Technical: on-heading perfomance & rolling the nose

[Yuri]

Yo!

I have mentioned this subject before but would really like to hear comments from other jumpers and manufacturers:

I have started rolling the nose on terminal jumps to slow down the openings. Results were much better (more consistent) than using a sail slider instead of mesh. Surprisingly, this has also affected on-heading perfomance - to the better! Without rolling the nose, i would get 180 every 5..10 jumps and 90 off every other jump (my pack job is a rather quick propack over the shoulder http://www.baselogic.com/forum/images/wink.gif

Since i have started rolling, it has been a while that i can even remember a 180: out of 30 terminal jumps in Norway the worst one was a 90 off - almost all were dead-on (and 28 of them were wingsuit jumps!). This is such an improvement that i have moved on to rolling the nose on most slider-up subterminal jumps as well. While 2..3 rolls slow the opening a bit, it is a good trade-off for a straight (and seemingly more staged) deployment.

The pack job: it's a quick propack over the shoulder with the nose exposed, stabilizers rolled and the tail wrapped around everything else. Once i lay it down, i roll the nose (3 outside cells on each side): 5..6 rolls for terminal jumps and 2..3 for subterminal. Center cell stays wide open and pulls over the entire pack job once i put it in the container (Adam's way). I use a regular mesh slider, both direct and indirect slider control for terminal jumps and just a locking stow for subterminal. I also rubberband my steering lines to the slider - mostly to facilitate quick packing http://www.baselogic.com/forum/images/wink.gif

My theory here is that a center cell acts like an "anchor", while rolled outer cells take their time to inflate, effectively reducing canopy aspect ratio on opening. This is how it looks on video, anyway.

bsbd!

Yuri.

[bps]

Yo Yuri!

I've been thinking about the same thing lately since I have been doing alot of slider-up jumping. I have been folding the 3 outer cells in one time and then wrapping the center cell around the entire pack job. Out of my last 30 mesh slider jumps, all were sub-terminal and 26 of the openings have been 15 degrees or less and only four of them were 80-90 degrees. No openings beyond 90 degrees.

I have also noticed that direct control on my slider has given me very clean openings - even at sub-terminal. I talked to Adam Filippino about this and have come to my own conclusions based on what information from him and my limited experiences so far...

With direct control on the slider, even on subterminal jumps, it helps to ensure complete line tension before the slider is released, giving the slider the opportunity to rocket down the lines possibly providing a quicker deployment. I believe that direct control on the slider actually helps to stage the deployment process - this may help to prevent premature slider deployment and *may* go a long way to prevent tension knots associated with a slider coming down the lines prematurely.

Of course, this is just my opinion based on very limited experience. (90 jumps with only 30 of them slider-up) Yuri, Adam, Todd, Mark, and many others with more experience than I may be able to provide more insight here.

C-ya!

Bryan

[460]

The handling of the nose seems to be very important on any freepack. Remember that the cells of your nose are catching air all the way to full line extension. By restricting the outer cells, the canopy will neither have the tendency to be torqued nor will one side catch air before the other. I have found that restricting the outer cells must be done properly. If the outer cells are just barely restricted, generally one side will release significantly before the other.

When your canopy goes to line stretch, you do not want a pre-inflation, neither though the nose nor into the bottom skin. The canopy will initiate inflation the same way a round does during its early to middle stages of opening. Air passing on the outside will cause the canopy to expand from the top down, and will eventually will force the nose out and the stabilizers out.

So much to say and I have to get back to work...