erdnarob

Hi Rob. The damage depends on the speed since kinetic energy (what does the damage) is proportional to the square of the speed. Twice the speed = 4 times the kninetic energy, 3 times the speed = 9 times the energy...). Have you seen the damage of a big pocket of water dropped from 50-80 feet on a car on Myths Busters ??? The car is a complete wreck. Note : at 2-3 times the sound speed, a tiny stream of water (containing microscopic silicium dust) is cutting wood, glass and even stainless steel. This is used by many manufacturers. Therefore, at the speed an airplane goes before landing, it is not a surprise to see important damages on engine or wings when hitting a not frozen birds. Actually, a soft projectile makes more damage since it spreads at impact. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The Velcro of the pocket is not strong enough to hold the cable. It allows the cable to slide easily. Try it on your own rig and you will see there is no problem. This procedure is just to stuff the cable where nothing can catch the ball. In Germany, several years ago, a jumper was outside of an airplane just at the rear of the side door preparing for a group exit. The cable and swaged ball was caught in a little slot of the airframe near the door. "Ready, set go" and he got an instant reserve which deployed in the airplane tail. Fortunately, the canopy let go. That loose cable and ball was the cause of the most horrible potential accident for him and everybody else in the airplane. Little thing having big consequences or Murphy law : « If it can happen, it will». Thanks Quartz to back me up. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

It is quite possible to have birds flying higher than 500 ft. One time, in early eighties, at opening altitude (2500 ft), just after my parachute was fully deployed, I saw a bird, quite large, just nearby and flying swiftly away obviously afraid by my canopy deployment. Another time during the week at the same DZ, I was part of a three way and again at 2500 ft I saw, this time, an airplane changing rapidely its flying path. When the airplane landed, the pilot apologized and told me he thought there was no jump during the week at this place. Being at the World FreeFall Convention at Rantoul (WFFC) one time after opening (2500 ft) a hawk was flying nearby and turning around me, probably surprised to find out another "flying bird", my canopy, being in his territory. To come back to bird freefall interference, we can encounter at 2500 ft and more, geese, hawks, eagles, vultures and other prey birds. To add a little scientific touch, the worst scenario is certainly a collision in free fall with such birds. At 120 mph there is enough kinetic energy to kill a person and/or badly damage a canopy deploying. Do you know that a test that many airplane makers are doing is to launch against airplane engine (on the ground) or else, 1 to 3 pound frozen or not chicken found in groceries in the meat department. They use a compressed air cannon and simulate impact and evaluate the capacity of an engine to "swallow" a bird. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I would say that the correct answer would likely be found by placing the owner of the rig in his own suspended harness. That way, the full weight of the jumper is on the harness and the swaged ball shouldn't be against the top of the D handle. Knowing that parachute opening forces exceed the weight of the user, I would say that one to 3 inches distance between the ball and the D handle top would be fine while being suspended. A good idea is to check that the reserve pin didn't move when doing so. I have already published an easy way how to use your own suspended harness to perform cut away pratice. This test to check the suitable ripcord cable length is still easier. Note : I like to store the excess of cable + ball inside the handle pocket. But anyway, I don't have anymore such a problem on my rig since it is equiped with reserve Spectra cable and bungee built inside. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Very clever device. Congratulations. I like the combination of wood (oak) and metal. I will check it out at the PIA symposium. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The world standard units for aviation is feet for altitude and nautical mile for distance even in countries using metric system like Canada and Europe...etc The beauty of the nautical mile is that it corresponds exactely to one minute of arc on a great circle. A minute of arc =((one great circle)/ 360x60). Since aviation and boats navigation maps have degrees and minutes of arc showing, when navigating, one minute (one graduation of a meridian on the map) is exactely one nautical mile =1852 meters. I have jumped in Europe with my altimeter graduated in feet without any problem. Note : a meridian is half a great circle between the N&S poles. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

IMO, the first task any living beings should do is staying alive. What you are reporting is nowaday a serious and vital problem. More and more, you see people, generally relatively young with low experience, who don't care about letting their basic instinct works by itself : ie SURVIVE. Some skydivers think that if they know how to react at the right time, they will do it in an appropriate way. Which is not enough ! Practice, rehearsal, anticipation, dirt dive...and knowing your procedures and equipment and how to use it...are all among ways to be able to perform as it should. Ask to serious athletes, ask the military people about the value of practice. Fashion, trend, showing off, pride especially when women are around or just trying to "look" younger and cool...makes some people taking unnecessary risks. Unfortunately, very few but some older skydivers follow up that trend. Is that attitude a by product of the AAD use or improvement of equipment, bippers...? To be discussed. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

IMO, at 360 jumps and three canopy piloting courses, you are ready to jump a Sabre 2-150. A Sabre 2-150 has an actual size of probably 160-165 like many other PD canopies are. You will not see that much difference for the weight support. The Sabre 2-150 will give you more speed, a better flare than the Pilot 170. The pitch angle of a Pilot is 15.06 degrees while the Sabre has 15.34 which makes it going down a bit faster. Just be careful, fly it conservatively and maybe it would be a good idea for few jumps to get monitored from the ground in order to start flaring at the right time (10 second still straight forward, sweet spot to finished with full brakes). An important thing, when flaring stay symetrical with toggles. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I can answer concerning my Katana equiped with 700 beige HMA lines, I made 400 jumps before relining. Here is a picture you can appreciate. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I agree with you. The fast deployment can be generated by the fact the slider is not put against the stoppers at the bagging time. Just before bagging the folded canopy, it's a good idea to "comb" the lines toward the canopy again just in case the slider has moved. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Make sure the lines are in the center after the canopy is flaked and on the ground. The D lines and the control lines are the most suceptible to spread and if at inflation the nose goes between two lines, well you have a line over. Trick. When you put the flaked canopy on your shoulder, first hold the D-lines and control lines (on large canopy) at the end, grab them and begin to wrap the tail around, then transfer the grab on the top including the tail material. Now, before putting down the whole canopy, transfer the grab of the lines including the material from below, and put down the canopy to only let go the grab when lying on the canopy. That way you put the canopy on the floor while keeping the lines at the center, supporting the weight of the canopy in the middle and with the other hand, holding the canopy at the lines near the slider. Dress the canopy while laying on it and check thru the material if lines are not passing the edge of the dressed canopy. If so, feel the lines thru the material and get it back toward the center. Putting the canopy on the floor is when the lines are spreading the most. I know it should take 4 hands to do that but with practice, it's possible. Use your chin and shoulder to lock the wrapped canopy around the lines. * Large canopies are more prone to get line over then additional care to keep lines in the center should be observed. * Do not twist the tail more than 3 x 180 degrees and more than ⅓ of the length of the canopy. If you do so to ½ or 3/4, you are pulling parts of the canopy where the D-lines are and get them away from the center. Practice practice !!!! Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

In Quebec, at 16, there is no problem for skydiving (with parents permission). After all, you can fly an airplane solo at 15 but you will have to wait 17 to get your pilot licence. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Arching or de arching to slow down ?? It seems to me that the best position at deployment is to resume the box position after P/C launch and looking at horizon while staying calm and symetrical. This is what is recommended for Katana or any elliptical canopy. If it works for such canopies it should also work for any other canopy. Looking up side way at opening sequence may generate an asymetrical position, rotation of the body and...line twists. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You're right, however as I wrote it, Domina Jalbert didn't have in mind an airfoil to be used as a parachute. Thanks for your list. For Bill Booth now, in 1975 at Kendall Miami Glide Airport DZ, I tried, on the ground only, his new piggyback system. See the picture taken by Bill Booth himself. This rig didn't have already the three rings but instead a fork release system. See the little yellow tabs (near the connection between risers and harness) to be pulled laterally for cut away purpose. You can also see the belly pocket for the throw away PC and the special reserve handle. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You seem to forget one of the most important inventor namely Domina Jalbert born at St Michel-des-Saints in Quebec. He has invented and developed the fabric airfoil. His goal was to make lumberjack work easier in hard to access places in a forest. His idea was to develop a collapsible fabric airfoil large enough to lift and move tree trunks. Steve Snyder (Paraflite) aware of that got the idea to use that airfoil for parachuting. Steve Snyder is the inventor of the slider for Ram Air parachutes. North American Aerodynamics started to built Ram Air parachutes called Jalbert Parafoil, equiped with the pilot chute controled spider system. This is the parachute I have used to make my first Ram Air jump in the 70s.

In order to increase the friction to avoid slippage, put beewax on your webbing at least near the adaptors. I hope that your adjustable straps are all made with a sewn folded ending Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You don't need absolutely a cross for a suspended harness to simulate line twists. Actually when having a line twist, your body is more or less in a vertical position. Therefore, a ordinary suspended harness (leaving the jumper in vertical position) and an old matress or several cushions, pillows... can be used for : 1) simulate line twists (the user turns several time on himself when suspended) 2) perform a cut away and reserve handle pull 3) testing the force for pulling the cut away handle with a suspended weight (the jumper) and a scale 4) testing the actual force needed to pull the rip cord (use a scale) 5) testing the pilot chute efficiency 6) testing the abily of a beginner to find the BOC and throw the pilot chute properly. The material required is quite simple : a) two machine screws with a ring with nuts plus 6 feet of webbing type 17 b) an old pair of risers (the small type will comply with harness small and large three rings c) access to the 2"x8" supporting the first floor in the basement d) masking tape to keep the rig ripcord and handle below the harness shoulder e) a spare reserve handle plus several turns of masking tape holding the handle to the MLW to simulate the ripcord extraction force Note : the rig risers are disconnected, folded back and secured under the risers tabs. That way, no need to pop the reserve and the user can also perform those exercices on this own rig which is a lot preferable. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Many years ago, in 1980 or so, Performance Designs, before making canopies, was manufacturing skydiving accessories. I bought a gear bag from them at DeLand (with their logo and my name on it) and still have it after 34 years.. It is made of cordura, and has an extra zipper to decrease the bag volume if needed. There is two side pockets and two extra "ranging poaches" located between the two normal pockets and the bag itself. Those are closed by Velcro while the pockets are zipper equiped. There are two handles plus shoulders adjustable straps with padding. I have never seen a so good design. And the best is that my gear bag has never needed to be repaired other than the two Velcro to be changed. No sign of wear on any stitching at all.

Advanced Aerospace Designs, the maker of the Vigil has now 55% of the all AAD market and still growing. In the last World 4 Way championships, two of the first 3 top teams were equiped with Vigil. Those people jump a lot and just like Formula one racing does for our cars, they are kind of testing equipment for us jumpers. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I agree with you Rob. The two first completely open loops shown on pictures are real potential catch up for line stows or whatever. Murphy law : If it can happen, it will. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The battery life of a Vigil 2 is 5-7 years or 2000 jumps. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The "slowest" speed was minus 3 mph when I asked the helicopter pilot to back up in order to get a better spot. It was at the Mont St Sauveur Quebec ParaSki in the eigthies. The fastest speed was with the Hercules at 155 mph at the WFFC Quincy Ill. in 1986. But I think we got it higher at maybe 180 mph when jumping the Boeing 727 at Quincy Ill. for the first time in 1992. The pilot didn't know already what to do for a "slow" flight. Later on he realized that lowering the landing gear and putting some slats and flaps would help. On this jump, when passing the door, you felt like if a football player was pushing you hard in the back for 2000 ft. I heard that some jumpers have dislocated their shoulders on that jump but I couldn't verify. Who can top that (on the picture) with 180 jumpers packed in a single airplane, ie the Boeing 727 ? It was my second jump from the Boeing 727, again at Quincy but in 1998. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Thanks. Always good to know the most recent changes. But I guess the runways are still about the same. My point was to tell the lady a couple of tricks to land on the grass and what to do in case she would land on a taxiway. Few years ago, unfortunately, we have lost a girl from the Canadian team. She had experience but only few dozens of jumps on her new canopy. It looks like she has landed on the taxiway after stalling her canopy, struggling to try a landing on the grass. Personally, I have had a total there and you can be sure that under my reserve, as early as possible, I evaluated the best way to land in a grassy area located on the North side of the airport but between some taxiways... OTOH I like very much this DZ. You don't have to be afraid to land far way from the packing area since two pickups are continuously dedicated looking for jumpers and by the time you pick up your canopy, they are alreay waiting for you to give a ride back to the club. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Sorry, my mistake. I know it takes an "e". Thanks, I have corrected it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I have jumped the Boeing 727 (Cargo) for the first time in 1992 at the World Freefall Convention (WFFC) in Quincy Ill. I have the DB Cooper #0290 signed by D-1 Lew Sanborn. I jumped it again in 1998 at Quincy. We were 180 jumpers jumping on two passes. See picture. The WFFC was unique and the only genuine world boogie so far. In 1998, there were more than 5000 people registrated from all over the world. Too bad Don Kirlin couldn't continue the WFFC. He has struggled with the FAA in order to get than Boeing 727 available for jumpers. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.