mrobiette

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Gear

  • Main Canopy Other
    Lightning143/Diablo120
  • Reserve Canopy Other
    PD143/Techno128

Jump Profile

  • Home DZ
    Langar, UK
  • License
    D
  • Licensing Organization
    BPA
  • Number of Jumps
    1700
  • Years in Sport
    18
  • First Choice Discipline
    CReW
  • First Choice Discipline Jump Total
    600
  • Second Choice Discipline
    Formation Skydiving
  • Second Choice Discipline Jump Total
    1000
  1. We had some 'interesting' landings on our team while getting used to our CF Storm 107's (loaded around 1.9), and getting out of the habits of 100's if not 1000's of nice friendly soft Lightning landings... Here's the advice from Chris Gay that we found worked best for us... Start with a long gradual 90deg front riser carve to build up speed, smoothly come off the risers to keep the speed up, wait a second for the canopy to recover then give the toggles a distinct sharp 'pop' to half flare (ie level out but not stop or stall - practice up high to find the sweet spot), hold level while the canopy gradually slows down and then finish the flare trying to keep the canopy above you and not collapsing behind. When you start doing this you'll need a while to dial in, we found that we had to gradually lower our first flare motion as we got so much power out of it we kept ending up too high - although probably better to start a bit high and work down rather than the other way round... Also be prepared to wait a lot longer than a Lightning for the canopy to slow down (let it fly if it wants to, don't try to make it stop too soon), and wear smooth soled shoes! Hope that helps... Martin
  2. Great, glad I could help, and that you are enjoying CRW so much! Sounds like you are going about things the right way, just take it steady and as you get more experience you will get a better feel for what you can get away with and what you can't! And if you get the chance, try to get to one of the CRW camps to really get some good experience and coaching - the crwdog mailing list is the best place to hear about that stuff and also get advice (Wendy - have you got the details handy?) Cheers, Martin
  3. Ditto - there were 2 jumpers at our dz who took leg locks, then when the tension increased they couldn't get them apart and they ended up downplaning into the runway. Very fortunately they both survived but were both severely messed up and took a while to walk (and jump) again. We tend to hold onto each others legs with our hands/arms, then all you have to do is let go to release the grip. I have also seen it done by one jumper wrapping his legs round the others waist, but can't comment on that method personally. Downplanes are great fun, but be careful - it is always better to release too early than too late... Martin
  4. OK, here's a few comments: 1. Stairstep docks are usually made from the front to give a stable formation, but in competition the point is also allowed if it is made from the side. Neither should cause an immediate wrap if made gently, but as previously mentioned the lower jumper should be ready to apply outside front riser if necessary to stabilise his canopy. 2. Outside front riser will actually tend to make the canopy turn down and away from the dock, therefore increasing tension and preventing the canopy rising up and turning in which is one of the causes of a wrap. Ideally it should just be used to stabilise the docking and then backed off, but this depends on the compatibility of the canopies and wing loadings 3. Yes, CRW canopies all have de-cascaded centre and corner A-lines to make dockings easier and safer, and also make it easier to get your foot out (as you've found!). What canopies are you using for these stairstep docks? If they are not specific CRW canopies, eg 9-cells, that might be the reason you got a sudden wrap as they will be much less stable for wing dockings. 4. Also with stairstep docks, the upper jumper has to take care to keep his body and canopy straight when taking the dock, it can be very easy to lean into the lower canopy without realising (especially if taking with a hand rather than foot takes), which can make the lower jumper think he has caused the wrap when in fact its not his fault. Video helps here! The golden rule for stairsteps (in addition to the points above) is to be gentle, lose your momentum before the docking, and don't manhandle the canopies around too much, especially if they are not proper CRW canopies. Also keep flying your canopy! Don't relax just because you have successfully docked - keep watching and evaluating how you are flying relative to the other canopy(ies) Hope this all helps and makes sense, Martin
  5. There is a crw competition at Langar this weekend (16/17), so although most people will be busy with that if you are around it might be a good opportunity to stop by and have a chat when there are a bunch of crw jumpers in one place. Cheers, Martin
  6. The tertiarys I've heard about are generally a round on a long single bridle attachment - the idea being that if you are wrapped up and can't get clear you find a hole and chuck it through hoping it will find some clear air to inflate and lower you and the mess to a survivable (if not pleasant) landing. I think this might be similar to paragliders, but don't know for sure never having done paragliding. The ones I've seen have been packed in a fairly flat front mount, but whatever you have its going to add an extra snag point so its a judgement call.
  7. I had some neoprene offcuts lying around that I originally got from a place that made/repaired wetsuits and kayak spraydecks (not sure what thickness, I'd guess maybe about 5mm?). It worked perfectly, cut to size and slid into the existing legstraps of an old Vector II with no padding - took about 10 mins with a rigger who unpicked the end stitching and then sewed it back up. Several hundred CRW jumps later, many from 12K and/or team training, my rig is still very comfortable to use all day/weekend/week - and it was a hell of a lot cheaper and easier than ordering some new spacer foam pads. On a previous old rig I got some new leg strap pads made up by a local rigger, which were also excellent. I would say it depends on how new/expensive your rig is as to whether its worth getting new parts from the manufacturer - they are nice (especially if you want a good colour match), but by no means essential for functionality. Of course I guess it also depends on availability of a good local rigger... Martin
  8. There have been at least 2 incidents over the last few years here in the UK that I know of where someone has caught their Teardrop poptop on the door on exit. One broke the loop and resulted in a reserve ride from 13K, the other didn't deploy the reserve but subsequent examination on the ground revealed the impact had bent the reserve pin.
  9. Thanks for putting this back up bill. She is not forgotten - her memorial page is still live, and people are still contributing: http://www.crwdiva.org/taz-memorial/ Last Sunday was her birthday, and also the weekend of the Brit Chicks record attemps. Her family helped to sponsor them, and her mother and sister did tandems on the sunset load. The chicks sang happy birthday to her and there was an amazing Taz birthday cake. Other things that have happened over the last few months - there is a new BPA "Taz Causer Skydiver of the Year Award", which was awarded for the first time to...Taz Causer! She was also awarded a Royal Aero Club bronze medal for her amazing achievements over the previous year, which Gavin collected on her behalf (http://www.royalaeroclub.org/award06.htm) We will all miss her in Empuriabrava this weekend when the next CFWR selection camp starts. Blue skies Taz, wish you were here, it won't be the same without you... Martin
  10. You're welcome - it was fun! Just a shame about the weather cos it would have been good to do a couple more, look forward to next time... And Plastic - yup I realised afterwards I should have mentioned foot-takes, so we watched the Russian DVD in the bar for some tips (on taking dockings that is, not 300' canopy transfers and paradactyl reserves!) Cheers, and welcome to CRW! Martin
  11. I think that was one of the long-distance proving flights, with Airbus employees on board one of the flight test aircraft (hence the instrumentation). There was a lottery for places on those, but I can't help wondering how many (or few!) of the applications came from engineers... Is it just me, or does the girl in A380-2.jpg look like Kaylee from Firefly? Just where did they get to on those flights?!!
  12. I seem to remember that in Terry Parson's (?) classic book on CRW from the 80's, he specifically states that colouring lines with marker pens is not a good idea because it tends to come off onto yours and your mates shoes/jumpsuit/rig etc. He was talking about Dacron of course, but i'd imagine the same would apply to Spectra. (This is in the same section where he recommends making up your own coloured A-lines out of climbing cord!) I don't have a copy handy to check though - can anybody confirm it? Martin
  13. PCLinuxOS For all the same reasons as the Ubuntu post, plus this version of Linux just seems to work really well without a lot of the messing around that other and/or older versions needed. A nice touch is that it downloads as a live CD (for free), so you can try it out without having to install anything. I do keep a dual boot with XP for the odd times I need it, but that's less and less these days.
  14. Damn, don't tempt me! I have a Diablo 120 for freefall (and maybe the occaisional cheeky 2-stack afterwards - but don't try this at home folks!) and love it, don't know what I'm going to get when it wears out. Like the previous poster, it would be nice to have a spare in the closet....if only there weren't so many events on this year If you still have it next year, maybe I'll get in touch... Martin