MakeItHappen

I think you need to reread the article you got those pics from. Can you fall out of a properly fastened harness? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

What's shown on the second picture (top part of it) is a good chance of getting a horseshoe malfunction... You got the main idea right, but the pin shouldn't get pulled from the closing loop until the PC is in the airstream, inflated and at the bridle stretch. Your pic shows it being pulled by the bridle while the PC is still in your hand -- BAD thing... Damn really? I always thought that was the most popular way of deployment, it took me 20mins to draw that picture, so you mean the only difference is that the pilot chute is the one who pulls the pin out thanks to the airstream? I dont know man but from a newbie perspective, if you pull the pilot chute to the air in a lazy way it might not inflate(PC in tow) and not have enough force to take the pin out resulting in a total malfunction. Anyway the way I drew the picture is the way I always thought the parachutes were deployed, you have 2 oppotunities, you can pull with enough strength to take the pin out, if that fails, just pray that the airstream does it for you. Read Deployment Initiators FMI. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

That article struck me in a completely different way. I laughed out loud when I read it. The city folks agreed to a plan where the dz did not have to contact the tower, yet their motivations for having a tower in the first place was to 'control' the skydiving operations. Somewhere there are skydivers laughing about this. You have the city cracking down on you one day, then something or someone changes to make all the crackdowns happen on others, all the while you know the FAA would probably not approve it. Submit it anyway - who knows? Surprize, surprize - the FAA rejects the plan and, wow, there is another delay in building the tower. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

It's one thing to be on the ground watching a certain person do his entire approach. It is quite another thing to be flying thru the air, watching several jumpers, merging into the pattern, planning for your landing site and also try and guess if someone will fly right back at you with a 270 or attack from above and behind you. There is no need for this situation to occur because swoops can be done someplace besides the regular, conventional pattern landing site. Small DZs (geographic size-wise) can separate swoopers and non-swoopers in time. People doing s-turns or deep brakes on final are much easier to see and avoid than someone that starts in your blind spot and then approaches at a high rate of speed from behind you. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I believe the patterns are taught as right/left in fjc across the US. The picture does show two patterns because two patterns are used at Perris, - usually - not at the same time. Maybe it's a California thing. Of course you need a runway predominately N-S or E-W. I do know that some out of towners do understand the East pattern explanation better than if you fly this way then it's that handed. Scratch - I would not put much faith in a poll here to make conclusions about how many people understand patterns. Perris has a mockup of the landing area painted on the cemet. Students walk over the painted DZ and demonstrate their pattern. Whether they remember it's called left or right handed really makes no difference as long as they understand they do the downwind from here to there, crosswind from here to there and final from here to there. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

sure To me it is easier to understand an East pattern as opposed to: If you land North to South then do a left hand pattern AND if you land South to North then do a right hand pattern. of course you do need to know which way is east. If you get to the DZ early, you can tell which way is east because this big sunshiny thing pops up over the San Jacinto Mountains. or on second thought you could just say do your pattern on the far side of the runway. I should also add for those that don't jump at Perris, that you can ONLY land to the North or to the South in the grass area and the first one down determines that direction. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

If there was a compass rose pointer, with North to the top, I'd call it a west pattern. Some DZs use the west-pattern, east pattern, north pattern, south pattern nomemclature to refer to patterns. Skydance and Perris both have East patterns. That way you don't have to remember left or right or your other right, just what side of the landmark you need to be in your pattern, no matter what the winds are. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Well, Bonnie you also said earlier: I *think* that the disparity in our viewpoints comes from you and other swooper types *assuming* that a swooper can see all potential traffic in their about to be executed flight path. Whereas, I, as well as many other of the more conventional pattern fliers, say that you can't or do not always observe potential traffic. Then what about the swoopers' ability to also clear his 'outs' space. If you have to stop the swoop at 180 are you going to hit someone then? It is clear that swoopers imposing additional risk upon other people that have nothing to do with the swoop is an unacceptable situation. It is clear that swoopers must have their own airspace to do their thing. It'll be on the far side of the DZ because there are more conventional fliers than swoopers. Swoopers doing their swooping thing is fine by me as long as you do not jeopardize my life. When swoopers threaten me or those of others that are not involved with the swoop, then it becomes a social problem that has to be dealt with by social means. (new rules or new policies or new landing areas) . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

You can split a DZ landing area in time as well as space. IOW, you have the swoopers get out low, with stacked landing approaches, to go do their thing and then by the time the rest of the load is opening, the very same physical landing area becomes a conventional pattern area. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

You say that as though USPA can dictate what every DZ does. Seriously, there needs to be a fundamental change in jumpers' thinking about compatibility of swoopers (more than 180s) in a conventional pattern. When I hear Bonnie say that 'Tom flew a proper pattern.' in this accident, it shows what type of adjustment needs to happen. Tom did not fly a proper pattern for the situation he was in any more than Roger Nelson did on his last skydive. On big-ways, conventional patterns are strictly enforced, not by USPA, but by the jumpers themselves. This also begs the question of "How many people can be in the pattern when a 270 or more approach is acceptable?" The obvious answer is one. In solo swoop competitions, there is one and only one person making an approach at a time. There are times when you have team approaches. These are people that practice simultaneous speed inducing maneuvers together and know where the teammate is at all times. These situations are completely acceptable because there is no additional risk imposed upon other jumpers. When we address the conditions that happened at Eloy this weekend, we get into the problem of swoopers imposing additional risk upon others. This is where the unacceptability of these maneuvers comes into play. Several years ago, there was a reckless jumper that crashed into someone at Elsinore. The collidee spent several days in the hospital. A week or two after the accident, a scheduled swoop seminar was turned into a 'Take Back the Sky' night by the local jumpers. The locals DEMANDED that the swoopers land someplace else. Six years later, this has proven to be an effective plan. In fact, Perris also changed some of its rules because of this accident. I think that what needs to happen, is that each and every jumper must demand that swoopers land someplace else. Do not endanger the lives of others for your kicks. We do not tolerate a zoomie crashing into a freefall formation. We should not tolerate people crashing into us in the pattern. I know many people that have quit jumping because of the disregard some jumpers have for others under canopy. (Bonnie- find Rand and ask him why he quit jumping) I even switched to a smaller canopy because people from the next Otter load were nearly taking me out 50 ft off the deck. USPA has added Sections 6-10 and 6-11 to the SIM in the past two years. People ought to read that new part of the SIM. I hope that each DZ does not have to have their very own 270 swooper taking out someone else before traffic patterns change and are enforced. On the local DZ level, jumpers need to 'Take Back the Sky'. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

You mean people jump without actually knowing for sure that their aad is installed correctly? wow. For some reason I always thought you could see the closing loop routing through the aad and closure pin. Must be a Racer induced feature expectation. Chalk up one more reason to get a rigger's ticket. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

bump - still looking for a bicycle . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

The POPS jump is scheduled just fine.

Can you clarify this for me, as I am not a rigger. I was under the impression that EVERY rig could be inspected, in the closed configuration, whether or not the aad loop passed through the aad cutter or not. I know on my Racer I can do this. I can see that the loop goes through the cutter. Are you saying that on some other rigs this is not possible? What I don't understand is how this is not possible. I thought the aad had to be positioned against the 'farthest flap', whether it is the interior or exterior flap. So if some company has the routing in the middle flaps, the user would not be able to determine if the routing was correct?? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

