erdnarob

I would add, this is your best quality too since the care for packing and the right stuff (pilot chute, rubber bands, position in free fall..) help a lot. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I was at Reno Nevada last year at the PIA symposium. I attended Bill Booth's seminar talking about his new stuff: Skyhook, 1000 Lbs line with bungee instead of a steel cable for the reserve ripcord and the rare earth magnets for the risers cover tabs. Bill explained that it seems a very hard opening can occur by a classical risers cover tuck tab which gives up a fraction of a second after the other one. That way, you get a line stretch one side a fraction of a second before the other one and get possibly a very hard opening as a ressult. He mentioned that a broken femur was caused by one hard opening of that kind and another one resulted in an aorta artery rupture causing death. That's why Bill Booth came up with rare earth magnet inserts in the riser cover tab which makes the closing or release of the flap a lot easier. I have them on my Vector III and I can tell you that packers are very happy since it's easier to close. Those magnets equiped riser covers even get close after they have released the the risers at the opening. You all have to keep in mind that the snatch force (force experienced when at the line stretch, the skydiver in free fall starts to accelerate the pilot chute and bag almost stopped by the pilot chute) can reach nearly 2000 lbs. Hard openings have been found with many canopies. Not only a lose slider can be the cause of a hard opening (slider not against its stoppers) but also, the wrong kind of rubber bands on the deployment bag, a wrong the pilot chute, a bad position at opening and seemingly a riser cover tuck tab releasing in late. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I just have checked the STORM canopy on PD website and found it has the same shape and aspect ratio than the SPECTRE. However that can be a quite different canopy since PD could have changed: the angle of depression or glide angle, the position of the attachment points for the lines which makes the parachute to have more load on the front than the rear or vice-versa, changed the thickness of the cells, the orientation of the air intake...etc. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

My lengthy post is certainly not a joke. I gave Carol figures about her question and at least five warnings about getting briefed or checked by an instructor who knows her who knows her, who knows her.....you got it? I also started by telling her to jump 10 times with a Sabre 150 after a good briefing with an instructor who knows her...is it enough. If by any chance the instructor who knows her decides she is not ready then she will have to wait before downsizing. I hope I made it clear this time. Now about my surgery recovery. Well I don't know if I am a bionic man but I always recover fast but I know it's not the case for everybody. Probably the movie actor wasn't like me. I can tell you that I broke an ankle few years ago and 4 and half weeks after I was jumping. The orthopedist showed me on X-ray my ankle bone healing very well and this 3 weeks after the accident. Then I asked him to get my plaster removed. He wasn't happy but he did what I have asked. I told him I will be careful. Do you know how long it takes to lose your muscle tonus when not using a muscle: 3 days. Waiting too long is good for the bones but a disaster for the muscles and you need both of them. There is a ideal delay I guess depending on the person and on the kind of injury. Education and confidence, not overprotection. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Carol, Your weight is 140 Lbs therefore with a Sabre 2-170 and an exit weight of 165 Lbs, you will get a load factor of less than 1 lbs/sq ft (0.97 to be exact) which is a student load factor. It depends on you and how you perform under canopy. If you are good at it (check with an instructor who knows you well) I would rather suggest you to try a Sabre 2-150 or equivalent for 10 jumps and if it goes well there will be no problem to go on and try a 135 zero porosity canopy. But always make sure to have plenty of space in front of you at landing therefore plan your descent under canopy carefully and stick to the plan. For no reason even if you find out you are not exactely landing into the wind, ALWAYS KEEP GOING STRAIGHT FORWARD keeping the toggles very symetrical even on the ground. (Have a good briefing for flare). Well briefed, the worst thing which can happen is to have grass green stains on your jumpsuit seat. I know a lot of people will desagree with me but I prefer to tell somebody to go smaller according their weight (within a certain limit) provided he/she is well supervised and good at it than telling somebody to keep on jumping a big canopy and left alone. A 135 canopy will give you a load factor of 1.22 which OK provided you are careful. A big canopy can hurt you with an inappropriate technique. A canopy more at your size (for you 135-150) with a good supervision should be alright and give you more satisfaction. Advantages of not having a too big parachute: The loading factor is your engine, more loading factor and more speed (to be handle with care) and better penetration thru the wind. With a load factor below 1, expect to be limited by a wind not suitable for student. Otherwise you would back up and will be unable to choose your landing area. Advantage to choose your landing area: When you have a bad spot (that can happen anytime) and jumping in an area near a town or forest or whatever obstacles, jumping a canopy with a load factor of 0.97 will make you not able to land necessarily in a safe area especially if it is windy. More speed is very welcome in such a condition. A lot of skydivers are like grandfathers or doctors. They are not confident toward beginners enough and have the tendency to be too protective. I just got an inguinal hernia surgery exactely 3 and half weeks ago. Some friends told me, no jumping for 3 months, nurses told me to wait 2 months before resuming sport activities, others say 1 month before lifting 50 pounds (I never mention to doctors or nurses about skydiving, they would have freaked out) but this past Monday I jumped, there was a good breeze and I landed like a butterfly. (BTW I load my Katana at 1.6 but I have some experience). Carol, as an educator I believe in education. A good brienfing and a good supervision, nothing better. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

With no figures and the fact I am into physics and mathematics stuff I find your argument very weak. On the other hand: How long Cypres is on the market? At least 14 years. Then how come they still have problem (ref. with the recent recall of about 500 units for a deficient sensor). How long it would take to solve problems , another 14 years? Who claim about 100% reliability to justify their 4 years maintenance with article in all skydiving magazines few years ago and who put a disclaimer on their owner's manual? A friend of mine was right on the target when he told me that more something is expensive and more irrational are the motivations to buy it. Vigil is doing better in less than 5 years. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

When I mentioned about pressurizing the Enola Guay with the atom bomb aboard, of course I was providing the reader with a caricature and never meant that "exemple" to be taken literally. Anyway, my example seems to have triggered some reaction and that was my goal. On a more Terra Firma note: Another excerpt from Cypres owner's manual this time (page 32 at the bottom) :. I guess it's clear enough. Coming back to what AAD to choose: well after reading several posts, I can see that a lot of skydivers are like many people who prefer their old slippers to new ones. But that doesn't apply too much with technology. One can like the Blackberry but after having seen an iPHONE and its features, the choice is obvious. You can prefer a Rolex watch which puts more that 20% of its budget into publicity, I prefer and I have the OMEGA SPEEDMASTER Professional watch which has been chosen by the NASA among 5 other mechanical watches-chronographers for the Appollo program and which is still in 2008 the standard at the NASA. Vigil seems to have a more advanced technology, has a more rugged construction including box and cables and is made by a company which is more likely to speak about the features of its device and therefore a company which doesn't consider its customer as a child. When you pay 1300$ for a device, one has the right to know the main parameters of his AAD in order to make a good decision when problems happen. As a pilot, I am asked to know all the features or parameters of the airplane I am flying for better emergency decision purpose. As a parachute pilot, it should be the same approach. Vigil provides you with all Vigil AAD parameters , not its main competitor which has 2 known parameters, pressure and speed and > (written in a Skydiving Magazine article from Airtec SSK a couple of years ago). Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Excerpt from the VIGIL II user's manual page 20 at the bottom. BTW 5 mPa = 0.148 inch of mercury and is equivalent to an altitude change of 150 feet up or down since we have about one inch of mercury of pressure change per 1000 feet (5 hPa or 5 hectoPascal or 500 Pascal is a very small change of pressure) I consider a serious pilot mistake to pressurize an airplane when there are turned on pressure sensitive devices aboard. The story which comes to my mind is the following. Could you imagine what would have been the result if Colonel Tibetts flying the ENOLA GUAY over Hiroshima had decided to pressurized his airplane with the atom bomb aboard equiped with altimeters set at 1500 feet for the explosion!!!???? It is well written in the AAD's (VIGIL OR CYPRES) manuals specifying that the pilot has to avoid to pressurize the airplane. Believe me I know what I am talking about, I was in the DC-9 at Rantoul when I have been the witness of what I am trying to tell you. When in the DC-9 at Rantould still on the ground, somebody asked for the air conditioning, the pilot had to pressurized the cabin to do so and 6 VIGIL I fired including mine. Vigil I's fired because they felt the important change of pressure equivalent to a fall of more than 35 m/s. They did exactely what they were designed to do. Perris Valley people who own the DC-9 paid for everything, reserve repack, a new cutter and guess what... an extra free DC-9 ticket of a value of 99.00$. But with the Vigil II it shouldn't be a problem with such a situation. I can see that a lot of people are not really aware of the AAD's technical specifications. For the pricey devices they are, AAD's should be known on how they work and its features better understood . I already mentioned it, the Cypres II or I will not get cocked (ready to operate) until you reach 1500 feet. If you bail out below 1500 feet, the Cypres I or II WILL NOT FIRE if needed (written in the owner's manual), the Vigil will. And since problems are more likely to happen with an airplane (I am a pilot), at or after the take off and at landing I believe it's a good idea to have an AAD ready to fire if needed as soon as the airplane takes off. We skydivers rarely have to land with an airplane. It happened to me 3 times in more than 2000 jumps. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

This open letter from VIGIL illustrates exactely what I was talking about in my precedent post. It seems that Airtec keeps on with the darkness culture and doesn't behave all the time as a good corporate partner. Airtec probably never heard about anti trust laws and seemingly doesn't believe too much in a healthy competion : Think twice about this: 1) A friend of mine sent back his Cypres 1 last year for the 4 year maintenance; why on a costly (435$) 4 years Cypres 1 maintenance report, there were no details about what has been inspected ? When I go at Pennzoil for a car oil change I have a complete report of all inspected items. 2) Why on the same above unit, AIRTEC changed the cutter while the former cutter has not been fired? That change wasn't written on the report either!! 3) Very recently Paragear started selling VIGIL. Lowell Bachman passed away few months ago. Lowell Bachman started Paragear many years ago, and was vice president of the PIA (BTW, the actual PIA president is Cliff Schmucker who is also AIRTEC USA SSK president) very strange coincidence! But I am glad that Paragear has now a better choice of AAD's. I am sure skydivers will be able to understand the reality behind that mess. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

First, that bulletin doesn't concern the new VIGIL II which has been launched in Summer 2007. I was in Florida less than a month ago and had the chance to meet a parachuting technical director from France. We have had a lot of very interesting discussions together and here is what I learned: IN France there is several federations or associations ruling parachuting. For instance, the professional tandem pilots have their own federation. Unfortunately there is a lot of politics (understand fight) between those federations up there. Other sources of information told me that there is also some directors of federation who use their position to favour some manufacturers by putting down others. Connections by federation directors with specific manufacturers are obvious. This is particularly true when AAD's manufacturers are concerned. What we can say is that competition is good for the products users (skydivers). Competition will promote better price and product. This is not different when dealing with AAD's. ALL AAD manufacturers have had their share of problems: software, cutter, electrostatic, electromagnetic radiation which have caused some firing at the wrong time. They have learned about it but it's almost impossible to design a product and foresee all possible situations. The AAD design is quite complex since an AAD works with pressure and time but has to transfer the readings into altitude and speed. All AAD's on the market are the result of intense research. They are all good. However, you might prefer a particular design. Personnally I have a VIGIL II because I like the sturdy solid aluminum electronic/battery box, the 2 cables reinforced with Kevlar (weakness cable problem with competion), the device is ready to fire if needed as soon as you go up at 150 feet (others like Cypres have to reach 1500 feet to get cocked and ready, if you bail out with those below 1500 feet, they will not fire if needed), and obviously the Vigil multimode PRO, STUDENT and TANDEM which is from my point of view a very great feature for DZ equipment managment (possibility to change from PRO to STUDENT for instance on location) and easier to sell since the owner can change the mode easily. By the way, no chance of confusion provided you do your reserve pin check before each jump since the Vigil keeps the chosen mode on display all the time the device is on. The Vigil II is waterproof in case of use in a swoop pond. I personnaly bought the Vigil interface, (unique to Vigil so far) which allows me to download the data from the device to my computer and get info about my last jumps including graphs of altitude and speed with respect to the time. WHAT IS SCARRY is to have some manufacturers trying to keep their monopoly. In North America we have anti-trust laws but we have also the possibility to get knowledgeable about the products we would like to use. I suggest everybody to spend some time on Internet on AAD's manufacturer sites and get a better idea about the products. After all, it's your money, a lot of money and your safety. Get involve and do some research. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Your comparison is quite so so. I was comparing a 170 ZP lift with a F111 210 or 220. Choosing a 69 SF canopy as an exemple is quite extreme. I was telling that student that some people with same experience are successful at downsizing provided they are well briefed. I am reluctant to listen to a doctor telling me I need 4 months to recover from a broken ankle when 6 weeks is enough. For sure it all depends on the student. And a 190 ZP is not a napkin. On the other hand it is good that you have reacted to my post, that way the student will make his mind with more than one advice. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Sorry I have just read about your exit weight of 240. Well, what about a Sabre 2-190, or a Pilot 190, the Safire 2-190. Those are almost equivalent canopies and will provide you with a powerful flare. My preference is for Performance Designs products which are from my point of view the best tested canopies. If you have jumped a Sabre 2- 210 and want to be conservative a zero porosity 190 would do it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I know 2 persons who had respectively 23 and 40 jumps who recently bought a SABRE 2-170. Those people (weight 175 and 185 lbs) changed from huge student canopies (270) to downsize gradually by making a dozen of jumps or so with borrowed canopies ranging between 250 and 210. Those 2 guys are happy to have bought a Sabre 2-170 since they have the intention to keep it for a while. What you need is the advice of a realistic instructor who will judge if you can handle the same kind of progression. However, you have to know that for lift capacity purpose, a SABRE 2-170 will support you as much as a non zero porosity 210 or 220 and even more and with a better flare. The support or lift from your canopy is one thing but the handling is another story. Of course the Sabre 2-170 will react more rapidely to any toggle input than a bigger size canopy. Get a good briefing and please, if you decide to go for a 170 zero porosity canopy like the SABRE 2, always remember that you have to behave like an airplane pilot especially at landing. Have a lot of clearance ahead of you, keep toggles symetrical (absolutely no last second turn) stay straight forward even if you realize that you are not perfectly into the wind line and against the wind. Get briefed thoroughly for the flare. If you weight between 165 and 195 lbs the zero porosity 170 should be a good choice. A 210 with F111 material is OK too but a 210 zero porosity is too big for you and as soon as you will have to jump with a good wind, you will have less penetration and will be limited on your choice of landing areas. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Thanks to bring up the possibility to become knocked out by the G forces. That's why in case of a spinning malfuction, you should react as soon as possible and do a cut away. It's also a good idea to have your risers equiped with cable channel when the spin of the canopy induces heavy line twists. Those channels will keep free the cut away release cables. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

When you have a fast spinning canopy, the last thing you want is to have the AAD firing and getting your reserve deployed and get possibly an entanglement between the main and the reserve. Your best move would be a cut away and a reserve deployment. If you have a SKYHOOK equiped Vector (Javelin has the option too), it's even better for you since when you cut away the SKYHOOK will have your reserve deployed quite faster than your pilot chute can do, and in a clean way even in fast spinning malfunction. Have a look at United Parachute Technologies (UPT) SKYHOOK demo DVD, it's very convincing. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.