Beatnik

I don't think JumpShack's base rig will generate any significant increase in business for riggers. They really want the BaseR to be used with the Pop-Top. Let's face it, there are a lot of riggers that don't want to pack Racers. That doesn't mean that is the only reserve they are going to use with this system but I don't think this system is going to get that many BASE jumpers switching over for a system like this. Or for that matter being recommended for new BASE jumpers. I could be wrong on this but there are many great companies that only specialize in BASE equipment that I think people will have a hard time turning away from.

I think that you are missing the point. Doing 30 jumps on a canopy is not a lot. Under controlled conditions I am sure that you or anyone else will be able to land their parachute in a safe manner. It is when things don't go as planned that you have to worry about things. Ever have someone cut you off on final or walk onto the landing area right before you are going to land? Probably doesn't matter if you are doing a nice slow landing but if you are coming in hot and have 1-2 seconds or less to make a decision of what to do. People have to be able to fly their canopies in all situations not just a few selected ones. This is what it is all about surviving and when people build a false sense of confidence that is when things start getting dangerous. I think that there are a lot of dzo's that simple want to make money and don't enforce the rules like they should to help protect there jumpers. In fact I have seen the exact thing happen where they were scared of pushing away their jumpers if they try and enforce the rules. With all the commercial operations going on, I don't believe a safety officer is doing much or can anymore. If they tear into someone for breaking the rules or ground someone, the dzo can pull the "it's my dropzone, I can do things the way I feel fit" crap, Maybe at a non-commercial dz it works well but I have seen too many dzo's over rule safety officer advice because they own the place.

LMAO

Rodriguez Parachute Systems made the R2's and R2^2. The R2^2 is operated by one hand similar to how a 3-ring system is routed. The only rig that I know of that has/had the R2^2 release system on it was a system they built called The Solution. I don't know if it really was the solution to anything but it is a very interesting rig for the day. If anyone has one tucked away that they wouldn't mind parting with send me a PM. I have been looking for one for a little while now.

The Para-Sled was another and I think the first three-line group canopy produced circa 1972.

This came up a little while ago with myself and some of my rigger friends. We emailed the manufacturer and got an answer that Wrap-It links aren't TSO'd and Precision also said that there aren't any links that are. This I found interesting. If you look at Rapide links, they have no TSO markings. Not sure about SLinks, I would have to look at my reserve when I repack it.

IMHO this wasn't only caused by the dzo you are indicating. There was another fatality at a CSPA dropzone in 97 I believe that caused a great deal of trouble. The details of the fatality are quite shocking and to me personally disgusting. The whole jump was handled so poorly it caused a death. Regarding the regulations: I personally feel that this could have been resolved a long time ago. However, when transport was talking about regulating the aircraft, there was a dropzone owner and his business partner that were for it. They figured that dropzones would close and they would get more business. Quite frankly the way the whole thing has been handled is personally disgusting to me and the inner workings of this leave me at a loss for words. The same people that were for it when Transport started talking about it in 1998 are now against it because they can see now that it can adversely affect their business. What is happening here and tried to happen in the past is that these individuals want CSPA to do the work so they don't have to and nothing can come back on them. They have been trying to use the association to better their business and take away from the members. I personally believe that these regulations are coming and there is nothing that we can do about it. In my region I was mentioning it to all my members and no one took part in anything. Instead they decided to blow me off and said it doesn't affect them. Now that it is coming into affect people are running in fear. There is a lot in the background that is not being brought out and a couple individuals want it that way because if it did, their true faces and motives would be shown. Plus it might show the some of the other reasons why this has been coming forward. Personally I am happy work prevented me from running for a director position again this term because I want to be nowhere around this thing when it becomes law. After I am posted and this is law, that is another matter.

Just guessing about this, but there was probably a second person in the air for backup just in case something happened.

For me its all vintage uses. No customers just my own gear. But that keeps me more than current with all my gear. Other than vintage, I can't really think of anything else it would be used for currently.

Since you are asking what people think, my personal opinion is that you have no business under a parachute with a loading like that. Right now since you are not able to take anyone's advice and seem to be looking to find some way of justifying jumping a parachute at that loading confirms it. From your profile you are doing about 55 jumps a year. What is going to happen when you aren't current under this parachute? I don't personally believe that you will get current under this parachute doing that number of jumps a year. They are spread out and you won't gain anything from jumping it. You will only lose. You should go back to your previous loading and get some more jumps under your belt and try to get a little more current and do more jumps every year. If you want to talk about currency with me please do. I have done almost as many jumps as you have in a 24 hour period. But judging on the way you are reacting to all of this, you will try to sell it to your self that you are able to handle this parachute. A false sense of confidence will bring you nothing positive in this sport. Think about living and safe yourself now before it is too late.

I have had four knee injuries, three on the right and one on the left. They added up to a grand total of 23 months of physiotherapy, over a year of not walking, 6 different knee braces, walking with a cane for 18 months and the list goes on. I continue to jump quite regularly and do a lot of round and vintage jumps without any real issues. The best thing that you can really do for your knee is use it in a lot of low impact exercises such as a stationary bike like another poster mentioned, elliptical trainers, etc.. Other things that you will need to do is strengthen the leg itself as that much of a lay off has had to cause a great deal of atrophy. Any staff member at your local gym should be able to give you a program to strengthen your leg. Other things to consider would be your cardio system, it will have suffered a great impacted and you will find that you aren’t going to have the same endurance that you had before. To get those muscles around your knee, a lot of balancing exercises are necessary. As for jumping with braces, I have done it and it doesn’t really work well. Having the brace on and trying to move smoothly is difficult and many times you can irate things more. Braces restrict movement and sometimes it isn’t always the movement that you are trying to avoid. They move around under jumpsuits and can be hard to adjust when it a plane. If you have a physiotherapist, I would speak to them regarding your brace. They may say that it is required for running but they most likely mean a distance greater than that required in a landing. Many physiotherapists have a lot of impact exercises that will help with skydiving and recouping. Feel free to PM me if you need more information. The last knee injury I had, the doctors and physiotherapists started to ask for my diagnoses of the issue. I got a good laugh out of it but I am getting to be pretty good with my own knee injuries.

The first two points are something that someone with experience would think about or know. An inexperienced jumper wouldn't think that the tie could slap you in the face or that it could entangle in the lines. Look at how many students don't come dressed appropriately when doing their first jump. The third point is the same thing that I was thinking of. However, being a clip on tie, I would believe that the tie would come off before it was able to you suspend your weight and hang you. With a normal tie I would completely agree that it could hang you, with a clip on, I wouldn't.

Isn't that something that this parachute that is getting close to the 40 year mark is comparable to some of today's. I think that is pretty amazing. I was pretty shocked with the flight. Nothing like my Para-Sled.

Why waste the money repairing a hole that doesn't need repairing? If you can't fit your figure through the hole it won't need repairing and really won't affect anything. If it gets larger, which I can't see any reason it would if it is being packed properly and not abused, then patch it. Also, being about 3 inches apart is getting close together once you start patching. The person doing it might just do one patch and then you are left with one big one in the reserve and judging by the description, it doesn't need them in the first place.

Mine had the red heat shrink but I relined it and replaced it with black. I was having a hard time finding red heat shrink in a size big enough to fit over the lines. When I got the canopy, there was more work than was originally mentioned. The canopy was shortlined by 8 ft., The reefing system was gone, the nose was pleated, the deployment bag was butchered, the rear risers were about an 1 inch shorter than the front and the list goes on. However, the canopy was like new. There wasn't even a flake of black off the Para-Plane logo. The canopy I was told had about 40 jumps and then the owner didn't like the openings or the parachute anymore so it sat for thirty some years. With the help of several dz.com'ers, I got my hands on a manual which revealed a lot about the parachute I didn't know. Then the work began. I removed all the mods and put the reefing system back on. It actually has the Para-Plane Cloud reefing system and not the original Para-Plane system. After looking through the Poynter Manual it seemed to be a little simpler and recommended it for use with a swivel. Then I relined it to the original specs that I got and the canopy sat there for a long time. The canopy retaining strap in the deployment bag really held me up for a long time and I was searching for such a long time and then in late November I got the last piece I needed. I started out with just a canopy and went searching for almost a year before I had all information to restore it. It seems now I don't do rigging for anyone else. I have a very limited client base now because restoring and keeping the history alive is much more of my passion. Plus my reserves keep me current enough. If anyone has some old gear that they would like a good home for, PM me. I can pretty much guarantee that it will see the sky again.

It is not that bad in turns. Nothing like today's canopies in turns. The blue canopy in the photo is a Sabre 170 and our decent rate was about the same. The forward speed was noticeably different. I did a normal landing pattern and didn't think anything of it. Compared to a PC, well it can't. But if you are used to that type of parachute doing turns under this would give you some trouble. I think when it came out in the late 60's, early 70's it was no exaggeration with today's canopy flying it is nothing to worry about. I have only jumped the Para-Plane this one time, but doing low turns under my Paradactyl would scare me more than this parachute. My Para-Sled doesn't compare to this parachute at all. This was actually a pleasure to jump.

