mjosparky

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mr. Sparky, You know how it pains me to publicly disagree with you. giggles ... ... but, PISA did build a batch of 5-cell Swifts - under license from Para-Flite - in the mid 1980s. Materials and workmanship are identical. You cannot tell the difference at arm's length. The only way to differentiate American vs. African made Swifts is by reading the label. I cannot remember if the label says "TSO" specifically - apartheit politics, embargos, etc. - but those were built under the same QC standards as Phantom reserves, Cruislite mains, etc. To get the production license, PISA agreed not to sell any Swifts in North America, so this reserve may be illegal to import to the USA. I have repacked a few PISA-made Swifts and signed them with my Canadian rigger's license. Thanks Rob, I was not aware of PISA making them. Just proves you can always learn something new in this sport. OH, Mr. Sparky was my Dad's name.

Take your pick. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

You were probably too close, seeing how that is not where you wanted to land. If you were within 10 or 15 feet of the obstacle, you were about a second of air time from hitting it. Since you were shot, it sounds like you had a case of "got to make it back". All it takes is that one second, that 10/15 feet and its a ride to the hospital. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

The Swift reserve was not made by PISA, it was made by Paraflite. It has not been manufactured in years. And yes, it was TSO's, I believe under TSO-C23c. You might try contacting them through this site. http://www.paraflite.com/ Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

How could you pass up such an opportunity? Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

You are right, that has got to be the sweetest DC-3 going. I am surprised they let you in it much less jump out of it. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Hell yes, I remember Don. He organized my SCR load out of the old beech at Perris. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

I remember when Pull ups cords were called cheater cords.. When and how did that change??? When containers stopped being closed with cones and pins. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Here are some thoughts I PM'd to a fellow DC.comer when asked about cutting way a conopy they were not sure of. I hope it is of some help to others. Sparky The first thing I would like to say I am sure you have heard before. When you have a canopy problem of any kind, you are the only one there to handle it. You and you alone must decide what action to take. No one, NO ONE, is in a position to second guess your decision. You may decide to chop something I would attempt to land but that does not make you wrong. If you do not have a canopy you feel you can land by your decision altitude, get rid of it. I make a decision very quickly about a canopy, if I can land it I do. If I don’t think I can land it, its history. I do not attempt to do rigging in the air. I know you mentioned it your PM to me, but I want to say it again. Never let the possibility of peer pressure after the fact influence you decision to get rid of a canopy in the future. On the 2 schools of thought. I do not believe in “shit happens”. While the deployment of a ram air canopy is a chaotic event at the onset, it does straighten itself out and become orderly by the time the slider starts down the lines. But there is always a reason that something happens. To say “shit happens” tells me they either don’t know or have not taken the time to find out. There are times when a person who has the ability to find out what happen does not see the gear before needed clues are disturbed. For me to sit here in “sunny California” and tell you I know why you had your last cutaway would be pretty arrogant on my part. Malfunctions can be cause by body position, packing, mixing of incompatible components, the way a harness fits and airspeed at time of deployment. Some canopies just by their design are prone to certain types of problems. In most cases it more important for you to be able to recognize that there is a problem then it is for you know exactly what caused the problem. If you think there might be a body position problem, go do a 2 way and have someone film it. Have them film you through deployment. The reason I say do a 2 way, hopefully it will take your mind off the camera and you not alter your normal deployment sequence. Maybe do this 2 or 3 times and review the film carefully. Just make sure the video person can hold their position. If you are getting slammed by others for your decision, f*#k’em. They can blow it out their ass. On the other hand if they are just ribbing you in fun, well that goes with the territory. The fact that you cutaway makes other jumpers nervous and this is how some of them will handle it. They will huff and puff and pick on you, all the while trying to convince them selves they are not scared and they could have handled it. It is a good thing to have thick skin in skydiving. Don’t let people bother you. Most are just little boys running around dressed up as skydivers. None of us are nearly as good as we would like to think we are. And it’s just a matter of time until we do something to prove it. On charging you for the repack, while I don’t agree with it, it is a business decision and it is his business. Remember, there are no friends under 2,000 feet or when you have a malfunction. You are on you own, handle it. I hope this helps, and welcome to the wonderful world of SKYDIVING! My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Not such a dirty trick, but a damn good object lesson. Imagine if your rigger was busy "chatting" while packing your reserve. You are packing a parachute, not your lunch. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

This site will give you some information on the MC-4. Sparky Paraflite My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Never forget the fact that when you step out of the plane you are effectively dead until you do something about it. There are just 2 things you must do on every jump. 1. deploy a landable canopy. 2. land that canopy safely. Anything else you do on a jump is just fluff. Never stop learning. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

I think it means the cameraman wasn't close enough. Maybe he isn't skydiving enough. Yes, I check my gear both times. That's why I'm still alive. John, I'll bet that is just one of many reasons you are still alive. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Do you really think? The Next is actually very popular in Europe, it holds TSO c23d, and I never heard from any problems. The europeam freefly champions (I think they reached the 3rd or 5th place in the world championships) are the team "Free Flight Paratec" of germany. They jump Next rigs all the day - no problems at all. I think the Next hasn't any issues with it's main flap. If you open the container on the floor you can easily see, that there's no problem to roll up the pin or something other that could worry a jumper. Yes I do. But that is just my opinion drawn from what I have seen. Rigs with soft housings, exposed grommets and a variety of other problems all held a TSO. Sometimes unforeseen things can develop from changes and that is why they have Service Bulletins. I am not saying they are unsafe, just that when fixing one problem we sometimes create another. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Fortson, I figure my jumps on the same big ways only cost me $35/$40 each. But then I am a local jumper. If you figure just the cost paid for the jumps it comes out to $2987 for each attempt and $59,740 for the 20 jumps.

That is a damn good idea. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

I think it is the Japanese art of folding paper.

I understand what you are saying Jerry. But I have seen several of the new protective flaps prevent to curved pin from rolling up. Also have seen the bridle hang up on the flap. I just think we are solving one problem and potentially creating another one. My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

I thought it was 25 freefalls, but then I got my A a long time ago. It could have changed several times since then.

The width of a fabric bolr is why ParaFlite went to span construction on canopies like the DC-5 and the MT-1S. It allowed them to make the cells wider and make a 5 cell that had a higher aspect ratio. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

How did you get an "A" license in 24 jumps? It requires 25 jumps. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

No apology needed. Like you said, I think it was a matter of communication. I see your point of someone missing the line twists down at the link. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

And people wonder why they might have a P/C hesitation. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Arbitrators, judges, cut and dry or articles by lawyers, you, as a pilot-in-command, are still required to know and understand the FAA parts that apply to your operation of an aircraft. You may not like it and you can argue all you like, but that is the way it is. My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

Kevin Donnelly. Sparky My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals