GeorgiaDon

Here's a different take on the AAD issue: they also offer some protection for people and property on the ground. I was told that several years ago a jumper at my DZ had a heart attack in freefall and wound up making a new skylight in a local building. We can't use skyballs around here because of the risk to people/property on the ground, but 200 pounds of incapacitated skydiver is OK? It seems there is a small but real risk of liability here. Is this the reason some DZs require AADs, or is it something worth considering? There is a thread elsewhere about issue of liability insurance the USPA offers, and it was suggested that we all need to do what we can to reduce incidents that generate lawsuits. I think one could make an arguement for AADs in this light. _____________________________________ Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996) “Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

"The teachers at the universities do have a 'leaning', the students are getting that every day. Read the news. Also, I've been to school and know it first hand, and hear it in the news and from current students at college." Well, as a teacher at a university I don't try to instill a leftist leaning. Since I teach biology courses that wouldn't really be appropriate. What I do try to teach is a way of critically evaluating information. You can think of it as a series of questions: What is the objective evidence for this "fact" (i.e. what experiments were done)? Are there alternative ways of accounting for these experimental results? What are the limits to my understanding of this system? How does this "fact" (or hypothesis) relate to other facts or hypotheses that I currently believe? What are the logical predictions that follow from this hypothesis? In dealing with graduate students working on research projects, I emphasize how they have to generate a hypothesis to explain their experimental results, then try their very best to design and carry out more experiments to try to shoot down their own ideas. Always be rigorously self-critical about what you know and what you only think you know. Now, all of that is taught in the context of science, but inevitably it spills over into other aspects of belief and "life" in general. Why do I believe the things I do? Is it because my parents, my friends, my minister, or my president told me that that is what I should believe? Is it because the punishment for not believing is social ostracism, or a permanent vacation in the lake of fire? Or is it because this particular belief is the best available explanation at this time for a particular set of facts? The outcome of this way of thinking is that "tradition" loses force as a reason to believe certain things. Similarly one becomes less inclined to assume that parents, religious leaders, and government figures always know best. Also one becomes more comfortable with changing your mind as new information becomes available. Come to think of it, I guess that does sound a lot like a "leftist" point of view. _____________________________________ Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996) “Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

A long time ago I saw something on TV about someone designing an emergency parachute for small aircraft. There was even video of a Cesna landing under this system, with minimal damage. However I haven't heard of such a device being used in the "real world". It would seem to be ideal for gliders; you could have a big round reserve under a pop-top behind the cockpit, with a handle inside the cockpit. No need to climb out and jump, which can be hard or impossible in a spin. I can even imagine an AAD, something like a student Cypres (it's hard to visualize accidental deployments from exceeding the descent limits while swooping the runway in a glider). Silly idea, or more business for the riggers out there? _____________________________________ Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996) “Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

Would an uncocked, torn, or entangled pilot chute generate enough force to unstow the lines? If not you have just spent time transitioning from a pilot chute in tow to a bag lock. I'd vote for emergency procedures and forget about pulling on the bridle. _____________________________________ Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996) “Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)