angryelf

What size Sabre 2? "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

It all depends on what you want to do and what your projected W/L will be on that 150... You're profile says you have enough jumps to figure that out but we don't know what your goals are sitting behind our computer screens out here in interwebs-land... As far as Brian's canopies go: I have a lot of jumps on Samauri's, owned a Jedei 150, have 2 jumps on a Lotus and a handful of jumps on the Sensei 101... Keep in mind it has been years since I've jumped these wings. Samauri 150, 170: first truly elliptical I jumped when I had around 200 jumps. at the time I thought it was pretty neat. Now I would place it's performance envelope somewhere between a Katana and a Sabre 2 with a recovery arc akin to a Stilletto. Great wing. Jedei 150: Owned from 200-450 jumps. Was the first thing I really tried to swoop with any measure of success. Was great, but I was quickly on the phone with Brian due to the short recovery arc and crummy openings using the Spectra lineset it came with. He relined it with HMA for me and I really enjoyed that canopy. Going to a Katana 135 was a big performance gain for me, however. Lotus: Only a couple of jumps on it. To me it's somewhere between a Sabre and a Pilot, with better flare authority than the Pilot by far. Sensei: I got under one of these as a demo at Chester years ago after I had about 400 jumps on Velos from 120-96. It was a huge step backwards in terms of performance and the recovery arc was really short. not my cup of tea, but maybe ok for a FS jumper looking for that type of X-Brace. Thoughts on Airlocks: When I started jumping Brian's canopies I was in NM at a DZ with notorious turbulence. A lot of the senior jumpers there swore by the Germain Airlocks. I'm very appreciative that I was on those wings at the wingloadings I was jumping then/there. 190-135 size canopies at low to moderate wingloads do benefit from Airlocks in turbulent conditions. Once you go X-brace and start seeing more velocity, turbulence (usually) is less of a factor unless the conditions are highly violent OR you get into turbulence low to the ground in which case the effects of unstable air can lead to catastrophic results. For this reason I stay on the ground in NC when the winds get over 12-14 kts. Wind+100' pine trees+X-braced wing @ 2.6 or more increases the chance of hitting the ground without all cells pressurized... Will I do tandems here up to 15-18kts and land out in the middle of the field to walk back? Sure. Would I jump an Airlocked canopy in higher winds, maybe. Fun factor goes down for me in winds/risk goes up, so probably not. I like Brian and I like his goals with Airlocks. I think they are great for a certain range of jumpers in a certain range of conditions. They pack a tad bigger, are sometimes a nuisance to ground handle/kite after landing and the potential for one to stay in the air longer/drift farther after a cutaway is slightly higher. In my experience they require better care and feeding on the packing mat than most of the more modern designs to produce nice openings. PD and other bigger companies have the resources to do more testing, R&D, marketing so their designs are more prevalent. At the end of the day it depends... -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Not to sound like a jerk, but you need to stop hitting your camera on the plane/other folks in freefall. (If you're slapping yoursef in the head in freefall that's a new phenomenon). the sticky mounts work on a G3 or similar for most jumps. Some jumps they are not the best (AFFI on reserve side with a D handle on the student's reserve comes to mind or whazzoo ff jumps or AFFI on mainside and eating the student's PC). Bottom line-have some situational awareness. You have a brick on a stick mounted 4" above where you think the top of your head is. Adjust accordingly. Other Options: put pliers or a wrench on that Gopro and set it in place. Put aftermarket mounts on that recess the Gopro lower/more securely than the standard set up. Put a ring sight on your helmet and treat your jump like you should-as a camera jump. put a "paper asshole" on your visor and do the same as above. Use a Eurotrash chin mount. Use a camera like the Mohoc. www.mohoc.com (It's my go to for AFF). Take the camera off until you either: 1) get comfortable bashing it in the plane, 2) decide it's worth losing or 3) start treating a camera jump like a camera jump. Not a $25 opportunity to shoot selfie cam with your millennial tunnel rat pals. In all sincerity I'm not trying to be a prick. The camera thing has just been out of control since small format systems came on the market. I lost the lens off my tape system (camera that didn't record to an SD card in HD) not so long ago when it got kicked after exit by a tube I was videoing. I wrote it off as a learning experience and JB welded a new WA lens on the camera body which was busted as hell. I think that camera did 400 jumps before It totally died. By the end it was held together with gaffers, epoxy and hope. If you think any part of your gear/rig stuff you take into freefall isn't expendable, repairable at best-go bowling. -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Short answer-it depends... Long answer-assuming everything is in good shape like you say and it has been stored in a cool dry place either packed or in a bag with no mildew, etc...maybe $500-$1000. $200 like Piisfish says if she just wants to get rid of it. I'm not familiar with the main-but Para Flite's gear is not super performance based/by today's standards never was. Having jumped some of their other canopies I would turn that thing into a car cover and get another main cheap... Your landing performance will be better which translates to ankle/knee longevity. Flight performance will be better as well which by some people's standard isn't a huge deal and they only want a tool to get down. The Vector II with BOC and Cypres pocket is likely still airworthy, probably would benefit from some new risers, d-bag/pc, elastics (boc and all your slack retainers) and maybe replace the Velcro... All things your rigger can do for $150-$300. I still see a few of these rigs being used by CRw folks and Style&Accuracy jumpers. Definitely wouldn't recommend regularly free flying in it...Or really ever free flying in it. Reserve-probably still perfectly fine. Would definitely send it to PD-they'll probably charge you a bit for a reline, inspection, porosity test, but then you have the peace of mind that your reserve has been deemed airworthy by the manufacturer. Your rigger might not agree with me... Cypres should still be worth $80 towards a new one from SSK/Airtec. Might be worth the investment as it sounds like currency is a challenge for you. AAD isn't mandatory, but it sounds like family is a priority to you and it's not a bad idea have one on the chance you get whacked leaving the plane or something crazy happens. More and more DZ's are requiring them anyway... RSL in my opinion would be worth keeping or installing. All that being said-you could be into your old rig for $1000 after repairs, repack or as much as $3500 with new main/AAD and a lot of rigging work. If you've only jumped 3 times since early 2000's, doesn't seem like a great investment and that rental gear will serve you better. If the intent is to get back into it more-you're going to want modern gear to participate in modern flying styles. The only part of your old rig that might be worth keeping long term is the reserve-I still have one made in 1993 that was in my first rig (which was also a V2). It's in my WS rig now and I've had three very acceptable rides on it over the years. Your rigger might not feel the same. Hope it works out either way. -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

I have a 1993 reserve that was in the first rig I bought (at the time it had 1 ride). In 2006 I had a rigger mark all the boxes because he decided that it was times the canopy should have been (repacked). Long story short I sent that canopy back to PD and they insisted on a reline. I think that something changed in specs. I don't think your canopy or mine "went out of trim". I have 2 rides on that reserve now and pack it every 6 months. I don't care about the $200 or whatever it was to get PD to reline it 10 years ago. That reserve is old enough to drink and I would step out a of a plane with it tomorrow with zero qualms. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

I don't think that it's all packing. I think it's packing combined with finer fiber Liquid Crystal Polymers (LCP's) that have high aromaticity combined with excessive wear and new opening characteristics. (I brought the LCP/aromaticity into it to be funny/smartass. I'm not a chemical engineer-I'm a skydiver). With 450 jumps on the wing I respect the hell out of it. I thumped myself 10 years ago on a Spectre. I almost killed myself on the VK testing an altimeter earlier this year. complacency on these planforms (and many parachutes in general) is certain death. I assure you I DO NOT have every aspect of the the VK figured out. As far as the VK to VE vs truck to Ferrari thing-I wasn't comparing a VK to a VE. I was comparing the VK to a KA. the region I jump in currently has a lot of very experienced tunnel fliers moving from the KA/CF2to the VK/Leia because that's what you do... Not so long ago it was recommended that you only flew a VE if you had a bazillion jumps on a Stiletto... Which was the hot canopy then... We now know that short lineset to entirely different planform with way longer lines different dive/recovery tendencies led to a few experienced jumpers femuring. My point is that a lot of folks are bitching about having to reline. My thought is that they need to. They aren't and it's leading to problems. We're nearly at a stage with these wings where the lines can fail in the turn because the openings are butter and we're building so much power and system-felt g forces into the canopy at the most critical phase of flight that the failure can occur when we have the least time/altitude to deal with it. I hadn't considered line vibration in flight-but in makes sense. Gun barrels have harmonics that affect accuracy, some motor cycles vibrate themselves to death... the potential for line wear to be a by-product of velocity induced vibration theoretically sounds valid. It's a brave new world... "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

My (very subjective) thoughts on the matter: The VK (really any Schuemann derived wing) is different. Main difference is that it performs at a level much higher than has been seen by high volumes of jumpers since the VE came out in '99. The guys who tested it were jumping 'X' prototypes and Peregrines and had continuous lineset changes due to 'revs' in the testing process to dial in the final product we the consumers are jumping. Most of the guys flying Peregrines with 300lb Vectran will tell you they change linesets every 150-200 jumps. SUB TERMINAL JUMPS... Sure 500lb is thicker. But we're taking it to terminal and beating the shit out of it. I know quite a few vidiots/experienced up-jumpers/organizers who take their HMA or Vectran linesets up to the "fuzzy and really need to be replaced level" regularly (on VE's, Xaos's, Etc.) Sure people have been getting 500 jumps on VE's who jump at Grass DZ's, pack inside and never get their lines wet or sandy. Sometimes those lines break on opening and they either land it sans lines or they chop it then reline (Assuming they find it). The VK is a different machine. You replace tires on a truck every 40,000 mi or so. You replace tires on a race car multiple times during a race. The VK is a Ferrari. It has maintenance requirements that are different than your Katana (or your Grandma's station wagon). For someone to say that the VK is faulty because the lineset doesn't last for 500 jumps is akin to saying an airplane that get's landed with the gear up, out of gas and 4 years past an Annual is to blame for the Pilot's screwup. As for the litany of tension knots-I blame the softer Orange Vectran (individual fibers are thinner, compared to the "Natural" Vectran braid) combined with shitty/un-educated packing. Softer lines like HMA and the Orange Vectran require more careful linestows. I believe a lot of the problems have come from worn out linesets, ill-prepared pilots who would have been better off jumping something less demanding than the VK at the experience-level they first put themselves under one and bad gouge being put out around bonfires about the canopy's packing requirements and opening characteristics. While I applaud PD for building a "fix" I'm not convinced we needed one. -Harry 450 jumps on VK's from 96 to 79. WL from 2.6 to 3.4. My current 90 has 325 jumps on it and i have replaced the LCL's within the last 50 jumps. The new "fixed" lineset will hang on the wall in my loft for another 25-50 jumps before I install it. As an aside-I was prepared for the VK. I wasn't prepared for the 9 cell version after 250+ 7 cell jumps. My first jump on a 9 cell Schuemann I chopped and lost. My second I chucked the RDS. 3rd-5th were uneventful. Point is the Schueman Wings are new, have different requirements to fly and have different maintenance needs. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

The answer is that it depends. Are you staying at a nice hotel or are you staying in a hostel-type setup? I haven't traveled to Thailand, but my experience in other parts of Asia was that the hotels that catered to westerners had very good security measures in place to ensure return customers. I have left gear in hundreds of hotels, but usually leave the do not disturb tag on the door and if I'm traveling with a rig or climbing gear I bury it under my clothes in a suitcase, etc. Carrying all but the smallest rig around in a bag, particularly into bars and other places isn't a great plan. Most bars I've seen in Asia are pretty adamant about not bringing bags in due to weapons or concerns with cameras, etc. You also make yourself a target to potential petty theft as criminals home in on someone who looks out of place and is carrying a large bag that doesn't leave your sight. Another concern is loss and damage-Most of us have had some long nights, last thing you want to do is lose your gear after a night of beverages. A better option might be to store your gear at the DZ. This makes the most sense if you are jumping at one DZ. Odds are good the DZ is on a airfield with some security in place, or is rural enough to reduce the risk of theft. Lastly, you can get traveler's insurance that will cover gear if stolen. I haven't looked into it in a long time-but it generally isn't too expensive and you can also have the plan cover medical and transport expenses if the worst happens. -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Nav 260 Nav 230 till jump 25 PD 9 Cell 190 jump 26-101 Spectre 170 jump 101-250 (got hurt pretty bad under it on jump 147) Jedi 150 jump 250-450 Katana 135 jump 450-775 Velo 120 2 jumps Velo 111 8 jumps Velo 103 795-2000, kept it but also had a Velo 96 around the 1300 jump mark Started jumping Valkyries last year (around 2000 jumps), have jumps on them from 2.5:1 up to 3.4:1. Have several jumps on a Petra 75 (smallest canopy I've landed yet). Did lots of demos, borrowed a ton of canopies between downsizes. I also routinely jump bigger stuff. Currently own and jump VK 90, Xaos 98, SI 190 (for WS) and a Flik 266. The Xaos is for sale so I can buy another VK :) "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

I can't find a picture of the helmet, but I'm assuming that it has a curved top. I put a Skysystems mount on a Gath years ago by building up the top of the helmet with JB Weld 2 part epoxy a bit at a time, then sanding a flat surface, carefully drilling mount holes and bolting the mount through the epoxy. I still have that helmet, haven't used it since 2011, but the mount is still firmly on... Another option would be the Cookie flat mount that (I think) is built in conjunction with Trunk at Hypoxic. Another option would be to get some sheet Aluminum (14ga or so) and cut, drill and fold something the meet your needs. Haven't done this: but you might experiment with 3D printing or fiberglass to get what you want. -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

What kind of prop clearance are you getting with your current setup? The first couple of Youtube videos you put up show seem to have a few inches of clearance. My question about using the 185 (although the U 206 door is nicer) was in regards to getting that prop away from the ground and enhancing short field grass strip operations. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Could you hang a PT6-20 on a 185? Obviously a different STC, but do you think it would be doable? "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

PM sent. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Watched a Cat A and a Cat B (or maybe 2 Cat B's) get pulled out of a Caravan with a blown engine at 5,500' by their instructors. Both had standup landings in cornfield 2 mi from the DZ and made a second jump that day after watching the jump plane overshoot the runway and crash (pilot walked away from the wreck). "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Use a drill bit up to #4's... Drill on side where male portion of the grommet rolls. With or with out spurs-remove the roll, then use needle nose pliers/locking pliers to separate two sides of the grommet. bigger sizes use Dremel (carefully) with water cooling if cutting quickly. -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Videoed a (4+ years) non-current old school jumper using an old PC with a chest reserve and a modified military rig with 3 pin ripcord set up. As I recall the chest reserve was 6 years over due and known to have a large hole in it... I was testing a base canopy I had just relined for a friend when I saw the other jumper in the loading area and asked if I could video his jump. It was of course a hop n' pop from 4.5k. Not saying any of it was a good idea, but nobody died. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Think I just figured it out. Servo motor on the machine looks to be 550W, so I think I'll need the 2000W transformer. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

This is directed mostly at MEL or Jerry, but please respond if you are familiar with this setup: I have a Brother KE-430F-05 I just picked up. It is spec'ed to run 220v 3 phase. There is no magic switch to push it to 110v. I don't want to try to get 3 phase power to my (residential) loft. I'm definitely going to purchase a Step Up Transformer. Question is do I want a 500Watt Transformer or a 2000Watt Transformer? Are there any pitfalls with using a transformer to trick the machine into thinking it has 220V? Will this cause long term wear issues? Thanks! -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Should work just. I know of a guy 6'6" and 265 that fits in one just fine. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Recommend having your rigger make them for you. Most common ones I've seen use 1" flat weave and a cam buckle on each riser. Competent rigger with a bar tack machine can modify a set in a couple minutes. I also made a set by finger trapping 1000lb dacron into itself with a pull tab. Basically it's a drawstring that cinches around itself. you need a release, I used a pair of pelican hooks. The bronze pelican hook from RSL lanyards isn't strong enough, get the SS ones that are larger (order from Wichard or West Marine). you can put a ring in the slink at the top of the riser to hook the pelican into. Another option is to get a set of military surplus risers that have trims built in (MC4/5, etc.) Issues there are the risers will be type 8, have large 3 ring assemblies and will be extremely long. If nothing else you could use the cam buckles and get a pattern for how to modify your normal risers. Lastly-whatever system you go with-be careful. Smaller crossbraced wings don't like trim tabs, in my experience. Any turbulence is made worse with trims in. Expect to fly with rears and harness as your toggles' effectiveness is reduced. Release them early, be prepared for failures to lead to malfunctions. There are several videos online showing early XRW pilots having issues with them. Most XRW pilots have gone to different planforms/loadings to avoid using trim tabs. I personally wouldn't want to be messing with them low to the ground in the manner you're describing. Good luck! -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

SI 190 is a Silhouette 190. "SI" is part of the serial number for the Silhouette that PD and PD users sometimes use as a nickname for the canopy. Similar to "VK" for Valkyrie or "VC" for Comp Velo, etc. "Silhouette" is also a really challenging word for me to remember how to spell as French is not my native tongue ;)... In addition to WS'ing I use the SI 190 for things like intentional cutaways or if I'm doing something dumb like jumping in a kayak. It's much more docile and forgiving than the Valkyrie for obvious reasons... Spectre 170 is tight-ish but works in the V347. The ZPX 140 was pretty mushy. I wouldn't want to freefly with that container and the small Xbrace canopies I put in it. -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

My V347 currently has a PDR 160 and a SI 190 in it. I have had the rig since 09 and have put the following mains it: Spectre 170 Jedi 150 Katana 135 Katana 120 Velo 120 Velo 111 Velo 103 Xaos 98 Xaos 88 Velo 96 Pilot 140 (ZPX) Sabre 2 150 Vk 90 The V347 is an awesome container-great range of mains will fit in it. I use the rig for wingsuiting, test jumps and anything that I don't want to be under a VK for. I also loan it to friends that don't have gear yet. It is a certifiable BRICK. It gets 30-100 jumps/year. It's not comfortable and I would not want to jump it day in and day out in it's current configuration. I also packed the reserve very tight AND have to take care with the main to make it look at all right/safe. All of that being said-refer to UPT's chart, when you start stuffing canopies in rigs you "may" start ripping grommets out or inducing less than awesome malfunctions that no one has seen before. -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

78-90 between 9.5k ft and 5k ft, DZ was at sea level. Winds aloft were forecasted at 7-15 mph on mark schulze and usairnet (tail wind), which puts true airspeed in the 65-85 mph range. Data was recorded on fly sight worn by WS pilot. -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

disclaimer: I have only jumped VK 90/79, never a Leia. This is XRW based only... VK 90 w/ wt @ 2.9 flew okay next to a Aura/C2. VK 79 w/ wt @ 3.4 flew awesome next to Aura/C2/Freak. VK 79 next to Sensei 71 ( w/WS'ers) at 3.5= VK pilot hanging in brakes to stay with it. VK 79 @ 3.4 in full flight 78-92MPH horizantal speed/45MPH vertical descent. Buddy of mine in Freak next to a Leia at 3.4 couldn't hang. My guess is the Leia is trimmed flatter than the VK. -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Per the FAA a Senior Rigger is supposed to have access to a climate controlled parachute facility with packing tables. While my "loft" doesn't have tables, it has a dehumidifier and air conditioner. that being said, the only rounds I have repacked have been for equipment drops or for non personnel "test" drops. What constitutes a table? can I secure the apex and risers of a canopy? Yes. Do I have a raised platform to pack a reserve? No. I for one really like the DK standard of qualification. It's pretty straightforward. "access to a properly equipped workshop" seems like a copy and paste. Which happen... -Harry "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."