tdog

I worked with a stage hand who hung his crescent wrench from his nipple. Granted, this was 13 years ago - so I was impressed. Now, I would ask why not the whole tool belt?

Or on planes... One of the top ten most embarrassing moments in my life... I was on a plane with a bunch of co-workers and most of our competition - on the way to a convention in Vegas. As they were saying "this plane has six exits... And turn off all cell phones." My phone rings.. over and over again... But it is up in the overhead bin. Everyone stops and looks. I turned off my phone - so it could not be me. This was when phones were much less popular - mid 90s... So the whole plane stopped the emergency speech, and we were not leaving the gate. Finally they found my phone, with my mother calling, over and over again... It appears the phone turned itself back on. I apologized - but the fight attendants wanted to kill me... I never have seen that much anger in eyes... Since then I remove the battery. The competition never let that one down.

Okay. Theres really nothing I can say, this apperently is an accepted practice and I am glad I found it out now, that way I am even more aware. Im aware now, thanks all. Accepted - no. Legal - yes... Don't you think DZOs and others will read the post and the word will get out? Don't you think the next time he shows up to a DZ with a friend, the DZ will call the DZs shown in the logbook and ask, "Is this a jumper of yours?" It is a small world.

lisamariewillbe, Before you start asking for Laws and Regulation by the Government... [RED]I have to ask you - how many incidents occurred because "approved" training procedures were not followed?[/RED] If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Lets say - you got the FAA to write a law that says "All skydivers will be trained by the USPA ISP and with an appropriately rated instructor." Show me from the incident reports, who's life that would have saved... Once you show me the evidence your laws are needed, I will support your laws.

My 93 dodge did the same thing. Jeep and Dodge = Chrysler.

Which is under the "4. SAFETY SUGGESTIONS" category... Hence we are full circle to my first post : USPA = Suggestions... BTW... I agree, while legal, maybe not smart - especially the deceptive practice of lying to everyone.

Well - not really the pilot - so as long as the gear was legit. The DZ could lose their group membership, perhaps, if USPA thought they really were negligent.

It is also posted in the SL vs AFF thread. Completely legal. As long as the jumper wears a dual canopy rig, and the reserve was packed by a certified rigger (and some other gear related stuff) - anyone can leave the plane... The FAA = laws. The USPA = suggestions. Now - if there was an incident, the FAA might make new laws. That is why the USPA makes rules to keep the sport safe enough that the FAA can let us self regulate. Now - the jumpers and DZs in question could lose their USPA memberships, but that has never stopped people before from jumping.

Well I taught the FJC at our DZ almost every other weekend this summer. Our average AFF class had 8-10 people. On average: 20% Air Force Cadets who completed a AM490 program (multiple hop-n-pops with students doing solo freefall exits with a ripcord activated main and SOS system) 45% Tandem 25% No previous experience (So AFF would be their first jump) 10% "Static Line Years Ago" or "Static Line Military" or "Static line at some other DZ, but I wanted AFF" ---- If you subtract out the Cadets with military training... 56% Tandem 31% No Previous Training (AFF as First Jump) 13% Static Line ---- Since a tunnel is 1 hour away: 30% Tunnel time - (most likely Cadets or Friends of Skydivers) 70% No tunnel time ---- *Note - these numbers are off my rough notes, they could be a bit off - and they are based upon a DZ with high volume of tandems and no static line program. * Note - these numbers are going to be skewed because everyone in the class would be doing AFF as their next jump... At the same DZ - where 10 people would be entering the AFF program on a weekend, 50-200 a weekend would do a Tandem and never come back - so over 90% would be Tandem as their First (and most likely Only) jump.

That makes sense... When I first saw "aging" - it sounded like you wanted the new components to have the same cycles of use as the old components... As if the error tolerances with age had to line up or something.... Now I understand you are just basically "stress testing" or "breaking in" all the new parts to make sure they were not defective...

Kai, Educate me please. When a part is replaced, what is the "artificial aging" that it goes thru? Why? This is new to me... Thanks, T

Not me... I suggested you should plug in what the Cypres 1 WOULD HAVE sold for today if it was still produced. This is going to be less than the Cypres 2, because it is older technology. All the other factors (maintenance, battery life) are handled by this online calculator tool. Scientific practice says a calculator (or formula) should have the best data going into it - then the end results can be annotated or altered for emotional and subjective variables. If you plug in the emotional stuff and subjective stuff in the beginning - that emotional stuff can be compounded thru the equation and make the results inaccurate. This is especially true when you plug the emotional and subjective stuff into a variable that is not directly linked to the "stuff". For an example, ignoring inflation and the value of the dollar vs euro in the "new cost" to ADJUST the fact the unit is older technology - is putting dirty numbers in a formula. This is a pretty simple formula - so the compounding of errors is not going to get anyone in big trouble - but still - I believe I would, if I owned a 4 to 5 year old Cypres 1, plug in about $1100 in the calculator and start with that end result as my starting price in the classifieds... That number was by taking a $950 purchase price in 2001 dollars, and compounding 5 years of 3% inflation. (950 * 1.03 * 1.03 * 1.03 * 1.03 * 1.03 = $1101.31)

Not many people have bought their Cypres DOM 1999 on "todays dollars purchased it today new" Ok - so you have two options... 1) Enter what a DOM 2006 would sell for new... And, since the Cypres 1 is no longer sold, this is a best guess... or 2) Adjust your then purchase price for 8 years of inflation. But I am done arguing economics and accounting because I have to go back to work today and do it for real. Have you heard that commercial on the radio, I think a Mcdonalds commercial - "Laterz, I have to go dominate a spreadsheet".

I used to believe that cell phones won't do crap to other things - and that the rules to turn them off were silly and bureaucratic on airplanes (jump planes included)... But then I started to witness first hand glitches that made me think twice: 1) My father's old Nokia - in his Ford Explorer - would cause the Sony aftermarket radio to "click" and go slightly more quiet two seconds before it would ring. When I was driving I would play my "super human ticks" and tell my friends, "Its for you" right before it rang. 2) By Blackberry (GPRS), when sitting next to a beltpack on a wired (and shielded) communication system we use to communicate on theatre stages/television/corporate events - will cause the com system to "tick tick tick tick tick" when I receive an e-mail, or seconds before I get a call. 3) When a keynote speaker is at the podium, speaking to an audience, if they take their cell phone to the stage, the PA will "crackle" and "tick" when the cell receives a call or text message. Our new SOP is to ask keynote speakers to turn off their cell phones. The proximity to a shielded wired podium mike is a few feet - and it screws up wireless mikes too - not the transmission - but thru the wired part between the lav and the transmitter. 4) I was on a speaker phone call with an employee next to me on Friday. His Blackberry was sitting two feet away from the desk phone, and as he received e-mails the wired speakerphone crackled. 5) A few years ago I noticed that a Motorola walkie-talkie, just like the ones we use to communicate to our AFF students, when operated within a foot or two of a Yamaha soundboard ($95,000 top of the line model which was the gold standard for the A list bands/event) - would cause the desk (work) lights, wired into the board, that are not even dimmable, to dim. If the walkie talkie was a foot away the lamp would dim 50%. If the walkie talkie was an inch away the lamp would dim to nothing. When we pulled the wiring schematics - we found all six desk lamps were wired to the same bus, off the same power supply - with no logical reason why we could dim them separately just by proximity of the walkie talkie. Except for the Ford Explorer - all these systems were designed to be shielded from "noise" - yet the cell phones made them operate differently than designed. I know planes are built to a higher standard, but... So, I am going to go on the edge of caution and respect the people who ask for my cell phone to be off during flight. Now other electronic devices that don't transmit - like an IPod - well I have been known to keep the tunes rolling.

If you do that, the calculator ignores the fact that inflation has changed the value of the dollar since you purchased your cypres and you undercut yourself. You should put in the new cost, in today's dollars, if you purchased it today new...

Here is a weird one for ya... Yes the "original" Cypres may have sold at $900 - $1,000.... However - if someone wants to buy a new Cypres - they have to pay something more than that on the market, lets say $1,200 for sake of argument... So, the basis for depreciation for the "original" units may be somewhat more than what they used to sell for - as the consumer's "other choice" is a more expensive newer model. Let me give you an example - using two other used widgets to illustrate. Lets say I want to sell a sport bike motorcycle that is 5 years old... The market value for a new bike has increased $1,000 since the purchase of the bike - so generally the market value of used is pretty high. (I am selling my 8 year old bike for 55% of what I paid for it new). Lets say I want to sell a computer that is 5 years old. Technology has made my 1 GHz computer, that I paid $1,500 for new 5 years ago, worth $500 new now. Hence - the used price is about $100 - or 6% of the new cost. Since the motorcycle's new purchase price went up, the used value stayed high. Since the computer's new purchase price went down, the used value is very little. Bring it to skydiving examples... When PD increased the cost of new canopies - used ones all of a sudden were worth a bit more, because someone with 50 jumps on their canopy could say to a buyer, "Ya I know I got it at the old price, but if you don't like my used price, then buy a new one at the new price." So how does this effect the Cypres... If you are going to sell a Cypres 1 - you might get slightly more than what the calculator suggests because the inflation and market forces that make the Cypres 2 more expensive now helps keep the value of the Cypres 1 high. Conversely, a Cypres 2 sold used may be worth slightly less than what the calculator suggests - because the buyer always has the option of saying, "why don't I just buy the Cypres 1 used and save a bit." So, I would argue - that in a free market economy - what should be plugged into the Cypres Calculator "new price" should be an adjusted for inflation and value cost of a new unit sold TODAY. So if a Cypres 1 sold for $900 four years ago - if it was still on the market in today's dollars, perhaps it would actually have sold for $1,150 - and that is what should be plugged into the calculator... Why? Because TODAY's used price is based upon TODAY's new value less depreciation, adjusted for market forces (the computer versus motorcycle example) and inflationary changes. So, if I was selling a 4 year old Cypres 2, I would plug in TODAY's selling price of a new one. If I was selling a 4 year old Cypres 1, I would plug in the best guess of what a new one might sell for TODAY. Then it all comes to negotiation and this whole conversation is thrown in the toilet.

http://www.familyguy.com/

Put in what a new one would cost from your favorite dealer.

I agree after jumping both... They are in the same class, from my perspective.

I remembered this thread somewhere around 12.5K above Skydive Santa Barbara while visiting friends... I had on brand spanking new Globe www.globe.tv skate shoes on and I was jumping my wingsuit... One of the reasons I got them was the flat bottoms would make putting on the booties very easy - and they seemed comfy for skydiving - and the bottoms of them were flat enough that surfing across the ground a bit sounded fun. My wing/right foot caught the door on exit - and my brand spanking new shoe went flying into never-never land... I would have chased it if flying a wingsuit with half a leg wing was not fun enough. Well I called Globe today - and they are sending me a free shoe! So - all you van's wearers - if you want to break the mold and try something new - Globe has great customer service - at least to me!

Cool... 20 people voted that they will downsize their container and keep the same size reserve - yet most of these people wish to admit it by telling us why...

By maintenance I did not mean "neglected" maintenance... I meant anything that will cause the plane to not give the skydiver the altitude they paid for, specifically relating to the plane and not weather/sunset/etc. If a skydiver gets caught on the tail of the plane, I am going to help them - and be thankful to be alive. For an example - our company has truck mounted commercial floor cleaning equipment - that costs just as much as a typical used Cessna ($85,000+) - with thousands in repair costs to keep up... Granted a Cessna might cost more to operate per hour - but still... When the truck breaks down (throws a $2,500 impeller for an example) - we tell the customer, "we will come back and redo the service at no charge. A lot of our breakdowns are not due to lack of maintenance, just unpredictable "old age" on a system of moving parts. I cannot ever believe a customer of ours would pay for something they did not get the full service of - especially if it was not their fault in any way. While DZs are not normal businesses - good customer service and getting what you paid for - should exist.

If it is optional to leave... Charge for the hop-n-pop rate that would be normal for the altitude in which they left. If it is mandatory to bail out... Free... Or a free ticket given for later. If it is mandatory to land in the plane... Free... Or a free ticket given for later. If it is a DZ instruction jump (Tandem/Coach/AFF) - redo for free. There is a huge difference between a skydiver getting on a plane with known bad weather and "taking their chances" with clouds and wind - and a maintenance issue on the plane. I am one that believes - going a little out of your way as a DZ to make the fun jumpers think you do something special every once and a while for them - is a good thing... Letting them jump again if the plane breaks is a good thing.

I know this is not topic for this thread, so perhaps a PM back or just a quick note back... But can you cite your sources for the claim that it takes more energy to make one PV solar panel than it produces over it's lifetime? This is news to me. {geek talk} Assuming the cost of production (including energy), plus profit, is built into the cost of the panel - what you are suggesting just does not work out on paper. For size reference, we are talking about a 10KW array for the 1st install (because that is the max size we can get a rebate on) - with another 10KW added each year until the roof is full and we are making about 100KW at peak daylight. The individual PV panels are BP 160 watt units with a 20 year warranty and a 30 year useful life with an expected 7 megawatt/hour power delivery per panel over the 30 year lifetime - or 434 megawatt/hour per every 10KW array. {/geek out}

try "Gay"....