Velopilot

So how many days of jumping were there this year. I heard the weather sucked?

What if USPA didn't exist? Would we be better off or not?

Remove it where it settles then slide the rings all the way down.

I take Joe's RDS to terminal all the time and have no problems whatsoever. In fact I think it opens better than the stock slider. I do realize this post has nothing to do with the topic at hand. My apologies.

You need to take this post over to canopypiloting.com in the Ground Launch forum. You'll get some good feedback there.

Sure does suck to be you. That doesn't look like any fun whatsoever. I'm so glad I live where there are no hills and no oppourtunities to do anything remotely close to swooping down hills and being bored all day long.

I wasn't trying to tell the man to take his canopy to terminal with his slider collapsed. He'd mentioned leaving it collapsed for a hop n pop and I did comment "there is only one way to find out." However, I agree with you in that this is not a very well written statement and can be interpreted to be dangerous advice so I retract it. I should say if you are thinking about doing a hop n pop with your slider collapsed put some thought into it, and ask others for their input. Personally I don't think it would be a very dangerous attempt at low speeds. I'd make sure the excess lines were stowed or taped up neatly to prevent any chance of slider hang up. And if I had the opportunity to try it out of a 182 before a faster turbine I would. If you are trying to film a team then I'd refer to Tonto's statement: I think tossing a slider stowed 9 cell eliptical into the mix is a less than perfect idea.

I got in a rush a few years back and left my slider collapsed, on accident, while I was packing my Stiletto 120. Normal skydive, terminal deployment, and it opened slow, soft, and on heading like it always did. Nothing about that opening was different than normal. However it could have been a complete fluke. Your talking about doing it on a hop n pop on a different canopy so there is only one way to find out. If you're looking for instant canopy just have someone pilot chute assist you and get out in a sit. It works awesome.

OOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!!!! You won't get me with that one again AggieDave.

Yep, I did that and it still isn't working. I'll have to get my wife the computer genius to help me out. Thanks though.

anyone else having problems downloading this vid. I get the Quicktime logo with a question mark over it.

I agree completely. I'd be pissed if I had to pay for that stupid barrier. Now paying to install an elevator that would take these people all the way to the top so they can get the job done right the first time wouldn't be a bad idea. Then all the BASE jumpers could hide there rigs and get free jumps for posing like suicidal maniacs. Just kidding about the elevator to help people kill themselves. I'm not that heartless.................or am I.

Freeflyn, my opening's have been better. This slider tends to hang up at the cascade points longer but never appears as though it wants to get out of control and spin me up. Cessna, Joe told me that all the sliders are the same size. I had only 10 jumps on the tape and grommet set up before Joe shipped me the newer rings. I never had a problem with them snagging anything or floating back up my risers in a dive like I had heard some people say had happened to them before. Originally I had contacted PD about the tendency for my canopy to want to spin up. They told me that it was a common tendency for Velo's and at the time that the factory team was jumping bigger sliders and they sent me one. When I measured it against my stock slider the new one was only 1 inch longer and 1 inch wider. It made a big difference and the canopy didn't want to search so much on openings. When I got Joe's system it measured about 7 inches longer and 5 inches wider than the stock slider. It's pretty close to the size of a pillow case. Overall my opening characteristics have dramatically improved. It's spun me up once on a sub-term opening but it was a "race to make the next load, trash pack," along with a little "Hey my left shoulder is way low, I think I'll dump now" kinda jump.

I've got my Velo 96 rigged up with one from Joe B. I take it to terminal all the time with no problems. Whether it's the full system or I've reattached the d-bag to the top skin, I always pull the slider off. It's totally worth the extra time on the pack job. They definitely make an outstanding product.

Well thats about one of the most detailed responses to a post that I've ever gotten back. That was the standard. This part here sums it up pretty good and I thank you again for such a detailed response. When to go for toggles and when to go for risers? Basically here is my personal rule for that: If I open and I am flying at a wall and my body starts tensing up for immanent impact then I go for risers, otherwise I tend to go for toggles. “Oh sh*t, whimper" on opening = risers. "Uh Oh, I'm looking at wall" = toggles