Samurai136

I liked the old paint scheme, w/ the obvious separate components of like 3 aircraft cludged together. Maybe why it fell apart... Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

At college gf's mom's house. Her mother was upstairs in this small split level house which if she had ever walked 5' from her tv chair we'd been busted. First thing her mother said when I came to visit, " I do not allow premarital sex in my house." Then there was WFFC 2001, second weekend. At the couchfreaks area, on one of the couches facing out towards tent city. Plain sight. In fact some drunken hooligans drove by several times on their overloaded 4-wheelers yelling and screaming. The usual assortment of public places, also. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

The most memorable line was from a tandem. I saw her video. She said "OH GOD YEAH! FUCK YEAH! OH GOD! FUCK YEAH OH GOD FUCK YEAH!" all the way from exit to deployment; she arched like a champ. You could read her lips. The thing is when you put the sound on you could actually HEAR her on video over the relative wind from 6' away.... Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

I thought canadians had superior saftey standards. You guys didn't use GPS when jumping thru a solid cloud base? Seriously, congrats on having enough sense to stay in the plane. I hope your friends heal quick. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

Night jumps are easy. Follow the BSR's for night jumps and you'll be fine. My observations: 1. Be very familiar w/ the DZ, landing area, and outlands during daylight. 2. I prefer no moonlight nights. Light sources screwup your night vision. You will be surprised how much you can see at night once acclimated to the dark. 3. Mount your strobe and test it before you get in the plane. Do not set it up so the strobe blinds you once you turn it on. I mount mine on the back of my left leg and trail that leg behind me once I turn it on under canopy. 4. Landing at night is just like landing during daylight. Use your eyes and read your altimeter. Do a standard downwind, base, final approach. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

or use some horror-true-life tales. Have him read last years incident reports. How many camera flyers had fatal problems? That could be him. A camera flyer friend just had a ruptured disc in his neck that has put him out of commission. This is after about 500-700 camera jumps. Ask him if he's willing to lose $1500 to $2000 in helmet and camera gear when a riser hits the quick release or he has to dump the set up over a swamp or forest. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

I've been a fan of DIY. Borrow mom's sewing machine and build one. Why do skydivers spend lottsa $$ on pants and suits? You could finance a trip to AE outfitters or 2-3 pairs of new shoes for what most placecs charge... Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

Ask your rigger how he packed your main. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

One of my student jumps put me in the horse pasture north of the DZ. The herd came over, hooked up, and followed me around. Since this was a HUGE pasture I decided to walk to the closest fence line and follow that to the gate. The closest fence happened to be towards the DZ. When farmer McNasty showed up on his ATV he was convinced I was intending to hop the fence. I was still 50m away from the fence. I figured most of his yelling was to impress his 10yr old son on the back of the ATV "how to treat strangers." After being yelled at for what seemed like an eternity, I asked, " Where is the gate? I would never hop a barbed wire fence. This is rental gear and if I rip the parachute I'm out like 4000$." "The gate is OVER THERE!" He pointed to the otherside of the pasture. It was about 3/8th's of a mile walk to the gate. I still couldn't see it. It was nearly dark now. He made me walk (follow) behind him all the way to the gate. I did my very best "walk of shame". He calmed down. By the time we got out of the pasture he decided to give me a ride back to the DZ. The real lesson is: If you're just off student status never volunteer to follow the CRW dogs out of the aircraft. You might not make it back to the DZ. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

The length of the brake lines is the issue. You should be able to pull the both front risers as far as you desire and not have the canopy buck and 'hop'. The canopy doesn't buck in a turn because toggle and riser inputs are the same. i.e. right turn or left turn. If the brakes lines are not addressed, do not pull both risers more than 9 inches. What are you jumping, anyway? Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

What do you currently load your canopy? (sabre 150?)? You've jumped a Lotus, the Samurai will turn and dive faster than the Lotus. As far as airlocked ellipticals go I recommend the Samurai over the Vengeance. Whatever elliptical you buy get it the same size as the main you jump now. Samurai Openings: Good. The worst opening I've had was a deployment after tracking and not slowing forward speed. Even that wasn't bad. Just deploy and be relaxed and neutral in the harness. If you start moving around in the harness before the slider is down the canopy will hunt a bit for a heading. This is generally true of all ellipticals. Samurai flight characteristics: Full flight glide is steeper than a stiletto or vengeance. Give it a inch or two of rear riser and the glide is pretty flat. Toggle and riser pressure is light. I've pulled rear risers at the link all the way to my shoulders and stalled the canopy. The airlocks keep the canopy from returning to a snivel. All that happens is loss of forward drive and the canopy gently sinks. Samurai Landings: I load mine in the 1.3 to 1.4 range and have gotten 25m to 30m swoop out of 90 degree front riser turns to final. I'm still working on longer riser turns to final. The negative recovery arc is great. It allows you to get off the front risers at a higher altitude and maintain momentum until the flare. It lands well w/ standard approach to landing as well; because of the steeper glide, build in some extra altitude for turns to base and final legs. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

If your current jump info is correct (131jumps on 170 Diablo) a move to the largest X-braced (120 Velocity) would add .5 to what ever your current wing-loading is. Many canopy pilots I know would consider that to big a move in canopy size at any experience level. X-bracing makes the top and bottom skin of the canopy flatter and the wing less deformed than non-cross-braced canopys. This makes the wing more efficent because it has less drag thus a longer swoop in skilled hands. Air-locks are a 1-way valve that keep air in the canopy. Nothing is turbulence proof. Skydive Iowa is a small DZ w/ a very close treeline south of the landing area. When the wind is out of the south I am glad I have my airlocks. If you hit turbulence at flare altitude, 5-10' agl, you'll probably end up w/ grass stains on your jumpsuit. I would reccommend at least 300 jumps before moving to an elliptical airlocked canopy in the 136- 150 sq ft range. I love my 136 Samurai so much I'm getting a second one to jump turn around loads. It has a great perfomance range! I can chase my friends around under canopy for a few pins, always make it in from a long spot to the main landing area, and it swoops well. I have gotten good 30meter swoops off 90 degree fron t riser onto final. Airlocks won't make the wing more efficent than x-bracing but it would be a good transitional canopy to learn swooping on if you plan on some day jumping a x-braced. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

A friend has one and I looked into buying one. I read their website and after much clicking found they have a very specific disclaimer. The altitude read out function is not guaranteed to be remotely accurate for skydiving purposes. You'd be better off buying the Pro model Digitude. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

Love is just like the flu. You catch it and have it for a while then it goes away until you catch it again. My observation about relationships that work is that both people fundamentally like each other. People fall in love, boink, and have a family with people they may not like. Usually it takes a difficult situation for one or both parties in a relationship to realize that they don't actually like the other person. If the two of you really like each other you'll figure out how to make it work. Otherwise, you may be better off w/ out that chic... Of course I may know squat as a single unattatched jaded typical-guy. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

If you pull your front risers down and it does the "hoppy" thing, that's bad. That means your brakes are too short and you are pulling the tail down in addition to the nose of the canopy. Nose dives and the tail trys to lift... Hop Hop Hop. DO NOT use both front risers until you have the brake lines lengthened. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

8- 10 wks is standard w/ BigAirSports since they have an assembly/ consturction deal w/ PD. I was quoted 8-10 weeks last year when I ordered a day or so before Halloween. Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, Michelle Germain called and said it was done. I was floored and speechless! I even did a little dance in the kitchen while I was still on the phone. I paid my bill and the day after Thanksgiving I took my rigger out to diner after final assembly. I got to jump my canopy before the Iowa winter hit instead of after. Apparently, after the boogie season is over Brian has free time to build canopies. Mine was the luck of the draw. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

I have no deep political opinions on RW vs. freeflyin' I got into the sport because RW looked like the coolest thing to me. CRW and canopy swooping, the 2nd coolest thing, In my meager opinion. However I have heard experienced RW skydivers that have 10-40 years in the sport say that Freeflying is gonna kill the sport. Here's why. Where will skydiving be 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now? Will there be enough people skilled in the sport to make RW record attempts? probably not. If a 300-way RW record is not set in the next 5-10 years it will probably never happen. It is their opinion that the over all pool of skilled RW skydivers is continuously diminishing and not being replentished w/ new jumpers. I don't know what the biggest FF formation is, But I doubt it will ever be 100-way, 200-way, or 300-way. Could you imagine trying to organize the top 100-300 FFlyers to turn points in a head down? 20 yrs from now, How many people will stick with the sport if you have to be a free-flyer, which is a harder skill to learn and there are few to none RW jumpers to learn from? I think the experienced RW skydivers see a future where skydiving consists of ONLY tandems, freeflyers, swoopers, and RW will be "that thing I had to for the first 10-20 jumps". This thought makes them very disappointed in the future of skydiving. I don't know if all experiencecd RW skydivers think this but I know many who do. Personally, I think in 40 or 50 years everyone will be goofing on Zero-gravity sports and the "Space Games" will mean something totally different. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

The flare/ swoop is even better w/ an inch or two of rear riser. The bumping technique pulls the slack out of the brake lines and planes out the wing. ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

My first canopy was a Triathlon 160. It's up for sale as I'll probably never jump a non-elliptical canopy ever again. Contact me in Private mail if you're interested. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

The ebay cypres has a close up photo of the serial number. It matches one of the 8 units on the non-airworthy list. Looks like no one bid on that auction. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

Temp. measures the average speed of the surrounding molecules. As it gets hotter, the molecules of air are not as dense because they moving faster. So the canopy will fly like you are at a higher altitude where the air is thinner. That is to say, faster. Additionally, as relative humidity increases molecules of air are being replaced with molecules of water. So the air becomes even less dense on a hot and humid day. The lift off the runways probably changed your perception of your glide path as opposed to your theory of 'sinking air'. I'd think of it as 'floating canopy' retuning to it's standard glide path. A Crossfire has a negative recovery arc so it will stay diving after you let the risers up. You should be able to avoid digging out of the corner if you let up on the risers a bit higher. let the canopy fly to the surf window instead of driving it there. If that makes any sense. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

It'll get thrown out. The media will get thier personal interest story. Legally the ADA (americans w/ disabilities act) says only "reasonable accommodation" must be made. The woman says in the article that she can communicate w/ text but she feels she communicates better w/ sign. If businesses were compelled to provide 'the BEST accommodation' or 'personally preferred accommodation' they'd be financially broke. I think once the civil rights commission understands that commuunication during a jump is signed it'll be thrown out. Her lawyer says he will claim skydiving is a "serious and complex" activity which warrants an sign interpreter to "feel she fully understands the instruction." Reasonable accommodation is to provide concise written instruction. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

Look at photos of ski long jumpers. They use nearly identical body position. Since we aren't burdoned w/ 2 sticks on our feet, skydivers point their toes. 1:1 is certainly possible as long jumpers on 120m(360ft) high jumps have been reported to cover 140m(460ft) in horizontal distance. They wear tight body suits w/ no drag, like grippers, made out of lycra (I think). Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

Natural talent goes a long way at the beginning. What happens when that road runs out? Probably end up on TV's "Bluetorch" or "You Gotta See This" extreme wipeouts. Not neccesarily a good thing... Skill is a reflection of ability AND experience. Natural talent is an asset if you use it to learn a skill. Natural talent is a liablity if you rely on only talent as skill. Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken

Beyond specific FAA regulations, rigging (reserve packing) must comply with the manufacturer's specifications. This means there's a set procedure and standards to be followed. Ask your rigger open ended "what if" types of questions. "How do I know (idenify) if my reserve has been tampered with for a total malfunction?" Ask a rigger you know what happens if you skip a step packing your main. "What happens if I don't set the brakes?" Ask a rigger to explain a service bulletin or their thoughts on an appropriate size reserve for you. If a rigger isn't busy, the ones I've talked to are more than willing to educate interested jumpers in "knowing more about your gear". Ken "Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian Ken