rapper4mpi

I think the Sabre has become a great transition canopy for those on a tighter budget. There are so many of them out there, that you can find them at great prices. Sabres have been known to slam their fair share of jumpers, however, it was more often packing error, due to the fact that they do not like to be packed sloppily. I know several jumpers with thousands of jumps on small sabres with no slams, others jumping a 170 that slammed them constantly. Here's a solution, get the appropriate sized Sabre, learn to pack it correctly and carefully. Then if your openings are still too brisk for your liking, I've found calling PD and asking for a larger slider will solve the problem instantly. Good luck! -Rap

One thing to watch out in this forum is taking advice from people that might not necessarily be qualified to give advice. With that, take everything that you hear on here with a grain of salt. There are several arguments for dealing with turbulence, half brakes, let your canopy fly at full flight. But Aggie is correct, avoid turbulance by staying on the ground in questionable winds, or not landing down wind of tall objects such as buildings. Remember, turbulance travels 10 times the height of the obstacle downwind if it. So is a building is 10 feet hight, you will still see effects (although small) 100 feet downwind of the building. My point however is this. If someone with 40 jumps or so is giving definitive advice, you best be asking questions. Your home DZ instructors who know you best are almost always the best people to ask. Good luck and stay safe. -Rap

Here's a suggestion...add some expanding foam in the gap between the helmet and the L-bracket. I know you will lose the ability to rotate the camera, but that thing looks pretty nasty. Sometimes things can be a little over built. -Rap

JohnnyZ, I have two Michigan Suits. I have to say that I'm very pleased with both. The quality is incredible, over 600 jumps on one and it still looks quite new. Mike Michigan is a no nonsense business man. Tell him what you want and you've got it. He stands behind his product and will keep working on it until you are completely satisfied. If you have any questions regarding fabric, baggyness etc... Let me know. -Rap

If it is a federally funded airport, the town officials have signed specific assurances. One of those is to allow access to all aviation activities, Skydiving falls under that designation. However, don't expect the FAA to back you up in court. They do not like to get involved with court cases. I'd like to hear more about why they did this, and who owns the property that your facilities are located on? Are you leasing a hanger or building from the town? -Rap

Although true you want to be able to fly your body, there IS a limit as to how slow you can go. At 5'11" 195 pounds, you should be able to get yourelf considerably slow, but again, there is a limit. I recommend a suit, I'm 5'11" 210, but with my slightly baggy, heavy fabric Michigan Suit, I can fly easily in a neuteral position with flyers that weight 150 pounds. The key is this. If you want light fabric, the baggier you will need to go. If you can handle on thoese hot days the heavier fabric, I'd go with that, then it doesn't need to be as baggy. Good luck! -Rap

Depending on the day, sometimes a compass is a nice thing to have. All I can say is that once I used one of those little tiny key chain compasses duct taped to a chest pillow. From 10 miles out one day, I was the only one that made it back. -Rap

Yup, you are correct, it was an instant of total complacency that could have ended up much worse. However, at large DZs, the spotting is usually left up to the pilot. Also, spotting out of a tailgate is kind of tough when there are groups in front of you. furthermore, on this particular exit, we DID get a go around since the first spot would have been long for us. But yeah, as a rule, if you can't see the airport, you're foolish to get out. -Rap

Does that work? -Rap

The following story is about a jump down south in February, for the record, the cloud cover was scattered: The three of us planned a 3-way freefly out of the Skyvan. As the first few groups left, Mike checked the spot and had the pilot do a go-around. He then left with his student. Swanny, Jeff and I left after them into total cloud cover. After doing a most excellent jump, we broke at 5,000 ft., and tracked away. I pulled at 3,000 ft. just barely out of the clouds. I looked down to see the airport way off in the distance and water (the ocean) below me. I immediately collapsed my slider, brought it down behind my head, loosened my chest strap, unstowed the brakes and went into rear risers to maximize my glide rate. I looked around for Jeff and Swanny but didn’t see them as they decided to pull higher to test their new canopies. I saw a green on the golf course (where Mike landed) and thought for sure I could make it. Using the "spot that doesn’t move" trick, I was confident. At 1,000 ft. I reevaluated my situation which was looking quite grim. I was smack dab in the middle of a swampy, brushy track of land, with little outs, a lot of trees and probably an abundance of snakes and other scary critters below. Not to mention over a not too familiar town. Panic began to settle in, but I talked myself into composure, looked behind me and as my choices for landing areas got smaller and smaller, I spotted a road, with a nice patch of grass on the side, bordered on three sides by power lines. Believe it or not, this was my best option. I landed safely and flawlessly on the side of the road. Wow, what a rush! I was so excited, but quickly began to think about Jeff and Swanny. Sticking out my thumb for a ride, I got picked up by the third car, two old ladies in a Cadillac. I jumped in and we began to head back to the airport. Suddenly I see a familiar person walking along the road, it’s Swanny! Putting down the window I yelled "Need a ride!". Swanny landed in a similar situation, down the side of a road, over a couple of power-line towers. When we got back to the airport and checked in with manifest, we asked about Jeff, had he reported in yet? Good news, he was safe and sound and on his way back to the DZ. Well folks, you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it for yourself, but Jeff, under a Samurai 150 (2nd jump) landed on the smallest piece of grass (about 40 x 60) surrounded by tall palm trees, a road, power lines and get this, the OCEAN! Yep, Jeff got the luck of the draw and tracked directly away from the DZ and over the ocean. It could have happened to any of us, but it happened to Jeff. In fact, he was trying for at least the waters edge, fully expecting to get wet, but the angels were with him and gave him just a little push so he could land on dry ground. After the ambulance let him go, he was on his way back to the DZ. We all needed lunch. In our defense, we were not the only ones who landed off and in fact, had better landings than most. We owe it all to those Potsdam Demo’s, dodging rednecks and backstops. Attached is a picture of the landing areas in relation to the ret of the world! -Rap offlanding.pdf

