drudchen

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Everything posted by drudchen

  1. I was wondering the same thing: Why are the seatbelts set up so that you have to reach behind and take the seatbelt. There's a much higher risk an airplane will encounter a sudden stop comparing to sudden acceleration. In a sudden stop scenario, you'll travel towards the nose of the airplane the length of the seatbelt, and then another length until it's tight. If seatbelts were attached a bit forward (instead of reaching back for them), wouldn't that be better? (referring to standard sit-on-the-floor Caravan/etc seatbelt setup)
  2. I can confirm. Although, I have a Spectre 97 in Wings W1-2, and Velo 79. Both are pretty tight in there. (My Katana 89 packs softer than either of those two).
  3. Just a thought - I was wondering - why don't rigs have a transparent window (similar to cypres one) in the reserve tray, accessible only behind the rigger's seal, that would have repack date written on it? It would solve pencil packing issue. To change it, seal needs to be broken (as opposed to current way of signing the packing card), but can be viewed through a transparent window any time
  4. This feedback might not be too useful based on your question / desired loading, but my Spectre 97 works great for me. For wingsuiting I load around 1.5 (no weight belt), and 4way at around 1.7:1 (20lbs weight belt). Opens and lands great. I'm not sure I'd load it much higher - we're usually landing crosswind at my dropzone, and it's sometimes a little bit of a run at touchdown. My Katana has a bit more bottom end power but I wouldn't wingsuit with it :)
  5. +1 for 2lbs pockets. It's just easier. If they fit in the weight belt But then again, I fly with 20lbs belt with my 4way team, so if you fly with less maybe it's less annoying to adjust
  6. I tried to use Plexus (plastic/plexiglass cleaner) that I use on my airplane, and it worked great. Now my G3 visor is really clean (minus a few scratches from tunnel walls)
  7. I bet they oiled up the strut to be a bit more slippery. Otherwise students hang on for too long, and decide to change their mind and climb back in Edited to add a clicky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmQiAioRcmM
  8. drudchen

    New iPad

    What I really want from my tablet is to have USB so that I can connect my GoPro/stills camera at the dropzone during a day of jumping - watch videos/debrief, backup stuff.. You need Itunes and a real computer to get anything on ipad, and that defeats the purpose I'll wait till Windiws 8 arm tablets come out
  9. +1. Carolyn is an awesome RW/4way coach! GO TGS! for freefly, I'd recommend Darren (he works at the tunnel)
  10. whaat? I have a friend I used to jump with all the time (In Canada too/Toronto) who has the same last name :P Max Boyko.. hehe any relation?
  11. relevant. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGBe-Rh7o4U
  12. From the site: "A Solo Skydiving Rig costs $7,500 and is also good for approximately 500 jumps before it starts needing repair work. $7,500/500 jumps = $15 per jump." Seriously?? So after 500 jumps it'll need more than 7500 in repairs (so you're better off buying new again)? I must have been doing something wrong...
  13. I thought cx550 had optical stabilization and would be no good for skydiving?... Not sure if extra megapixels in still mode would matter if the video itself isn't up to par comparing to cheaper cx100/105/150 counterpart.
  14. For the record, I wouldn't call G10 lightweight. Small size, compact - sure. But it's quite a brick ;) I have since switched to a Canon XS dslr. Yes, mostly for the frame rate. Also, high-ISO performance is much better (less noise). On not-so important jumps, I still take my casio z770 (now that thing is lightweight - 110g!) So, based on my experience, I wouldn't recommend the g10 as a great skydiving camera. Pros: Small, snag-free, stereo plug for biteswitch, good battery life, lots of manual settings, fairly wide angle stock lens. Cons: low framerate, bad noise problem at ISO 400 and more, not much cheaper than XS/i.
  15. clicky: http://tinyurl.com/cxpoe8 And how come in the question "what do you do for fun" skydiving isn't even on the list?
  16. Man, those AFFIs! Too lazy to side-slide in the direction of student's backslide
  17. That's right! A helicopter is coming to PST on Saturday April 18, with Sunday the 19th as a rain day! A license minimum. 4500'. More information and event updates on PST website/forums: http://www.parachuteschool.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=770 edited to make a clicky
  18. Since you've only paid $950, I think you'll be able to sell it for almost just as much without false advertising, telling the truth about each item and its condition. Even only the 8yo cypres should be worth a few hundred. I think you got screwed only in a sense that you didn't get such an amazing killer deal you thought you were. Otherwise, it seems the price is reasonable. But yeah, false advertising is never justified. Sorry it worked out so bad for you
  19. Since the original poster didn't say it was a Sabre2, I would assume it's an original Sabre, and those don't retail for $1600... i.e. I wouldn't pay $700 for original Sabre 170 with 750 jumps and nearly destroyed lineset
  20. Sure, Ask the PD test pilots. Sorry I thought someone might have had a chance to demo it - I'm trying to decide between a Pulse 170 and a Storm 170 to replace my Sabre 170 (my back cant take the abuse from the openings anymore ) I thought Pulse was designed to have a little quicker openings than others. So if you're worried about your back Storm might be a wiser choice. (Again, not many people have jumped it so far, so I'm just going by what I've heared about it). It would probably be good for a bigway jumper that doesn't have the altitude to watch the canopy snivel for a few hundred feet at the end of the track
  21. Think of the speed in terms of a vector quantity (magnitude and direction). During the left front riser turn the left side does speed up (in magnitude) as you pointed out, but the direction of the vector becomes more steep (angled towards the ground). So if you look just at the horizontal component of the speed, it slows down.
  22. You can't just 'try' swooping. It's something you have to work towards gradually. It's a journey (and pretty exciting for that matter). Knowing the mechanics of what riser to pull isn't that useful - it's recognizing what kind of input is needed in a given situation and all the way until you're safely on the ground. That said, If you're still interested to get a head start on the theoretical side, Brian Germain wrote an excellent book (Parachute and it's pilot) that could be just what you're looking for: http://www.bigairsportz.com/publishing.php#parachute
  23. Just my personal opinion - If you're looking for a light front riser pressure, I dont think stiletto is what you want. I've made about 200 jumps on ST97 loaded lightly, and FR pressure builds up very quickly during a high performance turn and its recovery arc is very quick. I'm not saying that it's not a good canopy - it's great, very fun to fly and turns quick. Just maybe not the best choice for swooping for most common and modern flying techniques. Have you considered a slightly smaller Sabre2 or again a Pilot? (they might be harder to find a good deal on though, as stilettos seem to be dime a dozen nowadays)