brettski74

You're not the first person to start thinking in terms of jump tickets as a form of currency and pricing things in jump tickets rather than dollars and you won't be the last. Either way, it'll sort itself out. Everything's new and exciting for you now. It's kinda like a new girlfriend in that respect. Eventually you'll settle down and start to figure out how skydiving really fits into your life and if at that time you still feel that it's more important than anything else and still price everything in your head in terms of jump tickets, then really what's the problem? As long as what you're doing makes you happy, stop worrying.

That's not what I said at all. I said that you should always be aware of all the traffic around you and the wind direction when setting up for your pattern and landing. This is true regardless of how the landing direction is set. The landing direction is dictated by dropzone rules and different dropzones have different rules regarding how landing direction is set. At Perris, it is first man down. At other dropzones, it is based on wind direction. At still others, it is dictated by the DZSO or equivalent using some kind of marker, and maybe people have come across others. Regardless of the local rules, you still should be aware of traffic and wind direction when preparing to land.

I was part of the 100-way that landed just before them and about 40 feet away when it happened. We were all walking back to the packing area by the flags at the edge of the grass. By that time, we were all well on our way back to the packing area. I'd actually walked quite some way across the dirt by that stage. The jumper that was hit was not anyone I recognized from our group and was still gathering up his canopy. Yes he was landing in the opposite direction to us, but we'd been down for a while. I'm quite sure that the jumper who was hit was from the fun-jumper load and not from our group. There were only two people on that fun jumper load that landed to the north. One was the first canopy down by perhaps 2-3 seconds, so technically, the landing direction had been set to the north. The second canopy down, being perhaps 30 feet above the grass at this point really couldn't have changed his direction. Everyone else at this point should have been taking note of the opposing landing directions on or near the grass and according to Perris DZ rules, landing away from the grass and being vigilant for dangerous traffic situations. I only saw two canopies from that fun jumper load land to the north, the first one down, and the jumper who was landing when it happened. After it happened, the remaining canopies that I saw were all landing heading south. The jumper who was hit was very near the east edge of the grass. All of the 100-way jumpers by this stage were either waiting at the flag line or walking along the flag line at the west edge of the grass. I was one of the closest to the incident when it happened and one of the first two people to arrive. There was nobody else between us and the incident nor was there anyone on the grass south of us except those walking along the flag line on the opposite side of the grass. There were not lots of obstacles. There was one obstacle and vast amounts of open space. I can only speculate as to what made him hit the one single obstacle he had to avoid, but he wouldn't be the first person to hit an obstacle with plenty of open space around it and there would have been several distractions for him, such as oncoming canopies on final, a downwind landing, 50 or more jumpers along the western edge of the grass waiting to cross the runway, etc.

I agree with the first three points, and while the 4th point is valid, it's not entirely applicable to what happened. The jumper in question thought he was landing with the pattern. The first two canopies down landed in opposite directions. The first one actually landed heading north about 50 feet from the south east corner of the grass. The other one landed heading south on the grass a few seconds later. By Perris rules, the grass should have been considered closed at that point. The injured jumper landed at least 20 seconds or so after the first two canopies down. At the very least he should have had time to adjust his pattern to land off the grass. I saw his turn onto final and the other jumper had been down for some time before that turn. I think the lesson here is more about observation. Since the tetrahedron and all but two jumpers on the load indicated a south landing direction, he apparently only saw the one jumper who landed to the north and followed. He should have been continually monitoring the traffic and wind indicators and been prepared to adjust his pattern and approach accordingly.

I know it sounds like a good idea, but I'm rarely in the mood for a body cavity search, particularly when it's being done by a surly, broad-shouldered man.

I guess that depends on where you are. When I was jumping in Latvia, it was customary to drink champagne on the ride to altitude for someone's 100th jump. There was also more ritual on the ground after the jump. I don't recall the bottle being thrown out the door, but there was a town underneath, so I doubt that would've gone well. The bottle was secured up front somewhere. I've not seen this anywhere else, so if you're in eastern europe, this is kinda normal, but if you're in most other places, you'll probably find things like being pied, thrown in a pool/swoop pond, thrown in the swoop pond and then pied and/or tequila shots might be more typical for 100th jump rituals. As for the AN-2, there is nothing normal about jumping out of an AN-2. It's got twice as many wings and goes about half as fast as anything else. The thing flies like a bus... that flies. Actually, it's like a bus in many ways except for the flying part. Everything happens in slow motion and when the pilot does the cut, you'll think he's actually parked it stationary up there. I was particularly impressed with my very first ride where the sputtering, smoke and sound effects made me feel like I was in an Indiana Jones movie. I could go on, but it was an experience. Other than that, perfectly normal stuff.

I'm not a lawyer, but I find it hard to believe that this is true. I'm pretty sure that if you landed off in some old lady's back yard and she happened to see your twig 'n berries in full glory while you're flying in on final she could file a complaint and you'd be charged. Therefore, work on your accuracy first, check the spot when you get out, and land somewhere appropriate.

Ditto that. Even if you find a skydiving doctor on here, he still won't know the medical history of your dad. He wouldn't know, for example, if there are sutures which need time to heal before being subjected to abnormal G forces. Since your doctor may not be a skydiver, the things you probably need to consider when talking about it to your doctor would be whether he can safely travel in an unpressurized aircraft at altitude (ie. lower atmospheric pressure and hence available oxygen).The other main one is G forces. Based on data from my altimeter, I calculated the opening shock of my sport rig to peak at up to 4 Gs approximately over a period of .25 seconds or less. The sample period of the altimeter is 0.25 seconds, though, so the G number may actually be higher and the time period smaller, but it should be in the ball park. Following the peak shock, there is a longer period of deceleration of about 1.5 to 2G that may last for about 2 or 3 seconds. Note that these number are off the top of my head, as I don't have that data handy right now but should be in the ballpark. If you had a severe spinning malfunction, you could be subjected to more sustained G forces, but I'm not sure how high that could be as I have no reference data. I'd also note that malfunctions are 1 in 1000 or so chances, whereas opening shock is pretty much guaranteed if you plan to skydiving or breathing.

I've not tried to do it myself, but I suspect that it would be extremely difficult to close the reserve container with bare hands and a shoelace alone. The pilot chute spring makes it a little trickier to close than the main container, so you might find yourself needing something more than just bare hands and a shoelace.

It was North West Airlines, which is now a Delta subsidiary. I did ask the guy if they had anything else or if there was anywhere this side of security that could sell me a bag or something. Maybe it's just a Delta thing or airlines that more routinely do freight? It's all done now. I arrived in Buffalo this morning and my rig came out undamaged and all handles intact and in place, although the flimsy plastic bag didn't make it. On reflection, the plastic bag was useless against much more than dust, but I was tired and frustrated and desperate for anything that might protect my handles in transit. I'll just chalk this one up as a learning experience.

I thought I was friendly and tried to be helpful. I was understanding of their need to be comfortable with it not being a security risk and I was chatting with the guy who escorted me back out. He said he was actually cool with it, but he's not the supervisor, so... It was during this conversation that he mentioned that none of them had seen a parachute before, and he's been there for 6 years. I tried to get them to describe what they thought they saw so that I could either show or explain it to them. The supervisor guy was really not very forthcoming with details. I did open up some flaps to show some of the metal components, but once we got to the reserve pin I explained that I don't have the training or tools to close it if it's opened. I don't think I was being difficult with him. I was stating a fact, because I'm not a rigger, nor was I carrying tools for closing a reserve container. Hell, I didn't even have a pull-up cord on me, so closing the main would have needed some improvisation, too. I am really kicking myself about the hook knife. It's too late to know if maybe that's what it was. Like I said, what he described made me think of the AAD control unit, but with the vagueness of his description, who knows. At this stage, if it does get damaged, I'll just have to deal with it, now.

Sitting in the departure lounge at LAX, now, pissed off and a little worried. The TSA folks here had apparently never seen a parachute before and the supervisor that looked at it wanted me to open it to show him what's inside. When I enquired as to what he needed to see, he said that there was an "opaque object" in side and indicated the approximate size. He didn't indicate where in the rig, but from the size and description I figured he's most likely talking about the Vigil control unit inside the reserve container. That said, as I'm sitting here and searching through the posts, I did realize that there is a hook knife on the leg strap that I would have been OK with losing, although from the size and description, I don't think that's what they were looking at. Unfortunately I didn't think of this at the time - I barely even think about the hook knife being there and nobody asked about it in Buffalo. You'd think with all the dropzones down here and the number of events that go on at Perris, LAX would see a lot of parachutes. I didn't have the Vigil X-Ray card with me as I couldn't find it before I left, however, that said, I don't think this guy would have cared. I mentioned that I could show him the manufacturer's website where they have x-ray images of Vigil equipped rigs but his response was this this would not be official and he'd still need me to open it. He also didn't care that I'd need an FAA certified rigger with appropriate tools in order to close the reserve container. I can understand his point. That said, I'm still rather unhappy about the whole thing. End of story, they made me check it. There's nowhere to buy a bag on the ticketting side of the airport according to the people I asked, so my rig has now been checked in a flimsy plastic bag that was the best the check-in agent could do for me. I guess the lessons to take away from this are: remember your hook-knives if you have any on your rig. carry the rig on inside a bag, just in case they are insistent on opening the reserve container so you can check it with some peace of mind that nobody's going to activate the reserve or rip off the cutaway handle.

Why do that when he can still phone a friend or have two wrong answers removed.

I was curious about this comment and wondered if you could be more specific about what you're suggesting here. During a high speed malfunction, I'm not going to be looking at my altimeter. I know where I was for deployment and that I'm now lower than that. There's precious little altitude left, and therefore due to the high speed, precious little time. Time spent looking at my altimeter is time I could have spent better dealing with the problem. A low speed malfunction is a different story, but we're talking about horseshoes, which are high speed malfunctions.

The AAD should only fire when you've run out of time and options. It doesn't know if you're clearing a pilot chute from you burble, or having to manually release a baglock. If it were to activate while you were dealing with such a situation, it could very well make things worse. The extra couple of seconds between 1200 and 750 feet could be the difference between your reserve deploying into a baglock that hasn't released yet or a reserve deploying into clear air. The AAD is a backup device and should only activate once you're out of time and there are no other options. If you're ready for your reserve, pull your reserve handle. You have the information to make such a call. Your AAD does not.

Actually, I believe you can download the software for free. You're paying for the cables you need to connect the device to the computer. I suspect that the device has a standard USB or RS-232 interface built into it and the cable is nothing more than a non-standard plug with non-standard wiring so you are forced to buy the cable from L&B, but that said, if you really feel that the price being charged is too high for the value you will get, then don't buy it. Perhaps try a Neptune instead. Don't they use a standard IrDA port for PC connectivity? Alternatively, grab yourself a multimeter and a signal analyzer and build your own cables, but how much is your time worth?

Actually, I sit corrected. It is mentioned on page 37 as part of the main packing instructions. My recent searches concentrated on the skyhook and reserve packing instructions and as for when I first got the rig, I guess it never sunk in. I just happened to notice it by chance while looking through the manual again today. I should also mention that UPT repaired my rig and had it back to me by today. I'm really happy with the service from the loft at UPT. I really couldn't have asked for more.

I thought about wearing my weight belt but guessed that I would likely get the kind of responses that other people have reported - suggestions that it could be used as some kine of bludgeoning weapon. Either way, I can tell you that reasonably sized conglomerations of lead will attract attention. On my last two trips home from California, my checked baggage was physically searched. On the most recent trip it was very obvious that it was the weights that they were looking for. I had split my weights into two bags to help keep everything under the per-bag limit. In my large bag with camping gear and such in it, was my weight belt and two weights. When I got home, the weight belt was unzipped and the weights removed. In my gear bag, the large compartment containing my unassembled rig was obviously opened. That was where I'd placed the other two weights. I was a little unimpressed with how they repacked my reserve pilot chute, although I'm sure it gave them a nice surprise when they opened the bag initially and it sprang out at them.

Yep. That's the one.

It's certainly reasonable and I don't see why any reasonable person would have a problem paying for said repack. That said, if I were to enter into a similar deal, I would have such terms spelled out in writing and signed at the very least before shipping anything. If you can negotiate a deposit all the better. Depending on the circumstances and how comfortable you are with the deal, you might even want to consider a repack deposit, even if just held in escrow by the rigger before shipping the rig for repack.

Well maybe you should go and download yourself a copy and then look on page 210. This is a list of aircraft that may be operated with one door open. This may not be an exhaustive list of currently used skydiving aircraft as there may be other aircraft not on this list that can be used for skydiving operations. Some obvious examples of this would be tailgate aircraft such as the Skyvan or Casa C.212.

I'd be concerned about that routing. I had a similar routing of the RSL slack on my Vector 3. I had a cutaway a week ago and as a result, my Vector 3 has gone back to the factory for repair. See attached photos. Like you, I figured that once the cutaway cable is gone, the RSL would be free to slip past the cable housing as the risers leave the harness, and perhaps in many cases it will. Based on the damage to my rig and the visible pill/scuff marks on the RSL lanyard at the correct spot, it appears as though in this instance at least, it instead snagged on the cable housing. Fortunately, the cable housing ripped out so the main canopy did clear and the reserve deployed without incident, however, things could have been much much worse. The RSL routing in your picture goes around the cable housing much like mine did. I believe there exists the possibility that under some load, it may snag much like mine did. As for why I would have stowed the RSL slack this way, when I first got my V3, freshly assembled at the UPT loft, the RSL was stowed very tidily, with no slack showing. I'm not sure when - probably at one of my repacks, I got the rig back with a loop from a couple of inches of RSL slack hanging loose "in the breeze". There was probably nothing particularly wrong with this, although I saw it as untidy and a potential snag hazard, so I sought to figure out how the UPT loft may have stowed the slack so that it wasn't hanging loose in a large loop. Having been able to look at my rig fully disassembled, now, I notice that there's a small pouch underneath the reserve risers, which appears to be the correct place to stow the RSL slack on a Vector 3. Unfortunately, I've not yet been able to find anything in the Vector 3 manual or on the UPT website about correct stowage of the RSL slack, however, once the UPT loft get a chance to look at my rig and I get an official answer on RSL routing/stowage I'll add the response here. Of course, if there is already something on the website or somewhere else, feel free to post a link.

You have a hard pull, so nothing at all is out, and you want to pull your cutaway handle? I suggest that you review your emergency procedures.

With respect, I am going to disagree with you and agree with John. Sure, the friction between between the closing loop and the pin determines what force is required perpendicular to the loop to move the pin, however, the shape of the pin affects the direction in which the force of your pull is applied. If you're applying a force perpendicular to the loop, such as is the case with a reserve pull, then a straight pin ensures that all of that force goes toward moving the pin through the loop. If the pin was curved, then as you move the pin further and further through the loop, the loop is rotated, and a progressively larger proportion of the force is now being applied along the plane of the loop, which is not moving the pin through the loop. With the arc length of a typical main pin, the difference might be relatively small, but it would be measurable. If you're having trouble picturing what I'm talking about, keep the same radius of curvature and extend the length of the pin until it's now a full semi-circle. Iare you still sure that a straight pull will extract the pin? Basically, it's different tools for different jobs. Applying a pull along or near to the the plane of the loop requires a curved pin. Pulling perpendicular to the plane of the loop is best served by a straight pin.

You can set an offset on your AAD just like you can on your altimeter. Going to the landing field and turning it on would not help. By the time you have gone back to the runway, it will probably have enough time to re-zero itself to ground level there. You really need to set the offset as described in the manual for your AAD. I choose to turn my AAD off when doing CRW, however, I'll admit that it's a toss-up. I think that argument to support either on or off for CRW will be dependent on specific circumstances which are fairly rare.