peek

No!

What canopy did you have before the Spectre that contributed to the line twists (or tended to line twist.)?

If you check with awning manufacturers or upholsterers that do awnings, they will be able to give you sources for the fabrics they use, which will have built-in ultraviolet protection. The fabric might not cost much more than parachute type fabric. It might last for many years, even if exposed to direct sunlight.

Good information. I kind of identified this (fighting it) some years ago as one of the things that caused line twists on susceptible canopies, and verified it with some other people. Anyway, glad to hear that you have a Hornet that doesn't slam you on opening. They are noted for hard openings.

Well Annette, I think you had better add Rigging Innovations to your list of "tier-A manufacturers". Strong Enterprises is less known for its solo rigs too, but they have been around a long time too.

Samantha, thanks for the info, but I was asking specifically about people who have had line twists numerous times themselves and how they solved the problem.

Nice detailed info, thank you.

John, what type of lines and how many jumps on the line set, etc. I still have my Stiletto 150 and have put maybe 1500 jumps on it over the years. It's on its third line set (Dacron this time) and has never had line twists, only a bit of "searching" for heading.

Andy, what kind of canopy did you have before that was giving you line twists? What type of lines and how many jumps on the line set, etc.

Thanks for the reply. Do you mean that you got a new pilot chute with more drag, which sped up your deployment and did not give the deployment bag as much time to dance around?

A recent thread got me thinking about something that I have not seen discussed here for a while. For those of you who have had more than a couple of line twists on opening, and who have had to go to your reserve because you could not get out of them fast enough ... What did you determine was the problem? Was it a one-time problem, and you have never experienced it again because you changed something? (It amazes me when I see some of the videos of these deployments. Sometimes there are quite a few line twists, and they happen so quickly.)

Yes, those are good ideas, but my post was to show an example of what NOT to do. It is actually one of the most ridiculous things I have seen, short of hurting someone on the ground.

I agree Rob, and I think this is the only good answer. To do this well, a person may even need to pull their leg straps up into your crotch AND tighten them again in the airplane. I would think that most instructors are telling their students to not do that, but rather to leave them alone, "because we took care of that on the ground", and "you don't want to cut off circulation" (very, very unlikely.) I personally like my legstraps very tight, and to do that I must tighten them further in the airplane while kneeling. Moving to the door from a sitting position is a good way to have the legstraps fall down (to some degree). P.S. The above assumes that if a student rig has an adjustable main lift web, that someone knows how to properly adjust it. If the main lift web adjustment is on the short side, the leg strap will feel tight in relationship to the entire rig, but will not be tight encircling the student's leg.

Independence Day in the US is just around the corner and a number of you have made your plans to do some type of demo jump, perhaps at a place you have not yet jumped. Hopefully you have all planned these jumps well. Here is how not to do it. This example from a few weeks ago is provided by a long time friend and fellow demo jumper, who I suppose thought that he didn't need to do the needed planning because he was so experienced, having planned many demo jumps in the old days. 1. I guess he was originally planning to use the C182 drop zone plane and pilot, I don't know. 2. I happened to fly my (jump) plane to the DZ, but did not plan to use it for jumping. No one had contacted me earlier. 3. They started suggesting that he use my plane, so I asked him about how he had planned the jump, and if he had given the required "notifications". (See below.) 4. He started going "blah, blah, blah" about "airspace this and that", and I immediately knew he hadn't done anything, so I said "no", (which makes me the bad guy, right?) 5. So there was a visiting turbine aircraft at the DZ that day and they agreed to fly him to the demo. They left, but came back a while later. He couldn't find the demo site! 6. He asks me to fly him over there and try again, and you can imagine what I told him. So here is a better way to do that part of the demo preparation: 1. Go ahead and figure out how to make the proper notifications, (as required by FAR 105). Other hint: Some of this needs to be done before the day of the demo. Mike Mullins and I even wrote an article about this! http://www.dropzone.com/safety/General_Safety/Jumping_Away_from_the_Normal_Dropzone_896.html 2. Using the aviation map that you have used to prepare the "notification", cross reference the demo site with Google Maps or similar. Print the aviation map, the Google aerial photo, and the Google road map, and take them with you in the airplane. 3. There you go, it's really that simple. (Well, maybe not simple, as it may still be a challenge to find the demo site in some cases.) Having a ground crew with a big colorful target helps!

Unfortunately I have not been paying attention and did not notice that he had not posted here in a while. He was always very helpful to his fellow jumpers that asked questions here. This is a huge loss to us all.

Good for you! You might be experiencing a slowdown because of what other DZs are doing, but then, you are keeping all the money you earn and not giving it to a third-party. This might mean that you are able to afford better/safer gear and airplanes compared to the other DZS. And you might be in business after they are gone. Keep up the good work!

I agree, except that should be "180 days plus almost one day" Think of finishing the reserve pack job and filling out the log just after midnight on a particular day, and jumping it and landing just before midnight on day 181. In other words you get almost a free day. Convoluted isn't it?

It would seem to me to be because the gunmen usually choose a location that is unlikely to include many people carrying protection. I don't want to start a big debate not knowing some details myself, but does anyone have any statistics from countries where the government encourages gun ownership and readiness?

It was 35 years ago. What a life-changer for me. I'm delighted to have met and communicated with so many of you. Hope we get to do it for many more years! http://www.skydivestlouisarea.com/peekfjc.htm

Everyone I know just writes their own customized spreadsheet. There are just so many details and variations in the costs related to aircraft that I don't think anyone will create an all-encompassing application program. Hopefully some of the DZOs around here will at least give you a list of factors to include in such a spreadsheet. Or maybe a small example spreadsheet.

Thank you. Good job!

Does anyone see the irony in telling people in a perfectly good rigging forum that there is a rigging group on Facebook? Why the hell don't we discuss rigging here? Are people afraid of the moderation? (I for one think that dropzone.com moderation is usually very good.) Are you afraid of "riggerrob"? teee .... heee.... heee.... (You can't escape him, he is everywhere anyway.)

For my pilot friend who I set up with a very large square reserve, I made the attached graphic file. When you start thinking about it, there are a lot of things to think about when you are teaching a person to jump a ram-air parachute for the first time. My main concern is that they might get only one toggle unstowed, and spiral in.

There are too many variables to find the answer in a forum. You need to get a local experienced jumper that you trust, and when you find a rig whose harness size seems like it will fit her, send the details of the rig and canopies to this trusted jumper for opinions of the suitability for her. If you can't find a local jumper, then expand your search. It has to be a person that cares about her finding a proper rig, but that who does not stand to gain by the sale of any particular rig or brand. In recent years I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the small people that I have seen get rigs that were good for them. There are more people skydiving now that are small. You just need to catch them when they are selling a rig.

No "rules" unless the DZO has some, but you will want to consult with someone experienced in jumping the kind of flag you have. It will take some equipment preparation too, so this might mean you will need to have some "rigging" facilities at the DZ too. You should not wait until Monday to start asking questions.