peckerhead

I was just throwing it out there to see what the current climate is. I think it is a valid question. Am I still relevent? or have I passed my prime? BTW The wonderhog thing was a joke.

I have offers

I will turn 45 this summer, I have been skydiving since I was 18. I have an IAD rating and I have been a SL instructor since 1986. I am a camera flyer and I have video of 200 tandems. I have 3 rigs and 4 jumpsuits. I am a senior rigger. I have packed thousands of student rigs and over 200 reserves. I have 6 night jumps including a 4 stack, I have a D lisense. 300 crw jumps and 7 Mr. Bills. I will fuel airplanes, sweep the floor and clean the toilet. Just kidding, I would only fuel the airplane.

I could show you how in person. equipment and packing is key. Don't listen to dorks on the internet.

but you are not. Do you think his career should be ended?

Great show today This guy raises millions of dollars to help people of all colors Al Sharpton is an asshole.

I have bought and sold alot of gear here on the classifieds and I have my own set of guidlines.... Selling: I always list a complete description of what I have for sale including pictures. Date of manufacture, number of jumps, colors, serial # and details. I provide references and a link to my website for more information. I offer a 100% money back guarantee if they are not happy with the sale. I have a profile. I am a rigger and I inspect everything I list before I submit an ad. Everything is up front and no bullshit. I include my phone number if you want to talk to me. I am REAL! I WILL NOT sell a rig to someone who is not ready to jump it due to weight / experience / or size. Buying: I will not even look at equipment on the classifieds if there is no picture. Sorry, but if you can't take the time to take a picture then you must not be that serious about selling it. At least a link! I have made a few exceptions to this rule but only because I knew the seller. You must have the DOM, jump numbers, and serial numbers. I check everything against the stolen gear data base. You must have a profile and references JUMPDUDE182.5 may sound cool but that don't cut it It always amazes me that someone wants to sell something but they want to hide in the shadows.....No pictures, no profile, no sale! What is really funny is stuff for sale in the Photography section.....Less than 50% has PICTURES! Oh thats right......They cant take pictures because they are selling the camera! Get it? Wooosh!

From wikipedia..... Commercial parachuting services vs. parachuting clubs: At larger centers, mostly in the "Sun Belt" region of the United States, training in the sport is often conducted by professional instructors and coaches at commercial establishments. The advantages to the newcomer are year-round availability, larger aircraft (which translates to greater comfort, higher jump altitudes, and more frequent jumping), and staff who are very current in both their sport and their instructional skills. It is also common for instructors and newcomers to jump while strapped together (see picture). For the newcomer, this gives an added measure of safety should something go wrong. In the other latitudes, where winter (or monsoon) gets in the way of year-round operation, commercial skydiving centers are less prevalent and much of the parachuting activity is carried on by clubs. Most clubs cannot support larger aircraft. Training may be offered (by volunteer instructors who, nevertheless, are rigorously tested and certified) only in occasional classes as demand warrants. These clubs are usually weekend only operations as the volunteers have full-time jobs during the week. The entire experience tends to be informal and surrounded by a lot of socializing. Some observers have suggested that commercial operations cater to a "fast-food" sensibility that leaves their novice graduates with very compartmentalized skill sets that may be lacking in important peripheral areas. This is countered by the observation that students at busy commercial operations receive concentrated exposure and experience, and are thus able to improve rapidly without backtracking or developing bad habits. The observation about participants who started learning in the club setting is that their progression can be slower due to smaller aircraft and fewer "good jumping days" (weather). They may experience some backsliding as they need to re-learn some skills after weather-enforced lay-offs. By contrast, the progression of a novice in a club usually involves learning all the ancillary skills out of necessity. Everyone at a club learns all the skills and takes on all the roles. For example, a large aircraft must be "spotted" (directed to fly over the optimum exit point) by an experienced jumper who is usually a parachute-center staffer. Having experienced staff perform this duty ensures that everybody leaves the aircraft within range of the landing zone. Nobody needs to hike or take a taxi back to the dropzone because their jumprun was spotted by a novice. The downside is that the novices never learn the skill of reading the winds, the terrain and the aircraft movement, and of directing the aircraft where it should go. They remain dependent on the "pro." At clubs, the aircraft are smaller, and everybody is a friend. A bad spot is an excuse for some teasing, but it doesn't interrupt the smooth flow of a moneymaking operation. Therefore, most people who join parachuting clubs are taught spotting skills very early in their careers. Similar contrasts apply to parachute packing, equipment maintenance and other skills of a well-rounded skydiver. The answer to both sets of critics is that they are correct as far as they go. The perceived shortcomings of each learning environment are ameliorated by the fact that most skydivers eventually partake of both settings. Club members often visit larger centers for holidays and events and for some concentrated exposure to the latest techniques. People who learned at commercial centers often make friends with visiting club jumpers and then visit them at their home dropzones -- or start their own clubs. Who wrote this? Nick?

I don't watch a lot of TV but I start my mornings off with Don Imus. It started years back when I listened to his radio show. I don't agree with everything he says but I do agree with most of it. Politically we are very close. So he said something stupid, so what! I watched the show in question and I did not think anything of it because he makes fun of everybody. Apparently a womans college basketball team is off limits. This is a man that has done so much and raised so much money for other people. He has raised millions for autistic children and children with cancer. He led the charge to help Katrina victims. He raised over 10 million for the fallen heros fund to help build the center for the Intrepid. (300, 000 of his own money) Much of his philanthropy benefits African Americans. If you talk on the radio 4 hours a day every day for 35 years eventually you will put your foot in your mouth. It would be a tragedy if he loses his job over this. The kids he helps will be the ones who suffer for it. He has appologized, let it go. Al sharpton needs to get a life.

Unemployment and heroin does strange things to people.

I teach arch, reach, pull The student should never "hold" it. Full arm extension and immediate release into clean air. The most important thing is to get it out as far away from the burble as possible before the release In one swift motion!

I agree with Zig-Zag "Why not"? Pintos were made in the 70's so your analogy does not apply here. We are talking about a rig from the 90's. It would be more like buying a Honda from the early 90's that has been inspected by a mechanic (rigger) I am not a big racer fan but the reserve pin protection on that rig is much the same as it is now. Velcro can be replaced and tuck tabs can be added. I don't see how you can assume it is unsafe without even looking at it. 200 jumps is not that much. As far as the canopies 200 jumps on the falcon is not that much if it has been stored properly. Why do you assume it is "ragged out?" I used to jump a f-111 delta cloud that had over 2000 jumps on it and it flared just fine. Of course it was 100 sq. ft. larger than what I jump now. My raven 2 had 800 jumps on it before I sold it. You make it sound like we used to only get 200 jumps on a canopy before it was "ragged out" There is absolutely nothing wrong with an older Raven reserve if it has been stored properly, this one has never even been jumped! I inspected and packed a Raven reserve into my CRW rig last summer that was made in 1987 and it still looked brand new. I sold the canopy last fall and the buyer also had his rigger inspect it and had no problem repacking it. Obviously I had no problem jumping it. Now as far as the AAD that is a completely different debate that we have had over and over again. I don't jump with one and I haven't since I was a student using a sentinel on a belly wart. I did have a rig with a cypres for a brief time but I usually forgot to turn it on so I sold it to buy a new canopy. Anyway, this racer is cypres-ready so you could always put one in it. If this rig is as described it would be a good cheap starter rig for someone who can't afford to pony up the thousands it would cost to buy something newer. You could always upgrade the main to a z-p at a later date. If a newbie could pick up a rig like that for $800-1000 bucks it could get them in the air and honestly might be better than a "ragged out" student rental rig. I paid $350 for my first rig and made almost 200 jumps on it before I could afford to buy new. At the time that was the best $350 bucks I ever spent. Oh yeah! My first rig was a pinto and I know for a fact my parents did not want me jumping it!

IAF= I Am Freezing?

Come on Musika....You know who it is. Yep , he survived.

GO for it dude! And please tell us how things go. I am not sure what IAF means but I do know we need more skydivers.

To add to what Nick said: I also grew up in a time when 25 jumps was an "A" 50 was "B" and 100 was the big "C" The "D" was hard to get at only 200 jumps. (It sure did seem like a lot at the time) Nobody I knew ever wasted the paperwork or money to get an A or B. We all started at C. The C license used to be like your learners permit and the D meant you really had your shit together. But, to get a D that meant you had at least 200 freefalls, a water jump, and 2 night jumps ( 1 solo and 1 rw) Not to mention everything else like accuracy, freefall skills, etc. I think I qualified for my C at around 150 jumps and my D at around 350. THat may seem like a lot nowadays but I did not jump a square (ram-air) canopy until I had 56 jumps. In the old system you could be a Jumpmaster with a C license but you could not be an Instructor until you had a D. It only makes sense....How can you Teach night jumping if you have never done one? How can you Teach Water jumping if you have not done it yourself? Do you just tell your student " Hey, I have never done this but I did jump into a pool with a harness on one time"? How do you give a briefing to a group of novices about jumping at night if you have only wore dark goggles on a sunset load? I think it was great that the D requirements went up to 500 jumps and I also think it is great that the C numbers went up as well. These changes made it harder not easier. Don't drop the night jumps and bring back the water jump. .....And at least one Mr Bill

Three? Wow! You must be right. There are only 3 dropzones on the west coast.

I was being sarcastic, I am sick of Tom Petty. Unfortunately Tom gets requested alot. Hey, its their video.

Tom Petty

Man, I remember when I bought my first Raven. That was the hot canopy in 1986. Cheap too! A few years later I got a "Super" Raven. Could be used as both a main or a reserve. Those were the days!

Line overs "can" occur when a brake lock releases during the opening sequence allowing one side of the canopy to surge forward over itself, "or due to a packing error" or an "Act of God" " The Skydiver's Handbook, Dan Poynter, Mike Turoff, page 138 When that was written line overs on ram air canopies were extremely rare. So rare an Act of God was considered a reasonable explanation. Brake fires are caused by improperly stowing the brakes or only stowing one side. The only other possibility is a toggle being snagged on the container during deployment. What does this have to do with flat vs pro?

Line overs can also happen when a brake releases during opening Who told you that?

I'll absolutly disagree with that statement. I absolutely agree with JP (and that is rare) I have been teaching people to skydive for over 20 years and I do not have a tandem or AFF rating. I have trained many jumpers who later went on to get AFF and tandem ratings. Static line/ IAD instructors have always been and will continue to be the backbone of our sport.

From the airtech website: "To date, as production of CYPRES 1 comes to an end, CYPRES units have saved the lives of more than 1000 skydivers, without a single unit ever refusing to activate when the conditions were met." Marketing acting out on its own? http://www.cypres.cc/Downloads/6_5_Saveslist/Official_saves_list_200602.pdf scroll down to the very last page. Didn't see your quote, but did see a similar one claiming 80 saves a year from 1991 to 2003. Conflicting data for sure huh? Anyway, the data from your link supports my original position. Mostly students, tandems, and low time jumpers. And....Possibly not as common as most people would like to believe.

Thanks Bob, I missed that. I like it, two pages long that says it's OK to punch clouds. The FAA here in the states could learn a lot. If it ever was approved here it would be 300 pages long and worded in such a manner that nobody could understand it.