peckerhead

Do you have any pictures of the nipple rings getting ripped off by a chest strap?

I would think it would be common sense to not jump wet gear. Every time I made intentional water landings we opened up the reserve container and dried the canopy before it was repacked in a clean, dry container. I know, I know, us old-timers don't get it. We still think water is a hazard.

You have the book......

Sorry, I meant to say thats pathetic..... Eventually we will not even need airplanes anymore, we can just fly around in fishbowls with virtual reality goggles on. Sounds like a hoot!

It will be a doorstop in a year.

>>>>they also make you spend 10 min in wind tunnel before your fjc That is really sad.

It would be interesting to see the same poll divided for men and women. I have worn mine on over 1000 jumps. I don't jump without gloves.

My point exactly!

It's the internet. It was safer in the old days because you did not hear about fatalities until several months had passed.

I also used a blast handle on a reserve ride. Like you said....... pull it DOWN. This was after a cutaway on shot and a half capewells. Oh...BTW those work too!

>>>>Jim Wright D-364 Jim was killed on a jump about 15-18 yrs ago. Big Jim went in the summer of 1986 20 years ago. I was just looking at my old log books and we had the memorial boogie labor day weekend at Jims DZ in Harrisburg. His kids still run a DZ in Eugene (Creswell) He was jumping with his kids and little Jim was flying the plane. He went in with nothing out. As I recall it was a hot summer day and they were jumping in shorts and T-shirts. It was speculated that he may have got hold of his shirt instead of the pilot chute and maybe the baggy T-shirt covered up the other handles. They say he fought it all the way to the dirt. >>>>Ralph Hatley D-394 Ralph still runs a drop zone and is one of the biggest gear distributors in the world. I just talked to Ralph a few days ago. He is still selling gear like mad. Beaver Oaks is still going strong although not as busy as it used to be. I just bought a new CRW canopy and some other gear from Ralph. You still can't find a better deal anywhere. You name it he's got it!

I paid 50$ for my first jump course. I also got a free T-shirt, log book, and a bumper sticker! I think Ralph charged $20 for all student jumps after that and after you had 25 jumps you paid $1 per thousand. When I was 18 $50 still seemed like a lot of money.

I grew up at cessna DZs and launching 4 ways from 4 grand is pretty common. (Lots of cloudy days in the NW) Nowadays you see AFF grads riding the plane down if they only get 4 grand.... Personally I think riding the plane down is more dangerous

You got that right! I used to have one that read "Just because I slept with you last night doesn't mean I will jump with you today" My sig line was another......

Aerodyne still makes Hornets.....They just changed the name to Pilot. Definetly not a copy of the sabre though. I have a Hornet 135 and I would have to say it is my favorite canopy of all time. Hornets are becoming hard to find and a pilot costs much more. Plus the pilots are being made with that new slickety-snot fabric and the Hornets were made from that wonderful South African Z-P. Much easier to pack. I have never jumped a canopy that had better openings than my Hornet. If you can find one Buy it!

I can answer that.... It is because being a regional director is a dirty thankless job. These are not paid positions. A good regional director should travel and jump at every drop zone in their conference. They should get out there and listen to the people that elected them and represent them at the board meetings. They should not have a financial interest in any one DZ within their conference. Unfortunately you would have to be independently wealthy to be able to do that and most of these folks have regular jobs. Hell, my regional directors home DZ is in another region! So in many cases DZ owners who are well known get elected as RD and they never visit other dropzones so they don't really have a clue what is going on in their own region. In some cases they do not really want to represent their competition from a business standpoint. The solution would be to not allow DZOs to hold seats on the board due to a blatant conflict of interest but that will never happen. Regional directors or even National directors that own or have a stake in a dropzone will always look out for their own best interests and not the best interests of the DZs in the geographical areas they were elected to represent. So what is the solution? Run for office, get elected, spend your own money and travel to every DZ in your Region. Talk to the DZOs and the jumpers. Jump with them. And not just the big dropzones but the small ones as well. If you are going to be fair you have to represent the little guys with just as much passion as the big guys! Don't expect anything in return, maybe a free hotdog or a beer. And no matter what you do someone will get pissed off and say you could have done more. In my opinion it will cost you at least 50 thousand a year to be a good regional director. And that does not include your jump ticket.

