Pulse

I'm still jumping my 'old 1st generation' Factory Diver from 1994. I've gone through less than ten lenses. But there was a period where I was wearing just goggles with it. I never liked the flip-up option. Only because I was around for the first generation of those and I saw people having some problems with them. Problems have been solved but I just like things simple. I always say, "The whole helmet is 'flip-up'." When the FD's first came out there were a lot of warnings about not wearing them on your head to altitude. Information that seems to have gotten lost along the way. I have made a habit of not wearing on the way to altitude. Once it's on, I always inhale with my nose and exhale out my mouth through the vent. I don't know how much this helps but you can feel the 'new' air coming in and I have yet to have it fog up on me. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

Exactly. That's kind of what I'm looking for. How much each part plays a role. AoI, CoG, planeform, lift coefficient...yadda, yadda. Size...in relation to how a canopy flies...yes. Knowing that various sizes have different characteristics. But in relation to wing loading...no. I want to be able to leave wing loading out of the equation. For example, explaining why a particular 120 would have a different recovery ARC than another 120 with the same person underneath it. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

HA "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

Does anyone know where I can find information on what determines a canopy's 'recovery arch' and flare characteristcs from reliable sources? I'm assuming the recovery arch has much to do with the Angle-of-Incidence (AoI) of the parachute and the thickness of the wing. It makes sense to me that the higher form drag of a 'thick' wing would allow the jumper to swing underneath sooner. The AoI would play a role in that a steep AoI would mean the jumper would have to swing further under the wing to reach a given Angle-of-Attack compared to a canopy with a more shallow AoI. But I'm tired of speculating with my 'armchair knowledge' of canopy design. I've scoured the web but can't find much useful info out there. I'm looking for fairly technical info. If anyone can help, let me know. Thanks! "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

Two points to always keep in mind: 1. How people 'feel' in the air doesn't really keep them safe. 2. Even aerospace engineers can go in. EVERYONE...let's be careful out there! "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

[replyThe only caveat to this is that the pilot must allow enough time during the surge, and the double fronts, to allow for their speed to pass what it would have been in full flight BEFORE initiating their roll. Aaaaah, I didn't realize WHEN you were making the turn. So from a safety perspective, you're not far from under your canopy while you are still slow. Interesting. Too bad it's so late in the season, I'd l would be up for playing with this technique. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

So you can keep your canopy in a dive longer but the dive needs to be longer because you have more speed to make up. To me this sounds like it allows for a higher initiation altitude but you would be commited to a certain amount of dive because you would be slow. Granted, you're making the speed up quickly. But it's possible that you would still be slower than full glide. This must be one of those personal preference things. I can't see starting from a braked position when I can maintain a dive comfortably with riser and harness. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

I've seen more cutaways and other problems recently from excess steering lines stowed in some goofy manner lately. I've wondered why this is but I've come to this one conclusion. People are in too much of a hurry to unstow their toggles. Slow down. There is really no hurry to unstow your toggles. The parachute will fly just fine with rear risers until you get them unstowed. Also, when taking hold of them, LOOK. Don't just grab. I'm not recommending this. But I have not stowed my excess steering line for the pat 4,500 jumps and have never had a problem. The canopies I've been jumping during this period has been a Jonathan, a Jedi, and a Velocity. Different lengths of excess line, but I use the same technique unstowing them. -Open -Fly with rear risers -Stow my slider -Look at my left toggle, grasp left toggle -Glance in front of me -look at right toggle, grasp right toggle -Release both brakes simultaneously -Loosen chest strap with brakes in hands It sounds like a lot but it takes very little time in practice. Happy brake unstowing! "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

I'm a believer that any canopy can be swooped. They just have different limitations. I'm not quite sure what people here are referring to as 'modern designs'. "...as long as you have a modern design..." I don't know what this means. Anyway, it's GOOD to start on something big. It puts things in your favor for when things go bad. Figure that you WILL BOUNCE YOURSELF OFF THE GROUND at some point during your swooping pursuit. When that happens, wouldn't you rather be under something with some square footage to it? "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

Pies at every thousand. (NOT 100 as seems to be the case more and more.) "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

Just because you had to, does not necessarily make it correct. I understand your point. Think of all of the business we're missing on with the 21-year old drinking age. Also, the required 18-year old age for buying cigarettes and porn. I'm thinking there is a HUGE market here in the under 18 age group. I know it sounds ridiculous. But I had to do it. But just because I had to do it doesn't make it correct. So, I'm open. I've always liked the line, "If you don't want to get sued...don't drop kids." "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

What are we calling 'business' here? Are we afraid that the short attention spans of those under 18 will cause them to forget that they want to go skydiving? What is the harm in waiting a few years? I had to do it for my skydiving license just like my drivers license. What's the diff? "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

I disagree with a good spot getting you back to the landing area without any input from the jumper. Canopies now can definitely stray one from 'good' spot is they're not flown. I'm a believer in spotting so everyone's gear has the best chance to make it on the airport. For Cessna DZ's this is pretty easy. Harder at big turbine DZ's though I've found it rare to have much of a say in Otters or King Airs. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

It's a choice....plain and simple. And if everyone can respect one another's choices we'll be golden! I think forcing someone to make X-number of jumps without an AAD would be a little weird and fairly worthless. What would it teach? If nothing notable occured wouldn't it be a little like the few jumps I've made with one since I've had my license? It didn't teach me anything. I look at it this way. I first learned about AAD's during my first jump course. Before that I didn't know they existed. I was obviously willing to accept the risk before I started jumping and that hasn't changed. A few have eluded to the idea that if you're not jumping an AAD, then you're not doing EVERYTHING to stay safe. Keep in mind, this is also true if you're not jumping a 300 sq. foot parachute. And why stop there? GO BIG.....STAY SAFE! "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

This is kind of interesting. I consider some CRW experience mandatory when learning to swoop. What better way to learn about flying parachutes? "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

After all of this talk I really thought I was going to see something crazy. But no. Somewhat unique, perhaps. But truly EXTREME? Nah. Fun to watch but there could've been more closeups of the dude in the chair. Why does the video guy fly so far away? Could've picked a day with better lighting too. Can't say I hated it. It's cool. But really, after five pages of this thread, I was really expecting something great. Was kind of like EXTREME Jello. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

QuoteSame here! Still miss it sometimes and see 850-900 as 1000 :) reply] But I think this is the point. That 100-150 feet can be made up or lost easily depending on the rate of turn, if there was a brief pause in the turn density altitude, etc. An altimeter may be able to tell you what altitude you're at but it's not going to tell where you're going to end up at the bottom of your turn. Personally, I see a range of 100-150 feet as not that big of a deal as long as I'm monitoring my rates of change throughout the turn. So what do you do if your visual estimation and your altimeter differ? Do you just go with the altimeter and assume it's right? Do you scrap the whole swoop? "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

You're falling short here. Yes, this IS a good idea. Then KEEP doing it. Acquiring an accurate eye takes practice just like everything else. I've been playing games like this with myself since I had around 500 jumps. And yes, over time one can become very good at judging altitude visually. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

Such as? "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

So what if you've got that 'reputation'? As long as you're jumping when you CAN make it down and weather allows. One thing I don't see a lot from students anymore is coming down even if the weather is bad. There's usually people down at our DZ when the weather is poor and there is still plenty that can be learned. Just listening to the stories, asking questions, and learning to pack. When student shows up on non-jump days this shows a level of dedication that far outshines those fair-weather DZ goers. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

When I first read this I had the initial 'if you have to ask, you're probably not ready' feeling. I still feel that way but that sort of comment alone never provides good advice. I'm a firm believer that this is highly personal preference. Cameras are virtually the same. Consider that jumpers were putting out quality video using cameras of much less capability than even the lowest quality cameras of the day. As a photographer you already know that it has little to do with the camera and more to do with the operator. Camera suits are somewhat the same. I've flown many different suit/wing designs and combinations. My flying skills seemed to determine the outcome more than anything. If you do settle on a suit and your video isn't coming out how you would like. Don't make the often repeated mistake of thinking it's the suit. I will say this however, I wouldn't go with very large wings right away. That suit may fly YOU for awhile. Getting 'in tune' with the tandem master, avoiding drogues, screamin' fall rates (when the TM takes their time tossing the droge), small...fat...scared...stupid tandem passengers, you name it. It's all out there just waitin' for ya! Get more experience. Swoop some tandems (without your camera). I've been shooting tandems for over 12 years and I still jump on a few for free each year. Mainly to try a new technique or something. NEVER TRY SOMETHING NEW ON A PAYING CUSTOMER. By the way, being "good to go" with a camera can mean different things to different people. There are some people doing amazing things out there in the skydiving world. But I have to admit that since I've been in the sport, I've seen photography, as a whole, get worse. I've seen quite a few videos that were 'marginal' at best sold to customers. It's horrible. I've also run into customers outside the drop zone who have complained to me about another camera-flyer's work once they had the chance to compare it to another. There's very little one is able to say in such a situation. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

I wouldn't use a wide lens in that case. It will simply make everyone seem farther away. (And there's NO shortage of video out there like that!) I'd get a belly-mount for this kind of work. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

I think altimeters fall into that same catagory as AAD's. And what do we preach about AAD's? They are mechanical devices and should NOT be relied on. To be used as backup devices only. Hence, if you're using your altimeter for finding your swooping altitude. At the very least it should be telling you what you already know. But then the question is what do you do if your eyes and altimeter are disagreeing? This is why I am a 'fly through the turn' guy. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

I too SCUBA and skydive. In regards to emergency situations I go about it the same. YES, expect problems and work to guard yourself against them. This also goes for flying, driving, playing with fireworks, cooking over open flame, etc... As an instructor told me once and I now tell others, "ALWAYS expect a malfunction until you're parachute proves you wrong." Expecting something that doesn't happen is always better than having the unexpected thrown in your face when you're not ready. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."

QuoteYes. You just have to jump a big canopy that opens really fast and descends slowly in a spinning malfunction. A lot of older F111 designs loaded under a pound per square foot do that. Larger Sabres and Monarchs are getting close.reply] Well, yes and no. Even when I was jumping big F111's this was a bit ridiculous. You can never count on ALWAYS having a 200 foot opening. And if the snivel went a little long I don't know of many jumpers who were so readily cutting away. Following those standards then would've resulted in a lot of cutaways. Now they would just result in constant cutaways. "Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled."