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After debating a lot whether I should try BASE, I finally decided that I will try it after proper preparation. I very recently ordered an all F-111 BlackJack 280(). The plan was to put about 50 or so jumps on this canopy(skydiving and baloon) before taking a BASE FJC.

After some more thought(provoked by reading a post on BLINC), I have decided to get a BASE specific 220 or so as my regular canopy. I can put a bunch more jumps that way and practice packing all I want.

The mirage M5 that I have will fit a Spectre 210(Zp 7 cell) but with Dacron lines, I don't think a 220 BASE canopy will fit in the container. Or will it because the bag is gone.

Kris.
Edited for grammer /spelling.

My thinking is similar...

I was jumping a Flik293 with a dbag in a Mirage student rig which had a FlightConcepts 280 ZP in it when I got it without any problem. The pack volume on an F111 is less than a ZP.

Why would you jump it without a dbag? I don't think you would learn much regarding opening characteristics. It is more of a chance to learn the flight characterisitics.

Also, if your going to BASE jump a 280 you'll learn the most flying a 280. I know switching from my 135 to a 293 was a much more drastic change in performance than if I would have tried a 220 first.

My biggest issue is confidence in my equipment and my ability to fly it. If I have that jumping is the least of my concerns.

I think jumping your canopy the way you would pack it normally in a BASE rig will help you alot in "opening characteristics" - using a DBag to me goes against any deployment research. When I go back to skydiving I want to be able to jump my canopy in a configuration that is close to me jumping my pack jobs in the BASE environment.

I think that the skydive environment is an ideal place to test out new configurations with your slider up pack jobs............ especially if you are going out and CRW'ing with people.

To say jumping without a DBag wont teach you much is misleading.............. people dont just skydive their canopy to learn flight characterisitics............ you can learn more than that.............

I had that thought when I brought up jumping a helicopter slider down last week, but most of the feedback I got indicated it probably wouldn't have that much value.

Now that I jumped the helicopter slider up, sub-terminal I can say I probably wouldn't have learned much. Packing and deployment characteristics of a skydiving rig are quite different compared to a modern BASE rig.

I had one head low exit where I knew I was head low but threw anyway. I felt the PC hit my feet as I released it and ended up with line twists. I don't think packing without a dbag or slider down would have changed the results.

I had one 2000 ft exit where it took longer than I had expected to be pulled upright. I looked over my shoulder and could see everything was opening fine. The "longer than expected" feeling may have come from the lower altitude or it may have actually taken longer.

I would like to jump my BASE pack jobs in a BASE container a few times from altitude, but I don't think I'll find a DZ that will let me do that so I'm resigned to testing this from an S.

What I did learn the past two weekends under the Flik was control range, braked turns, full flight speed/distance traveled, backing the canopy up, that I can land it standing up in 3/4 brakes, and I need to practice accuracy more.

I'm very interested in what else I can learn prior to doing an actual BASE jump, but I think I'm nearing the point where I'll learn the most by being around jumping and jumping myself. I realize I will learn a great deal through conversations with people regarding jumping but I need to be around BASE jumpers and this probably isn't going to happen at the DZ.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated...

If you do a true BASE pack on it and pack it slider up not in a Dbag you can start to see how on heading your openings are. HUGE skills to be learned there. Go talk to some CRW dogs about packing your canopy with the tailpocket for a skydive. Its really easy to do and with the mesh slider you can do either subterminal or terminal openings.

Might wanna try it one more time...

I've put canopies up to 290 in a container sized for a 232. With no bag, and more importantly no delay, I don't think it's going to be much of an issue.

Thanks Tom. That is the info I was looking for.

Question : I want to make a few Balloon jumps with the BASE canopy packed in a skydiving rig. To get a feel for slider down subterminal openings. 42" PC o.k for this?

Kris.

For what it is worth, I have 15-20 skydives using a d-bagged Blackjack 260. I used a 36" PC every time. I think any bigger might be harder on the gear and you.

huh?? you dont recomend a 42 pc when jumping slider down??
im sure this guy knows that the absolutly max delay slider down/off is 4 secs,in that area the 42 should work just fine,unless many of my jumps aint good aswell.

besides i used a 42 off an cessna whith aprox 2 sec delay a couple of times what ok results(slider up)
A 42 pc off a ballon packed slider down/off should be ok as long he dont takes more than 4 secs delay(i will only recomend 2,5-3,5 secs as the most),not due the choice of the pc but due the fact his slider down/off.

I think you didnt read his post as he wanted to jump off a ballon and not an aircraft,if not i would like to know which pc´s you use for BASE in which altis(an 36´pc in the 400ft range would mean a 42´in the sub 200ft range not a thing i will recomend)

agreed, I talked to him in PM after I posted that. I didnt see the baloon thing. I forgot to updated or delete that post

no worryes

Hi Kris-

I test jumped a FLiK 220 in my Javelin...it is supposed to hold a 150-190. I had no problems getting the 220 in the container, and I packed it as close to BASE as I could (no bag, small mesh slider up, and 36" p/c.) I did hop 'n pops, gradually taking longer and longer delays in order to assess the opening forces. I think you'll have no problem getting the 220 into your Mirage, and since you're training for BASE, do as much as you can to duplicate BASE packing.

Karen
Apex BASE Perris