grega

Me and my friend are doing some 2-way sit flyes (still learning). he does not know how to do a sit exit well. i told him all the stuff i heard from more experienced freeflyers, but he is still tumbling at the exit, and we lost aprox. 15-20 seconds to get close (despite i am trying to get to him the second i am out of the plane), and that is a lot when jumping from 9000 feet (3000m). Any ideas which exit would be the best for learning exits while holding each other, so we would not loose so much time on exits? "George just lucky i guess!"

I think they would shine yust fine, with yellow as a background. But then again, that is your favourite colour scheme "George just lucky i guess!"

ooo you are talking about my future canopy... "George just lucky i guess!"

I don't have a mirage YET, but i'll buy G4, because it's more comfortable, looks better, and is more aerodynamicaly shaped! If you think that is worth 300$ then certainly go for G4 p.s. And you can show off with "brand new technology" "George just lucky i guess!"

Does anybody know anything about this event. It was supposed to be from 21.9.2002-29.9.2002 (9/21/2002-9/29/2002) in Wienn in Austria. But the weather is bad - raining all the time ??? So is it postponed or ... ? more info about event at http://www.skyday.net "George just lucky i guess!"

How do you survive for 6 months without a jump? Can you at least base jump from an oil rig on a raft or something like that? "George just lucky i guess!"

i'm working as a programmer behind a desk at least 8 hrs a day. But believe me that every true skydiver had a thought how would it be possible to live in a dropzone jumping all day long and making enough money to have a decent life...

Get MIRAGE G4, why? There are no rules when love is in question "George just lucky i guess!"

I can't think of a better morning than Jump. Waking under a tent 50meters from runway sleeping in a jumpsuit, checking a parachute with one eye closed. getting in a plane and close that opened eye and sleep till it's 12000 feet (4000m), ask someone to wake you up when it's time to jump check all your handles and jump !!! when you land, you won't need any coffe, sex, breakfast or anything, because you'll want to have another jump as soon as posible! "George just lucky i guess!"

wooow, great rig! Mirage G4 How does the elastic lumbar support and elastic leg strap feel. does it bother if you take them off (and how do you take them off)? I am also getting myself a mirage G4 in a nearby future (i hope ) p.s. post some more pictures... pretty please

thank you all for all your advices, none offense taken, from those who said that 126 is simply to small for someone 210 lbs out the door with 250 jumps. Actually all i was trying to do with this post is, that you help me kill that little voice in my head "get a 126 ". The numbers are just to obvious. Unfortunately that voice is still lurking in my head, but i wont listen to it for at least another 1500 jumps. So i'll ask every skydiver in my country i know, for a reserve and try to find PD 160 and 143 here, to test them. I already landed a reserve 170 and it was ok. I'll try PD 143 also and if i find it safe enough (not too fast), i'll get one.

exactly my thoughts! That is why i'd like to know how PD reserves are handling. With 120 sq feet eliptical ZP, i'm not afraid of landing in such circumstances. Actually i did just that. Landed standup in a rather tight area (had to because of power lines), without knowing exact direction of the wind. but F-111 hmm And since i propably won't be able to demo PD reserves, i'd like to at least hear how they handle. At PD they say it has tons of flare... unfortunately that is all i know. "George just lucky i guess!"

Hmm as much as i know, accordingly to manufacturer recommendations, no company but PD recommends wing loading up to 1.4 - 176 lbs on 126sq feet and maximum suspended weight is 254 lbs on 126 sq feet - 2.0 : 1. For quick it's recommended 136 lbs on 135 sq feet - wing load 1.0:1 and i am 190Lbs ... "George just lucky i guess!"

Everybody is posting questions about downsizing a main canopy and if it is safe to downsize... What about a reserve canopy downsizing? I'm planning to buy a new rig. i'm planing to have it for a very long time. that is why i'm buying container the smallest it can currently be for me - my experience/knowledge (main up to 120ZP, reserve hmm... here is my question...) i'm 85kg (190lb) and i'm wondering what is the smallest reserve i can safely land (probably not under perfect conditions). I'm thinking of getting a PD reserve, since it's known as a very good reserve, if not the best.I looked at the charts, and saw that they recommend for PD 126R for experienced skydiver 176 lbs max but maximum suspended weight allowed under the same canopy is 254lbs. Does that mean that a 230lbs person can still land that canopy ??? (assuming that he is experienced canopy pilot) i'm afraid of even thinking to have PD 126 reserve above my head, without even trying it before. I'd love to demo it, of course i'd try bigger reserve before, to see if i'm able to land that one... , but i'm afraid that PD wouldn't send two reserve canopies to europe-slovenia just for me to demo them... OK to end this looong boring story, do anyone know, how PD reserves handle (flare, response,...) and is it possible for a 190 lb person to fly/land a PD 126R... any advice would be appreciated.

of course i did, but their page isn't presenting their products, like mirage or javelin do. I couldn't get much data about micron from their page, so i don't know much about micron. i'm sure it's just as safe as mirage or javelin, but everytime i talk with my friends about mirage they all go numb or say WAAA... you know what i mean. But if anyone has manual of micron or any pictures or anything, can freely post them or send them to me

yea it is tough one. To choose which one is better Mirage G4 or Javelin Odyssey. i'm buying a new rig, and i'm choosing between mirage and javelin. I've already seen Javelin Odyssey (had it on my back), and i have to say, it's pretty sweet . And i almost bought one, when Mirage G4 came out in July. All that softness and aerodynamicaly shaped and everything that i saw from the pictures and their web page, drives me nuts, because not even one skydiver in our country owns a mirage G4 (not even G3), and i haven't seen it YET. That is why i posted this message. Try to convince my for either rig, so it won't be so hard to choose between those two "George just lucky i guess!"

"short pregnant version" hehe. what size of container he has (or parachute in it), because containers - G4, for canopies size 135 or smaller, i have seen on pictures, looks everything but "pregnant" to me - even smother than G3 but i don't know, a haven't seen one in real. "George just lucky i guess!"

Has anyone had a chance to see/test a mirage G4, or even bought it. What is it like? All mirage freaks post your opinion on mirage G4 "George just lucky i guess!"

it's 15 EUR (~15$) in Slovenia-europe for 13500 feet on accasional boogies. and 16 EUR (~16$) every weekend from AN-2 at 10000 feet. "George just lucky i guess!"

I agree with Jimbo. it's true that if you want to make good swoops, it's much easier under vengance or crossfire or similar. But for the learning curve i thing it's better to start swooping with something less swoopable, like sabre or pd 9-cell 210 (like mine-borrowed). With that kind of parachute you have to try real hard to have a good swoop, and you can learn some good habits with slower "not swoopable" parachute. and it's much safer. Then when you think you learned everything you could, you get yourself a swooping machine... but that is just my opinion "George just lucky i guess!"

hmm this is strange... i read different in a book "The aerodynamics and piloting of high performance Ram-Air parachutes by Jerry Sobieski may 13,1994" i quote: "Does reaching for the front risers cause a tail deflection? Ideally, you would like enough slack in the control lines so that grabbing and pulling front risers does not significantly deflect the tail. Now pull both front risers a couple inches. The air speed increases. Release them. Try it again, this time pull them a bit further. At some point, the front half of the canopy will be deflected so far that the canopy starts to lose it's airfoil shape and assumes a sort of "stair step" shape. You typically do not want to pull front risers as far as to distort the airfoil. If you do, the boundary layer can no longer flow smoothly across the canopy surfaces and will separate from the wing somehwere around the B and C line attachment points. As the boundary layer detaches and re-attaches, the canopy will surge or bounce. This eratic behavior makes control difficult and can result in nose roll or total collapse of the canopy. So, the object is to find out how much front riser input the wing will accept without significant airfoil distortion. Normally, small canopies will not take more than a few inches. Also note that the amount of effort it takes to pull front risers. Small, high aspect, high incidence canopies will require less "pull" than more conservative canopies of the same size. There are many factors that dictate the amount of front riser tension in a canopy Just because you can physically or even easily pull front risers doesn't mean the canopy can stay under those conditions. Know thy canopy." and you are saying:"You should be able to pull the both front risers as far as you desire and not have the canopy buck and 'hop'." i'm confused. it's true that the book is old but laws of aerodynamics are still the same??? please advise... thanks "George just lucky i guess!"

yes i know that it hopps because the brake lines pull the tail down. And only if i pull front risers to hard. So that means that there is a limit to where you should pull front risers. It's all clear to me and i understand. But i'd like to know if there is a limit to where to pull only one front riser. Because for example. if i pull both front risers for about 10-15 inches canopy starts hopping. But if i pull only one riser 10-15 inches or even more, canopy just turns. harder i pull faster it turns, without any hopping. And i'd like to know, is there a limit of how hard one front riser should be pulled. "George just lucky i guess!"

i'm learning how to swoop. and as far as i know the best swoops are made, if you (pilot) make as little disturbance (turbulence) in the air as possible. Meaning no snappy turns, all motions are smooth (slowly letting up front risers, slowly putting on brakes,...). One other thing is that you shouldn't pull front riser too far down. if you pull front riser to low, parachute starts hopping, like if it was ridding down the stairs, and that is not smooth. when i was trying this up in the air, i could feel this hopping (ride down the stairs) only when i pulled both front risers too low. i never felt it when i pulled only one riser, no matter how deep. if i pulled it lower, i only made a sharper turn without any hopping. is this correct, or is there a limit of how low front riser should go, even if you are making a turn. "George just lucky i guess!"

thanks for the address, great pictures/videos. "George just lucky i guess!"

do you have any pictures of a 20way, or maybe a video ??? "George just lucky i guess!"