Aviatrr

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Everything posted by Aviatrr

  1. I wasn't referring only to where you check your baggage in, but everyplace else.. If you change planes in Newark, and it's raining, expect your luggage to be sitting in the rain for a while when being transported to the other plane.. Unfortunately, I see it all too often.. My god, that's a lot of shit.. In my gear bag, I just carry my rig, 2 jumpsuits, camera helmet, all the camera accessories, goggles, gloves, alti, and logbook.. Oh, and a big bag of rubbers.. My gear bag is a carry-on size made by Aero-tech.. The camera helmet bag zips off the main part so that it fits in the overhead.. Well, you have obviously thought it through more than most people.. I've heard of lots of people checking their rigs with nothing more than the airline insurance.. What exactly do you do that you travel so much? I travel quite a bit myself, but I'm sure you can figure out what I do..
  2. Intentional cutaway rigs seem to be few and far between.. I have not found many DZ's that have 'em.. There is a guy down here in Florida that has one - it's a Strong tandem rig that has been converted.. It's got 2 mains and a reserve.. Each canopy is housed in its own pack tray...yes, there are three.. Reserve on top, then the second main in the middle, first main on the bottom.. Second main is ripcord activated, via a D ring where the reserve handle normally is.. Higher on the harness, there is another cutaway and reserve handle to cutaway the second main and deploy the reserve.. I have also seen people do intentional cutaways with standard sport rigs, carrying a belly mount reserve.. I'm not quite sure exactly what they are going to do if the reserve in the rig malfunctions.. Time for the hook knife, I guess.. Do you know which DZ's have intentional cutaway rigs? I'm trying to get enough people that want to jump the one down here in Florida for the guy to bring it out for a weekend.. I'd like to do several jumps on it, with various types of mals packed, and a couple people flying video.. Mike
  3. Ya know, I did just about the same thing on my only jump on a ripcord.. I have always jumped throw out or pull out, but wanted to make back to back loads while I was jumping with a friend out west.. Arranged for one of the rental rigs to be waiting for me when I landed.. It was ripcord equipped, so I kept going over it in my head - hold on to the ripcord.. When pull time came, I grabbed it, yanked it out, held on to it...and as the canopy was deploying, I looked at my hand, thought OH SHIT, and threw the damn thing to my side.. I realized what I did as soon as it left my hand - but I couldn't grab it..
  4. Ah, ok.. I have to say, the thing about the flap position does sound familiar now that you mention it.. I think he has mentioned it before - but I didn't think he had found any actual problems it caused, just knew that it could.. I'll tell ya this much - I don't plan on using another rigger as long as I live anywhere near Central Florida.. Well, unless I get my ticket, that is..
  5. Being a pilot has some great benefits...at many places, the airport security personnel are NOT ALLOWED to do this type of shit to us if we have a 'CREW' tag on our bags.. They are not allowed to delay us in any "unreasonable" manner.. I've had 'em grab my bag after it comes out of the X-ray for the "random" bag check, see the CREW tag(when I'm in casual attire, not uniform), and they hand me my bag without ever looking in it.. I make damn sure there are CREW tags on everything I take with me.. Keep in mind that you only see a fraction of the handling your bags go through.. Of course they try to handle them gently when everybody on the plane, in the terminal, etc., can see them.. I have seen baggage carts(with no cover) sit out in the pouring rain for 20 minutes.. Everything was totally drenched.. Oh, and regarding the extra insurance....it's definitely a good idea if you check your rig, but by no means is it a guarantee that you will get paid that value for your rig if it's lost.. A buddy of mine checked his gear bag(with 2 rigs in it) from Denver to Orlando.. He got to Orlando, we waited at the baggage claim, but his bag never came out.. He filed a claim, and they said 2 weeks has to pass before they can pay.. If they find the bag, they'll get it back to him - if not, they will pay the claim.. After 2 weeks, they still hadn't found the bag.. He questioned them about the claim(for $8500 - the same value he purchased insurance for), they said they would have to determine "fair market value" for what was lost.. Somehow, they came up with a total of $5000 - supposedly the value of the 2 rigs.. One was a year old(Mirage, Extreme VX, PDR, CYPRES), the other was 4 years old(Talon, Stilleto, PDR, CYPRES).. He fought with 'em for 2 weeks.. Amazingly, and quite luckily, they called him 4 1/2 weeks after the flight and said they found his bag.. He got it the next day - in perfect condition.. Turns out it sat in an unclaimed baggage room somewhere in Europe for 4 weeks.. If you insist on checking your rig, do a couple of things first.. If you have a D ring on your reserve, wrap the chest strap around it several times and pull it tight so that the handle cannot be dislodged accidentally.. Using the chest strap will ensure that you won't forget to remove whatever you use to secure the handle prior to jumping it.. Definitely use a gear bag.. Either place a small padlock on the zippers(so it can't be opened), or use a plastic zip-tie so that it can't be opened without you knowing.. Place some padding(jumpsuits will work) over the CYPRES control unit and the closing pins to protect them from impact.. I, personally, will not check my rig.. Mike
  6. With my luck, it would go something like this.. Exit about 8-10 seconds after the other jumper.. Watch him dump, then chop.. Keep my eye on the freebag and canopy as I pitch my pilot chute.. After I pitch, I see ground, sky, ground, sky, ground, sky, ground... Fuck, here we go.. Chop it, get stable, deploy my reserve.. Spot my freebag to the left, his to the right, heading away from each other.. Decisions, decisions.. Ah, fuck his freebag and canopy, I'll follow mine.. My stuff lands in the peas, so I decide to swoop the blades on my reserve.. Holy shit, this thing is sinking like crazy.. 180 front riser turn, start the surf....start the surf.. start the...WHAM! Shit, this thing doesn't flare like my main.. Stand up, get nailed by another jumper who's landing....hey, it's the guy that did the intentional cutaway.. Mike
  7. Oh, there will be pictures.. I'll be getting video of all the good stuff - on the ground and in the air.. I'll pick out the good frames, turn 'em into stills, and post 'em.. Mike
  8. I'm not sure what got your panties in a wad, but maybe you mis-understood what I wrote.. I never called you a liar.. Re-read my post.. Mike
  9. On the Q/C issue, agreed...but I'm not familiar with reserve deployment issues.. Are you perhaps thinking of the reserve problems with the Vector? The Vector is the one that has a reserve deployment problem after a total on the main.. Mike
  10. I read this thread(and replied to it) before I read the responses to my question in Talk Back.. The responses you guys gave in Talk Back made it very obvious that the CYPRES cut the loop....I just hadn't seen that part when I posted my reply here.. Sorry.. Mike
  11. I don't doubt that it was a mis-fire that occured at around 4k - if it happened at the altitude it was supposed to, and you guys were just starting to track, you probably would've gone in or had a CYPRES fire yourself.. The only thing I was wondering about was whether it was truly a CYPRES or possibly an FXC.. The term CYPRES seems to be used often to describe any type of AAD.. FXC's are known for firing high.. Based on the explanations, I don't doubt now that the CYPRES fired and cut the closing loop.. That's a sure-fire way to tell the AAD deployed the reserve rather than some other action(such as a dislodged pin).. Definitely keep us updated.. BTW, was this Nick's own rig or a rental? I'm assuming it's his, but not 100% sure.. Mike
  12. What do you consider light loadings? I think Carl said he's loading it around 1.4, which is about where I'll be loading it.. I'm expecting that same canopy that Carl has in 2 weeks, I'll let ya know how my openings are.. Mike
  13. Aviatrr

    Fat bastards

    Damn.. I laughed my ass off as I read this thread.. Even when the comments were totally serious....it was kinda funny.. I can't believe people take this shit so seriously.. It's a website.. A great one, but just a website.. I think we need to charge based on clothing.. For women, the more skin showing, the cheaper their jump ticket.. For guys, the more skin showing, the MORE their jump ticket(sorry, Pyke - I know you won't like this one).. Bonus for big, bare tits - but not if I have to see 'em floppin around in freefall.. Ewww.. Mike
  14. I'll watch for ya on the news tonight, Marc.. Glad to hear it turned out as well as it did.. Next time, take the helicopter to a 10ft hover if you want that extra elevation to look for somebody..
  15. Uh, oh.. Here we go again.. We seem to re-hash this every couple of months.. Oh well, here goes.. I do not use an RSL.. I feel that it is more of a danger than a help for me.. I have one set of emergency procedures - I never have to think about whether or not I need to disconnect my RSL in certain situations(such as 2 out, canopy collision/wrap, etc.).. I want to be in control of when my reserve is deployed.. If I have to chop, I want to be able to choose whether I pull the reserve ripcord immediately or wait a few seconds to get stable.. A really good secondary reason I don't use an RSL is because I jump with a camera on my head.....but I quit using the RSL long before I started jumping the camera.. Mike
  16. I agree with what you wrote, but I don't think I made clear what I meant.. When he said the loop was still there, I took that to mean intact - which would indicate to me the CYPRES did not release the reserve.. Of course it does not take a rigger to determine if the cutter has activated - but I am under the impression that they didn't know exactly what they were looking for/seeing.. Mike
  17. Go with the Kenko lens - they work great.. Get a step up ring as previously stated.. I use a .5 on my PC5 - the .42 was a bit too large for my liking.. The difference in picture is not much, but the lens is physically quite a bit larger.. Mike
  18. I assume you guys had this CYPRES fire confirmed by a rigger, but you stated that the pin and loop was still there.. Well, of course the pin is still there, but the loop should not be if the CYPRES fired.. The CYPRES fire would have severed the closing loop, and the chances of the cut loop staying with the jumper are very slim.. Definitely talk to Airtec.. They will want to know about this, and probably want to examine the unit.. Make sure to send it certified mail.. Rumor has it that some units that have mis-fired have "never made it" to their facility.. I witnessed a CYPRES mis-fire from about 2 feet about a year ago.. Suprised the hell out of me.. It was a fairly new unit, too - no RF shield required(built in, I suppose).. Mike
  19. What prompted the 500 number? For an AFF JM, you just need 6 hours of freefall time.. Most belly fliers could get that in 330-350 jumps.. It's not too common, in my experience, to see AFF JM's with that few jumps, though.. 500 is the number of jumps(on a ram-air) required for a Tandem Instructor.. 500 jumps and 3 years in sport.. Jump with everybody you can, of all experience levels.. Jumping with experienced people will help you to fine tune your flying.. Jumping with newbies will really help hone your flying skills.. Learn to freefly.. Even if it's not something you're really interested in, it makes a well rounded instructor that can fly in any required body position to get the job done.. If there are some Coaches in your area, jump with them to see if they think your flying is up to par for the Coach course.. Skydive U coaches are held to basically the same standards, they could tell you the same thing.. That's where I'm at right now - preparing to go to a Coach course sometime in the next 6 months.. Good luck.. Mike
  20. Hmmm.. Are you guys sure it was a CYPRES, and not another type of AAD? Such as, possibly, an FXC? CYPRES mis-fires are rare, but I have personally witnessed one from about 2 feet away.. Mike
  21. But the big question is.....did you get pied? Mike
  22. An ACCIDENTAL CYPRES fire at 4k? What happened - did somebody turn on their CYPRES on the ride to altitude? Was it a mis-fire? Anybody know what happened with that? Mike
  23. I feel that small side mount cameras - while they are more susceptible to riser strikes - are safer overall.. Look at the 3 camera fatalities this year.. All were top mount cameras(video and still) that got entangled with the main or reserve.. Ring sights also played a big factor in 2 of 'em from what I understand.. I currently jump a PC5 on a side mount.. I don't plan on going to a top mount or adding a still for a long time - if ever.. Whatever you jump, minimize snag points as much as possible.. Mike
  24. The Sabre is a good canopy, but expect to get slammed on openings now and then.. I think that most non-elliptical canopies would be fine for a first.. When I say non-elliptical, I'm referring to FULL ellipticals(Stilleto, Crossfire, Diablo), not semi-ellipticals(Sabre 2, Hornet, Safire, Spectre).. Ask some of the experienced jumpers around your DZ about the different types of canopies, and how they fly.. Talk to your instructors regarding wing loading that's appropriate for you, and which canopies are right for you.. Mike