bclark

I made a handful of jumps on a friends personal HOP 330. He swore up and down it was the shit. After a few jumps I quit jumping it because I didn't like it's flight and landing characteristics. After watching him jump it for some time, I also determined that it did some weird stuff in turbulence. And not just in high winds, but in light winds with thermals. Any canopy will exhibit instability in turbulence. Especially if landed downwind of obstacles etc. But what is important is the tendency for the canopy to recover from instability (or not). The Icarus we jump will lose end cells right and left in turbulence, but they pop in and out just as quick. The HOP seemed to lose cells which would then wrap under the leading edge of the canopy and stay there for several seconds. I could see how in extreme circumstances this could lead to a loss of directional control or diving turn into the ground. I would rather miss the load and wait for another canopy than jump another HOP. If the turbulence thing is a fallacy, why did they feel a need to change the trim? Also I hear alot of people who LIKE the HOP say they won't jump it in turbulent conditions. Can you always predict when and where you will experience turbulence? Since the answer to this is NO, I will jump a canopy that does not exhibit unstable flight characteristics in turbulence.

The candidate dumped the reserve into the drogue instead of releasing it. She taught my AFF ground school. First person I knew to die skydiving. Happened at my home DZ (Cedar Valley, UT). Had the drogue been released they probably would have landed the main.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2721598;page=unread#unread

I agree with your observation. I was not impressed by that exit. Why did freefall footage end half way through?

Yes. I present to the wind, launch hard, and arch.

Don't know where he jumps (DAVE GENTILE) these days but he definately has big ears! What up Wingnut! (You know what they say about guys with big ears...)

1283 8/4/07 thru 8/4/08

I agree. Leaners make it hard to load a full aircraft because they take up far more space than people who sit up straight. I will also nicely ask a person who is leaning on me to sit up straight. Then if they don't, I will not nicely ask them. If people are taught to load the aircraft correctly, there is no reason to lean. An Otter with 23 jumpers on it is no place to be lounging.

I replied to Brandon's post that morning, and just through sheer luck I got to jump with him! What a coincidince!

We will keep an eye out for you here at Spaceland today! You will have a great time and the people here are great. Welcome to the sky!

Are you talking about the Strong incident in Cross Keys a couple years ago? If so, I was thinking of the same incident. I think an RSL probably would have prevented this accident. I know of ONE tandem incident where an RSL has caused a fatality. This was the broken riser incident, and the Collin's lanyard addresses this issue (on rigs which are equipped with a Collin's lanyard). Can anyone remember any other incidents where an RSL resulted in a tandem accident? I don't jump an RSL on my sport gear. But I like having it on a tandem.

Skydive Utah (Cedar Valley, UT, before the move to Tooele) is my home DZ. Jack's DZ has always been a great place. I have awesome memories of Saturday night dinners, pumpkin bombing on Halloween, rowdy dinner loads, great bonfire parties and naked fire walking. His DZ has always kept that "old school" feeling. He still had a Beech 18 in 1996 when I learned to jump. He sold it and bought a Twin Bonanza. We had the Southern Cross DC-3 for several years. It has always been a small enough DZ that everyone is family and anyone is willing to help you learn whatever you need and / or jump with you. Glad to hear that nothing has changed. (Except for a new airport and a King Air.)

Can't WAIT to have more Otters! They sure do look sweet. Almost too nice for jump planes. Only one question. Where are we going to keep them?

Sigma with an Icarus, baby! Nothing like the right tool for the job.

0:35:1 35 tandems. Beer owed 1 case for breaking my two week jump record. 87 jumps in the last 2 weeks. Woo-Hoo! Also Spaceland set our all time record for tandems in a day at 136 on Saturday.

We are having a BBQ and holding live water training in the evening. If anyone needs their live water training come on out and jump in the pond! Contact manifest for details.

0:21:1 21 tandems. Took a kid who's father had bought him his tandem as a birthday gift. His Dad died a couple weeks later. Took alot of other Dad's over father's day weekend. Beer for my heaviest student. He weighed in over our weight limit, then went and took a dump and ran around the parking lot for 20 minutes. He lost 4 pounds. We 5 lbs under the TSO limit on the gear.

Wish You Were Here Echoes

:18:0 Had fun hanging out with the Lew Sanborn accuracy crowd. They were die-hards. Winds were kicking this weekend and these guys were wheels up at 6:15 a.m. to beat the winds. Finally got the guts to have Lew sign my logbook (after 3 years).

How about the part where the camera flyer loses his shoe, loses sight of the tandem pair while fucking with said shoe, then ends up directly above you as the drogue is deployed? No matter who the people are, or how much respect you have for them, that was pretty stupid.

There is a listing for Airventure skydiving. I don't know if this company is still in business. It was started by a guy named Pat and his wife Sandy. At one time they had a Turbo 207 and a tandem rig, but last I had heard they were no longer around. But they still have a really out of date website up. airventure1.com There has been no jumping in Heber for years.

2 DZ's. Both Nice. Skydive Utah has a King Air and a Cessna is just west of SLC on the South shore of the Great Salt Lake. They are a very family oriented DZ, DZO is Jack Guthrie. This is my home DZ. They are on a municipal airport with a great view of the mountains and lake. Ogden skydiving center is about 45 minutes north of SLC. Last I knew they were flying a Caravan. I think they have a couple of piston Cessnas also. DZO is Brian Wallace. They are located on a municipal airport with an operating control tower. They have a wind tunnel nearby. I would say check them both out. You will find nice people at both places.

I also had never heard of a DGIT. I have always referred to them as STBDMF's. (soon to be dead mother fuckers).

No, once the drogue is deployed the bag cannot come out without releasing the drogue. Yes, the container can come open before the safety pin is extracted IF the main closing loop breaks. The safety pin does not hold the container closed. It keeps you from activating a drogue release before the drogue is set. Deploying the drogue extracts the safety pin and "arms" the drogue releases. The only two ways I can think of to have an out of sequence on a Sigma: 1: Drogue is still in the pouch. Main closing loop breaks. The container is now "unclosed" whether the safety pin is in place or not. 2: You don't check your gear and the packer does not seat the safety pin. You snag or pull a ripcord before the drogue is out.

:30:1 30 tandems, took a 70 year old grandma (who's son jumped with her and was more scared than her). Flew the Cessna on a search and rescue mission for a cutaway in the swamp.