DrewEckhardt

Thrill junkies last about a half year if that. I'd put them in a different category than skydivers that do it for the sport rather than the stunt. Some take up swooping or use skydiving to train for BASE jumping and wingsuit BASE.

With the retractable gear they're more expensive to maintain and insure than Otters. The big attraction is that there are lots of deals out there where you buy a pair of PT6 engines and the seller includes a free King Air Blues, Dave

I made 5 jumps after AFF on rental gear while I waited for my $1700 used rig (EOS + TurboZ + Super Raven) to show up. After another 70 I could have thrown my first rig and the garbage and come out ahead financially. You can lower your standards on age (I think my $700 javelin + Raven reserve were made arround 1990) or canopy choice (sabre vs. sabre2), lower your expenditures (I lived with a paid-off $2000 car and room mates), earn more money (packing parachutes at $5 per), and/or get alternate financing (bank signature loan, cash-out refinance on your car, DZ that makes a loan but doesn't let the rig leave the premesis until its paid-off, etc.) The average male skydiver is going to go through 2-3 rigs and 6-7 canopies arriving at a combination they're going to keep indefinately. Resales are going to be easier (Would youo prefer a $600 canopy with 600 jumps and fresh lines over a $1200 example with 200 jumps that flies the same?) and the total cost to you lower when you're buying used gear that you can resell for what you paid (or at least that less only $1 a jump for depreciation).

I forgot about my 2006 taxes prior to this weekend, got serious about it, and learned about the rules. We get a few hundred back because CO property taxes are assessed in arrears (I claim the entire deduction for FY2006 plus a pro-ration of what the buyers are paying in 2007) and WA taxes are paid for the current year (I claim everything I paid plus a pro-ration. We get a few thousand back from a state tax overpayment because a company didn't pay attention to our move to a state with no income tax. It'll somewhat offset my membership fees in the titanium club (medical bills, transportation and hotels getting home, two weeks disability paid at 60%) :-)

Regardless of the construction material FAA certification only requires non-aerobatic aircraft operated below Va (maximum maneuvering speed) to survive a rudder deflection from maximum slip back to center. Rapid rudder reversals void the warranty at any airspeed. According to the NTSB, the Airbus WAS climbing at Vy, which is below Va. And according to the NTSB, there were multiple deflections nearing the mechanical limits in both directions when only one between maximum slip and dead center is allowed . The failure was in pilot training and ignorance on the meaning of Va, not the design or materials.

It is true that if you owe the bank $1000, then you are in trouble, but if you owe them $10,000,000, they THEY are the ones that are in trouble. While that may be true of the USA, I think it is still a poor financial strategy. The goods news is that the dolar is in the toilet, so USA made goods should sell pretty well. - But too bad we shipped most of the manufacturing jobs to China - so much for that idea..... American auto workers unwilling to work for $150 a month and less skilled workers unavailable for a couple bucks a day made that an inevitability we're stuck with.

Regardless of the construction material FAA certification only requires non-aerobatic aircraft operated below Va (maximum maneuvering speed) to survive a rudder deflection from maximum slip back to center. Rapid rudder reversals void the warranty at any airspeed.

You can roll the tail without rolling the nose and see how that works. It could also be the equipment. Take a look at the steering lines. If they've shrunk enough to deflect the tail in full-flight your openings will be affected. If you have a separate line from the cat-eye to the brake toggle, it may have been replaced to fix this problem without correcting the brake setting. Definately download the trim sheet from PD and see what's up. Check the slider for a pocket that's been sewn on - some people do this. Measure the slider dimensions and ask PD what the stock size is.

I hate tibia-fibula fractures as in ouch#1 and can say from experience than Hanwag paragliding boots do a much better job at preventing rotation than soccer shoes - I just had an extra bend where there shouldn't be one.

Definately. That would be awesome. The alcohol really gets in the way of enjoying a tasty beer anytime you want a snack in a bottle - like while driving or working. It's especially bad with my favorite beer (Arrogant Bastard) where one 22oz bomber at 7.2% alcohol by volume is enough.

Until you can mix that in with $5150 in other deductions that doesn't do you any good.

All of those containers accept AADs. All will stay closed and retain toggles in any body position provided that the canopy size is appropriate. That's not less functional. I paid $700 for my last Javelin + reserve (< $400 for the container) which you're not going to match on a Mirage. An extra few hundred dollars will do more for your flying spent on block tunnel time than a "better" rig.

Nearly anything built in the last 10-20 years will be safe for whatever sort of skydiving you want to do provided that the service bulletins have been complied with. Javelin, Relfex, Dolphin, Talon, Qausar, Naro (PISA Javelin knock-off). Both resale value and price will be less for some containers. Comfort is more a function of how the original owner's measurements match yours than the brand you pick.

Most people go through 2-3 rig changes getting to a container size they're going to stick with indefinately. So unless you have an odd body shape or height/weight combination you want a used container; and even then it may still be much less expensive (especially with articulated harnesses) to have a used rig resized than buying new.

You may keep them in peace, of course. It's just the uncomfortable feeling I'd have beeing your neighbour knowing you are fully armed. In a normal environment. Such like my house, my garden, where I never need a weapon. And folks running around me carrying weapons are more than just a bit suspicious to me. I worry a lot more about my neighbor's car (40,000 deaths a year) and alchohol (which contributed to 20,000 of those) than his firearms (15,000 homicides, under 1000 accidents) Especially since I have a zero chance of being black (half of all murder victims in America), in a street gang, love triangle, or the other major risk factors. As a white guy in Seattle, USA I'm less likely to be killed by a gun than if I were across the border in Vancouver, Canada(of similar size and financial demographics but with a different minority population) where they're stricter about such things. Statistically speaking guns are safer than swimming pools and cleaning supplies, especially for young children even when you have an average chance of leaving loaded ones lying arround outside a safe.

Do you think it would cause more deaths if the pack cycle was 2 years or more? No if - There was a cycle component; say 500 jumps. This is becoming increasingly easy with all the electronics - a Cypres-2 with current software means the rig tracks cycles for you. In the absence of cycle-counts you can fall back to 12 or 6 months in the same way a turbine is unairworthy without its counts. - There was an accessable database with potentially problematic gear which could be checked at manifest time. Given ubiquitous internet connectivity this is practical. Without the infrastructure for this sort of on-condition maintenance you could fall back to a 12 or 6 month cycle. - There was an indication of adverse environmental exposure. We already have gadgets which change colors when exposed to moisture, heat, etc. You could also split main-container + harness inspection from reserve AI&R, requiring the reserve repack less frequently (more with natural materials like rubber stows).

The cellular switch equipment has a "lawful interception" capability which means authorized government agencies don't need to hack your phone to eavsdrop on your conversations.

By the time you get a big F111 seven cell to 2/3 brakes the glide ratio has dropped to 1:1. At a good wingloading (arround .7) you can come in at 3/4 brakes, flare a bit, and have a comfortable standup landing. Furthur brake application will bring you nearly straight down although the landing will be harder. By the time you get a modern canopy to 2/3 brakes it's got its best glide ratio above 2:1 and there's a fine line between worse glide and stalling. While a half brake approach will give you enough airspeed to produce a decent landing from a well-timed flare, it's going to be hard. The equipment has changed. It _is_ a good idea to fly a braked approach. You can come in steeper with a head-wind, have more time to think about things, it's easier to make flat turns, etc; but you aren't going to get a classic sink out of a modern canopy.

The battery is not a separate cost-item for the Cypres 2. The four year maintenance is $160. SSK will receive your Cypres freight-collect ($30) and ship it back for something similar for a total more like $220. You might go to the website and check out the documents on shipping the Cypres to/from Canada: http://www.cypres-usa.com/

Folding the fabric. Wear is more severe than on a main canopy because you spend a lot of time re-dressing folds. The synopsis from the Belgian Army study is interesting since it suggests less wear occurs on the center cell which can have the least manipulation of its topskin during a pro-pack. http://www.hpac.ca/pub/?pid=158 The Belgians found porosity increases from 0-5 CFM to as much as 18 CFM in areas, with 32% of canopies exceeding 9 CFM. Precision found that manipulating fabric samples 16 times "using methods typical of the packing of a parachute" resulted in 4-12X porosity increases.

Less drag underneath reduces the trim-angle especially at higher airspeeds. Shalower trim reduces airspeed. When the larger forward component of the velocity vector doesn't offset the speed decrease effective glide ratio drops when you don't have a tail wind resulting in range inreases due to the added time in flight.

When I herniated a disc, one of the medical professionals I talked to said that openings might be good for me because of the stretching. You just need a big rig, accuracy tuffet (air-bag), and the skill to consistently hit it.

Power is the product of torque and RPM. Piston acceleration is a function of RPM and stroke. For a given time-between-overhauls, piston acceleration is what limits RPM and power. Adding more power without more cylinders is going to mean more stroke and piston acceleration; or bigger pistons with more moving mass. Small engines can make a lot of power per unit displacement from a few cylinders because they're small enough that they can get a lot of RPMs without excessive piston acceleration. Car-sized engines can't. There's also a question of power-to-weight ratio. While under-powered by motorcycle standards, V-twins will still do 0-60 in not much over 4 seconds which beats a 408 HP 993 turbo. For most people motorcycles are pleasure vehicles while cars are their daily transportation. If the bike doesn't make it 50,000 miles between overhauls or isn't comfortable to ride more than 100 miles at a time it doesn't matter. While I wouldn't go as far as a Goldwing, for a bike I ride any distance I want more than two cylinders and some wind protection. Owning multiple cars is harder than owning a car and a motorcycle - while you can squeeze a motorcycle or two in a 1-car garage with your car a couple cars won't fit.

Yes. There's no difference in the functionality safety-wise (except for very experienced swoopers who need the Cypres-2 speed model; the rest of us are safer with the standard slower activation speed). A water resistant housing upgrade is available for the Cypres-1, but since you're not swooping you don't need that. The original Cypres units were sensitive to strong RF fields, Airtec sent out protective sleeves, and updated them all on the scheduled maintenance so the sleeves aren't required . There are no other upgrades.

There's nothing wrong with a Cypres 1 at a fair price for you. You're not swooping water, not loaded at 3+ pounds per square foot and in need of the speed Cypres, and not making over 500 jumps per 2 years. They have arguably demonstrated better reliability than the Argus and Vigil.