SEREJumper

Any idea what kind of main?

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I'd love to have that main in my shop to dismantle it and learn what PD is doing with its cutting edge canopy. How's it built, where's it reinforced, what's the shape. So I wouldn't rule out someone from the industry being involved a bit

+1, you beat me to it. Sad but true, if PD/PD sponsored jumpers are the only jumpers with these canopies, you have to wonder just a little...

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Your point is well taken, the problem is that you indicate this individual has a realization that they could benifite from more training. The onus of action is placed upon the individual. You have transfered responsibility once again to the newbie! As so many do!

Chris,

I think the confusion going on here in this thread is that I was speaking in terms of second round not being a typical "newbie", he had some jumps/skydiving experience from the past and was getting back into the sport in which gear, malfunctions were somewhat different then what he was used to.

There are at least 3-4 fun jumpers from Reno/Tahoe area that jump at Skydive Sacramento. Come on down on a Sat or Sun and I'm sure you will run into them.

Whats the most reliable instructor transmitters (tranceivers actually) that people are using for the minitors?

Peter,

That was about 3-4 years ago before I really got into knowing about gear as I am today. It was all hidden under the leg pad and I didn't ask how they did it at the time.

They did do it on two containers within a year though, both container have since been sold, so no way to check out for sure.

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Highly doubtful that you can just splice a longer leg strap on by cutting off the short one and sewing the longer one on. There's a failure point you're introducing that hasn't been tested.

Not true, I've had Sunpath splice new legstrap webbing into two harnesses that were not articulated. Cost me around $75-80 total for both sides if I remember correctly. They do not advertise it in there repair section, they mentioned it. I had this done because the webbing was showing some wear from the older style friction adapters (which work very well, just tend to be a little more harsh on the webbing over time).

Most of these questions are can/should be asked to your instructors at your dropzone that have seen you land, even bettter get your landings on video so they can be critiqued.

Its very hard to give GOOD landing advice on here without actually seeing you land in person. On a side note, your landings are probably a little faster/harder to judge because your wingloading is higher than most peopl eat your jump numbers, having a larger canopy to start out allows you to practice your landings/manuevers and dail everything in before you downsize.

Looking straight down at the ground in my opinion is harder to judge when to flare, some like to look at the horizon, while others like to look at an angle below the horizon. Again, best answered by instructors that know you.

Chris,

I'm not getitng what you are saying, I said if he feels he is not ready, he should seek out the training that he feels he does not understand or needs more practice on. Nobody but himself can know if he is or he thinks he is truely ready.

Do you disagree with that?

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In fact, I am almost hoping for some non jump weather on my next trip to the DZ so I can get some additional practice in the hanging harness on recognising and responding to malfunctions not to mention just talking skydiving so I can become more solidly grouded in the fundamentals.

Well, don't just hope then. Sunny blues skies or not, if you feel like you need more time, take it. Don't feel rushed because they want you to or you think you have to jump. The sky will always be there, but you know that!

So I'll throw in what some US military units do for freefall jump ops.

A large (15' x 15') "V" or "L" with brightly colored marker panels. Face the open end of the V or you can read the L, then you are facing into the wind. It sits flat on the ground so it will not cause injury if you land on it.

It can be seen in freefall and under canopy, gives you a far recognition point as to where the ground winds are coming from to set up your pattern.

This method works because you have someone assigned to monitor the winds and move the arrow if need be which we call a Dropzone Safety Officer (DZSO). As a general rule, the arrow is not changed after the first jumper starts his landing pattern or approx. 1000ft.

Some places also have a flag/windsock that can be used to tell the real time wind speed as well. All jumpers are given an updated wind speed/gusts prior to dropping.

If winds are light (up to 3mph)/variable/no winds, then the wind arrow can be set up in the direction that makes most sense for safety (landing away from/parallel to hazards) or pre-established light wind landing directions.

Again, the key to that whole process working is that their is someone assigned to and knowledgable about the use and operation of the arrow AND jumpers are trained to use it/follow it. Its not 100% effective, the winds do change at the last minute sometimes or they forget to adjust the arrow and you end up doing a crosswinder/downwinder, but those are rare.

So how does this affect US DZ operators? I know it is easier to import aircraft from Canada due to Transportation Canada's processes are pretty thourgh.

Will the FAA honor a canadian STC?

More importantly, do you have any pictures of the work performed, what type/style of inside latch, and external latch system?

Any idea of cost for the conversion?

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skydiving vacation planned. Non-refundable airplane tickets, hotel reservations, etc. -- the works.

Is it the riggers problem he could not get a hold of him? How would the rigger know about his so called plans, personally know him and told him about it? Then the rigger probably knows how to get a hold of him, or knows somebody who does at the DZ. Either way, it's not the riggers problem.

If you just randomly show up to a rigger that you don't know/ haven't used before and don't give any good options on how to contact you, then it's your fault, not the riggers.

Thanks for the updates!

In my opinion, if you are not going to be getting back into the sport very soon and you don't have any sentimental attachment to the rig I would just sell it outright.

You also have to take into account any liability that could go with the rental, if the renter gets hurt on your rig, someone could be knocking on your door.

If you are going to rent it out, friend or not, I would have them sign a contract with all the terms of possible scenarios covered, just so everyone knows what the standard is. If you were just letting a buddy use it one weekend or something, thats different than renting it out on a constant basis, potentially to someone you don't know very well.

So just to bump this to the top, looks like the MarS M2 AAD got it's approval by a few manufactures. So with all the AAD debate going on, this will be an interesting addition to the market.

My only question would be the 15,000 jump lifespan, in the manual it says to get 15k jumps, the average flight/skydive/canopy flight was calculated at approx. 20 min. I know that is not the case at a lot of smaller DZ's so that could be misleading to a point. In the end its 15 year lifesapn and even if you get 10k jumps out of one, thats amazing.

So who is going to be switcing over??

"The m2 is an automatic activation device from MarS a.s.

The automatic activation device m2 provides automatic cutting of the closing loop of the reserve parachute when a skydiver is going above a set speed and through a set altitude.

The m2 is available in versions of EXPERT, SPEED, STUDENT or TANDEM. The mode can be changed by the factory.

The main features of the m2 are:

■Lifetime of 15 years
■No scheduled service
■Battery life of up to 15,000 jumps
■Simple operation
■Stores the flight record during active use
■4 Available modes: Expert, Speed, Student and Tandem
■Replaceable cutter
■Able to be submersed under water
■Solid structure
■Flexible cables
The metal parts are made from stainless steel or aluminium alloy. The cutter is replaceable by a rigger.

m2 AAD units have been sold since June 2011. Since this time there have been thousands of jumps with m2. There have been three known saves with the m2.

It is constructed and produced on the basis of the latest skydiving research by MarS a.s., which is based out of the Czech Republic. Automatic Activation Devices in MarS a.s. were first produced in 2003. The first device was MPAAD (Mars Parachute Automatic Activation Device). The device has already received a number of activations and saved many lives. This unit was the second electronic automatica acitvation device in the world. Another device from MarS is the MPAAD Pilot. The device is intended for use in emergency parachutes for pilots of aircraft and helicopters. For cutting of the closing loops of rescue parachute, it uses two cutters.

The new generation of AAD is represented in the m2, by combining experience in development, production and use of previous security devices.

In the U.S., the m2 currently has approvals for use in the following rigs: Vector, Wings, Icon, Infinity, Basik 7 and Mirage. But other approvals may already be completed as well. Contact your rig manufacturer for more information."

Martin is going to have to buy new (or used) AAD's for his rigs, which means $ is coming out of his pocket to go towards them which = less cash he has available.

Got any pictures?

it came back with you "cat eye" to put the main and flare toggle through?

Maybe the rigger thought came up with a new mod for the sigma...the "Icarus mod"

Yeah, thats not right.

12 year + 3 months from the last one manufactured

Ok, Ok, that was to easy

Anyone out there making domed sliders for a Sabre 1 170? I want one put on an original Sabre to get it back in the air. I'm not interested in a larger or pocket slider at this time.

Skyworks Rigging is doesn't seem to be able to do one for me.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mark,

Thanks for your reply. Half of it was that I think that info should be out there as an easy reference for people to look at before purchasing a container (kind of makes it hard to find out what a TSO'd weight is if you need the manual for a container you haven't purchased yet). Also to note the reserve you put in should also be compatible.

Converted Aerodyne 136kg to approx. 300lbs and Firebird 150kg to approx. 330lbs.

Seems as though if you are not looking at the rig itself, manufactures have made it hard to tell what weight limit their sport containers are certified for.

I know most are 254lbs, but there are a few that have 300lbs.

So I thought it would be good to have them all in one place.

Looking for current, 2013 TSO'd weights only

- Aerodyne
- Sunpath
- Altico
- Velocity Sports Equipment (Infinity)
- UPT
- Firebird
- Rigging innovations
- Sunrise (Wings)
- Jump Shack (Racer)
- Mirage
- Strong

This was a shock to hear, Blue Skies Frank! So many are at a loss right now, especially your family. We are keeping them in our thoughts, especially your sons you spoke so fondly of.

Fly free brother!

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Martin-County-Sheriff-FAA-Investigating-Fatal-Skydiving-Accident-201776761.html

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but now you've moved the "does not fire below" altitude up to 880' AGL. If that's what you really want to do, drive on. Just know that there are second-order effects.

+1