slotperfect

Or you could trace the reserve ripcord housing down the inside of the main lift web with your left had, find the cable where it comes of of the housing, and pull on the cable. This is our floating ripcord (main side) procedure for military rigs that use a main ripcord. It works. Arrive Safely John

The BPA Operations Manual is the UK equivalent of the USPA SIM. Arrive Safely John

I would be interested in hearing what the rest of the conversation was like so I can put his comment into context. I am sure there are other things that were said that would make his statement more relevant than trying to establish that from the statement standing alone. Arrive Safely John

He is from UK, so he is better off with BPA's version of the SIM (I don't know what it's called). Arrive Safely John

Didn't your AFF Instructor give you some suggestions as to where you should start? Where are you in your AFF progression? Arrive Safely John

Can you put a number on "a little hefty?" The published weight limit for tandem students at Raeford is 230 lbs. We will take heavier students if 1) they are reasonably physically fit for their size, 2) there is a Tandem Instructor available that is willing to take a heavier student without compromising his personal limits or skill set, 3) the maximum rigged weight of our Sigma tandem systems would not be exceeded (500 lbs), and 4) the weather conditions are favorable for such a jump. I highly recommend you call the school to discuss it directly with the management and to help ensure that staff will be available to handle your friend's tandem. Arrive Safely John

I use the same one. The aviation forecast provides all kinds of useful information and is quite accurate from my experience. The winds aloft come from sites that are few and far between, but they are good as well. TonyT turnde me on to that site and I use it religiously. Arrive Safely John

Please use the forum search function to locate the plethora of Atmonauti threads that have been posted in multiple forums in the last 90 days. Thanks. Arrive Safely John

That's a good question . . . I doubt those will have to be registered - they will get nickel and dimed to death on that issue. Arrive Safely John

I normally carry a small plastic bag (previously opened) in my jumpsuit for just such an occasion. It only took getting thrown up on once for me to add that to my tandem tool box. Arrive Safely John

I can touch on some of those, but not all of them. Who: USPA & Manufacturers (exactly who was present at the meeting I don't know) What: Stated in the original post When: meeting happened last year, effective date is 1 Oct 2008 Where: meeting happened in DeLand, I believe . . . change affects ALL USPA members regardless of location Why: I don't have a good grasp on why, but I do know that manufacturers don't necessarily agree 100% on their level of involvement (or lack thereof) under the post-1 October plan. There are different schools of thought involved there. I think a lot of us saw this coming a long time ago - maybe not to this extent, but surely somthing to this effect. I consider it part of the evolution of tandem skydiving from the FAA exemption years where the manufacturers had 100% say so to being included in much less specific terms in the FARs and included in USPA doctrine. Whether it will ever truly evolve into the student training method it was originally intended to be, I don't know - my crystal ball is cloudy on that one. It has definitely become a cash cow for some DZOs and in some folks opinion has become the Kudzu vine of the sport in the US. I hope there is a happy medium that happens somewhere down the line, but I don't know what that looks like, nor do I know when it might happen. USPA did do a good thing by making it easy for those who are either currently rated manufaturer TIs or hold another USPA instructional rating (or both) to get the USPA TI rating without having to complete an entire TCC. Arrive Safely John

This thread has run it's course. I am locking it up. [warning] gravityizsexy - personal attacks are not allowed in the forums. [/warning] Arrive Safely John

BTW - I clean my Oakleys and my watch in the dishwasher. I turn off the heated dry feature and make sure the load is not full or covered with food garbage. The grime on the back of the watch comes off and the oil comes off of the Oakleys. Thank you Kenmore! Arrive Safely John

I have heard of people regularly putting them keys side down on the dishwasher. You have to let it air dry completely so it won't short out when you plug it back in. Here's a bunch of articles: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=keyboard+dishwasher Arrive Safely John

Triumph The Insult Comic Dog goes to Quebec. Part One: http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/video/#mea=89881 Part Two: http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/video/#mea=89887 Enjoy!! Arrive Safely John

Happy burfday brother. Arrive Safely John

Neon orange and neon green get the vote, using offset rather than alternating pattern so direction of flight is immediately discernable. Thanks for the opinions! Arrive Safely John

Thanks for that . . . it was a refreshing change to the conversation. Arrive Safely John

Took the youngun to see Van Halen at RBC Center in Raleigh last night. It was worth the wait - fantastic show. Arrive Safely John

Most TIs I know don't bother with an altimeter. I do . . . it takes very little effort for me to provide them with one and show them how to use it. 99% of them never look at it, but it is there as a backup if mine craps out. I treat all of my deployment handles as if the student has "access" to them. Riding the front on a Sigma, on most TIs I can reach each of the 5 handles. That means a freaked out student *could* pull any of my handles at any time. I stay alert of where the student's hands are so I don't get any unexpected surprises. Arrive Safely John

InstructorMaster StudentPassenger In the big picture of things, it's completely semantics and it really doesn't matter what they're called. It's a form vs. function argument at best. In the end it boils down to a few important things: -Individual personal philosophy (or apathy) -DZ/School policy (or lack thereof on the subject) -To what end one is making the change in verbage (or not) My own choices: -I call civilian tandem customers "students" and I try and teach them a few things no matter how many jumps they plan on making. I have had students who did not intend on being a career skydiver go from a tandem with me to being national competitors. That's not only a great feeling for me but it feeds the sport that I love, so if calling them students helps, it's an easy change for me to make. I don't beat my drum about it, I just do it that way. -I call military front-riders "passengers." They are there to fulfill some sort of military mission, whether it's proficiency training for me or an operational guy taking a needed asset with a particular skill set into a target. -I call myself and other Tandem staff members "Instructors." Most importantly it implies some sort of two-way relationship: I impart the knowledge, the customer gains from it somehow. In the end, the tandem student learns more about themselves from the experience because they made the decision to come jump in the first place then I could ever teach them about the mechanics of it all. Again, I don't stand on a soapbox preaching it, but that is the way I see it. -I call military Tandem pilots "Tandem Masters" because it is akin to "Jumpmaster" which is already a very familiar authoritative term in the military jumping world. So, the reality of it is that some will call a spade a spade and some will call it a shovel. As long as it digs like it's supposed to without hurting or killing anybody, that's all that counts. Arrive Safely John

Nope. Your USPA TI rating should reflect that you are a TI on each system on which you are rated. Arrive Safely John

It's not a direct reference but implied: Part of the certification process for some manufacturers is having a current FAA Class III medical or foreign/military equivalent. I know that UPT accepts the standard military physical as a substitute. Not a direct FAA requirement, but is included in the general requirement in (v). Arrive Safely John

1) You will learn about side spins in your Tandem Course - how they happen and how to recover from them. You will likely not practice it. Bill Morrisey made a great video while he was the Tandem Director at Strong . . . it is now available on DVD. It shows Bill practicing side spin recovery by himself during solo jumps - you could certainly do that to practice recovery. Side note: I have had two of them start, but never fully develop because I was able to recover them. Both of them were small, fit, female students (opposite of what one would think would start a side spin). In both cases they piked on me with their legs straight out in the front, which tipped us over. The key to preventing a side spin is exposing your flying surfaces, not the side of the pair, to the relative wind on exit. 2) For fun tandems ("joyrides" as you call them) I don't have the student in the toggles on landing except on very rare occasions - normally when the student has already made a couple of tandems and I want to add something else to their experience. In 99% of the cases I would rather have their hands helping to keep their legs and feet up and out of the way. On the occasions I do have them in the toggles, I push their hands with mine all the way to the full-flight position and wrap my thumbs around the rear risers to "lock" the toggles in that position until I am ready to flare. This prevents the student from pulling the toggles down too early, like tryying to use them for leverage to lift their legs up. Arrive Safely John

I am totally in agreement with that statement . . . it was the necer part that peaked my interest. Arrive Safely John