mjosparky

Robison Research Labs. is a company in CA that makes all sorts of cutters. The ones in the picture are timed and fire 0.8 sec after initiation. They make the same type that is fired electrically. They make them with hammer and anvil and with a guillotine blade. The guillotine type is SS and we used them to cut trough Kevlar line. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the manufactures of the cutters for all AAD’s on the market today. It is pretty much a nitch item. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

At your experience level if it is too windy to pack it is probably too windy to jump. Green light on jump tomorrow. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

If you are saying that Cypres is reliable and Argus is not I suggest that you have a look at the recent recall of Cypres. I have nothing against any manufacturer, Airtec, AAD or Aviacom. I choose to jump Aviacom's product. The reality is that ALL of the brands are still in development as the sport is as well. I am not saying either one is better. But one tested on a closing loop and one tested on a steel cable. You draw your own conclusions. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

And this holds true for any canopy on the market today. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

The canopy doesn't start to open until it comes out of the bag. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

And here is a test of a Cypress cutter which also has no bearing on this incident. Sparky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF1Ghw2KiMM My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

You are not violating the TSO by jumping the canopy. It was tested and certified under TSO-C23c. That means 254 lb. at 150 KEAS. The manufacture can say anything they want but the FAA recognizes the standards under which the Approval was granted. (See attachment) But it is my opinion that you are violating the common sense rule by jumping with that reserve. While there is a good chance you will not have any problems at all, there is also a chance you could get hurt or die. Jumping is all about risk management and this is a risk that is within your power to eliminate. This is a quote by Tom Brown, who posts here. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

In TSO testing you have Test Weight and Test Speed. Then you have Maximum Operating Weight and Maximum Operating Speed. Test Weight = Maximum Operating Weight x 1.2 Test Speed = Maximum Operating Speed x 1.2 For TSO-C23c Category B the Test Weight is 300 lb. and the Test Speed is 175 KEAS. It is then certified at Maximum Operating Weight of 254 lb. and Maximum Operating Speed of 150 KEAS. In the case of the Tempo 170 the Manufacture has recommended a MOS of 130 KEAS and MOW of 200 lb. The usual reason for this type of action is while the canopy has proven it ability to survive the higher weight and speed there is some doubt by the manufacture that the jumper would be as lucky. In particular the landing. This canopy is an old design, early 1993, a seven cell and made with F-111 type material. When new it had a CFM of 0-3. Depending on it DOM it could have 40 or more repacks and a CFM as high as 12-15. So what you have is an older design 7 cell canopy with degraded performance and over loaded by 20 to 30 pounds. And this is your reserve, the one you go to when all else fails. Who ever sold you that was not doing you any favors. Jmo Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Just another shitty day in paradise. Ho Hum. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

+1 A truth that is being lost in this thread. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

It seems to me that the glider pilots did the stunt, the jumper was a prop. Sparky yup as far as skydiving stunts go, it pretty lame, Greg Gasson adn a few of the Eloy crew Flew from one plane to another, tracking into a drougued porter. The was some GOOD STUFF

Correct, in the same sense that pulling your ripcord does not, I repeat, does not open/deploy your reserve. Changing the name of that little box from "Automatic Opener" to "Automatic Activation Device" was dreamed up by the manufacturers' lawyers. They didn't want their clients to be hauled into court to explain why their "Automatic Openers" didn't open the parachute. It's a legal technicality. It might be a legal technicality but the fact remains that an AAD does not open your reserve. Pulling the reserve ripcord is an action that be initiated by the jumper at any time they choose and make the function of the AAD a moot point. In this case it appears the jumper failed pull that ripcord. That is the lesson that needs to be taken from this incident. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Having read through this tread in it entirety I find 2 things that are really sad. The first is the fact that a young woman died because she failed to take the steps necessary to save her own life. The second is how many skydivers do not have a basic knowledge of how their gear works. An AAD does not, I repeat, does not open/deploy your reserve. It is designed to do one thing and one thing only and that is to cut the reserve loop if you are going too fast too low. There is no excuse for not understanding a piece of equipment that most of you won’t jump without. It like giving a pacifier to a baby, they thing they have a bottle so they are content. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

It seems to me that the glider pilots did the stunt, the jumper was a prop. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Whats the SIMS? The video game? You need to go back to day care. This is the big kids playground. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Jerry, All reserves are “approved” but not all “approved” are reserves. Does that make sense to you? Sparky 105.3____ Definitions. For the purposes of this part— Approved parachute means a parachute manufactured under a type certificate or a Technical Standard Order (C–23 series), or a personnel-carrying U.S. military parachute (other than a high altitude, high speed, or ejection type) identified by a Navy Air Facility, an Army Air Field, and Air Force-Navy drawing number, an Army Air Field order number, or any other military designation or specification number. Reserve parachute means an approved parachute worn for emergency use to be activated only upon failure of the main parachute or in any other emergency where use of the main parachute is impractical or use of the main parachute would increase risk. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Hell I was old before that kid was born. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

That is one of the dumbest fuck'n posts I have ever read. Only a person who has no idea what's going on would think that. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Is someone who thinks they know what the hell they are doing in less than a 1000 jumps. At 150 jumps you have been skydiving all of 2.5 hours. It took you longer than that to learn how to tie your shoes. You can tie your shoes can't you? Like the man said, fucking morons. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

No, I left the side flap as it was but I did have to change my shorts. And it was a true "free pack". No bag, no strap, no tail pocket. Walk the slider up the lines, shake the canopy, wrap the tail around it, s-fold the lines in the pack tray and stack the canopy on top. I was doing it with a CruisAir that I had crossported myself. I browed a hot knife from Frisby. The guy that used it before me crossported his Unit with it. Only he carefully crossported the top skin. Its amazing what you will do when you are to fucking dumb to know any better. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Don't speak for "us" and there's no need to see video to understand this accident and learn from it. Go watch youtube if "you" have a morbid interest in watching accident videos. . Probably every piece of equipment you use to jump with was videoed during testing. And those videos where run over and over again. An investigation after the fact is just that, after the fact. Things are not always as they seem. Often it comes down to an educated guess as to what started the sequence of events. When viewed by an experienced eye video of the event starting with the deployment of the main can be invaluable. Even eyewitness accounts can be misleading because everyone sees what their mind expects to see. The video lens has no bias of preconceived ideas. To learn for this type of incident you have look at it with a critical eye and a cold heart. So you call it morbid if you need to but most of what you know about jumping was taught to you through video debrief. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

There used to be a lot more of this type exchange with the old guard manufactures. If you wanted to know something about a particular rig the manufacture would take the time to explain things. But over the years is seemed that the same manufactures spent more of their time defending their products to jumpers who didn’t have clue how various components part interact with each other. It got to the point where some local skygod would comment on some piece of gear and the next thing you knew it was a documents fact. Skydivers got to where they thought they could absorb the needed knowledge through osmosis. No one wanted to put in the time and effort to learn the basics of gear and build on that. I am surprised that John, Bill and other manufactures bother with posting here. But like you I thank them for their time and willingness to share the years of experience and knowledge with us. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

A good friend of mine, Dave Barr, lost both legs to a land mine in the 70’s. When I met him in the early 80’s he was jumping at Perris with a gutted cheapo. Sometimes he would hit so hard that he would bounce back up and to a flip through the lines and smack the ground again. He would jump, well sort of jump up, smile and hoop and holler and be ready to go again. In the 90’s he rode a Harley solo from the Atlantic coast through Europe and Russia to the Pacific coast in the middle of winter. Toughest SOB I have ever met. When I first met Paul he was doing demos with California Aerial Circus, Pat Moorehead’s team and one of the premier teams of the time. As I mentioned up thread I did my first demo with Pat’s team in 1978 into an event at Lake Perris. I exited on the second pass with Paul calling the spot. I was scared to death when we boarded the plane at Perris DZ but Paul’s calm demeanor and encouraging words settled me down enough that on exit I was able to at least remember to pull. I followed Paul’s line and watched him to a single leg tippy to landing. I learned a lot about doing demos that day, things that I would use for the next 25+ years. I guess what I am trying to say is it depends on the individual whether or not they continue to jump after losing a part. I have been privileged to know several amputee jumpers over the years and they all have that self assurance and quite determination so many others lack. Blither done. This message brought to you courtesy of Gray Goose. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Well dummy, where's the damn picture? Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

That your opinion for what its worth. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals