erdnarob

Hi Lou Diamond and all of you First thanks to the lady to have put the You Tube video link more available. Sorry, I still have to get the trick. Impossible to get an extraction of the reserve Dbag when on our back...yes or no ?. In my trying to reproduce the incident, my friend was pulling with two hands developing at least 100 pounds and more...without extraction, then this is why I said in that position...it looks impossible. But in free fall, air turbulences, a slight shift of the body... for sure...it might clear !!!??? The jumper on that video could have rolled on his belly to Earth to get the extraction of the Dbag but doing it the wrong side and he could have wrapped himself in the bridle. As somebody mentioned it I believe the extra force and rapidity provided by a Skyhook pulling directly at the bridle could have made the difference. I had the chance to speak and jump the whole week-end with the jumper (of the incident) and I congratulated him as being a hero. He has been cool enough to evaluate the situation and make the best he could. We cannot say at all he was out of control since in few seconds, he has done the right thing to save his life. I hope in similar situations to be able to be so cool. I have sent this to different pertinent people including Gary Peek who suggested me to edit a post on this forum. I still hope manufacturers will have something to say about it. Many thanks to everybody for your comments. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Recently, a jumper from Quebec had a very special incident after his parachute opened with line twists followed by a fast spinning. The parachutist decided to cut away. Because of the spinning, he got on his back. Being equiped with a RLS, the reserve pin was pulled out, pilot chute inflated and bridle fully extended as seen on the video (see You Tube link : "mon premier reserve" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKVAtjfGjp0 ). But so far no extraction of the reserve Dbag occurred. You can see on the video the jumper reach with hand behind his shoulder and grab the bridle and top of the reserve Dbag and proceed himself to the extraction. That last attempt was successful despite being at 600 ft at the time. Later they also found that the Vigil 2 had cut the reserve closing loop. I tried to reproduce this incident since I had at home a same manufacturer's container packed. I had to open it to proceed to an AAD exchange. I first removed the main parachute. I pulled the reserve pin and got the pilot chute and bridle completely out. I put the container on the ground up side down and placed the bridle around the rig shoulder and upward and started pulling up at 90 degrees with respect to the rig using a scale making sure the container was off the ground to allow a possible extraction (I used my foot to keep the container in the right position). I gave up at 50 lbs because the scale was at maximum, no extraction has occured yet. Then while I was holding by the main lift webs the container at 45 degrees with respect to the ground, a friend of mine was pulling up (using two hands) the bridle at 90 degrees with respect to the container. At full force, no extraction happened. I have then to conclude that when a jumper is on his back with bridle extended and pilot chute inflated, it is impossible to get an extraction of the reserve Dbag. I have to repeat this expriment with my container and others but I believe I will get the same results : no reserve Dbag extraction when jumper is on his back. I would like to get comments on the video and on my trying to reproduce this incident.Manufacturer reactions are more than welcome. Many thanks. I have a short video of the first part of the expriment when I am pulling with a 50 lbs scale. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

In my first post, I was limiting my info to the free fall portion of a jump since in case of doing night group jumping (FS), people are meant to stay close from each other and still need a good night vision. When parachutes are open, it is another story since the distance has increased a lot. If I understand, FAA considers open parachutes like flying airplanes. I still do not understand when people use the expression 100% INACCURATE when I said the red color is the best to keep the night vision when all the cars on earth are equiped with rear red lights on night for the same reason..... Before using extreme expressions, people should use their judgement and try to find out what the person who put a post had in mind. This forum is to help people and exchange info. If an info is not clear or limited, ask the person to clarify. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Sorry for not being according the norms. It was more a personnal preference and memories from night jumps. I have prepared night jumps carefully by even trying to avoid strong white lighting a couple hours before the jump itself. And that was to keep the night vision. The red color is used in dark room and is known to less affect the night vision. You can test it yourself. Just look at a white lit light bulb and close your eyes. Repeat it with a red light and see the difference on the retina. 100% inaccurate ???? !! Obviously, it takes more than lighting to prepare for a night jump. But the thread was about using a strobe light which again is not a good idea in my opinion. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Since the beginning of your story, when you mentioned about the toggle keeper ripped off, I knew it was the set up of the brakes above the guide ring. I have seen that. A good habit to follow is when you set up your brakes, take the riser in one hand and the steering line in the other and pull to test your set up. It is a problem of not understanding the fonction of the brake set up. If you know why and not only the how you are likely to avoid that kind of mistake. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

If my memory is good, strobe light should be avoided for night jump to keep night vision. The only lighting necessary is a steady red light which can be seen at 360 degrees at few miles. Airplanes use stobe lights but they generally are several miles away from each other. On a night jump with other skydivers close from each other, blinking light is certainly not the best idea. Have a look at the USPA/CSPA site concerning night jump recommendation. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

One of the best exemple I know about landing on the airport site between runways and taxiways is Skydive DeLand Florida. However, at DeLand, there is a landing area for experienced people at about 3-5 minutes walking from the clubhouse. On the other hand students are required to land in a larger area located between runways and taxiway almost in the middle of the airport site. I used to jump at DeLand on big formations using several airplanes and it's not always possible to get everybody landing at the right place. But Skydive DeLand has solved the problem by having two recovery trucks which are ready to pick you up within a minute or two. At anytime, you are not allowed to cross the runways and you have to wait for the recovery truck. Very often, when using the truck I was back to the packing area before a lot of jumpers who have landed at the required landing area. I suggest you to contact the owner of Skydive DeLand for more information. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Here are 3 pictures of demo streamers all on the same demo. On one picture, the long yellow streamer is made of two inch nylon tapes cut (hot knife) from a piece of fabric and attached to each other by a double knot. The steamer is attached to the chest strap and is probably the cheapest set up to make. On the 2 other pictures, you could see more elaborate set ups. The guy with different color short streamers had also a electric siren. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You should have a look at Brian Germain book : "The parachute and his Pilot ". There are plenty of diagrams showing the basics of aerodynamics of a parachute. The book also explains the theory of flight and different ways to fly the parachute according where the wind comes from. The ram air parachute is an airfoil and works like an airplane wing. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I have jumped with Tom Morrison from Pennsylvania on a SOS big way record attempt in Florida in 2005. Tom was then 80 year old and doing well. I am mylself a SOS with 40 years of continuous membership in skydiving. Unfortunately, we are not all equal concerning our personal shape and health. A good idea is to be followed by a doctor you trust and see him/her at least once a year. Recently I was asked to do a parachute demo over my former school in Ontario ( I have been there a physics teacher for more than 30 years). I got all the papers and NOTAM to do so and I and a friend of mine did the demo at the spectator satisfaction. A lot of people were surprised to see a seemingly old man still jumping...and with a Katana. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Just a reminder, if you are interested in high altitude night jump, I highly recommend you to have a high altitude course or preparation given by specialists. Those specialists are generally giving such courses for the army and airlines pilots. They use a pressure chamber for people. You have to know that at 18 000 ft, the atmospheric pressure is half of the one on the ground. That changes everything concerning your biological conditions : like oxygen availability, night vision... and the human body can be subject to hypoxy, droziness, becoming unconscious, loss of references, visual confusion, poor dexterity and even death. In a pressure chamber at pressure equivalent to high altitude, at a certain point you are not anymore able to write your name on a piece of paper. Do a high altitude jump with knowledge and preparation. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I disagree completely with you that landing at the right place is over rated. Landing at the right place is safer. Anywhere outside the landing area can be hazardous. Any objects can be found on the ground and often hidden by high grass : piece of concrete with steel bars protruding, gap, irrigation channel, rusted pieces of metal...not counting roads, hydrolines, fences, houses...anything...name it. You never know when you can be caught off gard by high winds and when the spot can be missed for various reasons. Now about wind drift indicators. It seems old fashion but throwing wind rift indicators is the sure way to evaluate where the spot is. No wonder why it is still a requirement or should be for the A license. People rely too much on their canopy performances but soon or later found themselves in a situation where they cannot make it back. On a recent school football field parachute demo, the winds were marginal blowing at near 15 knots which is about the limit for a parachute demo. Fortunately, I had two wind drifts (red and gold). They landed, as expected, quite far away but from 2000 ft in the air I could easily evaluate the spot. People at the ground told me later that when they saw me leaving the airplane, they never thought I could come back. But the spot is the spot and I was back over the football field relatively fast and had the time to prepare for a nice landing in front of the spectators. Imagine a sec that I have missed the football field. The spectators would consider me as a zero instead of hero. Hundred of pictures have been taken. But because of the use of wind drift indicators, people on the ground will have a good opinion of skydivers and skydiving in general. Knowing how to drop a wind drift indicator is important for any unusual winds situation and is a must for a parachute demo. But if you want always to rely on other people, never be on the first load of the day by high winds and decide to never get your PRO rating you are almost right. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Rifleman You mention you are a student...maybe in sciences or applied sciences ! Anyway, few years ago I have made a program to calculate the spot using a Graphing calculator HP 48 GX. If you are interested by it, I will send you the program and a sample of calculation which validates it. On my program every step is explained. To summarize, my program results is an addition of distance vectors. I also made a grid on a Google Map aerial picture of my DZ with the center being the landing area. Concentric circles are drawn every 500 ft and radials every 10 degrees. Therefore when you calculate the spot (given in distance and direction) you can easily find it on the picture. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hello, About the risers length: 1) first of all you have to consider the length of your arms. Obviously, you need to be able to reach your toggles after your parachute is deployed. remember that after opening, your harness is up by few inches. 2) Increasing the risers length will give you a longer toggles range and therefore will allow you to brake deeper for a full flare. You Sabre 2 has a long toggle range then it is compatible with longer risers. (Warning, some parachute like the Safire has a short toggle range then if you put long risers on it, expect to get the stall point relatively early sometimes at chest level) 3) the proper steering line set up is when flying with toggles fully up (full speed) there is arch in the steering line (due to the relative wind) with an arrow of about 10-12 inches (deflection of the steering line) while a straight steering line means that the tail of your parachute is under tension then slighly on brakes. I suggest you to see a rigger and discuss the issue. Good luck and tell us when your modifications with satisfy you. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Here are the main US sport harness/container manufacturers Strong Enterprises (Quasar II), UPT Vector (Vector III), Sunpath (Javelin), Mirage Systems (Mirage G3), Velocity (Infinity), Rigging Innovations (Talon), Altico (Dolphin), Sunrise (Wings). UPT Vector has made over 50 000 sport rigs in 35 years which makes about 1500 rigs/year average. Sunpath with the Javelin has made the most popular rig in the 90s and early 2000s but since UPT Vector has offered the Skyhook, it seems that its production has been quite boosted. If I had to take a guess I would say that between 5000 and 7000 rigs are made every year in the US (an average). Any comments.... Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hello Marco, First the title. Using the expression "Rate of deceleration" means that the deceleration (or negative acceleration) is changing or not constant. If this is what you have in mind, it's OK. I would rather use "deceleration" alone. That deceleration and consequently, the time of canopy inflation depends on : 1) the type of canopy you have 2) the size of the canopy 3) the type of packing you have done * Shorter is the time of inflation, greater is the deceleration (hard opening) and shorter is the vertical distance needed ; * Greater the time of inflation and smaller is the deceleration (softer opening)and longer is the vertical distance needed. Canopy manufacturers have done a lot recently to slow down the canopy openings. Some of them have done so "well" that the vertical distance lost is just too much (1000 ft) !! DECELERATION EXEMPLE 1 My Sabre 2-170 used to open on an average vertical distance of 340 ft. Putting that in the appropriate formula yields to these results : vertical speed before opening = 120 mph (176 ft/s) vertical speed after opening = 10 mph (15 ft/s) results are : a) average deceleration = 45.2 ft/s(square) b) time for inflation = 3.56 seconds c) vertical distance (given) = 340 ft DECELERATION EXAMPLE 2 My Katana 170 opens on an average vertical distance of 600 ft Vertical speed before opening = 120 mph (176 ft/s) vertical speed after opening = 10 mph (15 ft/s) results are : a) average deceleration = 25.6 ft/s(square) b) time for inflation = 6.3 seconds c) vertical distance (given) = 600 ft Note : These results have been obtained using the graphs downloaded from my Vigil AAD (using the Vigil interface and software). For each canopy I have evaluated 10 jumps graphs. Those graphs described the real distances, times and speeds as recorded in the AAD. This the most accurate method I have found. With my Sabre 2 (it just happens once) my hardest opening was on a opening vertical distance of 180 ft which makes a deceleration time of 1.88 seconds (a slammer). precautions to avoid a slammer : 1) make sure your slider grommets are against the grommet stoppers (check again at the end of the canopy bagging) 2) have the right rubber bands and stow the lines correctly 3) just after having launched your pilot chute, resume your box position (you can do a reverse arch) and look at the horizon 4) have magnetic riser covers like those on Vector. Magnets give at always the same force providing you with a symmetrical riser launch. Tuck tabs are not constant and may lead to one riser going before the other one. That can create a slammer. As you see, it is more complex that you have thought. I hope that those two exemples will give you some answer. Have fun and be careful. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Have a look at Paragear catalog, paper or on line. They have a complete set of jewelry related with skydiving. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

1) I found that the best results for the canopy colours is to put the bright colours between black cells. That enhances the effect as seen from the ground or from above. 2) personally I prefer unsymetrical patterns finding symetrical ones too common. 3) as some people said, avoid fluo colours like neon pink or neon green... they will fade out fast 4) for me, the canopy colours have to be bright and the partern unconventional. On the other hand the harness/container colours have to be conservative using dark colour like black or navy blue with pipping. The binding tape should match the colour of the rig. The collar part or the pin protector flaps can be of another colour matching the rest. But this is just personal preferences. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Try SPORTRX for Skydiving, they are located in San Diego Ca. http://www.sportrx.com/search_results.asp?type=sport&sport=skydiving Remember that if they are prescription glasses/goggles, and if you have a health insurance plan, you can get them partially paid. I personally used several pairs of them for years. They are fine. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

If you enter a cloud what should be the reaction ? : Well, it depends on what you are doing and at what altitude is the cloud. 1) in FS or VSF with cloud way higher than the opening altitude : keep your moves to a minimum, try to locate any other jumpers not connected to the formation, wait to exit the cloud to resume action 2) in FS or VSF with cloud at the opening altitude (the most dangerous) : start to track slowly and keep an eye on other jumpers nearby, when out of the cloud resume your normal tracking. A very embarrasssing situation, not easy to give a general technique. 3) Doing style or alone : continue your work but keep a eye on your altimeter, some clouds can be very thick. 4) during your parachute descent with clouds or fog near the ground (can happen suddenly in the morning when the sun starts to heat the wet ground) : don't do any drastic move with your canopy, try to use your altimeter to evaluate when you are about to be near the ground, keep an eye around you to avoid other canopies if any. Fly your parachute far away from the landing area to avoid crowded traffic, put you upwind for landing and when you see the ground do a normal flare. Good luck Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Wearing an AAD shouldn't be a reason to be less careful or to relax your awareness. However I think it can be the case for some jumpers. An AAD is a backup device, you switch it on and forget you have one just like a spare tire or a car safety bag shouldn't make you a less careful driver. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I put this post on another thread but I think you may concerned. Another trick which can work is for you in free fall to bend or flex your toes in your shoes. That will give you a spatial "view" of where your legs actually are and therefore making able to do corrections. You can use the same trick for your arms as well by flexing the fingers. Before going out of the airplane, repeat in your mind or verbally to do such toes flexions. Good luck and tell us if it works better for you. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Another trick which can work is for you in free fall to bend or flex your toes in your shoes. That will give you a spatial "view" of where your legs actually are and therefore making able to do corrections. You can use the same trick for your arms as well by flexing the fingers. Before going out of the airplane, repeat in your mind or verbally to do such toes flexions. Good luck and tell us if it works better for you. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Do you want to study the exam or study in order to acquire general and specific knowledge in skydiving up to your level ??? USPA has guide lines for getting prepared for a license exam. Expect to have basic questions on safety, equipment and procedures. Read the privileges and restrictions of the license you want to get and study the stuff concerning those. Good luck Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Since the sealing includes a safety tie red loop fixed at the top but able to slide and adjust at the bottom under the pin, the two strands will be at the same length. Just slide the pin slightly up and you will see. OTOH Murphy's law makes it possible to have no slack at all in the loop especially if the sealing has been made with the pin too far, tested and adjusted so that there is no slack. What I am trying to do here is the worst case scenario where the resistance of the safety tie would add to the sliding force of the pin making possibly the rig illegal. As I mentioned it in a related other post, in the actual reserve activation, the 2-3 inches slack near the ripcord handle will allow the all ripcord and the arm pulling to get enough momentum to overcome the extra force. The reason of that post is to check if container manufacturers have thought about this possibility. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.