Ron

4th jump I think. For him yes...However he was told that he would be ok since it was only one size smaller. That is where the sizing issue came into it. People who didn't know that it was a 135...Told him he would be fine. They were wrong about the size...He *might* have been ok under a 150. But he was in no way ok under a 135. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Bush "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The USPA is busy trying to build a museum to show what skydiving was...Since they are not doing anything to protect skydiving...We are going to need the museum to be able to look back at what we used to do. The USPA is worthless "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well if you don't see it, it didn't happen. My old team used to ask the camera guy what exits HE wanted to practice. Edit to add: as a tail I never watched the exit...I watched for movement, then I blasted down as hard as I could. Not for eveyone, but it worked for me. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Im STILL re-reading some of the chapters...Just when you think you got it...Poof it's gone. Who is to say what a day was before the creation of time? And I know of several other planets that have really long days. So the definition of a day is subject to what the rotation of the body you are on is. It could be a few min to a thousand years. I never got caught up on the who day thing...Like I said who is to say what God's day is like? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

So far so good. And this is what I am talking about...You took steps to introduce yourself. Your part is done. The Staff did its job of taking you to an LO. This is where it turned to crap. Its not your fault...Its not the Staff members fault. This LO is an ass. And he should not be an LO. He is just using the system to get free jumps with his buddies. I see this a lot. I myself have been given the cold shoulder by a FF LO that wanted to jump with his buddies. Its harder to manage a FF LO. Most FF need to stay small to be safe. So it is easy to do 3-4 ways all day with your bud's and not lt it get bigger. RW I will let a group get to about 8-10 before I start just letting anyone on. But RW can handle that FF not so much. The LO should have given you to someone else then....HE didn't do his job. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The hobby lobby one is 10" tall and weighs 6-8.8 oz. The better one is about as tall, but has arms and is made of fibreglass. do a search on here. A Zaggi would not be able to pull this guy. you could order the wingo porter for it... http://www.hobby-lobby.com/porter.htm 119.00 bucks. We used to have a bunch at Zhills. I flew my UCD .46 3D plane at the DZ a few days ago...And I have flown a 1/3 scale Pitts at the DZ. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Uh he is REALLY big and heavy. Like almost 2 pounds I think. A Zaggi does not have the power. We use a Giant stick with a G-62. We have used a regular .60 stick...and it worked...but not well. And a .40 sized Cub with a 60 two stroke on it. Depends on how you make it....I would use a servo to release him personally with a rubber band to hold him on, and keep the pack closed till he is released...If the chute opens and gets caught on the tail...Well its not as bad as the reall thing, but you are going to be building another plane. It is like the flying lawn mower..fun to bring out, and people like to watch it...But I have never seen one at a flying field every weekend, and most times its a case of a guy dragging it out at a request, or selling it to someone that brings it out a few times then nevr brings it out again. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Theory of Relativity? Your understanding of the timing of the event depends on your relationship to the location of the event....But I don't think the duration of the event is effected. It could be that the event happened but the results of that event took time to reach you..However, the duration of the event would be the same. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Give the count to OC...See if it is a timing issue or if it is an exit technique issue. The exit setup in the door is hard to brief from video...You can only judge the result of that setup in how the group presents after the exit. If you don't want to give the count to the OC....just remember that you have to be GOING on Go...Don't say ready, set, go!, then go. (Think about the movie Lethal Weapon, the bathroom scene). Think ready set and then GO! I would give the count to OC personally. People are used to it, and everyone can see it, including the vidiot. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

We were doing it this weekend. Doug Park was the OC. It works very well for a team that does not have the time to train an exit count. I have even seen Majik do the same thing on "B" exits. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yes, any time you change gear..TRAIN it like hell. The best thing to do is not train different types of gear till you have one setup down pat...and even then don't change it. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And here is my take...Most times reserves work. I have seen many people wait to long to deal with a mal... So knowing that a reserve mal is RARE (Yes, it can happen, but it is very rare) and that people lose track of time when in that situation, and time is altitude, altitude is saftey. I would rather a person cutaway from something they THNK they MIGHT be able to fix instead of trying to fix it and find out they can't, or spending the rest of their life trying to fix it. Its safer to cutaway than spend the time trying to fix something that is not landable. you MIGHT fix it...you might also spend to much time messing with it and die. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yep, I have cut away at about 700 feet once. I was not going to survive the landing, and I was not looking forward to doing CRW with myself. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

They are heavy...So it takes a big beefy plane to take them up. We had one at a club I fly at that almost always burned in...Until I bent the pins that keeps the pack closed. Now he lives. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Many people have died while trying to fix a small problem. In a high stress situation time warps. I have seen people cut away VERY LOW...They all thought they were much higher. I have a much simpler approach to mals...Can I land this and survive? If no, then can I fix it NOW...If not its bye-bye time. I have seen people try to fix shit till it was to late. BTW the guy Happythoughts is talking about. A good friend, 1500 jumps had mals before and two combat tours in Nam...So he knew about high stress situations... He died on that jump. Jan 6, 1999. If you are not sure you can land ANY main...Don't spend the rest of your life trying to fix it. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

My two cents: A normal reserve ride. Where the only cost is wear and tear on the gear. The person keeps the handles and the main and freebag are found. Its normal use...The customer does not pay for the repack. If a piece is missing, or an AAD fires..The customer pays replacement cost. Lose a handle buy one at cost from the company. AAD fires renter pays the cost of a cutter. Basicly a "normal" ride where all that is needed is a repack is covered. Any lost gear or "one time use" gear is paid for by the renter. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Id rather jump an otter than a tailgate. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You rented it...It was yours till you hand it back. While you showed great awareness, and did a great job. I would like to point out that several people have died trying to fix something. In a high stress environment time seems to warp. Seconds can seem like hours...And Minutes can seem like seconds. I know you were looking at your alti...But next time...cut the damn thing away. I would rather you chop something you MIGHT have been able to clear above your hard deck, than mess with it till you were below it, and find out you can't land it. Like I said, you did a GREAT job...I would not have fucked with it. Rental gear or not...I have but ONE answer about a canopy... Can I survive this landing? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Jerm...stop being ridiculous. You KNOW that would not be alright. And you KNOW I would not approve of that. But when we are talking about a person downsizing....The TYPE of canopy , and the WL has a great amount to do about it...The general SIZE can do a lot. And I know all about PD's sizing speaches...I have given them. I'm talking about guys with 100-300 jumps, not some STUDENT, and their first set of gear. And where in your little world did that 90 pound girl with the new A get all that experience under a 135? Yes, but changing planform WILL increase resposiveness. Sometimes even more than changing size. As for your WL = speed...Yep. But its the speed that kills people. NOT the responsiveness. Since you like PD's site look at this from it: Speed kills...And it says perormance depends on design. And something else. I bet a good number of guys jumping a Xbraced...Did not jump a small eliptical for SEVERAL seasons. And are not VERY current, and VERY proficient. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

There are good reasons for round reserves....I don't buy them all, but there are some compelling reason for them..such as you will never have an issue with a double out. But I would be willing to bet that most DZ's use rounds since they are cheap. Yes, SDC has a good training program. It does a very good job with canopy control. However, it is only that way at that ONE DZ in the US. If every DZ had that training program it would be a safer sport...Guess what? Not evey DZ is like that. And they will not be either. You yourself have said that other programs have faults (And SDC has faults also). And there is no way that the USPA can implament any training program...Just look at the mess of the ISP. So even if USPA decided to copy SDC canopy training program...It would not be able to enforce it, and no one would have to do it...Instead what you would get is some DZ's putting people out on HP canopies WITHOUT good training. And while training is good...Training is nothing without the ability to DO it. And that comes from EXPERIENCE. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well HH...I have to delete the Spam as well right? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And what you are failing to grasp is this... It seem to me that we are LOOKING to see who jumps the most. The guy with 250 jumps, or the guy with 1,000+. And I understand you position...But what I am saying is this....The people who jump the most IS the group we are looking for. And yes I am very disapointed in the USPA for not having this info...I have asked for it, and Ihave been ignored. The USPA is full of crap. They are more interested in building a museum than safe skydiving. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

SDC has one of the best teaching programs when it comes to Canopy flight....But that is one DZ..And you never answer my question of how many DZ's you have been to , and how many student operations you have seen. You will clearly see that not all programs teach canopy skills like SDC....And the also the USPA can't implement a very good program for just about anything. So education while being the correct answer...Is many years from being a workable solution. Maybe both? I'm hoping you mean ROL to BOC. SOS is a cutaway and reserve set up. For what its worth I did 11 jumps on Sat, and landed dead center of the peas on 9, in the peas on one other and one foot out on 1 (I jumped last jumps conditions). Can you? Could you at 100 jumps? Think about it...While Bills list is great...And I mean great...The real proof to me is landing where you want....And if you can do that then the chances of getting hurt do to a bad spot go WAY down. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well, OK. All I'm saying is at a Big DZ..If you don't take advantage of some of the LO's and such...I would not expect people to notice you. On a big DZ we might have 50 new people on a weekend. Its not hard to walk up to manifest and ask for a group to play with..Or do it while getting a gear check. But don't sit around quietly and expect people to come up and say hi....On a mid to small size DZ its easy to notice the new guy...Not so easy at a big DZ... A friend of mine told me once...The best way to make friends at a new DZ...Show up the night before with a case of cold beer. You want to have fun...You need to be proactive...Not just sit and wait for people to ask you what you want to do... Nothing good in life comes from just sitting around and waiting for it...Make it happen. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334