edid

An Airforce reserve. I assume you must be Australian. In that case, contact Greg or Karen Sitkowski (spelling?) at Parachutes Australia. They'll be able to answer you better than anyone. I was jumping my new Cobalt135 in my girlfriends Talon2 T5 for a while (she was pregnant and I was waiting on my new rig). It would have been fine for flat flying but I really had to do the closing loop up so tight the pin scored the gromets (not good and could lead to release problems) to make sure it was tight enough for freeflying. Plus the main closing flap was a little loose without the correct size canopy in there. You have to try these things to find out but you may be in the same position with your 120 and T4. Personally, I got myself a new Talon3 T2 from Parachutes Australia. Lovely. There's no substiute for a perfect fit. (BTW, a T1 would be the correct size container for a Stilleto 120)

An Airforce reserve. I assume you must be Australian. In that case, contact Greg or Karen Sitkowski (spelling?) at Parachutes Australia. They'll be able to answer you better than anyone. I was jumping my new Cobalt135 in my girlfriends Talon2 T5 for a while (she was pregnant and I was waiting on my new rig). It would have been fine for flat flying but I really had to do the closing loop up so tight the pin scored the gromets (not good and could lead to release problems) to make sure it was tight enough for freeflying. Plus, the main closing flap was a little loose without the correct size canopy in there. You have to try these things to find out but you may be in the same position with your 120 and T4. Personally, I got myself a new Talon3 T2 from Parachutes Australia. Lovely. There's no substiute for a perfect fit. (BTW, a T1 would be the correct size container for a Stilleto 120)

I'd also be interested in reading the articles on rec.skydiving. In fact quite a number of people refer to worthwhile articles on rec.skydiving. But, what or where is rec.skydiving. I have tried typing in www.rec.skydiving and other internet derivatives but can't seem to get there. Could someone, please, show me the way to rec.skydiving before I become wreck.skydiving

Yeah, sounds pretty lame tearing your shoulder cupping air, but, I surf regularly so I have pretty stroing shoulders. Must've just caught something on the wrong angle. But I tell you, if you ever tear your shoulder, you may not be so quick to chide. However the lesson is, as the other guy said, it's all in the legs, not the arms. Now, where did I put that tapestry I was working on.

Here's one for all freeflyers. I recently received a shoulder injury (torn rotator cuff) from headown flying. My own fault it seems. Using my arms too much and grabbing too much air with my hands. But I have been working on a slower fall rate. Someone at our DZ just came back from America where she was jumping with some hot freeflyers there and she was saying that that type of shoulder injury is relatively common so a lot of people are now flying headown with the backs of their hands to earth (instead of cupping the air with their palms). It does seem to take some strain of my shoulder but just turning my hands over increses my fall rate again dramatically. Anyone out there with their own spin on a) alleviating this type of shoulder injury and b) headown flying on the backs of the hands?

It's hard to get our jump numbers up where we live so sometime in the next year my wife and I are going to take in a tour of American Dropzones and jump our butts off for a couple of months. Since we have added a little one to the family we have to think about childcare while we are there. I was wondering if anyone has info on childminding facilities at any of the major DZ's around America. Which ones, what hours, cost etc etc. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks Ed

I am also a pilot (athough I haven't flown for a while I also feel having a pilots license helps heaps in Canopy flying). I also have low jump numbers (225) and just transitioned from a Sabre 170 loaded 1.1 to a Cobalt 135 loaded 1.4 I don't have any other high performance elliptical to compare it to but I couldn't be happier with my Cobalt. It opens beautifully, flys nice and stable, it's not twitchy but it's still extremely responsive meaning you can drive it hard and fast when you want to, and, like everyone says, it has tons of lift. It was a very natural and intuitive transition from my Sabre to the Coablt. I am loving every second of it. However, it is still an eliptical and you should be well read and well rehearsed. I'll echo the sentiments of the canopy experts at my dropzone. "You really want to learn as much as you can on the canopy you're familiar and comfortable with first". (I got my Cobalt when I only had 150 jumps but I sure am glad I waited and did a few more jumps on my 170 which gained me some invaluable knowledge) Anyway, below is the program I put myself through to gain the necessary canopy awareness and prepare for my first eliptical. Canopy awareness (solo first then CReW with expert): -flying with brakes stowed. -stalling/collapsing and recovering the canopy to find absolute stall point. -rear riser sashays. -slow and deep brakes flying. -flat turns and 'sinking it in practise'. -flying the end of a streamer towed by another canopy. -front riser practise -CReW drills including unders and overs for front and rear riser work. Landing/Surfing preparation: (all of of which practised a few times at height first) -straight in dual front riser approaches. -single front riser 90's both ways. -single front riser 180's both ways. -single front riser 270's both ways. -single front riser 270's but aborting them and turning them into 90's (for those times you screw up and you're too low to make the 270. -all of the above using front riser carves and hooks. -single front riser 360's (exercised with great caution and only in optimal conditions). -toggle hooks (not recommended and again, exercised with great caution and only in optimal conditions). By the end I could get a 25 yard carving surf out of my 170 on windless days; which I never thought possible. When I finally got on to my Cobalt, I went back to the top of the list and have been enjoying working through it all again. On a personal experience note: Even a Sabre (loaded above 1), when flown hard, can come in fast enough to get you into trouble, so take care. The nice thing I feel about my Cobalt is that it has so much more flare power to get you out of trouble if you have to dig out of a corner. Anyway, that's my 2c. Apologies if I have stated the unnecessary or obvious to you but a lot of the above was passed on to me which I was gald for. So anyway, have fun, stay safe and as a last word: Get a Cobalt, you'll love it. Ed. Edited by edid on 7/29/01 05:11 AM.

Anyone know the optimal slope (in degrees) for slope soaring. Assuming, say, the glide path of a 135 Cobalt at 1.4 wing loading (just so happens to be my canopy). And where can I pick up tips, advice and training for the newcomer to slope soaring. Finally, you'd probably need a good uphill breeze but, is it possible to get a high performance canopy airborne by running it down? Or is that just crazy talk?

Other than that it is a great dropzone. And yes, of course they do have rules about tracking (same as anywhere else). However, on the seperation note, you don't always have control of those jumping after you. Especially when you get those guys at the back that like to shout, "Go, Go" and goad less experienced jumpers into leaving too soon because they are worrying about a long spot. So I still say, read the winds, talk to people and watch out.

I thought the jump run order case was solved and the jury's verdict was is in but, it seems some DZ's have other ideas. Recently I visited Empuriabrava in Spain (the Perris of Europe) and another well reputed French DZ. They were both putting freeflyers out before RW loads. Twice I had RW four ways drop all around me. Granted, at Empuriabrava the run in is always north, becasue they can't drop people over the town (no outs), so when the wind is from the sea, it's fine. But when the wind is from the north, they still put free flyers out first so everyone ends up over each other. Should freeflyers have to dump lower than usual to accomodate this policy and stay safe? Do some DZ's not get or read the articles and studies about jump run order? So until things change, it seems like people should watch out for the drift when you jump some places in Europe. Anyone know anywhere else they put tandems out first, then freeflyers then RW? And what is their reasoning?

"IMHO", "Btw" etc, I have tried to work these out, Lord I have tried, but, just for us net dunces, what the hell do they stand for? And feel free to include explanations to any others you think I may need to know. (Oh, I do know "lol" but that's all).

I guess this comes under "gear". Anyway, occasionally I read (on websites) about articles written in Parachutist magazine. Not being American and having never seen the magazine I don't know how to contact them to either get a copy of the articles or a subscription to the mag. And www.parachutist.com says it is an inactive website. Does anyone know their email address so I can contact them? And is it a good magazine? I already receive Skydiving so is Parachutist worth getting as well? Thanks.

I am in the process of getting a new container and was wondering about Pullouts and BOC. I have been jumping BOC but those that have Pull Outs swear by them and say they are safer (especially as far as premature deployments and horseshoes). Any jumper or rigger out there with an intimate knowledge of both systems that could give the pros and cons of each. Thanks Ed

Mac I have a Sabre 170 loaded at 1.1 (I won't be jumping it so much anymore as I just got a Cobalt; which is absolutely delicious). Anyway, despite washing off as much speed and getting as big as I could before I dumped, I used to cringe everytime just waiting for my Sabre to spank me. Here's how I tamed mine. For a start, I learnt to pro-pack properly. By that I mean, looking inside the stabilisers and making all the material into nice folds inside so that if you pull the slider up out of the way you should see two nice folds of material on each side so it makes a butterfly shape. Making folds means the air can't just rush into the canopy and inflate it straight away. This way you've also got a hollow in the middle down there for the slider to sit in and not just a schmozzle of material. Secondly, you have three folds of stabilisers on each side. With the canopy hanging over my shoulder I wrap the first two folds away from me around the rest of the canopy and hold them there while I pull the tail up and grab the lines. Then I push the nose (I don't have to roll it) into the center of the pack so it is directly under my other hand holding the lines. So now you've got just the slider and the last stabliser on each side (the ones with the logo on them) hanging there . Take those stabilisers and roll them inwards toward the slider so only the slider is protruding. This, I've found, tends to shut down the end cells on opening (they inflate a few seconds after opening by themsleves as soon as I touch the toggles or rear risers). The final thing I do is roll the slider into the roll of the tail. And roll that tail tight right up to the first line ribbon. That's what tamed it for me. I only get an occasional brisk opening now instead of about 6 hard and 1 real spanker in every 10. Hope this helps. Ed.

My Mindwarp is definitely a lovely, light and comfortable helmet but why did they give up there? Given that it is designed primarily for freeflyers, and most freeflyers wear cameras, why is the camera fitting support so bad and expensive. I looked at the D-box for the Sony PC-5 and got a fibreglassing friend to make and fitting for me instead. For a start, they could have squared a little patch on the side of the helmet at least to facilitate bolting and camera box on to. There's just so much fiddling to be done. And with the supplied D-boxes, you'd have to fibreglass around it yourself afterwards to avoid lines snagging in the sharp clefts between D-box and helmet. Also, the audible pocket, while a nice idea, is in the wrong place for most people (unless you have ears towards the back and base of your head). I had to do a lot of re-positioning and cutting of the inner foam around the ear so I could actually hear my dytter in freefall. It's all a bit of a shame for the price. It would definately be the best helmet if they would only follow through with the great design of the helmet and put a bit more thought and support into the add ons and options.

My Mindwarp is definitely a lovely, light and comfortable helmet but why did they give up there? Given that it is designed primarily for freeflyers, and most freeflyers wear cameras, why is the camera fitting support so bad and expensive. I looked at the D-box for the Sony PC-5 and got a fibreglassing friend to make and fitting for me instead. For a start, they could have squared a little patch on the side of the helmet at least to facilitate bolting and camera box on to. There's just so much fiddling to be done. And with the supplied D-boxes, you'd have to fibreglass around it yourself afterwards to avoid lines snagging in the sharp clefts between D-box and helmet. Also, the audible pocket, while a nice idea, is in the wrong place for most people (unless you have ears towards the back and base of your head). I had to do a lot of re-positioning and cutting of the inner foam around the ear so I could actually hear my dytter in freefall. It's all a bit of a shame for the price. It would definately be the best helmet if they would only follow through with the great design of the helmet and put a bit more thought and support into the add ons and options.

My wife is 3 months pregnant and we are going to be jumping until she is about 5 months we think (many have jumped longer into their pregnancies) but does anyone have any information to say that she shouldn't or any asscoiated risks. Are there any obsetrician skydivers out there?