freeflywink

Send me or post your snail mail address and I'll send you one. Wink. I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

No, they only get weaker from harsh strikes. The new tech rare earth magnets are much less prone to that but on the down side are more prone to chiping and or breaking. Wink. I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

QuoteI am looking for your opinions on AADs. I am pricing my first rig, and have been looking at AADs. I am tempted by the Vigil.... What do you think??! Blue Skies[/reply I diagnosed "self diagnostic" computers on automobiles since they were introduced in 1981. I can tell you that they don't always "self diagnose". I made my living doing what the computers were supposed to. I wouldn't trust anything that doesn't have a mandated factory maintenance. You might save a few bucks on the newer models but the savings probably wouldn't even make a dent in the funeral costs. Play it safe and go with TRIED AND PROVEN. Wink. I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

(HOWEVER, returning to the main subject, I'm not really refering to the many free pack and free line stows that were quite common in the late seventies and early eighties. The great majority of them still used a pilot chute to get the show started, whether a throwaway or a pullout. I'm specifically asking about the method where a few brave (or crazy) souls did away with the pilot chute altogether and used a pullout method to pull the center cell of the canopy itself into the airstream to initiate deployment.) In the mid thru late 70s at the Akron Skydivers Club (Akron Oh) free packing was the rule not the exception and a few of us played with direct deploy for quite a while. Squirrely openings but usually quick. HOWEVER, I do have some 8mm movie footage somewhere in the archives of Ward Peterson's Stratoflyer laying on his back like a blanket not cathing any air. It finally took off when he sat up after about 4 to 6 seconds. We started using frap straps with line stow bands after hearing the horror stories of lines half hitching around container flaps then free stowing had to be abandoned when ZP fabric hit the scene. It only took one jump on my free packed brand new Sabre to convince me to start using a D-bag. Wink. I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.