Good old rings 'n' ropes or is it ropes 'n' rings When I received the canopy, someone made a slider for it. I just couldn't use it and what an awful fate for the parachute it was made from.

Yesterday, I did my first jump of the year. What better way to bring in the new year than with a Para-Plane. After a long restoration process, I finally completed this project at the beginning of the second week in December. I would like to thank all of the those that helped me with the restoration. If it wasn't for the information that I got from all of you this would still be on the project list. There wasn't anything too exciting about the jump other than a brisk deceleration and some line twists. Other than that, the canopy flew fine and was quick different from the usually canopies I jump. Next jump on it, the pictures will be better. Good help is hard to find. I still have a few more parachutes to get photos of and should have quite a few updates throughout the year. Cheers!

I would say about $100 there are a lot of Paracommanders out there. Some people give them away sometimes. Had to check in a couple of sources but if it has 19ft lines it looks like it has been shortlined about 3 ft.

Parachutes like this are worth what people are willing to pay for them. Usually you won't have a problem getting $100 - $150 for them. But to the right buyer you might get more for them.

It is kind of hard to tell from the photos but if Steve Adams built it then it is a Green Star rig as the rest of the description fits. Judging by the top flap of the main container it looks like a Trac-II. I have one (black with gold trim) in pretty much new condition (none of the integral harness stitching removed). If I ever find anything to put in it, as this one has a small main pack tray, it might go into the circulation. And yes, I am very aware of the problems these rigs had when the stitching was removed to take off or remove the shoulder pads.

I was trying to answer a lot in one post. Bad form on my part. Sorry about that. I completely agree with knowing the risks before hand. I am not for some jumper picking up a rig putting it on and thinking they can handle it and would never tell anyone to do something like. Do as I say and not as I do, unfortunately, comes to mind. When I am done restoring or jumping a canopy I end up doing that but I take precautions when testing a canopy I haven't jumped before. This article as much as I like it just made it seem like this guy isn't that current under the gear. I love that he is a fellow vintage gear collector and he quite possibly is current under these parachutes, but the more I read it the more to me it sounds like this doesn't happen often. Especially the part about making it an annual event. If these parachutes are being jumped it is important to try and stay current under them. Just because they can't fly 90 mph like todays parachutes doesn't mean that you can ignore what is going on. I am much more focus when landing some of the vintage parachutes than my modern main. I am guilty of using the same reserve, in fact I have three of them that I use. However, the mods where done and the gear was together when I got them, I really didn't see a need to not use them. They aren't my first choice when it comes to my reserves and they usually just is there. I have other ones I would rather use. There is no thrill and nothing fun in a terminal reserve opening with a canopy that has nothing to stage the opening. However, the one time I do use them is when I jump my T10. The chances of have to use it with a T10 static lined is very slim.

I don't know if I really agree with the don't try this at home disclaimer. Maybe something like with proper training and it can be done. I think it should be mentioned what training they have on it. I jump vintage gear all the time and I mean all the time. There was a time this year where I was much more current under vintage gear then my Safire 2. As far as I know I did more vintage gear jumps this year than anyone else in Canada did (little over 100). I am a perfect example that just because the gear was around before I were born doesn't mean that they don't have training on. However, that said the article did sound like this wasn't a very frequent thing. WRT the repaired part, I think it really depends on what kind of repair. If it was just a patch or something small like that, I really don't think a test jump is necessary, that is (if the jumper has jumped the canopy before). I am ending up doing a lot of repairs and restoration on vintage, so much in fact that it is almost the only rigging I do anymore. Something I consider small I don't see a reason to do a solo jump on it to see if it works. Some of the bigger repairs and/or restorations, I strap on a tertiary, more for psychological reasons than anything. Those jumps are isolated to minimize distractions. I personally enjoyed the article and think that it was great to get some of the history of the sport out there. I didn't like that it sounded like this guy has some gear that comes out once in a while and it sounded like the currency factor was out the window with this gear.

Sign me up for that. It looks like it would be a blast.

Some guy on the prairies, come on Rob. Here is a picture of it jumped and not too long ago. That Thunderbow I got off your boss is more of a show stopper then the Delta II. That slider is a paradactyl slider. It also had half a nose slider for a paradactyl in the bag.