riggerrob

Generas are inexpensive because no options are available. The Genera only comes in one color and it only comes with one width of leg pads. Fortunately the stock Genera leg pads fit my skinny thighs quite nicely. My Talon2 has Genera style leg pads and I even retrofitted Genera style leg pads ot my old Mirage. If you find the stock Genera leg pads uncomfortable, then ask your friendly local Master Rigger to install wider leg pads. Any decent loft will have a dozen or more old sets of leg pads laying around.

Come on folks! You are comparing apples with oranges: medium loaded 7 cells with 9 cells loaded twice as heavy! As for the 9 cell advocates claiming better all-around performance: bull .... Elliptically tapered, heavily loaded 9 cells sacrifice everything else in their quest for longer turf surfs. Icarus Extremely Extremes are the best in one corner of the envelope and dangerous in the other three corners. I dare any Icarus Extremely Extreme pilot to stall his heavily loaded canopy straight down onto a 3 cm disc!

Since most low altitude BASE jumps are done without d-bags or sliders, it is really easy for a steering line to flip over the top of the canopy. tailgates (from Basic Research) and neat packing can prevent most of these malfunctions, but BASE jumpers still like to be able to toss their toggles. They route steering lines outside of slider grommets and steering guide rings. They sew extra locking loops on the risers, similar to tandems. The locking eye on the steering line is pulled down through the steering guide ring and locked with the top end of the toggle, like normal. But if they let go of the toggles, the steering lines just trail behind the canopy. Zoo toggles - with straight metal pins - used to be fashionable, but I recently saw a new form of soft toggle that they claim works even better. Visit the BASE manufacturers' websites to view this week's fashion.

My previous post on reserve life mainly referred to "service life." Nylon parachutes have very long "shelf lifes", probably exceeding 40 years. Assuming this canopy has been carefully stored in a plastic bag, in a cool, dry, dark closet, it is in "like new" condition. Expect to make 600 to 800 jumps on an F-111 canopy from that era. There is a safety advantage to older canopies. Since no one in their right mind jumps these canopies at wing-loadings much more than 1 pound per square foot, you limp away from landing errors that kill people flying tiny Icarus Extremely Extremes!

The standard for tightening Maillon Rapide mini links is "finger tight plus 1/4 turn." Any looser and you risk the link unthreading itself. Any tighter and you risk cracking the barrel with similar results. A drop of Loktite on the threads will help prevent premature loosening as will tight silicone bumpers.

We used to jump with a guy who claimed to be the best gay skydiver in Canada.

riggerrob is based in Pitt Meadows, Canada, though I did jump for a year with the good people at Snohomish, WA.

Oops! I spelled the last address incorrectly. It should read: www.baselogic.com

Try visiting the following websites: www.basicresearch.com ww.crmojo.com www.vertigobase.com www.basejump.org www.baselobig.com

Lifetimes on reserve canopies are vague. It is really an "on condition" issue. Repacking slowly loosens fabric. High speed openings put more strain on fabric and lines, but the worst wear comes from dragging through the weeds. Practical limits include 40 repacks, 4 terminal openings, more than 1 sewn patch or some vague chronological guidelines. If a rig has been jumped hard (300 jumps per year) in the desert, the container is probably worn out, which leads us to suspect the condition of the reserve canopy. If a rig has been carefully stored in a cool, dry, dark closet, it is probably still airworthy up to 20 years. Older than 20 years, you have to start asking design questions. The oldest square reserves I will repack are Swift 5 cells, which were certified in the low speed category of TSO c23b in 1981. Mind you, the Swift owner will have to listen to a lengthy explanation about how any reserve certified in the Standard Catagory of TSO c23c or c23d would be better. Reserve technology has not changed significantly since TSO c23c was introduced in the mid 1980s. Finally, I refuse to repack any reserve that is older than me! I turn 44 this month.

Do 7 cells out-perform 9-cells? It depends upon which corner of the envelope you want to fly in. Yes, tiny, elliptically tapered canopies like Icarus Extremely Extremes are the best things available for turf-surfing and blade running, but you won't catch me shooting accuracy, or flinging myself off a bridge, or docking on a stack with an Icarus Extremely Extreme. My point is that Icarus Extremely Extreme canopies sacrifice all other aspects of performance so they can become the best possible turf-surfers in this atmosphere! Other companies manufacture specialized 7 cells for other corners of the performance envelope. For example: all specialized BASE canopies are large, lightly loaded, low aspect ratio 7 cells. BASE jumpers prefer 7 cells for thier consistent, on heading openings. They prefer low wing loadings for softer landings between the boulders, trees and fast flowing rivers that surround their landing sites. For most of the same reasons, accuracy competitors prefer large, lightly loaded 7 cells for slow, steep predictable approaches on the edge of the stall. Almost all reserves are 7 cells because back in the early 1980s designers realised that 7 cells had the most predictable openings. CReW jumpers stick with 7 cells because they will survive rough docks and still stay inflated. In conclusion, yes Icarus Extreemly Extreem canopies out perform Triathlons, but only in one corner of the envelope. They are dangerous or useless in other corners. So when you say that one model out performs another model, please specify which corner of the envelope you are referring to.

You know it's a bad day when the lazy local rigger is rushing about. You know it's a bad day when you see a Manta descending very slowly and there is nothing hanging below the leg straps. You know it's a bad day when you stumble home from a party to find a guy bleeding to death in the parking lot. You know it's a bad day when you arrive at the DZ to find the runway covered with trucks and flashing lights.

That King Air used to fly jumpers at Perris, but after it landed wheels up a couple of times they sold it. The first wheels up landing was a mechanical failure, the second was pilot error. Now all the airplanes at Perris have their wheels welded in the down position.

No rules governing who can freefly in Canada, just some vague guidelines. Last weekend we had a group discusion with the head of CSPA's Coaching Committee. We concluded that aspiring freefliers should have the (belly flying) RW endorsement signed for their "A" Ceritificate of Proficiency. Then they should do a few dozen sit flying jumps. Followed by stand-up jumps and late in the program they should try head-down. Local freefliers agree with this progression.

Yes there are pilots who do not understand GPS. It was not even invented when I learned to fly!

It's amazing how many of my skydiving buddies have sprained their ankles during baseball tournaments. At least that is what they told their bosses Monday morning!

Back in the mid 1980s the Black Forest Parachute Club used to land beside the Rod and Gun Club. We had an agreement with the R&G Club that if any skydiver went in, they would run over and pump both barrels into him. That way we could write it off as a hunting accident!

Keep it simple for your first few jumps. Just do what your instructor tells you to do in the first jump course. Your extra knowledge can be applied after you have a half dozen jumps. Then you can tease your instructors into assigning you canopy flying tasks like riser turns and fine tuning your landing pattern. By the time you complete the S/L program you will have double the time under canopy of any AFF student, and judging by your curiousity, you will have triple the canopy skills. Half the people who hurt themselves while hook turning never plan to hook turn, they just arrive at low altitude without a plan.

Because the Diablo is the twitchiest of the 7 cells, it would be an excellent transition canopy if your long term goal is turf-surfing. After a few hundred jumps on the Diablo, yo could trade it for a more exotic elliptically tapered, cross-braced, 27 cell, airlocked turf-surfing machine. Your specialized new canopy will cover more ground, but its turns will remind you of the Diablo.

2 subjects: First the guys from PD promised us a Sabre 2 that is a slightly tapered nine cell that is more forgiving of sloppy packing. Geeh! Sounds a lot like a Safire. Speaking of Safires ... I only have 3 jumps on a Safire 149 and thought it flared great! Yes, the Safire required a longer toggle stroke to get a full flare, but it surfed beautifully and set me down softly in the pea gravel bowl. Why are those newbies whining? What is their point?

My old Mirage was retrofitted with a Spandex BOC. My Talon 2 has a Spandex pouch with an extra Cordura flap. The extra Cordura flap protects the Spandex, but it adds an extra step to the packing process. When I finally get around to building my radically new contribution to the art of container design, I will probably build it with a Cordura BOC. Finding the correct Spandex is a challenge and stocking a variety of colors of Spandex is a production manager's nightmare!

Call Tom Sanders at Aerial Focus in Santa Barbara, California.

When dropping pumpkins remember to take the spot a loooong way out over an open field!

Sound decision making process, but you probably need more background knowledge before you start making these low altitude decisions on a regular basis. Half the people who "hook turn" themselves into the hospital didn't plan on hook turning, them just found themselves at low altitude without a plan. DZBone had some good advice about doing a half-brake turn to follow the others. You lose a lot less altitude in a half-brake turn. Try practicing half-brake turns on your next skydive. Glance at your altimeter before and after every turn to determine how much altitude you lose in different types of turns. Get in the habit of trying to learn something new about your canopy on every skydive. Just remember to practice every new maneuver a few times above 2,000' before you try it close to the ground. Finally ask your friendly neighborhood CSPA or Skydive University Coach to critique your landings and help set goals for your next few canopy flights. If you bribe them with sandwiches and cool beverages, they may even let you peek inside their textbooks! Skydive University also sells an excellent textbook and videotape combination titled "Basic Canopy Flight 101."

You asked for the opinion of an opinionated old jumpmaster. Well here goes! All the other junior jumpers are giving you sound advice. This argument was covered in great detail under the heading SL unsafe? I believe that students should have the opportunity to absorb a little new information on each jump. That is why I recommend that all first-timers go tandem. Then most Canadian schools run students through a half day of lectures and ground practice before sending them up for 2 or 3 Instructor Assisted Deployment jumps (similar to static-line from the student's perspective). Once they have mastered the basics of steering and landing a canopy, we pass them off to the Progressive Freefall Instructors who take them up to 10,000' to teach them freefall skills. After students graduate from PFF, we encourage them to continue refining their skills under the supervision of coaches.