MarsGirl

For those who remember the 'summer of love' video series that chronicled the r&d phase that produced the Petra, do you really think PD skipped all of that just by looking at a Petra? I think people assume that because both wings look similar to one another, but different from what's currently available, (they both have an elliptical leading edge and a straight trailing edge), someone must be copying. Thanks davelepka for pointing out multiple differences that I didn't notice just from one picture/angle. At worst, they were intrigued by the planform and decided to experiment with it. Really though, do you believe PD has just been sitting on their ass since the velo came out waiting for someone else to give them an idea for a new canopy?

I'm not an engineer or even close to one, but I would imagine it would put a lot of force on the non-loaded ribs. Does it create a problem of putting more pressure on the center chambers than they can handle and they blow apart?

I remember several years ago when the talk was that Z-bracing would be the next evolution in HP canopies. Now, with Petra and the PD peregrine seeming to be the next generation in that category, what happened to Z-bracing?

I tend to believe the person who is willing to put their name behind what they have to say. In this case, Ian. Don't name your "sources" if you don't want to, but who are you? P.S. the mods most likely know who you are. They have your IP address. That can be used with very little effort to find out much more info.

I wanted to put that as an option but I posted it by mistake and it won't allow editing of the answers. I was also going to tweak the other possible answers as follows: more safe - I use a skyhook more safe - I do not use a skyhook less safe - I use a skyhook less safe - I do not use a skyhook

I'm not looking to start a skyhook (MARD) vs rsl vs anything else discussion. There are enough of those here and if anyone is interested just do a search. What prompted the question is, over the past couple of months I've heard multiple people say, "overall I think the skyhook is good and most people should have one, but not me. I'm special and because of my specialness I don't use one." Obviously I'm paraphrasing. Now there are people out there doing things that require them to make difficult decisions about what gear to use or not use. Generally swoopers will find themselves in different situations than wingsuiters. If you're goal is to freefly, you might not want to ask a CReW dog what kind of gear you should get. But I've heard the same argument be made by different people who generally do different disciplines. By people who have decades in the sport and people who are relatively new. So, if it can be done, avoid arguing why a skyhook is or isn't right for "you." But, if they were as ubiquitous as a 3-ring would the sport as a whole, be more or less safe?

What I took this to mean is, don't get fooled into thinking that just because you make conservative choices, you can't get hurt in this sport. I've seen many people who don't feel the need to further their canopy flying ability because they fly a conservative canopy. Increasing your knowledge and skill in canopy flight will only increase the chances of your next meeting with the ground going well. To the OP, to experienced people in this sport your question sounds like this: What is the maximum number of bullets you can use while playing Russian roulette before someone takes the gun away from you? edited to take out "safe". The OP never mentioned he wanted to be safe.

While this isn't exactly the reason for my post, when it gets down to the bones of it all, I guess this is the real question. What got me thinking about this was a highwire stunt across Niagra Falls; I didn't know there were still people doing highwire stunts outside of the circus. Could our sport have benefitted if the WS landing had a little more wuffo attention behind it, regardless of who did it? Tony Hawk didn't have the respect of the "best" skateboarders in the 90's, but he's a big reason a large percentage of people know anything about that sport. Today, I imagine it's one of the most well know of the fringe sports. Edited to add: Even taking it beyond our sport, because being good for our sport isn't what got me starting to think about it. Human flight is something very magical. It's something everyone thinks about at some point in their life; most people come to a point in their life when they start believing when everyone else says it's impossible. Even in our sport, there were FAR more doubters than believers when it came to landing a WS. I have nothing against Gary and his reasons for wanting to do it. However, personally I believe that this is something that can be bigger than any one person and can be used to inspire a lot of people. I feel like there is a lot of anti-Jeb, and people think he's out for fame. As I've said, I don't know him or his motivations. But, for me, when I see him give interviews or talk about what he does, I get the vibe that he's much more interested in reaching someone out there and inspiring them to do something amazing.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the way Gary did it and I wasn't trying to say the way he did it was wrong. I just know that in cities and towns across America tonight, there were kids watching a man that had so much passion for what he was doing and he was telling them to follow their dreams. I don't know what Jeb's motivations are. He may very well simply be looking for fame and fortune. However, when he talks he comes off as very passionate and inspirational. I heard him once say that it's very hard to find something that no one has ever done and he aspires to do just that. I believe that when you are doing something that has never been done. Something that is impossible in most of the worlds eyes. You owe it to the world to show them it can be done.

I debated on whether to post this here, general discussions, or the bonfire and if anyone feels it should be moved feel free to do so. I also tried to come up with a better subject, but I couldn't keep it short enough. I just finished watching MEGASTUNT on ABC where Nik Wallenda walked across Niagra Falls on a tightrope. The stunt itself was excruciatingly boring to me, I skipped through 75+% of the actual stunt, but the show as a whole was interesting enough. Nik Wallenda talked about how he's been in the process of trying to make this happen for over two years and how he repeatedly hit roadblocks before finally getting everything lined up. I also read an article where he was talking about not wanting to wear the safety harness and he was asked if there was a possibility he would take it off once he was on the wire. He said he wouldn't because it was ABC, the network that was making this possible (at least financially), that was requiring it and he foresaw a future partnership with them. Low and behold, at the end of the stunt the hosts were asking him about his next endeavor and were already hyping it. All of this got me thinking about Gary Connolly's recent WS landing and the lack of much wuffo media coverage. It also got me thinking about Jeb and all the years of networking and promoting himself to the media he's done. I don't want to take anything away from Gary. He did something that people(with Jeb being one of the most vocal) have been talking about trying to do for many years now. Something that many people said would never be done. He was the first person to land a WS and he deserves all the accolades for it. However, I can't help but believe that "IF" Jeb were the first to do it, he would have made it into a significant production and not just a WS landing in a big empty field that very few people outside of our industry know about. As insane as a lot of people think Jeb is when he talks about what drives him and his passion for life, he is great in front of a camera with a wuffo asking him, "why in the world do you do this?" Again, as it stands right now, Gary did it and Jeb talked about it a lot. I just wish it could have been as magical as Jeb made it sound. When Jeb talked about doing it, it made me conjure up images of the Vegas strip on New Years Eve. Lights, cameras, and people everywhere. A goliath ramp plastered with corporate logos. John Brenkus doing a segment about all the little intricacies that will effect the stunt. Jeb standing up after it's over, looking into the camera, and telling all the kids to follow their dreams. Gary, awesome job! Jeb, you inspire me!

Where do you currently live? There may be a DZ near you and you could do it before leaving in Feb. Cost seems to be a big factor in your decision. At a lot of DZ's in the US, you can get a tandem to 10,000' or higher & professional video for a little less than $300, or without video for around $200.

So my parents recently cleaned out their basement and I took home a very nice sewing machine. Living in the NE I'm not jumping much at all and I want to make myself a FF suit. The problem is, I don't know how to sew, measure fabric, cut fabric, etc... Where is the best place to start? Take a beginner level sewing class? I realize this is rather ambitious given my lack of knowledge and ability. Any advice on where to start is greatly appreciated.