MathmatiC

A legitmate response would be more useful. Also I dont see why his jumps numbers matter at all.......Responses like this are why almost every post gets off topic and turns into a non productive bitch session.

Werd

Bottom line. if you stay above a persons glide path(flight path) You will not hit turbulence. Same if you stay below. i am referring to the canopy "glide path"(the air the canopy in front of me was recently in)Not just the thing in front of me(someone under canopy).. Two completely different things. Visualize we use it all the time so apply it. What to take away. Land to the side, above or below a glide path in front of you." if you are landing in close proximity." Dissipation of this can happen quickly so dont get too rapped up. Also, wake turbulence is mostly from the lift producing wing above your head not the body dangling from it. Thats why wake turbulence becomes damn near nil after a 747 has its wheels on the ground but is still traveling at over 100 MPH and no longer be producing wake turbulence at a significant value.

All it boils down to is simple aerodynamics. All wings have a maximum glide airspeed and a minimum decent airspeed. The two largest contributing factors are induced drag and parasite drag. The later, "parasite drag" has many sources while flying a parachute. The largest and easiest to minimize is your frontal surface area.(Your body) Make that beeotch small. The other, "induced drag" is a byproduct of lift and inherent to all lift producing surfaces. If you look at any wing flown at various airspeeds from their respective stall point to their bat out off hell front riser dive their are two standout airspeeds(when graphed) that both parasite and induced drag are minimized. These airspeeds directly equate to minimum rate of decent airspeed(usually the slower of the two airspeeds) and maximum glide airspeed(the faster). One will give you maximum time aloft(minimum rate of decent a/s) and the other will give you maximum penetration or distance over the ground(maximum glide airspeed). This being said you can see how in skydiving there are huge varibles from jumper to jumper when it comes to body size/shape, weight, line types, deployment system, slider, and so on. That all being said, you can see how without a team of engineers figuring out every type of flight envelope imaginable for every parachute on the market and real time airspeed indicators not widely proliferated, this is a daunting and futile task. So this is how I break it down. Depending on how strong the winds are you will most likely want to use your minimum rate of decent airspeed(brakes) when upwind and let the wind aid your return. When downwind you will want to use your max glide a/s(slight rears) because this will minimize induced drag that using brakes will cause allowing you to fly flatter a little faster. Since parasite drag increases dramatically with airspeed you need to keep in mind that putting down the "doughnut" may become extremely handy in this situation. All this being said it will vary from canopy to canopy. But I do believe Ian is dead nuts on. Or I may be completely full of shit. Never forget winds change aloft. Not just when planning a jump run, but remember this when even a few thousand feet above the ground. The winds can easily be 90 degrees off surface winds and even 180 degrees out. On a side note: You guys need to stop bitching at each other and getting off topic. I have learned alot from these forums, but I have also learned that sometimes it turns into a druken pissing contest around here. Needs to stop.

I know that pack volumes aren't extremely accurate, but the x-fire does pack up a bit bigger because it has a bit more material in the nose than the stiletto.

I use safety pins on my rig. Pros: cheap, stay put, lightweight, low pack volume. Cons: a tad bit weaker than rapide links, slinks, or the like.

This is the best way to build speed. I would however like to add to that. I believe that the most important step in the packjob is making sure your brake lines are kept in the middle of the pack job.

Wake turbulence tends to sink and move downwind from its point of origin. So if you are worried about it stay above and beyond the person you are followings glad path, but do not put your self in a bad situation just trying to avoid it. Haven't seen any posts on this subject so I just thought it should be brought up.

I called icarus a while ago, talked to simon. Found him to be a straight shooter. He didn't pressure me at all. edit: to let you know that my quote @ the bottom doesn't refer to anything in this post.

You forgot to include the "I have watched chronicle III enough times to coach whoever wants to learn" option.

The best way to get stable in the begining of any skydive is to exit into the relative wind.

I understand. So what I should have said is: "I walked away for my first 180" Thanks Guys,

I just did my first 180 degree carving approach!! Oh boy was it awesome. Noticed I was going to come out a touch high, so I slowed down the rate of turn, and then went to double fronts when I was on the straight leg of the approach. Still came out a touch high, but still awesome none the less. Sorry I don't usually like to toot my own horn, but I just had to share.

I think we need to change it.

Yeah His name is Alex Allen. Contact him at [email protected] I saw some of the video he took while doing it. It was a pretty mellow ride from what I saw, he used Skiis and got some decent lift.