ChrisD

Hey Arun how did you make out this season??? Some of us are interested in your experience. Many have found the area's around the two places you have mentioned challenging but still safe within the acceptable bounds. Many find the areas to be roughly equivalent in square footage, and this generally sparks a heated debate but no one argues about the difference in "outs." New England skydiving was devastated this year by an inordinate amount of bad weather on the weekends. Week day skydiving took place in large numbers of runs on those days the respective Dz's were open. Because this seems to be such a heated topic I enlisted the assistance of a few jumpers at each area to keep track of the number of turbine loads undertaken at the three areas of interest: Orange, Pepperell, and SNE. Pepperell leads by an almost 2 to one margin over the other two. But considering I can't get the actual number of runs taken, the operators of the respective places refuse to give out this information, and one individual in-fact told me it was " nobody's business." There is great truth in the fact that my Research is ad hoc and mostly un-provable in many respects. This is and should be a concern for all jumpers at all of these areas. considering the financial impact the poor weekend weather has had on everyone. If yor a student and could jump during the week this information is important so that you can make an informed decision. Some places were in fact running while others had aircraft sitting on the ground for a lack of customers. I have it on good authority that many weekends SNE ran hop and pop loads at a financial loss! Due to low ceilings. They have my utmost admiration and respect for supporting skydiving for doing this for their people. There definitely seems to be favorites and rightly so. On the other hand by not giving out current conditions or actually committing if in fact on a good week day you are going to put aircraft in the air I believe this to be a deceitful business practice. There is a difference between saying something like "the plane will run as soon as people show up, if they show up." And saying something like "we have 10 tandems scheduled for 12 oclock, and of course if fun jumpers show up we will continue to run the Otter." One place was more honest over the phone than another. I say this now after the 2013 New England season is over because I experienced who was open and who wasn't and I speak from personal experience because I took the time to check. They all have very endearing qualities but when targeted marketing takes place by a few, I certainly go on the defensive to point this out each and every time this takes place. Honesty continues to be the best policy and it will serve skydiving and the respective dz better in the long run! C In fact if you guys: Don't get your act together and form some sort of alliance, the financial devastation you all experienced this past year from more profitable Cessna operators has cut into your business and by all outlooks they will do the same if not increase their business next season. The lack of co-operation, animosity, and competition between these three places is palpable to even the casual observer. And the irony is that until you all learn some co-operative strategies to live under the same roof your in fact only hurting yourselves. So please Arun, if you can take the time to share yor experiences this past season many of us would love to hear them! But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

It's sounds like you have reached a conclusion on your own, good for YOU. And yes after a day of jumpin we all sit around the "free" computer at the spot. Although this thing is a slow as molassisss. We are in fact going to ban Gath helmets here as best we can. This is after a few rounds.... This is the waiver yoyu sign by putting on a Gath, this is fun, we should all pst the waivers that are stuck inside our helmets for everyone to enjoy and read: more than a few of us sitting here want to understand why sonone would say something like in the same sentence when they , a wind tunnel, would not allow you to use a Gath RV without goggles and then ask what that has to do with skydiving???? If sky venture says to me that using your Gath RV with out goggles is a bad idea and we are not going to allow you to do this in our wind tunnel I LISTEN!!! C I actually have a Gath RV sitin around here somewhere, we use it to show students the difference in quality so that they have a reference between good, better, best, and just plain old stupid. But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

Sort of. You can wipe the hard drive of your laptop and reinstall a different OS. Of course, you will pay a lot more for that. what the fuck, man? That's what I said in the first place. 'You now have to pay to stay put.' And speaking of laptops,... how about the fact that if your drive shits the bed there goes your capability to reinstall your operating system? Cause they are all in a hidden partition on that same drive. Of course you then find out that the original software is available on a 60 dollar dvd, if it is still in stock! AND not covered in your 100 dollar store protection plan. And O'h yea if you tell me you can make a back up disk before doomsday, that will actually work,... think again....the windows 8 operating system on your new laptop has software specifically designed, with the manufacturers co-operation, to thwart the copying of your software. C But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

I have forwarded the following e mail to your head Professor, I hope you don't mind: I will post any response I receive. C But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

Click here for Professor assigning student project The Professor actually sounds like a nice guy. Why didn't you guys actually state up front that your not doing research per say, but fulfilling a class assignment? AND I want to caution everyone about blindly being hooked into giving out personal information by being baited with the offer to potentially win a prize. I immediately go insane when I see things like your answere is confidential but please give me all of your information at the end???? C All the stuff about confounds and demand effects still apply, but hopefully you will learn some of this as you go along.... But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

Just about anything makes for a skydiving helmet. You will learn in time which features you like and which ones you don't. If you care to do a search here on this forum you will see one of my lengthier posts and some other knowledgeable folks as well about skydiving and using helmets the real reasons behind some of these choices. Here goes a short version: For minor bumps and forces, all you really needed is something to cushion your face and ears. In the old days and in some new rigs the metal connectors could really slap the side of your face. This led to the rise of the "Frap" hat, it is like a leather condom for your brain. Good for some protection and it kept your hair in place. Ok now what happens if you fall from 0 to 20 feet and are travelling at a speed from 0 to 25 mph? Many of us want some protection for our Brain bag and the Pro-tec does offer some good impact protection. The Pro-tec is used in many sports and has been around for some time. Many Pro-tec helmets meet some ANSI standard. This particular standard has a lot to do with manufacturing, consistency, and a lot of stuff that doesn't have a lot to do with how much force can be distributed in an actual impact, but the helmet does do a great job for those forces involved in sports like skiing, skateboarding, some bicycle uses, and used to support kayaking. Do not confuse a Pro-tec helmet with a motorcycle helmet which has to pass exhaustive specifications. Motorcycle helmets are frequently made to be used once, one impact that is. They can dissipate much greater forces. Such as the forces from higher speeds and more solid objects. Like telephone poles. They are able to do this because they are relatively heavy and constructed for actual impacts. This is why you don't see a lot of motorcycle helmets in the air, because whilst jumpable helmets can bounce around a bit hitting someone else with a motorcycle helmet can take them out,...permanently. Nevertheless Bell motorcycle helmets were used almost exclusively in the 70s' and 80s' for students. As you can see helmets offer protection from impact, but even a motor cycle helmet has limits. Once you start to hit higher speeds it's pointless to wear a helmet, they just don't work for those higher speeds and environments where there is nothing to run into. Except the ground at the end of a really long skydive. Pointless. So everyone has a decision to make about the helmet they use. And in this skydiving environment with everyone signing waivers, many manufacturers have caught on to the fact they really don't have to offer any protection whatsoever. Gath is one company that exploits this to an extreme. If you see one, you will completely understand. The Benny Helmets are helmets that offer protection considering the extremes of the forces that most skydivers are going to find in the environment that they operate in. They do a great job at this as many manufacturers do. The newer Benny helmets are making great attempts at making a snag resistant helmet incorporating a Go-Pro, but this is really a discussion for another day. See the X-3 for a more responsible skydiving helmet / company. The Gath, to use tham as an example is a manufacturer that has exploited a scratch and bump type helmet that really doesn't offer any impact resistance and crossed over into pushing their products on an unsuspecting public and market their products to anyone that doesn't know any better. Theree is a range of forces that if you do in fact sustain an impact your helmet will do a good job. But this range can be greatly extended by purchasing a helmet that is more skydiver friendly such as a Benny! C So it isn't a simple question to ask what you have asked and it's not a simple answere either. You have made a great choice as long as everything goes according to plan. You will wish you had a motorcycle helmet if God forbid you ever strike something solid. And your Benny could save your life if you ever hit part of the aircraft or slide into a fence post on a botched landing. Gath helmets by the way just basically explode on impact. They are decorative and useless... so yes yo have made a good choice. I know the Benny marketing stress's the "economical" aspect of their helmets. You can go to almost every skyports, skysystems, Paragear, whomever, and they all mention the economic advantage. this doesn't equate with totally cheep in my book though! Your also going to see a lot of students wanting to have a more robust helmet anyways. Students can get into some very dicey situations because they are learning and practicing their landing skills. It doesn't take much and in fact I have been present on more than one occasion when "individuals" have tripped on the steps of an aircraft and their choice of a Pro-tec / benny have in fact saved their heads. I have seen the same exact fall from some very experience individuals and they were carted away in an ambulance, unconscious. It doesn't take much for injury to rear it's ugly head. But the stereotype is we are all a bunch of "Rocke'ys and a combination of Jean claude Van Damms." Again it doesn't take much force to do major injury, you want every factor in your favor. Something to consider to all of those swoopers out there that associate helmets with something only "those students" need. Considering the frequency of swooping and speed and proximity to the ground you would think they would factor this into the equation but alas your going to find out that cosmetics and attitudes frequently are way more cool and anyways "It can't happen to me." But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