As many people do at the end of one year and the beginning of a new year, I reflect upon the ending year. I ask what happened and what progress in life was made. There is always the body count in skydiving. Most years I only lose one or two friends. This year has an unusually high body count, not just from skydiving either, but they were skydivers. Max Mueller was someone I had jumped with on many POPS loads over the past 10 years. Whenever you asked Max to do 'such-n-such' he would do it. You never noticed him on the dives because he was always right where he was supposed to be. He was a ringer on the SOS dives. Chad Zielinski was someone I never did jump with, but I knew him as a jumper out at Perris and his computer background at Nationals and Square1. He was a very handsome man and had a very nice car. Barbara Duke was also someone I did many big-ways and medium-ways with. She was always spot-on, where she was supposed to be, no matter what the conditions. As fate would have it, a lost dog, named Little Max, bound her parents and me together and to the desire Barb had to help helpless animals. Mariann Kramer was someone I met years ago when she was a 'new kid on the block'. Her enthusiasm was contagious. Paul Joseph was one of my students at Coolidge. He always had a cynical and dry humor. He was an erudite speaker, meaning he did not BS his way through a conversation. He knew what was what. Denny 'Bear' Gainor was someone I met when I first started jumping in 1981. He was always the lovable guy at the DZ. He was Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Paul Moran was always late to show-up times and dirt dives, but he was a pretty good skydiver. He was jazzed after the 4-way we did with Dan BC. We cranked a gazillion points. On a more positive note, 2006 saw some life improvements. I declined to go to World Team 2006 and watched the enthusiasm of others create a new World Record of 400. I stand back and wonder where my enthusiasm and wonderment has disappeared too. I helped the SOS jumpers get a new World record. In a mere 3 jumps, they set a record with no slot changes to boot. That was amazing! I got another dog. Max is a bit bigger than I thought she was going to be, but she's a sweetheart. RePete gets a bit annoyed at her constant requests to play. I adopted OmniSkore. That has been a very challenging quest. We deployed the new Square1 website with some cool 'in-stock' features that are real time. I turned 50 this year. Many years ago I speculated about what I be doing at 30 and 40 years old. I never projected to 50 years old. Shit - that's a half a century. I have to admit to being middle-aged - even if my brain does not want to say that. I do know I still aspire to be an SOS jumper. Those folks are awesome. I don't know what the new year will bring, but it will be interesting. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I already have calls into all of those places. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Pete does NOT have email. Email me at aerosoftware_AT_makeithappen.com replace _AT_ with @ and I'll call him. He lives near me. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I need a bicycle, nothing fancy, during the PIA symposium, USPA BOD mtg. Dates: Feb 2-7 Location: Reno, NV I can bring lights and locks. If you can help me find one please reply to this thread or email aerosoftware_AT_makeithappen.com replace _AT_ with @ or call 951-658-3526 Thanks. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Security Questions Gone Mad One thing I absolutely dislike about internet security are these questions about your life that are elevated to 'security' enhancements. These questions are all wrong for several reasons. One reason is that the questions may be so trivial that just about anyone can figure out the answer. All those questions about your favorite color, pet's name, first pet's name, high school teacher's name, favorite color, favorite food and most hated food may be publicly available information. Check out forums and online boards for a wealth of information about people. If you ask anyone involved in security, they will tell you NOT to use commonly known information about you. They will tell you to not use your kid's names, pet's name(s), spouse's name etc for passwords or any other type of information. Another reason is that the questions may be bonafide questions, long before the internet, that now may be common knowledge. Take for instance, 'mother's maiden name'. Long ago that was something of a mystery because of the way society obliterated the history of the female parent. Now, we have people using hyphenated names, such as Berners-Lee. Without so much of a blink in the brain, one could guess mother's maiden name as Berners, or a second guess as Lee. Many people have online blogs or websites that expound on telling the world their ancestry. It is not rocket science to find out someone's mother's maiden name anymore. Another reason these questions are useless is that when the time comes to query a user about them, the user has forgotten what question they answered and what answer they entered. People have a hard enough time remembering what email address they used for each account. They won't remember these extraneous questions you ask of them. If they are savvy internet users they will put in bogus answers, not anything they'd remember after 2 or 3 years. They certainly would not put in REAL answers that could be found on the internet. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

cruising thru... haven't read the entire thread, but maybe this might add to the conversation. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. If I select shuffle it'll mix all albums and tracks. Which is what I'd expect it to do. But for PF and some books I do not want them shuffled. So what I want is shuffle albums a, c and d, but play b in order. Is that possible? IOW, I'd like to hear books played in order then some random music tracks, then another book or the PF album in order. Even on my cd player I have to play sequentially and not randomly when I stick in the PF cd. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Yeah I already have asked the questions with apple and wacom. This totally blows, every time I import a CD, my pen tool goes biserk and no longer works. I have to reboot or add a ps2 or serial mouse to the system. Even a usb mouse won't work. There is just no way I can do a day's work without a pen tool. The mice make my wrist hurt too much. I have the latest greatest versions of software installed. This rebooting crap is a pain. Is there anyone that knows how to resolve the apparent conflict between ipod/itunes and a wacom pen tool?? Neither apple or wacom can answer the question. Then is there anyway to have one album play sequentially - no matter what- Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon is awful based on track playing, but in order it is very nice. GD -mouse post. I'm rebooting now. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

you really mean 'later'? Be careful what you ask for because you might get it. BTW, I've been slowly adding the max/min numbers to a DB over this past year. It just so happens, that I have all the monthly data for this century added in, well, except for Dec because I don't have the mag yet. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

See also Density Altitude - Wing Loading Converter and links at the bottom. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

The mission is to generate ideas on what factors drive USPA's membership. USPA is now spending a hefty chunk of change on sport promotion to the whuffo population. Is that the right place? I'll send you some prices from over the years. The change of the definition of 'student' from 'cleared to self-supervise' to 'have an A license' was implemented c1998. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker