gdmusumeci

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Everything posted by gdmusumeci

  1. This is a somewhat specious argument. In any electronic device, the "component cost" is almost always very low, since 90% of electrical components are pretty standardized -- everyone uses them, so there's great economy of scale. Microcontrollers like 68HC11s cost almost nothing. The problem is that systems design is hard, and requires skilled engineers. So does software development -- I don't know about you, but I don't want my AAD to run on VisualBasic that someone wrote in an evening! -- and that also costs money. I think if you include these costs as "components," you'd find that the cost has increased by quite a bit. Just my two cents.
  2. Is this an argument in favor of night jumps?
  3. Disclaimer: I am a rank novice. You should ask this question of your instructors and other people who know what they are talking about. It seems like there are two distinct schools of thought: a cutaway followed by reserve deployment, and just dumping your reserve. I've heard two arguments in favor of cutting away. The first is that it keeps your emergency procedures consistent -- if you have a malfunction, you clear them all the same way. The second is that if your container is locked up because of pressure problems (which is probable), then the deployment of the reserve is likely to cause things to shift around enough to permit the main pin to dislodge, which would give you a two-out situation. The arguments in favor of going to straight to the reserve are also pretty good. If you have a total malfunction like a container lock aka PC in tow, you are heading straight for the ground really fast -- your first priority should be getting something over your head post-haste. Another problem is getting the main risers entangled with your deploying reserve, perhaps irreparably. The SIM mentions both as options, and I've heard skydivers I trust and respect on either side of the debate, so I think this is one of those situations where you have to think about the risks involved, make a decision, and train on it until your response is deep in muscle memory. Personally, I would go for the reserve without cutting away. The best way to stop this sort of problem is gear maintenance, of course: make sure your closing loop is the right length and that your pilot chute is properly constructed and maintained. Bill Booth made a great post a while back talking about how to check your pilot chute function. Blue skies! /gdm
  4. I broke my left leg -- distal spiral fracture of the fibula -- on a rough landing on jump #8 (it happened to be my AFF graduation dive). Thought I'd just sprained it, made the two-hour drive home, headed to the ER the next day because it just hurt like a sonofabitch. The (incredibly, incredibly hot) orthopod decided that a month in a cast was sufficient, and thus I avoided surgery. That accident grounded me for four months.... Those 120 days sucked. I looked back in my journal and found myself writing things like this: With that being said...please take it easy. The last line of your post, frankly, scares me. You've got the rest of your life to jump -- why not wait until you're recovered?
  5. The song that epitomizes being a student for me is Pink Floyd's Learning To Fly...always brings back many happy memories (and a handful of grim ones).