brianfry713

http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/ControlSysMalf.PDF I've had my steering lines entangle with my hands or the toggles several times, but I've always been able to clear it before my hard deck. I sometimes put one arm through the good toggle so I can keep the wing level while I use both hands to fix the problem. I would cut a brake line before cutting away, but that depends on the situation. This is one reason to always unstow your toggles and do a control check above your minimum cutaway altitude. I would advise all jumpers, newbies and experienced, to experiment with their rear risers and land using them in an emergency. If you don't know what a rear risers does, talk to an instructor and experiment up high. To cutaway or not if you had a toggle release from the line at a safe altitude is your decision. I would probably land on one toggle and a rear riser in that situation with my main canopy. If a line releases from the toggle at a low altitude, you'll have no choice but to use the rear riser to get a soft landing.

Looking at the Vector 3 manual, a bridle with a skyhook is a total of 7+5=12 feet. A bridle without a skyhook is either 15.5 feet or 18.5 feet. For everyone who would chop below 1,000 feet with a skyhook, have you considered the possibility your skyhook may malfunction? One such possibility is that the RSL shackle accidentally got disconnected at some point since you last checked it. I know I've seen mine come undone without me noticing it several times before or during a jump. That's one of the reasons we always teach pulling silver after chopping regardless if an RSL is in use. If RSL's don't always work, neither does a skyhook. I like the idea of a skyhook in normal situations, but if you have a partial malfunction at a very low altitude that is providing a survivable descent rate, in my opinion you should either stick with the main or deploy your reserve without cutting away. The SIM tells us not to cut away below 1,000 feet but deploy the reserve without cutting away if there is a malfunction of the main. If you cut away below a certain altitude you are relying on the skyhook to save your life. If the skyhook doesn't work as quickly as you hoped, you may die when the malfunctioned main or the main and reserve both deployed could have saved you.

I've got an alarm clock that auto sets the time based on the signals it gets from the wall outlet. It wasn't corrected for the change in daylight savings time, but I was able to fix it by setting it to central time instead of pacific time. There isn't a way to set it manually. I got home around midnight last night and noticed that my alarm clock was off an hour compared to my auto set atomic clock that works on long range radio sent out from Colorado or something like that. I set it back to pacific time and now everything is back to normal. The two clocks do differ by about 5 minutes though. I was pissed that my VCR was off by an hour and didn't record the shows I had it programmed for a few weeks ago. That is supposed to auto set, but I don't think it works with the digital cable box I have.

I like golf, I just only play it or watch it when I'm hanging out with my family and can't go jumping.

I think cost is a major issue to a lot of people. I did my first jump in 1998, thinking it was a one time thing. At the time I was in college and not working, so I depended on my parents for cash, and they didn't want to finance my skydiving. It wasn't until around 6 years later after I'd graduated and started working that I finally made my second jump. I do agree that if you want it bad enough and have the time, you can do whatever it takes to make it happen, but most people are not going to change their entire lifestyle after one jump. I do see some that go through some major changes right away after one jump, but for most of us I think that occurs after we've committed to the sport and finished AFF and once we're trying to afford gear. I think the people that do it once and want to keep going but don't look at the cost of all the training and gear and see it as a major roadblock. For a lot of people it just isn't worth it to give up everything else for a new hobby when they already have invested a lot in their current ones. I'm not saying cost is the only thing stopping everyone from becoming a skydiver. Most people just aren't like us. Fear, level of tolerable risk, lack of time, family, and initially lack of friends that skydive I would guess prevent most people from coming back to the DZ a second time. Other people just aren't as into it as we are. I think we should help the people that are really interested in becoming a jumper, but not everyone is.

It sounds like you should have replaced the Vector 2 before freeflying with it instead of repairing it after your second chop.

I would jump a rig without a AAD, leave mine off for a jump if needed, or jump without one at all if I was that great of a swooper or I liked to do low downplanes. I don't think I'd currently own a rig without a Cypres, and I don't think I'd get my reserve packed without one. FAR 105.43c If installed, the automatic activation device must be maintained in accordance with manufacturer instructions for that automatic activation device. If a Cypres 1 can't be packed into a rig that's older than 12.25 years, with an expired battery, or without it's 4 year check, I don't think it would be legal for a non-operational unit to be jumped. Of course like all FARs that one is open to interpretation of the rigger and FAA. That said I'd probably jump it anyway and send it in for an inspection at the end of the day or weekend or at my next reserve repack. As for the rest of the thread, I think without the added safety features more people would be dying overall just for different reasons statistically. I would probably get a skyhook installed into my Infinity if I could. I didn't really know anything about them when I ordered my rig two years ago.

Use a BASE rig packed for terminal and dump at 500 feet or lower, depending on how big your balls are and how many beers you've had. Don't bother watching your altimeter, just wait until it looks like you're really low.

Well, silly me.... I thought the pilot in question was a skydiver...... My mistake. I'm a pilot, and a skydiver, and I don't wear a parachute if no one is intending to jump out of the airplane. I would wear one if I was going to fly jumpers though. I also carry on my rig if I'm bringing it and flying on an airline. The chances of needing it are pretty slim, and in anything but a catastrophic structural or control failure I'd just land in the plane somewhere if I'm PIC. Plus it helps your flying ability if you have a little confidence in yourself. I don't own a PEP, and my skydiving rig would be pretty uncomfortable while sitting in the front left seat. My BASE rig shouldn't be available for emergency use as it's not TSO'd, and it's usually packed slider down. Most GA pilots are better off flying an airframe equipped with a parachute like a Cirrus in the rare instances that they'd need it.

A lot of people are posting referring to the Eloy incident. They weren't swooping, but one of them was flying a canopy that was difficult to see, and one of them was a student. So it seems like the best solution would be to have separate landing and pattern areas for normal patterns, high performance approaches, students, and military. I think that is great if the DZ layout would allow for it, but at some DZs, there is only a limited amount of space available for landing. So IMHO the best solution isn't for the FAA or USPA to mandate anything regarding landing policies, it's up to each DZ to have a policy that works best for their LZ, aircraft, and jumpers. If you don't like what the DZ is doing talk to the DZO or S&TA. If you still don't like it, either land somewhere else or jump at a different DZ. Some large airports do this by having a small runway(s) for small aircraft, and the large runway(s) for jets. Of course, the large airports also have a control tower, and they can revoke your pilot's license if you don't follow the rules. A lot of the times there will also be different patterns for large airplanes, small airplanes, helicopters, and gliders. The right of way also goes to the least maneuverable aircraft.

As far as student (and sometimes rental gear) wind limits, I've usually seen dropzones use the peak gust over the last 5 minutes as the determining number. I spent a hell of a lot of time in Marina, CA as a student watching the wind meter to see if I'd get to jump that day. I'd get excited as it dropped to below 14 for a few minutes but then it'd pick up again and I'd sit around and not jump all day. Using the peak gust makes sense because you could get unlucky and be landing and backing up during the gust. I've also seen students have to ride the plane down because the wind picked up during the climb to altitude. When I BASE jump in gusty winds, I usually try to time my exit during a lull. Sometimes you get unlucky and the winds pick up right after you jump, but if it's too windy for you, you shouldn't be jumping anyway. You also don't know if it's going to stay lulled for a while, or just gust back up again so it's hard to guess when you should exit. In aviation, there is a rule of thumb that a final approach should be made faster by 1/2 the gust factor. If the winds were 15 gusting to 25, and you're flying a 172 and normally do 60 knots on final, you would increase your approach speed to 60 + (25-15)/2 = 65 knots. This is so you keep enough airspeed above the stall speed if the winds suddenly drop. It seems to me that a similar argument could be made about staying in full flight or doing a high speed approach during a ram-air parachute landing.

Infinity: Bottom Top Right Left. Grue, I saw you corrected yourself, but I find it easy to remember by just thinking about a: Big Titty Rich Lady

I like the reasoning behind the PLF dividing the impact by 5. Who's going to go practice PLF's and intentionally land without a parachute? I still wouldn't want to impact at 24 mph. They must be using rounds as a reference.

I'm one of the few on here that voted sometimes. For me, it depends on the plane, who's flying it, what DZ it's at, how hot it is, and which helmet I'm using (if any). If I'm flying or riding in a plane without a rig on, I don't bother with a helmet. I've heard of some people that wear helmets when driving a car or walking down the street. Sometimes I feel like wearing a helmet, sometimes not. I usually secure it. Hopefully I'm wearing it if i'm ever in a plane crash. At my DZ we have a nice new PAC and a pilot I trust. So I don't always wear my helmet, especially if I'm riding in the passenger seat with a headset on. If I'm in a 40+ year old airplane at an unfamiliar DZ, I'll probably wear a helmet. If I was ever taking off on a crappy runway, I'd probably wear a helmet too.

You need a foreign master parachute license or USPA D license to do tandems in the US. To get a USPA D license you're supposed to have 3 hours of freefall time, among other things. I've been told by several tandem course directors that doing 1 jump 3 years ago would count for the TI requirement. To get a UPT/RWS or USPA rating, you also need at least a USPA Coach rating or foreign equivalent. You also have to be at least 18.

You can get an overhead map will all the info about the dz landmarks here: http://members.cox.net/eule/

So you're saying a person with no medical training has more protection under the law to do whatever they want to an injured person than a licensed EMT? As an EMT could you just help them in any way you see fit as a first responder and not identify yourself as an EMT? Less training = more rights to administer first aid and drugs?

Is that the selection criteria quoted from the magazine? I think it was run a few months ago when they were looking for write in nominations. To all that are complaining about her winning because of her money, don't forget that this isn't a cheap sport for any of us. Most of us spend a reasonable amount of money just getting licensed, buying gear, travel, and jumps. I know I have lots of friends that would love to get to the A license, $20 a jump point but can't afford the $5,000 or so it would take to get there. Some of them are probably jealous of the casual weekend skydivers, like some of us are jealous of the superstar or rich skydivers. I haven't read the newest mag yet, but I thought they did a good job with the previous article they ran about her. It being a news mag they're probably looking for someone who's done something interesting or newsworthy in the last year. I think Natasha probably qualifies for that.

Here's the freebasing clip at 3:18 http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2590 That's someone at the Perrine without a rig holding onto someone else doing a TARD.

Some of the responses to this thread and many others are why I hardly ever post in the BASE Zone. I've jumped with, flown in the tunnel with, or met several people that posted in this thread, so I know they're cool, not that my opinion matters. I also enjoy skydiving, BASE jumping, swooping, freefall photography, formation skydiving, watching related videos, reading stories about them, and lots of other stuff. I've also jumped some of the described burned objects, know others that jump them frequently, and know people who've gotten busted on them. It's probably best that we don't post too many specific details though.

Has anyone here tried to get the FAA to allow them to jump a BASE rig out of an airplane or helicopter? If they can get a permit on Stunt Junkies to film and BASE jump off otherwise illegal objects, I'm guessing they might be able to get an exemption from parts of the FARs for the show. http://www.faa.gov/regulations%5Fpolicies/rulemaking/petition/#exemptions

flygirl1 and my mom were looking at some photo albums of me this last weekend while I was packing and they discovered a drawing my grandmother had made for my birthday announcement. We all though it was pretty crazy, it shows a baby (me), under a round parachute. I'll have to ask her why she chose a parachute for the drawing, I don't think anyone else in my family has any jumps. SBS, ask flygirl1 to show you a copy.