Ronaldo

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Hi folks, Does anybody know a used gear store in France (or other countries in Europe)? A web site with pictures and product description would be just perfect. Tried using the search engine but could not find anything. Safe skies! Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

If you're not 100% sure you have a good reserve, you may put it in another rig as a main and jump it (hop'n pop or static line). Play with it, check the flare and learn to fly it in controlled conditions. Before doing this check with your rigger as it may void the use as a reserve (for some manufacturers). Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

The ideal solution would be to create a small slider (lots of reefing effect) but with the drag of a bigger one (longer snivels). That’s why pockets and domes work so well, they combine the best of both (reefing of small and drag of larger). Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

I just tried that a few weeks ago but I'm not using the suit right now. I have no idea about the cost as I did it myself. Blue skies http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2795038;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Thank you all for the replies. Just curious, can I order a product from USA and have it delivered in Canada? Do I have to pay import/export duties over it? If so how much? Safe skies Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Hi, Does anybody know a dealer in Canada that sells used skydive gear (preferably one that has a web page)? Blue skies Ronaldo Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Definitely, but my freeflying skills are not that good. I could video a tandem freeflying because it is just a matter of adjusting fall rates which I could do backflying but it might not work as well with an AFF or solo jump where the student is sliding fast. I still can’t slide freeflying as fast as I can on my belly with a RW suit. Blue skies Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

I understand your confusion; the thing is that I was able to feel the wings inflated a bit probably due to the elbows being down instead of being at the side of my torso. Anyway, I’ll start with a RW suit and light weights to see how it works. Then I’ll try to get a camera suit as you suggested to see if it helps. Thanks! Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Thanks, that’s the kind of advice I was looking for. I'll start with no wings and work as hard as I can to develop my skills. If I decide to add wings (and weights) in the future I will already have learned the basics. I understand that adding wings and weights right now would be like cheating at myself throughout the learning curve. Thanks again Blue skies Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Hi, I’m trying to start shooting videos (nothing professional at this point) but I have a fall rate issue. Although I’m a fairly big guy (6’2” 180lbs) I tend to float a lot (either free flying or belly flying). As a test I added some wings to a freefly suit I don’t use anymore (I usually jump with ff pants due to the slow fall rate) and tested this weekend trying to video a solo jumper. I think the wing worked very well because even flying with my arms closed (elbows down) I was not able to keep up speed with him. Unfortunately the plane had an engine problem and I wasn’t able to continue jumping and evaluating the options (adding weights and/or changing suits). Question is: having a slow fall rate, should I abandon the wings and just use a regular suit or pants (and possibly light weights)? Wouldn’t it be possible to use a winged suit with a larger amount of weight? As far as I understand, using wings and heavier weights would give me a much wider range of variation and also a quicker response during free fall. Is there any problem with this configuration? Would it limit my skills by giving me a false sense of easily adjusting the speed with just my arms? Just to add some data, my average free fall speed with arms closed and arched at that jump was around 112mph according to the Pro-Track (SAS mode). I have also attached a picture of my ff suit after sewing the wings. Although the wings don’t look big I sewed them at the back of the arm which helps create a pocket that increases drag considerably. Safe skies Ronaldo Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

OK and done... I understand your concern but I'm in Brazil and you don't have to be a rigger to pack your reserve (it just requires a C license). Actually we have very few FAA riggers in the country (none in my state, btw). Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

You must pay attention to leave 1m of bridle free before compressing the PC as recommended by the owners manual (I actually leave a little bit more but you didn't hear that). This piece of bridle should be fold over the side flaps as written on the owner’s manual (not under as shown in the picture). If you deploy the wings reserve on the ground you'll notice that the only thing that restricts PC launch is the bridle that gets caught under the side flaps. Another tip is to avoid tucking the last folds of bridle too far under the side flaps. This will allow the PC to pull more bridle and reach a longer distance. This is even more important if your canopy is fit tightly. I have opened my reserve a couple of times (packed by someone else) and the launching was so restricted by the flaps that the PC was hanging few inches above the ground. Now I pack my reserve and get very long distances (comparable to my old Racer). I’m not a rigger so please feel free to criticize any incorrect information. Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

I wouldn't use a reserve slider due to the low porosity fabric (instead of ZP). It may work but I really don't know. I think that making a new slider with ZP material would be better. I can get it done here in Brazil pretty fast and cheap but I don't know how much it would cost in US. Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Just an idea: ask your rigger to make a new slider (same size as the original), it shouldn’t cost that much. Start cutting a small hole in the center and adjust the diameter until you get the opening you want. In the future, if you decide to sell the canopy just put the original slider back so it does not lose resale value. Safe skies! Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

I have a Cobalt 150 and really love it but I had a very similar experience at the beginning. I bought it new and put about 150 jumps without any major incidents but a few fast openings (I followed all Atair’s recommendations since the beginning, including the 24”PC). Openings were usually the same, a short snivel with a fast inflation. I have always packed my chute (psychopacking) but due to some coached jumps I had to leave my rig with hired packers in order to have some time to debrief. That’s when I noticed the issue. I started to experience about one slammer in each 5 openings. Tried different packers and the result was the same. These guys pack many different canopies without any problems so I doubt it was their fault. At the same time a friend of mine had just received his brand new Competition Cobalt 170. He put about 20 jumps on it and experienced the same problems (1 slammer in each 4-5 jumps). I sent his canopy to Atair and after some test jumps they did recognize the problem and added a pocket slider to it. We were not pleased with the solution so I returned the canopy. Atair refunded the total amount and he bought a Crossfire 2 in same week. After solving his problem (I felt very bad because I was the one that recommended the canopy to him) I sent mine for evaluation too. Unfortunately Atair didn’t seem to find anything wrong with it so as my last shot I paid them to do an H-mod on the canopy. At that time I was jumping a Crossfire which I bought cheap and used just to save my neck. When I started jumping the Cobalt again I could not believe the openings. They were softer than any Spectre or Crossfire I have ever jumped and most important, really consistent. The improvement in performance was also noticeable; now I’m getting really nice swoops on it. The canopy is really a pleasure to fly and land once you have the opening issues solved. Throughout all this time we tried to follow all Atair’s recommendations regarding packing, PC, not grabbing the risers, etc but I really feel the problem was in the canopy. IMHO a modern canopy should open well and soft with just a good flaking and the slider quartered and positioned against the slider stops. If you have to do a lot of tricks to make it open acceptably (special PC, rolling the nose or the tail 100 times, packing facing Mecca, etc.) then it’s a design or construction problem. I have absolutely no experience in canopy design but as an engineer I think the Cobalt may have a certain design parameter (or parameters) optimized but very close to a borderline. If for some reason (manufacturing errors, line trim, etc) the canopy gets too close to this limit then it will respond with erratic openings. Maybe in my case the psychopacking was keeping the packing more controlled and behind this borderline, who knows? After the H-mod I can PRO or Psycho pack it and the openings are absolutely the same. Sake skies! Ronaldo Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Thanks Kirk, that is exactly what I was looking for! I did most of these drills during the BBF jumps but I really need to practice them a lot more. I’ll be spreading these 2 hours through 2 days of training but also sharing time with a 4-way team, hope this is not excessively tiring. Just another question: I tend to float a lot (on my belly and also free flying), should I wear weights during training or shouldn’t I bother with this at the beginning? Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Does anybody have video showing belly flying training in the tunnel? I have booked 2hs (coached) at Perris Skyventure for next week and would like to have an idea of how it will be. I have 300 jumps and almost no RW experience (except for 10 BBF jumps). Although my major discipline is freeflying I feel that I really need to improve my RW skills (today I just switch to my belly to deploy). Few questions (ok, I know it all depends on my skills): - I have a brand new custom RW suit (with booties), can I start the training with it? I have made only 10 jumps with a RW suit with booties (during the BBF training). - Is a 2 hour coached (1 on 1) session enough to develop good skills to jump a 4-way (or video it) and participate safely in a big formation? I’ll be discussing these questions (and a lot more) with my coach during this week but just would like to know what other people might feel about it. Safe skies, Ronaldo Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

If you're talking about João Tambor, yes it was made by the same guy! I actually got his phone number with João. Thanks, I'll start reading this forum more often to get as much knowledge as possible. Blue skies! Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

I’m not sure about which wingsuit model he used as a guide to develop this one. The only suit I had a chance to take a closer look was Birdman’s Skyflyer (which is the one my buddy flies). I have attached a couple of pictures which may help those with more experience to evaluate the design and construction. I have a little experience with sewing so it looks well made to me. Some of the materials used don’t have the same quality as the ones I saw on the Skyflier (i.e. the tapes used to pass the cables through). I paid less than $500 for it (custom sized) so I think it was worth the money. Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

It is definitely a classic bird but sometimes I envy you guys jumping from bigger and more comfortable aircrafts with larger doors. I’m 1,86m (6’1.1/2”) so you can imagine how difficult it is to zip the booties inside the plane with 5 jumpers on the load. Pictures of our bird (I have better ones, just can’t find now): http://www.skydiveresende.com.br/aeronaves/index.html http://showusyourwow.msn.com/?id=6813 Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Hi, I did my first wingsuit flights a couple of weeks ago (didn’t have a chance to write about it until now). Although it may sound repetitive I would like to share my impressions of it. First thing to say... I liked it very much! . I did only 2 jumps (which is not that much) but were enough for me to get the feeling of flight and also learn a few lessons. I had little to no coaching prior to the jump itself. Many months ago I was taught how to gear up (assemble the container through the wings and dress the suit) by a very experienced jumper (his experience includes lots of BASE and wingsuit jumps). The suit is made here in Brazil by a fellow skydiver (I'm not sure if he has a name or model for that suit). The suit has large arm and leg wings with cutaway handles for both. Considering the surface area and expected performance this would not be a suit recommended for beginners (I’ll take the blame). Here are my impressions: - Exited the plane (Cessna 195) facing the prop with arms/ legs closed and spread the wings slowly. I found the suit to be extremely easy to fly. The best words to describe would be instinctive or intuitive. Turns were very fast but easy to control… just look and turn (yeah, it really works). - Flying the suit is easy but getting some performance from it is not. Only after seeing the video I was able to see how my body position SUCKED. I need to straighten my legs, body and put some tension in my arms. Lessons learned: - 1st: never jump the suit unless you have perfect visibility of the ground. Holes through the clouds are not enough. On the second jump it was so clouded I had difficult seeing the DZ. That was definitely the major stupidity of the day. - 2nd: I was taught to deploy in full flight but I know that some others prefer closing arms/ legs for a few seconds before pull. On the second jump I experienced a PC hesitation for a few seconds. After throwing the PC I waited a couple of seconds and as nothing happened looked over my shoulder and saw my PC perfectly inflated above my legs but without enough force to pull the pin. I immediately hit my rig 3 times and straighten my body hopping to clean the air stream on my back. Right after that I felt the bag leaving and canopy inflating. I always adjust my closing loop as tight as possible (within what is considered reasonable). On the first jump of the day the rig was already packed for a week thus most of the air inside it was gone and the loop was not that tight. That’s why I think I had the hesitation on the 2nd jump. Lesson learned: A new 30” PC with 9ft bridle are on the way. - 3rd: There is a good reason why people recommend you start with a larger and docile canopy. Although I did not have any twists (my container has fully open corners), all this unsnapping/ unzipping stuff takes time and makes your canopy turn as you lift your legs. A fast canopy just makes things more complicated at least when you’re starting. Here is a very short video of the first exit and some of the 2nd jump’s flight. My buddy has about 150 ws jumps but all solos. We plan to jump more and adjust our fall rates to stay closer. Unfortunately, wingsuit jumpers are extremely rare here in Brazil. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5420768944733274863&hl=en Please feel free to comment and criticize anything you find wrong. Safe skies! Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

Consider having an H-mod done on your Sabre. It will make your openings consistently soft with a little improvement in performance and possibly an increase in resale value of your canopy (not to mention that it looks cool

I have 2 PCs made by Sunrise and both passed in Bill's design criteria. Although I like my Wings very much, it is not as comfortable or lightweight as my old Racer. Safe skies Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

No particular reason, just the sequence of steps. After inserting the pin and tucking the bridle under the right flap I usually rotate the pin up. This pulls the bridle to the center, making it flatter and hidden under the pin flap. When I rotate the pin the bridle is already flattened. I see your point and I had the same concern the first time I packed it, but opening the container on the ground shows no sign of snagging. Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted