teason

You know, looking at all this video makes me wonder about the top hooks on the student harness. During testing of military equipment, I witnessed a hook faliure due to improper body position causing a bundle to flip off to the side during a static line. The phenomina is quite easy to duplicate on the ground. If the hook is turned sideways to the ring, the ring can press down on the butterfly tabs and disconect (hopping over the side puts the hook in that position). Deployment with an extreme loading on one side of the harness would be unpredictable and the ride down under canopy would also be rather unpleasent if you couldn't get the student hooked back up. I have to admit, I'm impressed by this TM's skills but his ignorance of the potential dangers here really scare the living piss out of me. He reminds my of something we used to say when we watched EJRs hook into demos. "You've gotta be really good to be that dumb!" I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

You can look at it this way, a loose pilotchute is extremely dangerous. If the pilotchute inflates out the door, the jumper is going. If the jumper does not goes volentarily then the parachute will make him go involuntarily! If the parachute extracts him from the plane, the jumper will probably take part of the plane with him and probably be killed in the process! A loose pilotcute can and has killed people and downed planes. If my PC is loose, can't be contained and goes out the door, then push me pull me or shoot me out of a cannon! Do whatever it takes to get me out! I don't want to die and take a plane and it's occupants with me! If after that I try to sue because I bumped something then I must have bumped my head and it's made me retarded to the point that I want to hurt those who saved my life. Now legally, someone could definately bring a case like that up. A good(scumsucking) lawyer may even win it. It would boil down to how well the lawyer could equivocate the facts. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

I think you've slipped into the crack between student and experienced jumper. It's the time when you start to question the things from your FJC andearly training. Something you have to remember is this. Mal can be varied and different. To train a student for every scenario would cause utter confusion as soon as they looked up at thier canopy. For that reason, the training must be broad (four points, "am I falling too fast" etc..) Deciding whether or not to cut away is a judgement call based on experience. When the experience is a section in the FJC, it boils down to "when in doubt whip it out". This causes some to cut away from end cell closure and slider at the halfway mark. That, however is better than watching a student flight control a spinner into the ground while doing flight checks. That's why some will look at the story and say "hole=chop" That is what we train. When you get more experience, you can assess situations better. IMHO, the real question here is did you keep the main because you assessed the situation well or were you afraid to take action. Given past experience and the factor you listed, I think the former is more likely than the latter. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

I had a set of gear that had the lines stoe on the outer sides of the bag (well we almost all diid back then). Single stoe with small line bights caused some stoes to come off and resulted in chaotic out of sequence deployment. I had to do big stoes and make sure the elastics were tighter than snot or else unpredictable things happened on opening. I made myself a bag with balanced stoes and now with the same canopy, openings are beautifully predictable with very low tension on the elastics. Just an annecdote to say the are there to keep the lines in place, not to speed up or slow down opening directly. Yes, it would reduce snatch but probably only by a small degree. By themselves, they are not the cure for hard openings. As for the bag lock, a double stoed 40lbs elastic vs a pilotchute, the pilotchute will win (unless the PC is way beyond it's service life). Double stoed elestics were a contributing factor in a baglock a while back. The feeling was that eventhough the PC wasn't fully cocked when the gear was packed, it wouldn't have hung up on the elastics if they hadn't been double stoed. Other than that, I've never heard of a good PC not being able to break and elastic band. The baglocks I've seen have involved big line stoes that loop around each other. On deployment, the cinch around another stoe and lock in place. Just my perspective

Definately start with your home DZ, USPA and instructors for guidance and take these forums with a grain of salt. These forums have people who are everything from legends in the sport to trolls who claim to have 100s of jumps but haven't done any. The main thing to remember is that consistancy of training is crucial. If you asked me about reserve procedures, I would have a far different view than your instructors because I'm not even from the same country you're from and our training is slightly different than what goes on in most of the US. There are many in these forums that aren't even from the same continent and training methods, theories and approaches to student training are varried. It is good to get other views and different perspectives but until you can decipher what is holy writ and what is bullshit, listen to Jeff, Art and the rest of the gang at your home DZ. There are charged with your training and will provide you with consistancy. That is the most important tool in your training! I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

Bumbers are also good for preventing side loading on the quick links and keeps the barrel nut in place(although you still check it). I'd keep them on. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

actually (technically) Air, Inspect and Recertify....... (as airworthy) but you do have to pack it to make it airworthy so...... either will do Well actually, the rigger is not re-certifying the rig, the canopy or anything else. To do that would require drop tests and data collection to ensure that the system conforms to current or improved TSO standards. This is not the case. That would be the manufactures responsibility. AIR stands for Air(as in air out) Inspect, and repack. Kevin I would agree with that if the 120 day period made previous testing invalid. certainly the design has not changed, it's just that the condition of the unit is in question. Recertifying things is different from certifying them. Other industries are required to perform inspections and recertify items why should parachute be any different? I like calling it recertifying, it demonstrates the weight of what the rigger is really doing. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

Here'ssome insight into why things like this happen. In my 12 years of instructing, I've noticed that quite often if you give someone an excuse not to jump, the terrified types jump at it. They would love to go back and tell thier friends "I would have jumped but ....(fill in excuse here). These are the friends that tell you they would've jumped but it was too expensive. (been down that road with customers, it's not the money) These are the jumpers who scream the loudest when the weather craps out. (if the weather suddenly clears, they are always the most terrified in the plane and sometime back out on jump run) These are the ones who can only jump on the days you are closed. (One guy wanted to book on our only day off. When I told him I'd make an exeption, all of a sudden he had to talk to his friend before booking and he never called back!) Skydiving is very scary and intimidating sport. To jump from a plane, you must confront your fear. For some, if they can avoid putting themselves to the test and save face by pointing the blame elsewhere, they'll do it. We've had beautiful weather this year but few come out to take advantage of thier free second jump (FJC promotion). We had our first bad weather weekend in two months and suddenly everyone wanted to come out that day to use their jump ticket! We took 20 calls! The previous weekend when it was beautiful ... 2 calls and they never showed up! Not everyone assess risk the same. To a regular jumper, the risk is worth the reward. Dealing with the others makes me want to pull my hair out! As polonius said, "above all else, to thyne own self be true" I get really sick of being the cowardly excuse. "I would skydive, but those guys are a bunch of jerks. They should've known it was gonna start raining!" I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

You have a good rigger. I saw one come into the shop last winter that some rigger had tried to fix with a lighter! The risers had a 20 degree bend in them from the heat! I think the rigger was trying to provide the jumper with a "cheap fix". With the reserve, a "cheap fix" is never a good idea! I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

I have seen a drogue attachment point shear from the bridle on drogue deployment. The worst case scenario is a long canopy ride.

The option you want is "B12 snaps" Any manufacturer can offer that option, it's usually about a $25 charge over the standard step in. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

......and now for something completely different; a man with three buttocks! (lubricating with 3 in 1 machine oil) Just figured I'd bring it up. Lolon is hygroscopic when it comes to oils. The dark spot come from the lolon leaching oil out of the housings (the small amount that is left from production process. The arguement for using 3 in 1 oils instead of silicone lubricant is that it will absord the oil and provide lubrication for about 30 days in average conditions. Silicone will lose its lubrication after a shorter period of time. (debate will ensue I'm sure) ***Little known piece of trivia*** In suck through tests, lubricated cable took 70lbs of force to pull through a grommet of the three ring system while dry unlubricated took 90lbs. Just useless trivia, not at all an excuse to not lubricate with silicone or oil. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

In my opinion, this shows what a disgusting leach this Gary Robb is. Determining the cause of an accident takes more than a couple of days. To claim negligence with no more to go on than "there was a crash" demonstrates that to a disgusting slimy scum sucking lawyer type, truth doesn't matter as much as what you can get through legal pressure. A tragedy does not mean you've won the lottery. But to a scumbag lawyer, human death and misery is a golden oppurtunity to make some cash. In my opinion, this lawyer preys on suffering. I wouldn't be surprised if he smiled, laughed and rubbed his hands together in anticipation when he heard of how many people died. Just my impression based on what has been presented. It makes my skin crawl! I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

In canada, to mount anything to the aircraft, you need and STC. I'm sure the FAA has a similar requirement. To get the STC, you need to do a whack load of testing. The pod we use cost $10000 to certify. There are mounts out there that have the approval. Finding an approved mount would probably be the most affordable. Also, as an alternative to an external mount, a lipstick cam can be mounted in the wing and a clear plastic plexi inspection panel can be installed. Depending on the regs, a certification may be required for that too but at least you won't lose 50 feet per minute of climb. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

Is..is that big foot in the pic?!? Its kinda hard to make out but is that a Dacron line bridle? If so, I can see how easy it would be for the pin to get through the weave. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

Something I discovered, wash in cold and hang dry. I now look like a nerd when I skydive and I'm sick of people telling me the flood's over! Very well built suit, though! I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

Just my armchair diagnosis but it sounds like a line looped around a slider stop on the stabilizer. ...but that's acedemic, you did good. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

I can't believe that an innocent question turned into we're safer than them. (who am I kidding, of course I can) Whether true or not, it turns people (especially new jumpers) off the sport. I know you think you're giving good advice but what you're really doing is shaking the OPs confidence in her instructors. Maybe we should think about the student and not our own selfish opinions. Brag about your facilities, airpower and instructors but the safety crack ... waaaaaay out of line! Giving a student more anxiety on their jump is a real shitty thing to do. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

I've seen your sewing, I don't think there's a market for sewing fingers together. You're safe! (ain't I an a stinker? nyuk nyuk) I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

I don't believe that was the same company, but it was from the same region I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

That must have been a while ago, according to his posts. Three years ago "learningTOfemur" had 54 jumps. Good to see that low numbers, low currency and crossfires go together so well... ...like blood and dirt. No one at his DZ would see aproblem? hmmmmm Something is very trollish here. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

Ahh Too simple a formula. The real formula is speed of sound is equal to the adiabatic constant x absolute temp x gas constant all over the molecular mass! I was looking at denominator only 'cause I was thinking density and not any other factors.(c over P) By the way, I obviously do not believe that a sound wave speeds up or even moves in a vacuum That kinda hurt my feelings I was simply looking at the formula too simplisticly I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

I think you have it backwards. The Speed of sound in the upper atmosphere is higher due to the less dense air. That is why it moves faster when it is warm and slower when it is cold. Speed of sound is c= the square root of C over P. C is the co-efficeint of stiffness and P is the density. That means that the speed of sound is increased by stiffness (like a metal pipe) but decreased by density (like cold and low atmosphere) I'll stop now, some eyes are starting to glaze over. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

Doesn't the speed of sound change due to atmospheric composition temperature and density? The speed of sound is a formula, not constant. 742mph to 775 in a standard atmosphere depending on the temperature. That means that even thoungh that particular speed may be exceeded in the upper atmosphere during freefall, the speed of sound at that particular point would be extremely high and therefore no boom would take place. This means that .... oh wait .... you where joking about the boom weren't you. Sometime we geeks have no sesne of humour I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

It is never more than just skydiving. Some people just like to tell them selves it more. I don't know if we tell ourselves that I think the reality alludes to something more. If skydiving is about jumping then relationships are about sex. I make that analogy because for some it's about a quickie (tandem) For some it's about family (DZ regulars) For some they diluded about the greatness of it all (we've all seen them) For some, we wind up bitter because we don't get what we think we should get out of it. Skydiving is an intense experience combined with human interaction. It is certainly more than jumping but how much more is a factor of our perception and perspective. Tim skydive pimp...er...DZO I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.