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Dear SethinMI, That article describes typical jerky control movements by a scared, over-loaded crew who are rusty on hand-flying. The long-term solution is more simulator time practicing manual control. The short-term solution is throwing the pilot under the bus. Insurance companies and airline executives always try to throw the pilot under the bus. Legally, the practice - of blaming pilots - dates back to the days of sailing ships when they were away from home for months or years at a time and the captain was ultimately responsible for everything that occurred onboard. This ancient law provides lazy lawyers with a easy-out to blame one pilot and absolve every one else of guilt. Truth is, modern airliners are far too complex for any single man/pilot/engineer to understand, which is why airlines overlay multiple people to schedule, screen passengers, brief passengers, maintain, navigate, calculate fuel loads, balance, clean, de-ice, inspect, herd passengers, etc.

No it doesn't naturally follow that you are looking at gear. Cabin fever has me being overly blunt so here it is. It is super awesome that you are excited about skydiving, but you need to chill the fuck out, otherwise it will naturally follow that you will progress to be a student that is hard to teach and abrasive to other jumpers and instructors alike. You don't need to read about gear, you don't need to read about anything else about skydiving other than reading the drop zones website to understand what to wear the day of your jump (athletic sneakers, comfortable clothes that can get dirty, layers depending on temperature). There isn't too much information, because none of it is intended for you to be reading at this point in your progression. Learn as you go, from the DZ and its instructors. Have a wonderful time. Limit your reading for the next 20 jumps at least.

FIFY You have to go to church, pray and donate money for it all to work.

Don't mean for this to sound harsh, but stop. You're already asking questions about a used rig in the classifieds. Stop. Go do a jump (you know tandem is not the only option for a first jump, right?), decide if skydiving is really something you want to pursue and can afford, do a couple student jumps and then start worrying about what gear to buy.

Yes. It's really overwhelming, really fun and cool and totally irrelevant. For a tandem, you need nothing. For initial AFF, you need nothing. You may want to get your own goggles, gloves, helmet and altimeter fairly soon. Your instructors will provide guidance for that and the DZ will likely have them for sale. Yes, you can probably get a bit better price online somewhere, but supporting the DZ store is usually a good idea. As you progress, you will get more and more knowledge of the gear and what you will want. I'm not trying to put you down, but what you are doing right now is the equivalent of someone who hasn't even started driver's ed trying do decide what options to get on a Hellcat or a Shelby.

I think most DZs dont give enough of a crap to even bother hearing you out. They provide the bare minimum cheap whatever that the FAA requires and that's it. For years experts have been advising people that the single-position seatbelts that lock into one lug are not sufficient and that they can fail at low loads and people should use the dual lug belts instead. Well I dont think I have ever seen a single DZ use the dual lug ones because they are more expensive. No one cares really. safety takes a backseat in a lot of skydiving operations. Some DZs dont even maintain their aircraft properly let alone care about the seat belts.

So, have any of you actually been on a Russian airplane in Russia? You know, like a Tupolev-154 on a short haul? The pilots had an entirely different opinion of what constitutes sobriety, at least when I was there. I was also on the World Team Transport and Jump aircraft in 1996. I recall looking at the military transports fascinated that they had the emergency cut out locations in English. The attached pic is a passenger aircraft. I'm never surprised when a Russian plane crashes.

I'm not getting one. I am sure you will keep it and deposit it with all your other entitlement checks - then come home and complain about socialism some more. I donate about 10% of my salary a year to several charities including CMMB. How about you?

The biggest problem is that the larger the population, the more chance there is that a single jerk exists. In NYC there's a pretty good selection of jerks, mentally ill, homeless, stupid and whatever else. And in a congested place, they have a greater chance of exposing someone innocent to their baggage. I noticed that in the "lowered ridership" figures, they seemed to correlate pretty well with "money and ability to stay home." Metro North services Connecticut, after all. And maybe, just maybe, if the ridership is cut, maybe the number of buses and trains are cut too? I know they have where I live Wendy P.

the plane had 78 people on board, and 41 died in the crash, so not sure what you mean by that, unless you mean everyone who made it to the slide got down it ok. interesting read about the post-crash investigation is here: https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/superjet-accident-probe-studies-heavy-handed-pilot-inputs/133097.article summary: the plane had a lighting strike and enough electrical problems that the computers dropped the controls into alternate / direct law (like the air france cross-atlantic crash a few years ago) the pilot did not do well without the computer assist, and smashed the plane into the runway, so now he is charged with being criminally negligent. pilot asserts plane was not responding well, black boxes apparently dispute that. it's russia, so a little hard to know if the pilot is being thrown under the bus to avoid dinging the reputation / sales for the russian plane manufacturer. if anyone knows any rumors or backstory i'd be curious.

He's not defending Iran though. He's pointing out rank hypocrisy.

this is a good interview i feel like there is a lot of things assumed on the time line as Bill thinks and Dan kind of tries to clear it up.

I didn't Vote for Trump. Honestly think a lot of people are playing the captain hind site game. I recall him being criticized when he closed the boarders, then it wasn't soon enough. As an independent i am more then happy with How POUS has handled this considering the information we had. At the same time Nancy P. can go to hell. The idea that someone would use this opportunity to slow payments to their fellow Americans so they could get some of their agenda in a bill is disgusting. This is not about you wining Nancy its about helping Americans NOW. As for Science deniers. There was a time i agreed with you and took great plesure in making fun how stupid some of the right was, for Ex.for wanting to say the planet was 6000 years old in science books.. idiotic!...........then the Left said hold my beer, lets pretend that there is no Male or female and well avoid all of biology all that we witness in nature so we can save some miseducated sensitive peoples feelings. We need more political parties. Right now Feeling are > then science for the left and Tradition has been > then science for the right. Sadly They both suck and there supporters you know the types who value their tribe more then facts and science are the fucking worst.

I'd say it's more that conservatives can see where even the wackiest conservative viewpoints can com from, even if they disagree. Just as most liberals can see where even the wackiest liberal viewpoints can come from, even if they disagree. Then it becomes "don't mess with my brother, even if he is an asshole." Only I am perfect in my judgment . AND my brothers are nice Wendy P.

The US was always going to have more problems than some other countries. If nothing else, that "you can't tell me what to do I'm an American" ethos that dominates a lot of people has them going against recommendations, and doing whatever they want, and bitching on FB that this lockdown is the "biggest government seizure of power in the history of America." One contagious person can spread a whole lot of virus. Wendy P.

Fly free Arch! Thanks for the great times in the mid 1980s with the Miller Light Beer Demo Team - we were very well paid for demos into amazing venues - Clear Lake, TX unlimited hydroplane races with the Golden Knights demo team was one of many - too much fun. When I heard you made 40 jumps on your 40th birthday in 1974 (or 1975?), I was inspired to make 50 on my 50th birthday in 2003 - I did not realize you were 21 years older than me until I saw your age of 88 in the news article. The Cypress Gardens, FL jump with the double malfunction into soft sand and survived always was an amazing story, having heard it a few times after some night time beers. Will see you in the next life and don't be late (Jimi Hendrix) - Frank D-8200 - BSBD

Nobody's jumping right now, right? A suggestion. While stuck on the ground, don't forget about your brothers and sisters who have no work at the moment, and little hope of getting any work in the next few months at least. Might be a great time to send that AAD off for service, have that little cosmetic repair done on your rig/jumpsuit/canopy, go ahead and get that repack done since it's only a month or so out. Your rigger will appreciate the work. Bring a bag of groceries to an instructor or three. Check in on them. Lots of them won't ask for shit - offer it. We are family.

I grew up at a dz just like that. Takes a dzo that is truly a skydiver to build that sort of dz - someone more into fun skydives with great people and building a community than making big money. The sport needs more of them.

I was an instructor at Elsinore and loved the Vibe. I still have friends at both. Pick your Tribe. LOL

Why? This thread started seriously enough, he has responded to comments without personal attacks... what in his profile would make this discussion more valid? Debate and discussion are about the ideas involved not the person who puts them into play Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

A rocket-powered reserve is not going to be something you will be allowed to carry aboard a commercial aircraft, and I have my doubts you'll even be allowed to transport it across a state line or store it in your home without voiding your homeowners insurance policy. Now, imagine the scenario where it accidently fires on the jump plane. Not a pleasant thought. A better solution might be replacing the pilot chute with a weight and a stronger launch system similar to those used in ejection seats. That would reduce the possibility of the reserve PC entangling with the harness/main until it was clear of the clutter. No design is going to be 100% reliable, though, if you wrap a canopy around it first. You can get one for a Cessna right now if you want to spend $16,000. http://brsparachutes.com/BRS6July05.htm

What if the rocket malfunctions? I think two rockets would be better. -- drop zone (drop'zone) n. An incestuous sesspool of broken people. -- Attributed to a whuffo girlfriend.