It seems like you are getting a lot of good advice here. Maybe it was mentioned already, but, all those sharp edges on the mount area also a danger to your lines and/or left riser. Maybe not immediately, but over time, they can slice at your riser on opening. This is not a good thing. I'd spend more time filing them to round them, then cover the edges with tape. -Rap

If you are getting into video editing, in my opinion, MACs are the only answer. I know of an absolutely incredible site online called www.smalldog.com. They have great prices and you can get "refurbished" MACs for a good price. They have packages just for video editing. Anyway, worth checking out. -Rap

The train is a good way to refine and build upon skills they might have. I always suggest a jumper tries sitting a few times on their own doing a solo, then when they feel they can hold a sit, then I jump with them, from a distance. I give them a few tips on form and usually within a few solos they are ready for a train. Just my advice for a very conservative progression. -Rap

Thanks for the information, next time, you should keep the links, they are worth a few dollars and you never know when someone might need an extra pair. -Rap

To be more clear, there is a basic proficiency card (yellow) that needs to be filled out during your progression with the assistance of an instructor. Having 29 jumps, you have most likely completed most of these requirements. Good luck! -Rap

Here's another site to check out: http://www.bigairsportz.com/books-and-videos.htm This is a video and book produced and written by Brian Germain, the "God-Father" of freeflying, or something like that. Anyway, the book is perfet for building a good foundation for freeflying. No only does it address good form, drills, techniques and tips, it also addresses safety issues as well. Very well written. -Rap

Dave, there is another option. The product is called, 303. It can be found at most Boat Marine stores. It is the same product they use to spray the canvas covers of the boats. It is stain resistant, UV protectant and water-proof. The stuff works very well. It's worked excellent on 3 rigs that I know of. I also suggest reapplying it every few years or so. It is also totally safe to the harness and harware. -Rap

Cool, but are you sure that those people are the coaches for belly flying? Maybe I missed something. -Rap

Let me put some facts out there for you all. Mike Swanson has been jumping two Big Air Sports Airlocked/crossbraced prototypes (yellowish colors) for a while now, he put about 1,000 jumps on both. They were both very stable and excellent canopies. Brian wanted to tweak the design, so he produced two more prototypes (blue colors) which Mike has not been jumping more than a month. The design and wing shape of these canopies is like nothing you have ever seen before, believe me, I looked at them up close. Brian is still working on tweaking the design. He has an amazing work ethic and just talking with him and listening to his knowledge of aerodynamics, wing shape etc... is enough to make anyone want to buy a canopy from him, IF it is right for you. I know nothing about release dates. However, Mike has been in the sport since age 16 (15 years) and has many, many jumps. Most importantly, he is the first to say if a design in flawed or unsafe. The perfect test jumper! All I can say is stay tuned to bigairsportz.com to hear more about the canopies. -Rap

If you're looking for information on these camps, go check out; www.freeflytunnelcamp.com I have to say, after spending 10 minutes in the Skyventure tunnel in Orlando with Mike, I learned quite a bit, and if I could, I would go again. -Rap

The "Of course you never know" was acknowledging that mistakes can happen, and eliminating any possible room for error is smart. I agreed with you from the start. Enough, I wasn't intending this thread to be a discussion, but rather an update on my travel experiences, which many people had requested I do so. Thanks for your input. -Rap

You are right, and that picture is a good suggestion. However, someone would have to be a complete idiot to miss the bright orange pull-up tied around their handle. Of course, you never know. I'll suggest that new way from now on. Thanks. -Rap

I just spent a week at Mike Swanson's place in Florida. I think it is safe to say that there was no intentional sign being made. He is very professional and would not intentionally portray himself any differently. Pretty cool picture though! -Rap

We all had them in some sort of a gear bag. We packed out hook knifes in our checked luggage. We also tied a pull-up around our reserve handles to eliminate any accidental pulls. -Rap

Well, I just got back from a week at Skydive Sebastian in Florida. Here's how traveling with my rig went. First, I decided to ship my rig via FedEx from Vermont to Florida, insured for $6,000. This was easy, and only cost $40 and that included a receiving fee from Mail Boxes Etc... I decided to try and carry my rig on the airplane for the return flights. (I have a Cypres). I had no problem in West Palm Beach OR Boston (Logan). Security didn't even flinch. My friends carried there rigs down and back (no Cypres). Again, no problem in Burlington, VT, or through both security check points in Boston (gates changed). However one friend did encounter problems in Boston, connecting to Washinton, DC (different flight) and had to gate check his rig, but other than that, very smooth. -Rap