What makes you think it is more safe? Fatalities are about the same and landing injuries have actually increased over the years because of this irrational desire to "downsize". I don't think the instruction is any better, it is just more expensive. USPA claims their new ISP is a big improvement Why? Because they say so. I have seen many people go through the ISP and get an A license and still not have the basic skills they should have been taught. How is this an improvement? USPA membership is down partly because the old timers are retiring and partly because student retention is not as good as it used to be. Also, many jumpers are just fed up with USPA so they don't renew thier membership. That doesnt mean they stop jumping. Student retention is a whole nother thread but I think that tandems is the biggest reason. People come out, make a tandem jump, get their video, check it off on their "things to do" list and you never see them again. It used to be you had to spend the whole day at the DZ going through class. You got to spend more time with the DZ crowd and people in your class so you felt more like part of a group. You made your 5 SL jumps and then gradually worked your way up to higher altitudes so you had a goal to work for with several milestones along the way. I think the sense of accomplishment was greater. With tandems we take them to the top of the moutain on the first ride and everything is done for them. It has become a very expensive roller coaster ride. Tandems are great money makers for dropzones and many more people are making jumps because of it but for the most part they don't come back. As a SL/IAD instructor I have seen a much better retention rate from students that go through the class than from the tandems. Unfortunately the classes are getting smaller and the number of tandems is getting larger. (for instance last week we had 18 tandems and only 4 people in the FJC) I would guess the numbers for AFF are similar.

If it is the one listed in the classifieds that looks like the newer version to me. (the reserve closing flap is tucked in on the sides and bottom, the older ones were round and only tucked in on the sides) If they would sell the container seperately I would consider buying it myself except it is a bit too big for me I have never had a problem getting parts.

>>>>How many times have you spotted for a 4-plane formation with 60 mph upper winds 110 degrees to the ground winds? I have done that with cessnas, does that count?

I don't have an opinion on the canopy (never jumped one) But I do own 2 eclipses. I think the eclipse is the most comfortable container I have ever jumped and I have jumped most of the popular containers availble in the last 25 years. I also have an Infinity and a Talon and the eclipse is by far my favorite. The reserve contianer is very similar to a vector 2 but the similarities end there. One of my eclipses has an articulating harness, hip rings, soft reserve and cutaway handles, and is totally freefly friendly. The older one is the same but without the hip rings and the reverve closing flap is slightly different. The walrus teeth tuck tabs on the main are unique to the eclipse and I don't think you will find better main pin protection. the reserve pin protection is equally bullet proof. The reserve pin protection on the early models was not quite as good as later models but still good enough. The tuck tab riser covers are just as good as anything out there. I have never had a problem with any flaps coming open. These rigs are kinda rare because they don't make them anymore. If you can find a later model in good condition I would jump on it. They are becoming hard to find. Stunts was a small company so they did not make as many as the big manufacturers so you don't see them very often.

I have been jumping for over 25 years and I have never been present on the DZ when there was a fatality. I don't personaly know anyone who has been killed skydiving. (meaning some one who I knew well and jumped with) and I have jumped in 10 different states and 3 different countries, trained students since the 80's etc. I did know 3 people killed in jump plane crashes 2 of them were good friends the third I jumped with many times. There was a DZO I met one time that went in but I did not know him very well. I have been very lucky I guess, fatalities have always happened somewhere else to people I have only heard about or complete strangers. Nameless jumpers in the back of parachutist. I have seen some very close calls and been involved in a few myself so I will never let my guard down. Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it can't On the other hand I can't really think of anyone close that was killed in a car accident either. It has always been a friend of someones sister or something like that. I have been in a car accident that I was lucky to survive, and know many people who can say the same thing. Honestly, most of the dead skydivers I know died from drugs, alcohol, health problems or old age.

DO NOT remove the connector links from the canopy. The free bag and pilot chute stay with the container. In the last two years I have had 4 canopies sent to me with the links removed. Not only is it extremely rude it also creates a lot more work for the poor rigger who gets it. The links are part of the canopy, not part of the container.

Call Ralph. If he is not too busy it should only take a few minutes.

But what if it is true? My cousin told me a story about his instructor going in on his first jump in 1979 and I just thought it was a bullshit story. (His instructor bounced after he jumpmastered a cessna load of static line students.) I thought it was just a story but after I had made some jumps I found out later that it really did happen. That is not the kind of thing you tell someone about to make the first jump. I made my first jump in 1981. The stories from the 70's and 80's may seem unreal today but some of those sories really are true. Of course the stories from the 60's are all bullshit! Nobody skydived back then....... 20 years from now they will say....skydivers used to die after the parachute opened!

My famous "80's picture. August 1981