Reginald

Lightly loaded canopies can cause problems that a jumper needs to understand and address. Highly loaded canopies can cause problems that jumpers need to understand and address. Medium loaded canopies can cause problems that jumpers need to understand and address. The appropriate loading of a particular make a canopy is dependent largely on what the jumper is trying to do with it. Is there a simple answer? No. To answer your particular question. I’ll defer to a statement Scott Miller made in his most excellent canopy control class. And that is paraphrased as, “you should return your canopy to full flight for a full ten seconds before landing to assure the canopy is at full speed at landing to allow for a proper flair.” So my question to you is why would you be in any sort of brakes low enough that you would not have sufficient speed to get a full flair? It sounds more like you had an issue flying the pattern and were compensating for it by overusing your brakes on final. A smaller canopy won’t help the fact that your pattern was the problem. If I’m missing your point please let me know. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

All I want for 2006 is to not have to visit anymore friends in the hospital or to attend anymore funerals. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I remember Dan Akroid doing a bit on the original SNL. I think it was a “Point Counterpoint” skit with “Jane”. Dan said something like, “Women’s orgasms? They’re a myth! I’ve never been with a woman that had one!”

Interesting thought though. In an emergency how long does it take to hook the tandems up and bail out? My gear is ready to go before I get on the plane. The TI’s and their students are another matter. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

We have a target. The S&TA normally signs off as a matter of course on this requirement if the jumps are logged. However, he is there every day and knows how everyone's accuracy is. He probably took most everyone applying for a C license on there first jump and has been watching them ever since. It not beyond him to ask someone to go hit the peas on their very next jump though. I presume he keeps this trick for the ones that come in with 25 accuracy jumps logged but mud all over their jumpsuits from landing off the airport too many times…if you know what I mean. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Read My Signiture Line "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

It's just you... "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

But he's edumacated as an Aggie. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I think they meant full time staff were not rich. I think most people would agree with that. However, to be a serious fun jumper or 4 way competitor takes a healthy income. A person can spent $10,000 on 500 jumps in a year alone, excluding packing, gear, wind tunnels, etc. Given the median income in the US is about $45,000 per year (and most of those people have families) I think it is reasonable to say the sport (excluding full time staff) tends to have higher income individuals in it. I personally would peg the average income of fun jumpers at my DZ at $75,000 and they are usually single or married without children. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Well, you could go all the way to the deck. If ya wanted to... the SIM states 1,000 because that is a reasonable minimum safe altitude to cut away AND get a reserve out. You can always take it lower but as someone pointed out the odds go down the lower you go. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I never pulled below 2,00ft. I have pulled very near it a number of times in my AFFI course; it was designed such that the candidates begin tracking off at about 3,000 feet and must get sufficient separation before deploying. Unfortunately, my canopy take 800 feet to open so pulling at 2,200ish feet saddles me out (per my Pro Track) at around 1,400 or 1,500 feet. I spent a week of my life pulling just above 2k and saddling out around 1,500. I got comfortable with it but never liked doing it! I pull at 3,000 routinely, which saddles me out around 2,200. This gives me a little time before my hard deck of 1,800. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

This baffles me. How could you be considered a "member of the scientific community" if the best you can come up with is: Fuck, I don't know. This is too complicated for me to understand, so I give up. God must have done it. LOL! Good one! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

An excellent idea! I used to celebrate with a 12-day festival of renewal, designed to help the god Marduk tame the monsters of chaos for one more year. But My Mesopotamian ways became unpopular once the Romans took over the hood. So once Emperor Aurelian established December 25 as the birthday of the "Invincible Sun" in the third century as part of the Roman Winter Solstice celebrations I swung that way. Then after the Romans fell out of favor and the Europeans were more popular I took up celebrating “Yule”, from the Norse, Jul, meaning wheel; the start of the solar year - a celebration of light and the rebirth of the Sun. Today, many people in Western-based cultures refer to this holiday as "Christmas." Hell, maybe I’ll just go buy some crap and give it to my friends and family…which was an idea started by merchants in the 1820’s to increase sales. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Hum... what section? The section you should have read before you got your license. Note: I just noticed you are not in the US. The US SIM is free and is chalked full of good info. You can download it here: http://www.uspa.org/publications/manuals.htm Here is the section on partial malfunctions: partial malfunction Note: On single-operation systems, pulling the reserve ripcord releases the main canopy first before deploying the reserve. Partial malfunction procedures for a single-operation system (SOS) are the same as for a total malfunction. 1. Check altitude. 2. Return to the arch position. 3. Ripcord systems only: Discard the main ripcord. 4. Locate and grasp the cutaway handle. 5. Locate the reserve ripcord handle. 6. Pull the cutaway handle until no lower than 1,000 feet. 7. Pull the reserve ripcord handle immediately after cutting away or by 1,000 feet, regardless of stability, to initiate reserve deployment. 8. Arch and check over the right shoulder for reserve pilot chute deployment. 9. Do not cut away below 1,000 feet. a. If a malfunction procedure has not resolved the problem by then, deploy the reserve (requires a cutaway with an SOS system). b. In the event of any malfunction and regardless of the planned procedure or equipment, the reserve ripcord must be pulled by no lower than 1,000 feet. ---------------------------------------------- "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I suggest you read the SIM. It talks to this. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Hell, I'm happy if a student responds to one signal. I actually had a first jump student last week think my PULL signal was me pointing at the cameraman and trying to get the student to smile for the camera! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

That’s what I love about skydiving, the confidence one builds from overcoming challenges. This one little one will lead to hundreds more. Just think about how you will feel after your first 100 way! Good job on reacting to and solving a problem! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

What were you taught as a student about the minimum distance the slider needs to be down? Did you follow that information or deviate from it? And more importantly why? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

....and a lot of people cannot count. Shark…leave it to and Elsinore guy to hit the nail on the head. That's the problem with timing separation is people can’t count reliably especially newer jumpers who are excited in the door. The problem is magnified the longer the count is. I don’t trust a guy with 50 jumps to count to 10 and give me an honest 10 seconds. He’s perception of 10 seconds is probably more like 5. It’s not his fault; hell, I was that guy at 50 jumps too. It’s human nature. Someone commented that the 45 degree rule does nothing more than to get people to look out the door and try and figure out what 45 degrees looks like - and that alone takes 5 or 6 seconds. Bingo! If I want a 6 count from a new jumper going out after me, I stand a better chance of getting it by having him stare at my group and try and judge 45 degrees. That will take him a good 5 or 6 seconds. If I want an honest 12 seconds and have an experienced group going after me I stand a better chance of getting it by them counting. Here’s my opinion, neither system is perfect and both have flaws, one has technical problems the other has human problems. Personally, I think timing is a technically superior method but you can’t just rule out the human factor… "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Personally, I think it is attractive to a certain segment of the female population. It’s the “danger guy” thing. Of course all depends on how you present it. Downplaying it is usually the best method. ;-) Unfortunately, when they figure out that you can’t see them on weekends because you’re jumping it becomes decidedly problematic. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Congratulations Armando!

Quotewhen they ask "Would you like a Valium?" ... the correct answer is: "Absolutely!" Quote That is good advice anytime! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

The only way to answer this is to test for yourself different methods in varying conditions. You can use the accuracy trick to determine what inputs give you the most distance. I always thought rear risers would give me the most distance with a long upwind spot. It turns out very deep brakes actually gives me the most distance. I know this because I can see the difference in my landing point! I think the best thing I ever did for understanding my canopy was to take Scott Millers canopy control class. He doesn’t tell you how things work he makes you go do things in the air that demonstrate how things work. You learn by doing! Blues, R "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Hmm, maybe I need to plan a skydiving, um I mean BUSINESS trip out to sunny Southern Cal. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Now you're just being silly... "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP