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Hi Michael, Thank you for the great idea! This would add alot of detail to the project. It offers a more detailed explaination of why there would be a change in vertical velocity. The pictures would make it more visually understandable too. Sounds Like I may have to do more jumps to get the pics right. Damn the bad luck...LOL. 8-) Thanks again for the idea! Stuart & Robert

Hi Darkwing, It's a fun project for me because I "have to jump" several times to complete it. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it! What we are looking to show with this project is the different positions cause a speed differential. We are not trying to say the differential from belly to sit will always be 41.4 mph etc. We are just trying to show that there is and increase in speed from belly to sit, and from sit to head down. The pro-track graphs are just to 'spice it up' a bit with some real data to show we actually did the experiment (jumps). Thank you for pointing out that there will be inconsistencies in our readings. It would have been extremely frustrating to try to come up with an exact number (speed differential) between the positions. Too many variables. (especially with the way I sit fly! LOL). Thanks again! Stuart & Robert

Hi Gary, Thank you very much for the helpful article! That is exactly what we need. I found it interesting that you had to go thru so much for the 'dampening' to get accurate readings. I had no idea it was such a complicated issue. You certainly had alot of creative solutions and put tremendous time into finding solutions. We are hoping to find two more articles long these lines that we can use as references to complete the research portion of the project. Thanks again for your help! Stuart & Robert

Congratulations on making the decision to skydive and following thru on it! You have a great attitude and determination that will get you far. One suggestion, if you are going to practice PLFs (which is a great idea!) you may want to consider padding your 'landing area'. This is the one GOOD use for the mattress from the fold-out-couch. Take the mattress out and put it on the floor to 'land' on. Another possible pad would be blankets/comforters. You can really hurt yourself if you are doing PLFs over and over without much padding. I'd hate to see you too sore to jump next weekend! Take care and remember to smile for the cameras! Stuart

Hello, my name is Stuart. I am already a licensed skydiver (C, SL-I, IAD-I). I am trying to help my step-son (13 y.o.) with a science fair project. He loves watching skydivers and wants to do a skydiving related project. We are comparing freefall vertical speed as it is influenced by body position. I am going to do 2 jumps belly to earth, 2 sitting, and 2 head down. These will be recorded on my Pro-Track and printed out. What we need to find right now is at least 3 articles pertaining to freefall speed in the different positions. I have been searching all over the net, but not finding anything. Please help this aspiring future skydiver! Thank you for any help you can give us! Stuart and Robert.

Hello again, I have a PC1000 I am putting into a Sidewinder helmet (with a built-in box) originally built for a PC7. The box is too large for the new camera. Not huge, but not tight enough to hold the camera in place in freefall. I will also have to make an adapter block because the old mount screw was in the forward corner and the new one is more centered. Any advise on how to do this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Stuart

What is the part number for the .6 sony lens? I can't seem to find it on Sony's site. Will it accept a filter? I would like to put a clear one on it just to protect it. Another stupid question; what kind of tape do you use for the outside of the lens? The heat out here is a killer! Good old duct tape melts in a hurry. Thanks again for the answers! Stuart

Thanks to everyone for replying. I have a ton to learn about jumping with a video camera. Mostly how to use it. You know, the technical stuff like "how to turn it on" etc. Does anyone have suggestions for settings to get me started? Thanks again for the help! Stuart

Hello Guys and Gals, I recently bought a PC1000 and would like to start shooting video on my jumps. I bought the camera used and it came with a Tokina .45X AF Digital Wide Angle Lens with Macro. Is anyone familiar with this lens and is it suitable for skydiving? I've read on here that ia .45 would only be good for close in work, but I'm planning to use it while I am doing RW anyway. Not looking for that killer perfect money making video, just recording what happened during the daily funnel. I will be using a Sidewinder helmet and probably a Hypeye. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time. Stuart.

