Ron

This..... Zhills is great for a new guy. Very friendly DZ, I think they have three otters there right now and a Cessna's for hop and pops. It is pretty close to real towns with beaches and other things to do. I no longer live there, but I lived on the DZ for 3 or 4 years and loved it. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And number of jumps at a location teaches you about aircraft maintenance how? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

600K+ in fines is not "in line with the FAA" "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I just did a student this last week that I used an integrated program: 1. One Tandem set up like an AFF L1 2. 45 mins wind tunnel 3. Single JM L4 and 5 She did great and was docking on me on the L5. In the past I have done other programs: 1. One hour wind tunnel 2. L4 1. Tandem 2. 5 SL's 3. 2 clear and pulls 4. AFF L4/5 Basically, since I don't really work for a DZ (I kinda do... But only when they need me) I can make up my own program to fit each private student. If *I* had a DZ. I think I would have each student do a tandem to get over the rush. Then 10 mins of tunnel. After that they could show up and do AFF or IAD depending on weather. Once they had three freefalls, they would be required to do 5 hop n pops to work only on canopy control. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Twardo most likely saved up his clams from delivering stone tablets to save up for it. Then he had to most likely wait for the cavemen to learn to sew to make it, the ice age to end before he could jump it, and it came with a pterodactyl... Not the canopy, the dinosaur... as a main. I'm saying he is old. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It will vary based on conditions it was jumped in and how you take care of it. If you take care of it, it would not be unusual for a rig to last 3-4k jumps. Most people will not make 3K jumps, and even fewer of those will do it without buying several rigs in that time frame for downsizing or just 'want'. I have 6k jumps and have had 5 rigs. I could still be jumping the 2nd rig, but I wanted a new one. And the same can be said of every rig after that, in fact I still have from #3 to #5 and still jump 4 & 5. (I could jump #3, but I have it set up as a tunnel rig and would need canopies). And all being said, I could still be jumping my first rig... But I would need to still be jumping a 200sqft canopy. If you are looking to buy a used rig.... Age is more important than jumps, mainly because of upgrades. I'd rather have a 2 year old container with 2k jumps than a 30 year old container with 100 jumps on it. Number of jumps should be considered in deciding the price, but ugly rigs might still be airworthy. If you are looking to buy new, and are like most people, you will choose to get rid of the container long before its service life ends. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Oh look, more personal attacks. When out of facts and logic, people often attack the person. It seems the best you can do. It seems the only thing you wish to do is attack me, so good day. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

An AAD that could fire at any time is not a safe device. The truth is that they do not KNOW what the problem is and until recently didn't think there was a problem at all. I am pretty consistent that a 'safety' device that causes a problem is a problem. Given that 20% of skydivers will not jump without an AAD and that we are not sure what the total failure picture of this actually is (and that just blindly trusting the media from a company that just weeks ago said there was no problem at all) is foolish. I also am 100% consistant with ANY AAD problem... No matter the brand. But I have held CYPRES as the standard and now they are having the exact same issues and I will not give them any more slack that I gave any other company. If you doubt my consistency..... Do a search. When VIGIL had issues, I held them to the fire. When ARGUS had issues, I held them to the fire.... To not do the SAME when CYPRES screws up in the SAME manner would be to show a bias. So you will have to excuse me if I don't just blindly trust the word of a company that they know everything about this problem when just a week ago they didn't know they had a problem. And if ONE of these fires on climb out and takes off the tail of a a plane..... Will I still be "silly"? And the fact is they don't know what the end result is.... "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

THEY say it can't fire.... They also thought these units were perfectly fine - Till they were not. Simple fact is that they are making a guess based on a problem that they didn't know they created. I'd say being aware that they might also not know what else might happen is a very valid position. Blind faith is foolish. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Both have good programs. Both have good instructors. Both have totally different feels. DeLand is business and a fantastic place to train. A lot of teams train there. But when they get their 12 jumps done by 2PM, the DZ sometimes just shuts down. Zhills is more of a party DZ and a fun place to jump. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Skydive Dallas was fantastic to work for. Good pay, treated the instructors well... "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I have said that you either do not have the data, or that you work for the company and are acting like an unconnected individual. You might be very smart, you might be like a god when it comes to electricity..... But unless you have the data, anything you say is a guess. Educated? Maybe. Guess? Yes. And there you have it... You don't *know* if it is ESD. Yet, that did not stop you from making "factual" claims that it was and that there is no danger. Ah yes.... when out of intellect, people often resort to personal attacks. I'm done with you and your assumptions that you treat as fact. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Recall/not to recall is a actuarial question. You risk the known cost of doing the recall with the unknown cost of doing less and any lawsuits and damage to your reputation that a lesser action might bring. There is a smart course, and then there is a gamble. They have chosen a gamble. Even with a recall they take a hit to brand image.... The less action they take the bigger hit they take. If there is an accident they take a massive hit and risk being shut down in some countries like the Argus and Vigil had happen to them. Toyota didn't really have the ability to recall all the cars with reported brake problems.... They did it anyway. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

No, and I never made such a claim. You however have made claims that you know what is going on. So that means you either: 1. Are making a guess without having seen the real data. 2. Have seen the data from the company since you work for them. That might have helped you from making claims without data... You are free to give an opinion, but you are making statements of fact either as an employee acting as someone independent, or as an outsider without the real data. At any rate... You are making excuses.... The only question is have you seen the data or are you just taking a wild guess? In either case.... I don't really care who/what you are. They have an issue and they have suggested a lousy solution. OK, for fun.... They take anyone that bought a unit in the last year and give them a new unit in exchange for the old unit. They take the old units and fix them and then give them to the people who have a two year old unit, then continue that till they have exchanged the 4 year old questionable units with fixed 3 year old units. Each customer gets a 'free' year added to their AAD and they can take the year 4 AAD's and give them to sponsored athletes or sell them at a discount. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Ah yes, snide comments.... That is just what is needed here! "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

That's what you *think*. You don't know, they don't *know*. Yeah, you are.... You are saying they are doing a great job and you are *guessing* they have it all figured out. My degree is in marketing, and I work directly with customers on very technical issues everyday as my job at a Fortune 500 company. So I have a good bit if experience with customer service, and think I am more than qualified to say their actions on this issue is crap. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Apples/Oranges. I am not suggesting that 50% get pulled off the market. I am suggesting the fix the problem faster than 4 years. And if a condom manufacturer found a problem, they would recall the product not tell you to finish with a blow job for four years to work around their issue. Nonsense, people could decide to jump or not without an AAD. What we have now is a problem that is not totally defined and that could result in a misfire. And the company's solution does not address the potential misfire danger. They had a misfire on a packing mat, they ASSUME that it can't happen in the air or on the plane. But they also ASSUMED that this would not happen and last I recall when they had a packing mat misfire on the C1 they grounded all the units till you could put a sleeve on the control unit. Now they just tell you not to worry about it and that you have to apply their assumed workaround for up to 4 years. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Uh, there already was a fire in Sebastian on a packing mat of one of these units. I don't see many packers kicking and screaming in pain... But one unit has already fired on the packing mat. I understand that you are making excuses... But you really need to learn some of the facts that have already been communicated and discovered before you accuse others of over reacting. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You 'get real'. They sold a product and a major fault has been found. Their 'solution' is to hope it does not fire in the plane like it did on the ground. You may be happy wearing something that could misfire and kill you, you'll have to forgive me if I am not so cavalier. A faulty condom or the pill has no danger if killing a plane load of people. You can be an apologist (or someone that works for them?) if you want. Me, I am disappointed and have the right to claim their service sucks. Telling someone that they have 4 years to deal with a problem is unacceptable in any industry.... "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

1. I am not a company that sold a product. 2. They should offer to repair them NOW and they should pay for it and the pack job. Tylenol should be case study in how to deal with a mistake... They set the gold standard and this is nowhere close. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I think the bigger issue is they know there is a problem and that issue has led to a firing on the ground.... But they *claim* it will not happen in the plane or on exit or in freefall.... But they USED to claim it would not fire on the ground either. Frankly, their solution is crap. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

12-14 team jumps in a day.... Yes, having to change my routine that I have had for 6k jumps to make up for a device that was supposed to be "set and forgotten" IS a big deal. Then there is also nothing to prevent it from turning off AFTER I did the prejump check..... Static buildup does not just happen on packing mats. And it seems you didn't read the SB: "In addition, a recent activation, after the rig had been placed on the packing mat, has been linked to this phenomenon." "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well, it seems the best you can bring is inane comments based in fantasy and only said to elicit a response... Most people call that trolling. Yet the basic tenants never change... The difference between being your own man, and being owned. Agreed. It is about free choice and personal responsibility. Shame you don't feel that extends to anything but underage tandems.... I don't agree with not allowing under age tandems... But our liberals feel that adults cannot make choices for their own children and must be protected.... Just like your view on guns. Feel free to continue to try and bait and troll... Since you admitted that was your intent. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Absurd is you thinking I care what you think. And ballots work great... Till they don't. Reference 1776 in the US. You are used to being owned by your govt..... Most of the US does not agree with that. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You should ask the one that brought it up. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334