. I would like to encourage innovative thinking and creativity - please don't let this degenerate into a "whuffo you want to do that?" thread!

How much force does a standard sized pilot chute exert on the bridle at terminal velocity? Anyone want to get a tension-meter and drive down the motorway to find out? How much force do you think you can put on the bridle with your arm twisting behind your back and pulling upwards away from your body? I'm guessing that manual intervention is negligible when compared with the overall PC drag force.....

Video taught me that I was flaring too late and bypassing the sweet-spot on my Safire. At the time, I doubt I'd have figured that out quickly without seeing it from an external point-of-view.

Not specifically about this helmet, but I now use a downhill ski racing helmet which gives me a lot more protection than my old pro-tec. As long as you remove all snag points I would definitely recommend ski/snow helmets for use in skydiving. Most skydiving specific helmets are built to satisfy "must wear a helmet" rules as opposed to offering any real protection. Plus the ski/snow selection looks cooler

How about some consistency regarding wingsuit rules? I hate turning up at a new DZ to find I'm not allowed to jump my Classic

I hear golf trousers and bowling shoes are just as dangerous

I try to give my post-Cat8 students a comprehensive safety brief before they go and start finding things out the hard way. I'll be interested to see how much of this is included in the JM1 and CH1&2 qualifications. Points I cover include, advanced canopy control, gear selection, maintenance, transportation, dealing with people in the sport, where to go for information, visiting other DZs and how to keep learning in the sport as a whole.

The major manufacturers have been very helpful to me when I've hassled them with gear questions. Try contacting some of them, explain what sort of jumps you would likely be doing, how much you weigh etc. and most of them will go out of their way to recommend something suitable for you. If you can pick a manufacturer in your country then it helps for the future if you ever need any repairs or modifications done to the gear. Edit to add: As a complete beginner, I was recommended to get a "standard" type container, instead of a wingsuit specific one or anything else too funky that would potentially detract from learning to pack proficiently. Ross

I have no idea about the serviceability of the equipment, but I would recommend against selling it to anyone inexperienced as a first rig, mainly on the grounds of the leg-strap throw away. (Assuming 99.9% of students graduate on BOC these days).

Try driving down the motorway with your board out of the window. See what speed you can get up to before you are no longer able to control it directly against the airflow. Now imagine that at 120mph..... Learning to fly the aerodynamics of the board is a completely different skillset to the gymnastic abilities of ground boarders.

Several riggers have recommended to me to push it around 2/3 of the way in, on the grounds of reducing the risk of premature deployment when moving around in the aircraft. On properly sized (main/container/person/closing loop) rigs, this is not normally an issue. However, there are several configurations I have seen where if the pin is pushed all the way in, the tension of the closing loop or a badly packed main, can cause the pin to rotate on itself and point outwards from the rig. This can slowly work its way loose when compared with a normal flat pin configuration.

I measure up as a 56cm head size.... but I've got the XS size in the Giro, which in theory shouldn't fit me. I find it nice and comfortable though, with minimal slippage. I tried on the M size which should be the one that is ideal for my size, but that was definitely too loose to offer any protection on me. If you're going to use it skydiving, head-up flying can cause air to get caught under the chin and start to pull the chinstrap against your throat though!

I've got a Mad Max S, made by Giro, which I'm very happy with. The best place I found to look for suitable types was in snowboard stores under racing helmets. They're built to certified standards and as light as anything - always good to help prevent whiplash

Two Bungies (Rubber Bands), each triple stowed. (All other stows are not amazingly secure as we only leave the last stow in place while the student climbs out onto the step outside the aircraft). As long as flightline checks are vigilant enough to spot weakened or old bands, there isn't a problem with it.