DaVinciflies

Well put. For all the self-righteous horseshit on here, there is a wealth of experience in the real world that can be tapped without the self-aggrandizing, counter-productive aggression found here. It's virtual masturbation and it's bullshit. It's one thing to offer firm, blunt advice. It's quite another to verbally beat the shit out of someone. And apparently now it's cool to be a bully.

You could well be right - but those are the people who listen to reasoned argument and don't need to "cop a blast" in the first place. In either case, the bullying serves no purpose other than to massage the ego of the bully.

In my opinion...... If you think you are saving people by typing some harsh words on an internet forum, then you are deluding yourself. If those people will not listen to being told in person at the dropzone by people who have just seen what they are doing wrong, then they are certainly not going to respond to someone in internet-land coming on all high and mighty. All this sort of animosity does is create an environment where a few vocal people drive away well-meaning jumpers with questions. Look at this thread for example. How far has it got us? I think by now most us believe that Chad will not be hanging up his Velo at all, or if he does he may go to something "docile" like a Crossfire2 99. There is a lot of self-delusion going on here.

That is pure supposition. We should really try to deal in facts. It may have saved lives but we can never know. It is still bullying and in my opinion that is always wrong. Not only is it wrong, but it is counter-productive. This sort of brow-beating makes people shut down and not want to come back to dz.com. If they are gone from here - how can you expect to influence them through the forums at all?

Thanks Kelly. That makes sense now.

It is not the whole story in determining how the canopy will fly (design, shape etc all have a part to play in that), but generally a lower wingloaded canopy will behave in a more docile manner than the same canopy loaded higher. Examples of exact what more docile means include: - less forward speed - less sink (ie. downward speed) - less responsive to control inputs - loses less altitude in a given turn - recovers faster to full flight after a given turn In general terms, higher WL means higher performance (until you exceed the max WL for that canopy design) but it also means less margin for error and more risk.

Total weight of you and all your gear in (pounds) divided by the square footage of your canopy. Eg. You weigh 190lbs and all you gear (including clothes and your rig with canopies) weighs 30lbs and you jump a 220 square foot canopy - your wing loading is 220/220 - 1lb/sq ft It is an indicator of how your canopy will perform.

Thanks for posting that link, it's a fun video. I always get a kick out of newbies who jump out of the plane and then check their altimeter 2 seconds out of the door. News flash pal, you're 100 ft lower than when you jumped 2 seconds ago. Pssst.... 46 feet. Wouldn't it be 64 feet? 32 feet per second per second.

Yes - find a new DZ. That rule is crazy as it will encourage toggle whipping.

Nope. Line dump doesn't smack you. Bag strip might though. Tell us what your description of each is, please. Line dump is when the lines come out of their stows before line-stretch. This may cause knots but since the stows do not appreciably slow the opening it will not be harder. You could free coil your lines in the bottom of the container and have perfectly acceptable openings (I am not recommending this). Bag strip is when the canopy comes out of the bag before linestretch. In this scenario the canopy is exposed to the wind and may start to open up and/or the slider may come down the lines. In this scenario, a hard opening is very likely at line-stretch.

Nope. Line dump doesn't smack you. Bag strip might though.

Until someone under a small canopy runs into the back of you... It's a 210...came with a tail gunner! I stand corrected!

Until someone under a small canopy runs into the back of you...

That is not a good analogy because the boat is slowed by significant drag caused by the hull passing through the water.

Never give up on them?

Thanks. Got it.

So these 80kt winds are not causing any freefall drift. Is that what you are saying?

It is naive to think that will happen. It's not the fault of the equipment - it is the pilot.

Do we know that this is due to liability issues as opposed to, say, upkeep costs or water availability?

I use a Protrack and an Optima II. Freefall alerts are set the same for both and I have the Optima set for 2 canopy alerts (1,000' and 600').

Bear in mind that a main with a couple of hundred jumps or more on it will be significantly easier to pack than a new one. This is a real consideration at your stage of the game.

What about "I don't have a MARD and don't feel the need for one"?

Hay thanks Chuck, I'll remenber that the next time I jump it I'll link to your reply in the incident forum. Hope you don't suffer long. That's a pretty cuntish comment. I'd tell you what I think of your comment but I don't issue opinion to people too chickensh*t to identify themselves. No name, no respect. I don't really care about your opinion of me, but I wanted you to know my opinion of your comment. Mission accomplished.

Hay thanks Chuck, I'll remenber that the next time I jump it I'll link to your reply in the incident forum. Hope you don't suffer long. That's a pretty cuntish comment.

I would much rather have to deal with line twists on a square seven cell canopy that have to try to land a no-pull.