RAPS vs AFF?

[schuey 0]

I'm looking to learn to skydive, and I was wondering what the relative advantages and disadvantages of RAPS and AFF are?

Which is best?

[FrogNog 1]

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I'm looking to learn to skydive, and I was wondering what the relative advantages and disadvantages of RAPS and AFF are?

Which is best?

If RAPS is the British equivalent of "Static Line", then you would do well to search this forum for the countless "debates" on this.

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Pull.

[schuey 0]

Ahh right, sorry about that, new here and all that didn't see the search button. Don't worry about replying to this topic now, it looks like I have all the info I need.

[thelem 0]

Also see my reply to the same question at dirtdive.net

http://www.dirtdive.net/forums.asp?ForumId=8&TopicId=166

BTW RAPS is sometimes also called Static Line in the UK, but RAPS is the more common name. If you think about it, calling it Static Line doesn't really make sense once the student is onto freefall.

[mr2mk1g 10]

where are you schuey? where abouts will you be jumping?

[FrogNog 1]

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BTW RAPS is sometimes also called Static Line in the UK, but RAPS is the more common name. If you think about it, calling it Static Line doesn't really make sense once the student is onto freefall.

That's a good point, but in the U.S., calling it "RAPS" doesn't make any sense at all. We think it's either a kind of music or someone knocking their knuckle on something to get attention.

And with "Static Line", we call it "Static Line Progression" to take into account the training that happens after the dope rope is no longer necessary. (I can't say we call it that all over the U.S., just at my DZ.)

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Pull.

[d604 0]

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And with "Static Line", we call it "Static Line Progression" to take into account the training that happens after the dope rope is no longer necessary. (I can't say we call it that all over the U.S., just at my DZ.)

I’ve also herd it called Gradual Free Fall (GFF) or Standard Progression.

Sean

CSPA ratings C1, C2, IA, IB, QE, RA, and EJR

[maestro 0]

RAPS stands for Ram Air Progression System and refers to the ram air canopies students will use, as opposed to the older round ones. As the vast majority of FJC's have used ram-airs for many years now, I'm not too sure why the name has stuck but I guess it's just tradition. Am I right in thinking that originally, students did their first static line jumps on rounds before switching to ram airs when they got onto freefall? What is the point of that? Surely the student has got enough to be thinking about when they progress without worrying about a completely different parachute and the different malfunctions along with that??

[riggerrob 643]

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RAPS stands for Ram Air Progression System and refers to the ram air canopies students will use, as opposed to the older round ones. As the vast majority of FJC's have used ram-airs for many years now, I'm not too sure why the name has stuck but I guess it's just tradition. Am I right in thinking that originally, students did their first static line jumps on rounds before switching to ram airs when they got onto freefall? What is the point of that? Surely the student has got enough to be thinking about when they progress without worrying about a completely different parachute and the different malfunctions along with that??

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I did that back in 1979, - did 50 jumps on rounds before buying a Strato Star - but that was before anyone knew how to build docile square canopies for students.
As soon as manufacturers learned how to build docile squares - in the early 1980s - every self-respecting school in North America converted to squares for students.
Why the Brits continued dropping students with rounds is a mystery to the rest of the skydiving world.
Why any civilian school would drop students with anything except docile squares baffles me!