SethInMI

If you have a digital altimeter that can show descent rate, you can get an idea what you are up against by checking the rate under stowed brakes. This formula d = v^2 / (2a) would allow you to calculate the equivalent height to practice jumping off to hit the ground with the equivalent speed, where a is 32 fps^2 or 9.8m/s^2. That means landing under a 20fps descent rate is the same as jumping off something 6.25 ft high, and a 15fps descent rate is the same as jumping off something 3.5 ft high. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

The training itself is pretty simple, especially when it comes to exiting the aircraft. The problem as I and a lot of others see it is not training, it is execution. Like a swooper who has been instructed not to do a >90 deg rotation without seperation, but does it anyway because he believes that he is good enough to do it safely, wingsuiters who hit tails think they can exit safely by not executing a 2-3 sec wings closed delay. 99 times out of 100 they can. A program for tailstrike reduction I think follows a swoop regulation model. Lots of warning posters, stickers, etc, and vigilance by other wingsuiters. We can't have an S&TA busting people like a beer-line violation without a exit shot camera taking pics of people, but we need something to point out to people that are pushing it, and build a culture that does not tolerate getting open early. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

German DZ.commers: (or anyone else who knows) The wife and I are going to Europe in a few months. One option has us laying over in Frankfurt for like 8 hours from morning arrival until evening departure. Will anything be open on Christmas Eve? Shops, attractions, etc? Seth It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

No, MM is the same in the winter as yours. We garage our Mini in the winter for all the reasons people listed, salt corrosion, increase risk of damage from other drivers sliding around, etc. But with my STi, I made the decision to drive it year round. I have seen the rust damage it has done to the underbody, and that hurts, but I have had a lot of fun with it too, doing things you can't easily do in the summer, steering with the right foot, etc. The low traction conditions of winter allow for that. And like I said, the combo of winter tires and AWD makes for amazing traction when I need it, I have gone through some thick and deep snow where I think any 2WD car would have gotten stuck. Will I have some regret about driving it in the winter when I take a depreciation hit when I sell, probably, but I will try to remember the moments where I thought to myself "Now that is why I am driving my car year round!" It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

I can understand for a Porche, esp a RWD model, but the EVO and the car I have, an STi, are AWD vehicles and just beg to be driven in the winter. I gave in to mine; with winter tires it is so much fun to drift and slide around in the snow, and with 3 limited slip diffs it is almost impossible to get stuck. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

don't believe America makes a car on this level... yes there are faster American cars, but they don't handle like a pure-bred rally car Or American car companies don't/didn't sell them in America. (Ford Focus RS, RS 500.) It sounds like Ford will finally agree to sell the RS in the USA in 2014. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

+1. Like the milagros earring. Sounds like you need arm and leg charms... It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

A typical length would be 1/2 bag width + 1 - 2", so 6-8" or so. Basically the distance from the side of the roll to the grommet. The length of a bridle extension also varies by rig type. IMHO Vectors don't need extensions, and the completely enclosed kill line makes it ideal for psycho packing. On the other hand, a container system that once cocked requires the attachment point to be within a few inches of the d-bag grommet would benefit from an extension. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

[Bill Von analogy mode] Comparing sport skydiving to a roller coaster ride is not good. On a roller coaster you are not in control, so it is like a tandem in that way. A passenger on a tandem is fun once or twice, but they get boring really fast. Skydiving might be more like driving a car on a race track. Sure you can only speed up/slow down and turn, but you are in control, and that makes a big difference! Driving around the track slowly by yourself would get boring real quick too, but add some friends and try to race each other around the track and now you have something you can spend hours and hours of enjoyment and learning. [\Bill Von analogy mode] It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

Fucking perfect! It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

Ah this is awesome! I switched computers a few months ago, and I tried to get Paralog installed on it. 1. Download and install V7. Does not accept my registration key. 2. I Email Klaus on May 29,2012, "Can I get V5?" Klaus says "version 5 is no longer supported and/or available" So I would have to pay for V7. 3. I decide I don't care that much, start using Excel. Now I find V5 IS AVAILABLE. I install and it accepts my old key, so just need to import my old jump log and I should be back in business. Klaus, I hope you put that link out there AFTER you told me it was not available. [edit] From a closer reading of the thread, Klaus may have recently put the link out there. In that case, thank you OP and CH123 for bring that to my attention, and thank you Klaus for putting it out there [/edit] It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

Also funny if you have not seen it. http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Skydiving "Skydiving involves jumping out of an airplane, parachuting to the ground, and not breaking your femur when you land. Participants include men with big penises, and women who enjoy being the center of attention, surrounded by men with big penises" It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

Not sure about the one in Marshall, I think it is still going, but I know some people who jump/jumped there so I can find out if no one else chimes in here. I jump at Skydive Allegan and have never heard of Parachutes LLC as a DZ, but looking at the address (the hanger next to Skydive Allegan) it is the sister plane from the defunct DZ in Gobles, MI. I have watched the plane's owners jump from it, but didn't know they had "opened it to the public". It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

the landing sizes are in this draft AC: http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/draft_150_5300_13_chg19.pdf I attached a screen shot of the relevant page. For students, it is the equivalent area to a 200m diameter circle, for tandems a 100m diameter circle, and for experienced (licensed) jumpers a 24m circle, if this goes through, it most likely only a problem for student programs. At one DZ that I jump at under the new rules the main landing area would have a PLA of approx 200,000 sq feet, (a 620x330 ft rectangle), so students would not be able to land there, and would have to land a long way away, a logistical PITA because the radio person would have to be driven out there. I don't see much good in the new rules. A circular area PLA is best because it is independent of wind direction. A larger area that is a narrow rectangle is going to be LESS safe if the wind is cross wind, and if it is farther from the hanger it could involve more runway and taxiway crossings by walking or riding jumpers heading back to the hanger. Seth It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

So once again, Twardo is the voice of reason. Using the USPA definition from the SIM section 7: An exhibition jump, also called a demonstration or display jump, is a jump at a location other than an existing drop zone done for the purpose of reward, remuneration, or promotion and principally for the benefit of spectators. As I read it Spence is correct, this jump was NOT a demo according the USPA, and so 3rd party insurance would have covered the jump. I think everyone agrees that a jumper should/should have treated such a jump like a demo and flown a conservative pattern, etc. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

There are Belgian and NL jumpers on here who can certainly give much better info on Belgian DZs than I can, but I will comment as another low-time USA jumper: I jumped one day each at PCV Schaffen and PCV Zwartberg a few years ago when I was in Antwerp and Leuven for a month, I had about 100 jumps at the time. The people were friendly, they accepted my USPA membership as 3rd party liability insurance (so I could jump), and I rented rigs both times (Javelins with 7 cell mains I think). I think I had to have someone supervise me while packing rental gear because I didn't have some packing certificate or something, I can't remember now... The landing areas were big. That is about all I have got. Seth It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

[reply I am 2 degrees away from everyone I wonder who is the skydiver with the most people at two degrees? In the USA, I thought of Dave DeWolf. How many people personally know riggers who have taken his class? Who else would be a candidate? Norman Kent, BJ Worth, a shit load of others. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

When I read "race" I think "fastest, or shortest time". If the concept was proxy flying competition, then longest, closest, or most artistic, best line, etc, would all valid judging criteria. Two means of having a WS proxy speed contest come to mind: 1. Find terrain that would accommodate a course that to get the fastest time would require proxy flying at least at a few key points. 2. Lay out gates like a ski downhill course or pylons like the Red Bull Air Races that competitors would have to fly between and not over. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

If you saw someone say that increased riser length will cause an increased recovery arc, I bet you saw someone else call bullshit on being able to tell the difference. Your A lines are about 120", plus 20" of riser and 20" of MLW so 160" from the seat of the harness to the canopy. If you change that by 4" or 2.5%, I don't think you would notice. As an FYI, I flew a Sabre 2 150 with 24" risers loaded at about 1.3 and set up the brakes so that there were about 3-4" of slack takeup before the tail started to deflect, and it landed great, IMHO. I am 6'3" tall, but my arms are shorter than average for someone of my height. I strongly suggest doing a trim check, just to see where you are. I recently got a Sabre 2 135, and found that it probably had more jumps than it was advertised, and so had about 3.5" of shrinkage in the brake lines. I had to let the brakes out by about 5" to get the canopy back to factory. Seth It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

Doh! Time to look at the log files. (Story of my work life...). It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

I imagine it would be in concept the same data gathering as an aircraft pitot tube, dynamic and static pressure difference gives airspeed, and rate of change of static pressure gives vertical airspeed. A little math and you have glide ratio. Obviously a device like this could be a jump logger as well, you could still have nice paralog graphs etc etc. IF IT FUNCTIONED WELL, it would be a great tool for competition, as it would remove the tailwind/headwind issue. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

my 1st time using a sewing machine (the wife's) I disassembled my sky tie, took the magnets and elastic and an extra scrap of left over tie dye from my rig to build a new one. Machine sewing was surprisingly easy to do, and the Brother sewed 6+ layers of cordura easily, but my stitch lines look like shit and it didn't help that I kept starting and stopping, so from about 10-15 feet away it looks ok, but closer up it looks like it was sewed by someone who wasn't sure what they were doing. (That is a slight exaggeration, it ain't pretty, but it looks like it operates as well as the original; I will see how well it holds up). seth It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

Yeah it is silly, as we are all basically on the same page. For some one who is interested in being precise in language, I think you can make a distinction between omitting a step while planning out a process, and losing track of time and not taking an action when you should. It is not like any jumper mentally planning a dive flow "forgets" the pull step and expects to go directly from breakoff and track to check canopy/collapse slider, but after 60 sec or so from exit their minds don't remind them. It is a convention to use the phrase "forgetting" for both accidentally omitting a planning step and missing a timing cue, even though cognitively they feel to me quite different. But again, just semantics, IMHO. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

But Squeak, You can't use "I fucked up" as a complete explanation for a cypres fire. Here are some sample answers to "why did you have a cypres fire": John Doe : "I fucked up. I jumped up on exit, hit the tail, and woke up under canopy" Jane Doe : "I fucked up. I stuffed my PC too deep in the pouch, and spent 15 sec trying to dig it out" Jack Doe : "I fucked up. I lost altitude awareness; I forgot to pull." In general, saying "I forgot..." does not in any way absolve me of responsibility, but it does explain what happened. Here in the USA anyway, "I forgot" is a common equivalent for "I lost track of time", as in "oh shit, I forgot to pick up my daughter" after losing track of time while watching a football match. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".

To throw some numbers out: 16GA wire has a resistance of 4 ohm/1000 ft, so 120ft x 2 = 240 ft of wire or about 1 ohm total resistance, so dropping 1 V per Amp, or 20 V drop at rated amperage. That is already a lot for a 120 V circuit, but starting a motor involves a temporary high current draw, I will guess in this case 40 A or more, and that means now a 40 V drop through the cord and so not enough voltage is left to get the compressor motor started. Now the high current stays and pops the breaker. It's flare not flair, brakes not breaks, bridle not bridal, "could NOT care less" not "could care less".