BrianM

Sitting position with your back to the propeller - like riding the slide in the playground. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Funny you should mention that... I went to a boogie a couple years ago with a few friends. Everyone's gear was piled together in the back of the van. One of the guys was going to borrow another guy's rig. He had borrowed it before, so he was familiar with the rig. He grabs the wrong rig from the pile. Thinks "strange, I don't remember it being this colour". Tries to turn on the AAD, but there isn't one; thinks "strange, I know he has an AAD in his rig". Puts the rig on and boards the plane. Just before jump run, another jumper on the plane points out an incorrectly assembled three ring. A gear check would have caught it. He rides the plane down, and blames the owner for incorrectly assembling the three rings (the main had been reconnected the night before after a reserve repack; it had not been jumped like that). He did eventually admit that the plane ride down was for the better - after he found out what size canopy was in the rig! "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Reserve toggles, brake line keepers, freebag line stow pocket, AAD pocket, RSL... still lots of velcro left! "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

" ...................................................................... Dropping your rig (onto concrete) fell out of fashion a couple of years (circa 1994) after Cypres 1 was introduced ... something about too many cracked battery boxes ... Sure Airtec repaired a bunch of battery boxes for free and they did invent a stiffener, but the bad habit should have disappeared forever. Yep, you are right, but try to get every single jumper to care about that. Besides, there are other ways to apply forces to a rig. Ever see someone land like the attached picture? "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Even with a plastic insert, a foreign object could still get wedged between the closing loop and the insert. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

How much force would it take to break this? Unless it's very easy to break, it would take some real ham-fisted rigging to break it while threading it through the channel. I'd think it would also be obvious it had been broken - you'd probably feel it give way, and hear a crack. I've always hated installing cutters in Mirages - thanks for a great tip! "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

I've seen one cutter with that sort of damage. Another local rigger found it and showed it to me. I don't know what type of rig it came out of; I can ask him if he remembers. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

If you are on your back, the wind will normally pull the pilot chute around your body; it will extract the reserve from the container and pull it around your body as well. There is a chance that something will snag on your body or your equipment as it goes by. There is also a chance that the reserve could fall out of the container before the pilot chute is able to extract it, and then blow back towards you, which could also result in becoming entangled with the reserve. Odds are good that you will have a perfectly good deployment, though not as good as if you are on your belly. Lots of people, including me, have deployed reserves while on their back and had good deployments. If you have an image in your head of a fully deployed canopy suddenly appearing below you, then falling into it - no, that won't happen. An AAD doesn't fire a reserve off your back. Like pulling the ripcord, It simply opens the container (though in a different manner - by cutting the loop instead of pulling the pin). The deployment should be identical either way. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Four loops, you say... I could try that. You are correct, I do not have a Vigil handy to fire it. Well, actually I have a few rigs in for repacks right now with Vigils, but not sure if their owners would approve of me using them for experiments. I've got lots of batteries of various voltages and capacities (up to 12V 12Ah), lots of capacitors of various capacitances, and a handful of DC power supplies (up to 13.8V 20A). Should be no problem to rig something up. The connector on the Vigil cutter is a standard 3.5 mm stereo plug. I have no idea how it is wired. Three contacts to choose from - I guess it'll be trial and error unless someone knows which contact is what. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Fun! What should I do with the unserviceable (type 1 with damaged plastic insert) Vigil cutter that's sitting in my closet? Ideas anyone? "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

I'd believe whichever one said I was the lowest, unless it was obvious that it was wrong. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Fixed it for you, since that's a potential failure mode of any cutter mounted above the pilot chute. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

All good replies, but I'd say go ask a staff instructor, S&TA, or DZO at THAT drop zone. There may be considerations that only they are familiar with that are in play here. Or it may be a matter of DZ standard operating procedures. Either way, your question is best posed locally where the nuances are better understood, and where there may be a "rule" for that. If nobody cares what you do, set that puppy on "pro". You deserve it and the pro setting is good for a killer ground rush during deployment. He has 5300 jumps, is an instructor, and is the DZO. He's asking which mode he should use for the people he is training once they are off student gear. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Yes, a soft handle will bend with the MLW, while a metal handle will not, which will help. However, even when the MLW isn't bent, the soft handle is still more secure. The soft handle is secured directly to the MLW by velcro. A metal handle is not secured to the MLW at all; the pocket is secured to the MLW, trapping the handle in place. The handle can work its way between the two strips of velcro, and do it with much less force than would be required to separate a soft handle from the MLW. Think about the force to pull a hard handle vs a soft handle, and why it is recommended to peel a soft handle before pulling it. This will be worse if the velcro is worn. It may be possible in some cases to solve the problem by replacing the velcro. Replacing worn velcro is a good idea with either type of handle, but a hard handle will be less forgiving of worn velcro. I had this problem on a Javelin with a metal D handle. I replaced it with a soft handle and have had no problems with it since. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Different opening altitudes Different freefall speed/duration (freefly vs RW vs wingsuits) Exit order Time between exits (not distance - time!) These can all tie in together. I've been last out on wingsuit jumps, with a looong delay after the last tandem, had a long freefall, opened fairly high, spotted the tandems a long ways below me - and found myself overtaking the tandems in the pattern. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Reading a pattern from 1000 feet above is not terribly difficult. ... but what if you are not 1000 feet above it? What if you are the lowest canopy, you're about to start or have already started your pattern, and a faster canopy passes you and lands in the opposite direction than the one you are setting up for? Depending on where you are in your pattern, you may be still be able to follow the FMD, but your flight path probably isn't going to look anything like a standard landing pattern. Not terribly safe with other traffic around, especially if that other traffic are also suddenly flying creative patterns in order to follow the FMD. If you're further along in your pattern, you may have no good options at all. Depending on the size and layout of the DZ, you may be faced with the choice of landing opposite the FMD, or going for the parked aircraft/hangars/trees/powerlines/runway with plane taking off/gravel pit/busy highway/etc. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Ok, I'm a little late seeing this thread - I don't come to this forum often - but I'm gonna reply anyway!!! There is a Firefox addon called User Agent Switcher. It allows you to change the user agent string to anything you want This lets you trick the web server into thinking you are using a different browser/OS. If I set it to send an IE user agent string, I see the "Copy Shortcut" link in Firefox, but it doesn't work. The link calls a javascript function which pastes the URL for that post onto the clipboard, so you can paste it elsewhere. One solution is to write a different version of this function for each browser, assuming that is even possible (I don't do much javascript) - but, there is a simpler way that would work with any browser and any operating system, and is in fact used by many other web forums. Instead of using javascript to post a URL onto the clipboard, just put a link to that post somewhere. The user can then right click, and select "copy link" (or similar; exact text will vary depending on the browser) from the context menu. Many forums have the post number itself as this link - no need to even add a new element to the page layout. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

The student CYPRES does. The Argus supposedly has sensors to determine orientation, but I have never seen much information about it. I know neither what sort of sensors it uses, nor how it uses the extra information. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

The Argus does have a swoop mode. Unlike the CYPRES, it keeps the activation speed the same, but detects when your canopy opens, and will not fire after that, regardless of speed. From the manual: "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

DOOR!!! "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

... or a whale. "Oh no, not again." "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

What concerns me more than the low end firing parameters is the possibility that it may affect the AAD's ability to detect that the jump is over, causing it to remain in jump mode, and not re-zero itself to ground level. I have no idea how each of the units on the market would behave, but I'd be concerned enough to power cycle the AAD before each jump if I decided to do this, regardless of make/model. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

... so what did you do with it? "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

I'm going to count on that man who is eating alligators to save me - he sounds like a tough guy! "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

A google translation of their website says they do "Professional 3D modeling, animation, visualization and motion graphics". I have the impression that they don't manufacture those card readers, blue tooth devices, and perfume bottles, but rather have done 3D modelling for the companies that do make them. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg