GobbleGobble

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Everything posted by GobbleGobble

  1. Mental illness generally means someone cannot legally own firearms. This has been true for quite some time...
  2. These are the one's I'm using currently: http://www.chutingstar.com/newgear_en/flex-z-goggles.html Top righthand picture.
  3. As a counter point I use the Flex Z over glasses model and have no issues with them moving around on me at all. I wear small framed glasses but find the "normal" goggles press the nose bridge into my face pretty badly.
  4. I have a Benny and use an N3 for an audible. The helmet is ok. It's certainly nothing special. I wear glasses and with the N3 in it's not the most comfortable arrangement in the world. There are cutouts over each ear in the foam that you put the audible in and the pressure of the helmet against your head is what keeps in it place. If you have the money to do something better. You probably should. Maybe a different audible would have a lower profile. I dunno. I wear ear plugs as well. Surefire EP-4s.
  5. I only have 8 jumps on mine so far, but have to agree. It opens much nicer than the Spectre and Pilot that I've jumped. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of flare power. It's quite easy to shut it down on landings.
  6. I don't think I said anything outlandish, certainly not trying to misrepresent myself here...
  7. Wrong - properly designed it would yield a safer rig, albeit a more expensive one that may falsely identify a problem thus grounding a perfectly good rig. "Properly designed" is a circularly defined term in this argument. Wanting to add consequence-free features does not make it so. What I have a feeling you are picturing is a cutter that detects that something is routed through it. There's no reasonable way for an AAD to tell that that something is a properly routed closing loop. And setting aside monetary costs of doing this incomplete check you have the safety cost of a bulkier cutter that interferes more with the packjob/closing of the container, has more potential hang ups, and has a more complicated wiring harness. You're saying the dollar cost and perhaps hassle is too high. I'm saying an event involving this added feature causing a problem with the safe operation of the rig is more likely than an event involving a rigger misrouting a closing loop and this added feature correctly detecting it. But now you are just talking sense. The internet is no place for that!
  8. It was answered, the problem is that some of the info is this thread is misleading, so you were expecting something else. The idea is that the unit 're-zeros' itself at start up to 'set' the ground elevation. Just like you do with your wrist mount alti, and just like a Cypres, Argus, ProTrack or any other audible does. What the Vigil offers is a readout of what pressure it reads, but that's not always going to be related to what the weather service says. If the Vigil thinks the pressure on the ground is 29.75, and the weather service says it's 30.10, it's irrelevant because the Vigil will fire at what it thinks is ground level plus 750 (or 790, or whatever). This thread has lead you to believe that you can use that to check the accuracy of the sensor, but that's not entirely true. If you kept a log of what the Vigil displays and what the weather service reports, you would have an on-going idea of the offest between Vigil-pressure and 'real' pressure, and in that sense you could track the offset and check that it's consistant. On a one-time basis, however, looking at Vigil-pressure and 'real' pressure will tell you nothing about the accuracy of the Vigil. It's a feature that's being pushed as one thing, when it's really no better or worse than the Cypres (in that respect). Both units conduct a self check on start-up, and neither will 'power up' if anything fails the check. If the unit reads everything as OK, it will 'power up' and indicate for normal operation. Beyond that, the Vigil offers you the ability to check the 'Vigil pressure' but if that was reached by a faulty sensor that could pass the self check (like the Cypres), you will jump with a faulty sensor. The reporting of the arbitrary pressure the Vigil measures is of questionable use in the real world. There are other, much more significant issues between the two that should guide a decision to purchase in either direction. If the sensor does not read QFE (field elevation barometer) with the required accuracy, the device cannot fire at the correct AGL altitude. The pressure lapse rate is not linear. A proper algorithm will understand that a very low pressure reading at startup means a high field elevation, and will take that into account when determining the firing altitude parameters. If the ground-level reading is sufficiently wrong, the AAD will fire at the wrong time. Do the current AADs use a proper curve for the lapse rate? Damned if I know. But if they really intend to fire at the altitudes AGL that they say, they must. Else they should publish that at different field elevations the devices will have different firing altitudes. If you don't get a proper value at ground level, you are not going to get a proper firing altitude. Maybe people at high elevations have NEVER gotten a proper firing altitude. I didn't write the software, so I don't know. But without a reasonable pressure reading at ground level, all other bets are off. If all dropzones were are seal level, it would be a different story. But they are not. And if the AAD is really going to fire at a particular AGL altitude, it MUST have an accurate idea of what the MSL altitude of the field is. So, Dave, simply, is the barometric lapse rate linear or not? I do not believe it is. And if it is not, then an accurate field level barometric pressure is REQUIRED for the device to work as advertised. I understand what both of you are saying, or I think I do. Both Vigil and CYPRES calibrate 0ft as barometric pressure of X. This happens after some self tests at power on. The Vigil displays value X, where as CYPRES does not. If CYPRES did, I wouldn't expect that value to be different than what Vigil displayed. For all AADs to function properly they would have to properly calculate the pressure at firing altitude. While there may or may not be differences in the math used. This whole discussion seems to boil down to Vigil shows you, CYPRES doesn't. Is that right?
  9. Make checking your alti regularly a habit. Your hand is already out in front of your face. You can use your peripheral vision to either view your alti or the person flying near you and focus on the other. For starting out my instructors always beat into my head, do X then check altitude, repeat.
  10. __________________________________________________ Kenny, sorry for the late reply. I'm at the Vector Fest in Europe right now so travel, lack of internet and time difference can cause some delay in answering emails the next few days... To answer your question, pretty simple... the Vigil will use the current pressure from the location where you start it up as a reference, so actual pressure used in QNH settings (in military or aviation applications) is irrelevant. It's a different story for military units where QNH (actual pressure measured to sea level) is extremely important. Those devices will get a recommended two yearly calibration. With a VigilII, it's pretty much like turning your analogue altimeter back to zero every morning before jumping. Upon start up and self check, if the parameters/calibration are out of range beyond an acceptable point, then the unit will respond by giving a "control error" and then shutdown. Hope this helps! Regards, Vladi OK, is it me? Or, was my question not answered? BTW, a couple of you are squabbling. Please stop fighting. I didn't post this topic to provide another thread to be locked. I did it to find out some answers. OK, please & Thank You? He might not be able to get into it too specifically if they consider it to be proprietary information.
  11. Best way to get their time is to show up early in the morning before the first load goes up. Or hand out later and have beer and discuss. At least that has work well at the DZ I jump at. Bonus you'll make some fun new friends. I hear you on the hard to find stuff. I finally got lucky a few weeks ago but I was looking for close to 4 months.
  12. I don't get it. Do you agree or disagree with my post? Agree completely. I'm just a smart-ass, and have little control over it. From your side of the story you've done everything to be accommodating. He's used the gear and as far as I'd be concerned he owns it now. I guess I'd be willing in your shoes to refund the cash but I sure as shit would ding him on the refund since he's not returning it to you in new condition. Any applicable policies that you have in place? If not, time to write that shit and have people sign it as part of the order.
  13. Just completed a transaction in a similar manner. And about to do another for a main. Most people I've contacted have been ok with that approach.
  14. I took it a slightly different way: Uncool to dose someone when they don't know its coming. Skydiving has plenty of inherent risk, with pretty limited margin of error. Jumping when at all under the influence shrinks the margin of error even more. Why put yourself in that situation? Why put others in that situation. Given all the canopy collisions the last thing we need is people flying while impaired.
  15. a) I don't know if it's in the materials at your DZ. Ask your instructor. b) right c) Don't track or fly your canopy up or down the line of flight of the jump plane. You could wind up deploying or flying under someone still in free fall. d) Cutting away a 2 out can cause worse problems. the main when released could compromise the reserve. For bi-plane, smooth and slow turns. You want to keep them together. e) In turbulence your canopy could collapse. Thats the only thing I can think of with your "nothing outlandish" qualifier. f) no g) At Elsinore students don't use audibles. Think of them as a back up. You should be using your primary alti. I just finished my A license a month or so back. I'm sure others will chime in. I don't think I've said anything too stupid. Have fun!
  16. Couldn't tell you. I just got my A four weeks ago. No way in HELL would I just sit there waiting for an AAD to fire. Maybe some folks are brain locking it. I can't believe that anyone would think "waited for my AAD" sounds better then "I froze". I'll make plenty of mistakes, but I do have powerful motivation to live...
  17. Yeah just googled for a general reading. Not specific to my location. What are the units used on a METAR?
  18. Primary goal...figure out if I've got the right settings going on. Does what said earlier mimic how it should be set up? I've done a few jumps with my Core and a Galaxy II. They pretty much agree. Yes, when I'm in the loading area I set the ref alt to 0. What is your current setting for sea level? Mine is 972 hPa. A quick google tells me that at 15C it should be 1013.25 hPa.
  19. Without a known reference object I don't know that you could. I don't know that you couldn't either. Anyone have the diameter of the whole assembly in mm? As a guess I'd say the pellet is 2-3mm. That is a total WAG though.
  20. It looks to be the cutter. The actual piston that shoots down the metal tube to cut the loop.
  21. A 3/4" difference on unloaded webbing seems excessive. I'm not sure what the elasticity is of the material however. I'm completely ignorant of what the acceptable variance is in line lengths when rigging a canopy though.
  22. I haven't jumped at Perris, but I know at Elsinore you land towards the lake as a default. Presuming there is no wind/light & variable. I'm still student status so I don't land in the main area anyhow. I check the windsock before setting up my pattern while I'm up. For the main landing area it makes sense to hold the pattern the first guy does. You have a lot of folks landing in short succession. Everyone flying the same pattern should prevent collisions. You and everyone else in the air SHOULD be following the same flight plan at that point. If the first guy down sets you up for a down wind final land somewhere else... Edit: To add but make that decision with enough altitude that you don't F'up the folks behind you.
  23. It really depends where you are. Prices in VT are not going to be the same as in CA. $2800 doesn't seem unreasonable to me if it covers all of your jumps. After you complete the AFF levels you are still a student. I wouldn't expect $25 to cover gear. You'll also need to do a few coach jumps.