That's a great idea. I didn't know they were making the Sidewinder anymore. I love the helmet and would hate to have to replace it. Thank you for the idea! Stuart

I'm just getting started with video. I have a Sidewinder helmet originally set up for a PC7. I need to get a camera for it. The PC1000 fit snugly but at $1000+ (if you can find one!) it's a bit too expensive for starting out. Is there another camera that isn't too expensive and will fit this helmet? Or, should I get something entirely different? My concerns are safety, convenience, picture quality, and cost. A friend recently bought a Sanyo that uses a card instead of tape but it doesn't look like I can put a different lens on it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm starting to get frustrated with all the different options out there since I don't have any experience of my own to guide me. I don't want to buy junk and have to replace it right away. Thanks for your help! Stuart

***A good place to start is Pointer's Parachute Manual, Vol. I & II. Thank you Sparky! I'll try to find these. Stuart

***A canopy deployment does not consist of just a single factor. It is a dynamic event and involves many actions happening very quickly. Changing one will affect the outcome of the others. Don’t try to over simplify it. It must be analyzed in its entirety. This is exactly what I would like to learn. Where can I find information on all the events involved in deployment? I would like to have a much better understanding of the events and their cause/effect relationship. I know there are MANY variables involved and finding out about them has proven difficult so far. Is there any resources out there such as books, websites, etc.? Thank you for your help. Stuart.

But just from reading your post I would guess that a 150 anything is too small for you to be on. Admittedly, the 150 was too small for me. I was jumping alot at the time and thought I could handle it. I didn't have any problems with it, but I can see where it was a bit much for me. I would like to stay with the 170 for a while and learn to fly it to it's potential. I really like how it flies! I'm going to get the older 170 relined so I will have two rigs with the same canopies in them like I did with the Sabre 190s. I still jump a 190 when I first get to a new dropzone or it's been a while since I last jumped. Then I jump the 170. I stand up my landings and land where I set out to land. I did ask my old instructor about jumping the 170 and he OK'd it before I started on it. I haven't had any trouble flying or landing the canopies, just surviving the openings. I would like to learn as much as possible about opening sequence and what affects it. Thank you for any input you can give me. Stuart

I will not jump those two canopies again until they are relined (I have a few canopies). I'm stupid, but not suicidal. The Stiletto 170 I'm jumping now is a newer one. It has less than 200 jumps on it and my rigger is checking the lines on it just to be sure. The older Stiletto 170 and 150 are going back to PD to be relined. Thank you for the input, Bob. Stuart

The variables are many; a smaller PC will produce less snatch force but may increase opening shock. A larger canopy may increase snatch force but reduce opening force and on and on. I hope this helps. ---------------- This brings up a point that is close to home for me... I have been fighting a hard opening problem for a while now. I was jumping Sabre 1 190s (2 different canopies/rigs) and kept getting hard openings. It got so bad that I became afraid to throw my PC because I didn't know how bad it was going to hurt each time. I tried working with different packers to help my openings but most of them were still painful. The answer I got most often was "Of course it hurts...you're jumping a Sabre". Not much help. I started jumping Stilettos. First a 170 them a 150. I noticed the 170 seemed to fly funny in brakes and didn't have much flare. (I later found out the outer lines were shrunk 8.5 inches). The 150 was VERY shaky when in brakes. It would seem to try to turn one way then the other until I released the brakes. My openings were inconsistant. Most were still quite firm though. Not too long after starting on the 150 I had a spinning opening that I should have cut, but didn't because I had opened very high (4500'). I spun so hard that my shoes got tight and painful and my vision started to come in from the sides (tunnel vision you get shortly before blackout). I managed to release my brakes and pull them which slowed the dive then kick like hell to get out of the twists. Got to the ground (and cleaned out my underwear) then repacked SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY. Much to my surprise, the next opening didn't spin at all. Instead, it opened so hard I tore up the muscles in my neck and upper back so bad I couldn't jump for 2 months. I took this canopy to my rigger and asked him why it was trying to kill me. We measured the outside lines and they were shrunk 7 3/4 inches. I am currently switching between one of my Sabre 1 190's and a new Stiletto 170. Depends on where I am jumping and how recently I've jumped. Mostly I jump the 170. Where I was headed with all this is; I am using zero-p pilot chutes and I am wondering if they may be contributing to my hard openings? If anyone has any other thoughts I am VERY willing to listen to them. I have been very careful with my body position/speed before I throw and I propack. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you for your time. Stuart Tucson, Az

I started out on Mantas as a student, but wanted my own gear. I was jumping a 280 and it kept me from being able to jump if there was any wind. (not enough forward speed). My first canopy was a 193 Lightening. This is a CREW canopy designed to open quickly with low air speed right after exit. It SPANKED me hard enough to bruise my ribs and make me sore in places I didn't know I had! I guess they weren't kidding when they said not to use it for terminal openings! Rolling the nose 4-4 toward the middle tightly, pulling the slider way out the front and SLOWING as much as possible after tracking helped alot, but it was still not using the canopy for it's intended purpose. I got the opportunity to buy a Sabre 190 with less than 50 jumps on it at a good price so I bought it. This was the canopy my instructor reccomended for me. In the beginning, I had some very brisk openings and asked for advice from instructors, riggers and other jumpers that had many jumps on Sabres. The firm openings were being caused by my pack jobs. I wasn't rolling the nose or pulling out the slider. My canopy came to me with an oversized (actually appropriately sized!) slider with stainless grommets. I started to roll the nose 4-4 tightly all the way to the tabs. (the side labels were partially rolled in). This slowed my openings way down (1000 feet) but the openings still seemed too firm. I started to pull my slider out all 4 sides ("T" out front, back, and both sides) before pulling the tails around and closing and this helped alot. Next step was to try "T"ing the slider then pulling much of it way out the front. GREAT openings, buit sniveled way too long...1000-1200 feet openings. To speed up the openings I rolled the noses less and less. Soft openings and less altitude lost. My current method (which I plan on continuing with) is: packing with my lines over my shoulder (tension on lines), flake both sides, tuck outside trailing edges in to center (standard PRO pack), fold noses 4-4 one fold towards center then place gently in center of pack (do NOT push thru to back), "T" slider then pull most of slider out the front forming a pocket to catch air early, pull trailing edge by warning label up around lines and wrap tail around canopy and roll 4-5 times, lay pack GENTLY on floor and fold into bag. For stows, I use the small standard rubber bands. I have been warned that tube stows are too strong and may cause a bag lock. Rubber bands will break if they have to and allow the parachute out of the bag. I pull the lines thru the bands about 2-3 fingers and keep tension on them while moving toward the container. I do not double my bands over the lines. If they get loose, I replace them. They are VERY cheap too. When placing the bag in the container, I make sure that the extra line (12-24 inches from last rubber band to risers) is layed NEATLY in the BOTTOM of the container. Do NOT let the lines get up around the closing loop. My openings have been very consistent and on heading and take about 400-500 feet. This gives me a soft opening while not wasting too much altitude. At one point I had a problem with off heading openings because I was not consistent with how much line I was pulling thru the stows. More on one side that the other. Measuring the loop with my fingers every time put me back on heading. Every person I talked to that had suffered hard openings solved it when they put on a larger slider! Rolling the noses etc. make the openings take longer (snivel longer) but the slider size is what affected the initial opening shock the most. As many other folks stated here, once the canopy is open it is extremely fun to fly. It has been a great all around canopy for me offering very good performance, but still being very forgiving of mistakes. One friend has over 5000 jumps and can fly any canopy he wants. His choice...even at 170 pounds... is a Sabre 190. MAN CAN HE FLY IT!! Put on a larger slider and don't be afraid of your Sabre. Get out and enjoy it!! Blue Skies! Stuart