RichLees

26 inch risers WL 2.5 +3 inch when I renewed control lines so I can reach laterals without stall when holding

The competition rules Canopy Piloting for the World Games test event 2012 have finalised and posted. You can download them at http://www.fai.org/download/EVENTS/7651_Competition_Rules

hey, Remi - glad you're still making progress in rehab! "Maybe a bit low?" I heard it was "definite" and a "lot". Hardened judges said they shut their eyes as you committed to it. I heard you gave up the rears AND the gates, too, but at least you kept the power on max, eh? see you in September? ciel bleu Richard

a little late to the party, but here's a worthwhile vid from John LeBlanc on what each component in a balanced deployment system does for ya http://vimeo.com/36038426

I think I read 0.6m, but some are suggesting 1m. Thanks, guys

my LookMa has two handles :-( but I find it easier to put back on than the PD one. and I probably won't put snaps on at re-lining because I can be bothered with getting snaps on the LookMa or with getting a PD slider

they're great on the VC and I want them on my regular Velo at next lineset

Am I missing something or are you guys talking about canopy alarms? Like freefall alarms, but for canopy time. Optima? Neptune? There are threads about whether to depend on your alarms or not. You could have a muppet alarm that sounds if you're doing more than, say, 40mph at 150' or accelerating at more than, say, 0.5g at 200'. That would give a chance for some people to dig out. The trouble is that a safety net will challenge people to set off the alarm and get away with it - like seatbelts, ABS etc. I can't see it being much use for getting into swooping, but it might save a wannabe or two when they make their first mistakes.

depending on the canopy, the stalls can be pretty different. some BASE canopies can "fly" backwards on the toggles. I've heard it called sheeting. most (?) skydiving canopies dive off to one side or straight back if you give them enough stick. some lightly elliptical (eg Silhouette) can go backwards surprising well on the rears. it can't be said to be flying because the pressure has gone and so its sheeting, but its controllable and the Dbag and PC can end up in front of the wing. get the rears down to your knees and the 9-cell span is retained, but the chord collapses to a couple of feet and you come straight down at 60fps which is pretty neat for vertical panning when camera behind CREW.

PGs have higher aspect ratio don't they? does scaling the span, but not the chord work? I'd have thought that the short span would be super(/suicidally) "agile". the Vera looks beautiful, but scarey shit FWIW, I thought the collapses happen as the pilot came OFF front risers. up high on a velo, I deliberately dumped my front risers a few times and didn't like the result. like a rear riser/toggle stall, smooooth let up is critical.

Mike - DP has a 96 with VC lines. Says it improves dist and speed, but same trim.

oh, and a word about super-short risers ... WHACK! the slider slapped me on the head with 17" risers. I had to pull them down past my nipples so I only did a few jumps with them.

I dig the video! glad you got to the slider in the end - way better than landing with the slider banging around like on a student canopy. I also wonder what it might do to your swoop - my slider popped open in the middle of a 450 on a Katana 135 and it was pretty distracting.

for me, its a mix of muscle memory and mechanical advantage - I have got used to where the dive loops end up when I pull them down (26" risers). when I go back to 24", I have to pull 2" closer to my chest and, for me, that's harder to hold as long. on the other hand, I can only just reach my slider to remove it so don't go too long!

With computers and USPA backing, can't we centralise records of who did how many jumps and where? I'm assuming all jumpers are USPA members. Also, a DZ could black-mark a dubious jumper so all DZs can quickly check and accept or reject a jumper's business. If you really don't want his business or you want to reward outstanding stupidity, pull his reserve handle. As for helping our young heroes, I would think that helping them learn up high would be better than just saying no. That's what most courses try to do. And if HE says no, pull his reserve handle - having ensured there's no one standing in the line of fire

Loaded at 1.7 and brakes still set, my katana 150 would go into a dive after 120 degrees of harness turn. If I let it build up past 360 degrees, it could dive at 80fps and I'd have to release the brakes as I couldn't counter hard enough with the harness. Add in a twist and a half and it was unstopable as firing the brakes was ineffective due to friction of the HMA lines

Mate - I'm not one to flame, but I would encourage you to invest in some coaching. Swooping's dangerous enough without trying to figure it out through forums and books. That said, the canopy and its pilot is worth reading a couple of times alongside a course or three. A wise man told me to learn from others' mistakes because I wouldn't live long enough to make them all myself. Swoop far! And do it far from the stiffs who go everywhere on half brakes ;-) Rich

I don't have any technical tips, but I bought second hand because I knew I'd trash the rig. It could be worth getting removeable guards for the leg straps so you easily wash or replace them.

which DZ is it, Mas? Molinella? I guess its somewhere near Bologna airport gracie

Airtec kindly lent me a Cypres datalogger and sent me the traces from some jumps. My Viso often records 95mph+ at about 200-250 feet and I wanted to understand the margin of safety for my AAD. At sea-level on my 450 degree turn, I peaked at 41.7m/s vertical at 220 feet. The parameters for the Speed Cypres mean it will fire at over 43m/s between 750 and 330 feet. (Expert Cypres, its 37m/s between 750 and 180 feet.) I also did a couple of 450s at 5000' and exceeded 47m/s from which I conclude I should turn off my AAD at a high DZ. Having taken a down-winder into the thistles and prairie dog holes, I'm too chicken to go back to Mile Hi.

Sheesh, you guys are so much cooler than me - I don't breathe from brakes off to touch-down. What's the trade-off between open face and full-face? - Open-face: easier to kiss the ground after a safe return. It also allows easy access for pramedics, but you might get a major facial. - Full-face: protects the chin, but impedes the paramedics and I think it might also increase the risk of neck injury by digging into the water and wrenching the head forward. Rapid forward or, worse, backward motion can wreck the upper vertebrae and kill/maim. As groovy as it looks, perhaps the scorpion freestyle trick should be outlawed? http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1327987796411

you'll find velo slider sizes on PD's site. I think they only use 2 sizes. My lookma RDS is slightly oversize and worked well on 120 and 103. The lanyard can whip the tail and cause holes

You've seen the two cartoon teddy bears, right? The one where Young Jedei has just bought a Velo 84 ... Lets assume he did 201 static line jumps at the same DZ in just over one year, with 26 in the last month and one "course" during a weather hold. Then he bought his Velocity 84 (24 points) and yanked the strings and did all the drills in one hop and pop, but no one would teach him how to swoop. He gets less than 50 points, but deserves a zillion. ---------------------- Great questionnaire for making you stop and think. Its spoilt by patronising, antagonistic summaries and it misses the point that other people make mistakes which use up the HP pilot's margin. eg someone walking back alongside the swoop lane decides to cut across it at the last moment. Or a big brown canopy (invisibly) crawling up wind to land in the HP area. I like DZs where they allow separate passes for HP with separate landing areas. I wish skydivers not wanting to swoop the pond wouldn't hold above it, over-fly it at 300' or land up-wind next to it. I wish people with canopies beyond their comfort level wouldn't clog the approach on half brakes cos they're scared of full drive. I morbidly wonder how much some of our fallen brothers and sisters would have scored. There were too many collisions last year. Many of them might have had average scores so its not all about the canopy choice.

did he get the gate? I've always wondered about the risk of falling out. doesn't look like he did. why do I keep getting whacked in the face by my extended chest strap? I used to use an extender with a second buckle, but that nearly cost me my teeth when it whipped up and the buckle hit me in the face.