I suspect it is a bunch of High School students using some kind of on line question generator to do the absolute minimum of work required for some class they really don't care about. Most likely the football team, US version,.... Help them if you want, but generally the sad reality is there is probably someone on the other end who uses their "juice" to stick pictures on the wall. Seen the movie: Happiness? 1998. The problem is when these people post results that "other " people believe the results. Generally they don't contribute to anything and in a majority of cases they spread stereotypes and misinformation. Information that is wrong gets transmitted unabashed and uncensored, this is the problem! C But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

Yes on both counts. A confound is a flaw in the methodology of the research design. Frequently "confounds" are the unintended consequences of research. They are sometimes insidious and sometimes they are just in your face obvious, except to the hapless researcher that didn't notice in the first place. Every graduate student and researcher whither it be for industry or just for plain fun generally has taken multiple research design, statistics, or experimental design classes where this kind of stuff is talked about at length. One of the most common confounds that exists every day is a news organization poll or a political poll purportedly reporting on the attitude or whatever regarding some particular aspect of life. BUT when the organization ONLY questions, lets say: Republicans, this doesn't actually represent a valid cross section of the population! This is a confound. To work around things like this a very common phrase is to make sure that your "sample" is taken from a representative population the each and every member of that population is selected by chance." And or each and every member of that population is available to be selected by chance. I can go on at length about Experimenter Demand effects, different testing parameters, I can go on about how Cortisol tests are a waste of time because in the general population the levels vary more than the isolated groups that have undergone supposed stress testing. I can go on about how you can get different answers and results based upon the color or temperature of the room the exact same test is taken in,.... think of that movie Jurassic park when the computer is asked to track the 12 or whatever dinosaurs, and one of the actors tells the computer operator to see if there are more than 12...that was a confound in action.... basically what you think your researching isn't what is actually taking place. ANYONE WHO HAS TAKEN A RESERCH METHODS CLASS CAN SEE THE OP WAS FULL OF CRAP FROM THE GET GO... C I can give you a list of books if your interested, many of them are easy reading and quite informative. But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

Microsoft updates are free. Of course, if you want or need the newest software with the newest features, why shouldn't you pay for that? I love ya man,...! but yo actually pay for the supposed free updates, they are built into the cost, somebody somewhere pays..... but my point is that some, if not all of this software should work right out of the box. The public has become a punching bag AND expected to pay for the development that comes after and before. In no other business would they survive with this kind of attitude and poor product design. Think of it this way: you sell something that doesn't work and then bill your customers to fix it! My point is that it should have worked from the very beginning! C remember all of that bundled software that used to come with store purchases? Do yo fully understand what and why Microsoft is making demands on manufacturers to use only Win 8? Win 8 is their answer to Chrome. They want to position themselves so that you never purchase a program again! They want U to use apps and pay a monthly fee. This isn't a software advancement. This is the beginning of a monopoly by a corporation that is going to dictate the future of computing to you. The only existence of windows 8 is to find and remove cash from our pockets in new and creative ways. fuckin name something that Win 8 does better than vista! I mean for real, something that is worth the 2 hundred bucks they want from you!!! But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

I have 4 120 GB drives running in RAID 0 with 2 2TB drives to store my data. I am running windows 7 and all of my scores on my computer are all maxed out at 7.9 in the performance index. I love your ecological use of hard drives, overkill is wonderful

No way. I can get a machine and a mold for that. Then talk with Cookie, cause obvliviously you know more than his company,.... C It's my understanding that EVERY MONDAY , TUEESDAY AND WENDSDAY THIS ENTIRE SUMMER PEPPERELL WAS OPEN WHEN ALL OTHERS WERE CLOSED???? (Jumpable days) In New England, or are you going to insist otherwise just to insist otherwise. I had more than a few people keep track of loads and days open. Pepperell was open frequently just for one load on some Mondays. When everyone at SNE was sleeping Pepperell was jumpin. I'm not sure what planet your from, but your lack of real knowledge is astounding and all I can gather is misleading by intention. 150,000. for a custom injection multi piece mold is astronomically cheep. So if in fact you can get a mold for less you can be an innovator and game changer but I suspect your just speaking, or rather just making shit up again. I also know for a fact that the majority of wind tunnels don't allow half face helmets to be used WITHOUT goggles underneath. And if your going to continue to spout shit about how Gath RV helmets are used without goggles, well that tells me not only are you intentionally misleading other well meaning people by design, it tells me that you haven't used one either. I have used a Gath RV and your fucking nuts to use one without goggles or shades. You only make that mistake once. But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

99.9 percent of these research type postings are total bullshit. Kind of reminds me of some of the more colorfull spam I get. One of the ways to tell is the fact that most all undergraduates, when they do in fact do some kind of research it is highly structured and under the tight control of their professors. Most all undergraduates don't do this kind of survey research,...this is the biggest hint. Most non-undergraduate research is and or won't pass the ethical review boards because of the potential for liability and other concerns. Much of the past bullshit research you have seen here is just that: Bullshit. All post undergrads when doing research have their own email, web site, and the support of their faculty and they share this as a first step! The other big tip is the sample! By asking for such a select group as found here on the internet they have introduced a "Fatal Confound" and thus making any and all results of said research totally useless. I could go on for hours, but it's fun sometimes to see an unprecedented amount of ignorance in action. and yes there is more value in having a good erection than answering this droll bullshit. C So to the OP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Go !@#$%$##$% yourself. Now that there is funny! But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

Cause I keep getting asked to leave the computer area that is secretly hidden in the camera section. For using highly descriptive words like: "the little hole thingingy" when referring to the HDMI connections and stuff like that.... No sense of Humor.... C It's all a Microsoft conspiracy anyways. You all thought that James Bond movie was makin shjit up? Why should we be the ones paying for updates cause the original product is defective??? my anology to a hammer is this: You purchase a hammer. You expect it to work right out of the box. So why do we get little notices in the inbox when our software never worked right in the first place and they expect us to pay for that??? Kind of reminds me of why cows wish they had fingers! To pull out those cute nose rings. But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

On PD reserves (and a couple others), the instructions are one "/" per pack, not one per data card entry. You'll have to send the canopy back sooner for recertification. Mark Whilist ther might be some truth to what you have to say about "that" the idea still stands....

Thank yo for stating the obvious. But goggles and sunglasses do fail. This is my point if you can get past my brevity and rhetoric.

And they of course are wearing glasses or goggles underneath this Gath RV, Correct?? Please how many out ther jump a Gath RV without additional eye protection???? C nuf said.... But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

I like to see people do this. But please, only do it in front of your rigger. Your reserve and all the parts are nice and safely protected inside your container. If you pull out all your stuff then let it sit around for who knows how long before stuffing it into a gear bag that's now too small because everything is more bulky the chances of damage happening are large. I will measure the ripcord pull force in front of my customer, have them do their EPs, and now measure the force needed to extract the bag with the main still closed. I can't do that if you bring it to me open. Don't bring it to me that way unless you have used it please and thank you. +10 for this,.. How many riggers are actually testing with a scale so that the loop can be really examined for its proper length? If I can pull the reserve pins with just two fingers I start to think about the potential for Loop Lock Hesitation due to being trapped by a PC fold or flap. If it takes two HANDS to pull the pin I start thinking about how the reserve section has been overstressed due to a too short loop. Cant do either watching someone practice their ep's. C I can't argue about practicing your EP's with your own rig this is a good thing, but I suspect the riggers duty's and responsibility to the rig in question come first. Nothing wrong with packing the thing more than once for the ground practice. But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

You're kinda showing your antiquated knowledge; .avi has been an unsupported format since 2005. Most media formats are compressed, and .avi is not a format that supports compression, metadata, or tagging, necessary for most formats of today (pro and consumer). Microsoft doesn't even support .avi containers for their own codecs these days. If it pleases his majesty,

Are you talking about things like the Gaths? Then no, not (in my opinion at least) good for RW, though you see freeflyers use them a lot more. The wind from underneath may or may not bother you (it does me) but I think the visors wouldn't take the punishment. And there will be punishment [edit: You will look badass while it's brand new though.] Thanks for covering my back joeller, that Gath RV is a piece of shit that should be banned. Not only does it channel the air into your eyballs causing them to water up it offers little to no protection, well what skydiving helmet does, anyways the RV Retractable Visor just plain old doesn't work. It is a perfect example of a manufacturers marketing over reason and common sense. What a death trap to stick on your head. Absolutely no wind protection either with the visor up or down. I can't think of a more useless thing to wear. C And yes I'm being kind in my choice of words describing this thing... But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

I am using my G3 almost exclusively. Hate to sound like an ad for the company, but it's been a no problem solution to a lot of problems. In every possible way this thing has been better than inventing sliced bread. And I have no doubt that in the next few years almost everyone will have one. I am soo tired of all of my goggles rubber bands stretching too much. I am soo tired of my wrap arounds' fogging up. And they have done nothing but raise the bar as far as RW is concerned. There is a big difference in abilities since the 90's when the first full face helmets started to appear. It's too bad, however that so many have found a nice hard mounting surface to stick cameras on though. The manufacturers have taken the hint that you can actually design a helmet with the camera inside and make it almost non-noticeable and totally enclosed. But no one wants to spend the cash to design the molds considering the margins these guys are working with. So don't delude yourself when you see manufacturers designing outside mounts, it's strictly making money for them. Other than that, I hope to see the day when goggles and sunglasses are banned. C I don't really understand the comment about covering your mouth, all of the better visor helmets cover your mouth. If your speaking about that piece of shit Benny helmet that has that half visor that comes down, then I feel sorry for ya! It shouldn't be used in skydiving, great for low budget sci fi movies perhaps. So if your asking about those half shield types, your just wasting your money. But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

Don't. If your thinking of one of these for Christmas and you have an older computer, by older I mean 2013. Just don't. I would recommend 2 2T drives instead. Yes I'm sure somewhere, someone, out there is having fun with their large (Over 2.2T drive) but for the rest of us you really need the new MB's with the UFFeio support...and a few other brand new specifications. The new large drives, to date have a miserable record working with USB type drive caddy's, and other computers than the one they were originally formatted on. And yes I'm sure theer is someone somewhere having fun transporting there drives to other computors but I don't want to hear it. Seagate really doesn't have their act toghther yet,.. so you have been warned.... C Just trying to save many from a lot of grief.... and if you don't exactly understand all of the stuff about a MBR V. UPT initialization then just don't.... But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

If you go the UPT route Mike can size you. There are lots of manufactures that can help you, but I mention the folks at UPT cause they were doing this kind of thing well before most of the others were born. Except for the Immediate neighbor of UPT that is There are a lot of excellent posts here about sizing, the one that sticks out the most is to get some other very competent person to size you... C As always try before you buy and make sure your purchases involve a escaroll service! But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

Give CPI a Call, ask for Lindsay... It'l be a 2 hour plus drive for you, just for your information. C But it will keep you current

Piece of mind, having your own, priceless