riggerrob

.. remember the Sunpath fiasco over the removal of an RSL requiring a Master Rigger after the incident at Whitewright. Sunpath even had to modify their bulletin to allow the jumper to disconnect the snap-shackle and even then under limited circumstances. ..................................................................................... Thread drift ....... What was the original incident (Whitewright) that led to this confusing Service Bulletin?

I have a few pairs of RW-6 rings that I might be willing to sell. Keep in mind that when you install larger harness rings, you also might need to install longer (3-Ring Release) housings and maybe even longer release cables.

Try explaining wing-loading to your scientific brother. You might weight twice as much as the skinny chick, but you don't have twice her wing-area, ergo you fall faster.

Agreed! Airplane size and climb rate seem to be the determine factors in whether a DZ concentrates on AFF for solo students. Smaller DZs that only fly slow- climbing Cessnas seem to prefer IAD and S/L. If the plane only climbs to 9,000 feet - on hot days - then students struggle to complete their lessons in the time available. OTOH DZs with fast-climbing turbines prefer AFF because the airplane is already going to the top floor and they probably already have extra seats for instructors, vidiots, fun-jumpers, etc. IOW it costs (the DZO) less (per seat) to send AFF students to the top floor in a turbine.

How can you use the words "safe" and "sub 100 square foot canopy" in the same sentence?????? Like all high performance, pond-swooping canopies, Xaos have only tiny margins for error. The smaller the canopy, the smaller the margin for error. The smaller the logbook, the smaller the margin for error. The smaller the cliff ... Oh! ... never mind 'cus that's another sport. The thinner the suspension lines, the thinner the margin for error. .... er .... the thinner the line, the shorter the line service life. If you have any doubts about line wear, march your canopy past your local rigger before your next jump. Given all those variables, Xaos still seem more popular with "working skydivers" (freefall instructors and vidiots) because they seem more tolerant at opening time.

Has anyone jumped with a bicycle? I am thinking more in terms of military jumpers exiting with rucksack, rifle and snowshoes a and bicycle and pedalling back to the DZ. During World War 2, paratroopers experimented with folding bicycles (made by Birmingham Small Arms) but they tended to drop their bikes in panniers, then chase down the panniers, re-install wheels, etc. I wonder if any military-grade bikes are still in production? Might come in handy if you BASE jumped the backcountry, then had a long hike on logging roads to return to civilization. BASE jumping also implies a canopy in the 300 square foot range (I weight 200 out of my sleeping bag).

All these people I see in the sky and on youtube chopping with their legs flopping out in front of them, wondering why they're flipping all over the sky. . .. I'll repeat myself for the umpteenth time. When you're chopping, as you reach for your handles, put your feet back on your @$$ and ARCH. I've never had even a bit of instability on any cutaway using this method. Saves time, saves lives." ............................... Yes! I learned that lesson during my second cutaway. As I was tipping over backwards (slow back loop) I thought to myself "Maybe I should have arched my legs more." Fortunately the reserve deployed while my spine was vertical. .... but am I preaching to the choir?????

What year did your school start teaching Accompanied FreeFall? What was the first year that AFF students exceeded static-line (IAD) students? Did airplane type affect the numbers?

Good points John. The alternative is much worse. Far too many skydivers have cutaway from spinning mals and hesitated before pulling their reserves. Too many impacted before their reserves inflated. The excuse was that they wanted to get stable before pulling their reserve ripcord. The problem was compounded by the spinning mal spinning up their inner ears so badly that it took another 10 or 20 seconds to "un-spin" their inner ears. Most of the deceased were less than 20 seconds from impact when they cutaway. Adding a heavy dose of adrenaline only increases disorientation. On another note, fearing line twists on your reserve points to two poor decisions. A: you don't understand that reserves are boring, constant chord 7-cells that are specifically tailored for boring openings. Reserve planforms look far more like BASE canopies than any modern main. Boring planforms (square) mean boring openings that reduce line-twists to mere "nuisances" on all but the tiniest of reserves. B: fearing line twists on your reserve means that you bought too small a reserve.

......................................................... Agreed! But Hollywood is only into remakes these days so the "Star Wars" series now gets directors like JJ Abrams instead of original geniuses like Lucas. Similarly Cubby Broccolli seems to have retired from directing "James Bond" films.

First, ask your local rigger to inspect the complete rig ... even better if he inspects the harness while you are wearing it, so he/she can see how well it fits you. Harness resizes start at $100 depending upon how much it needs to be re-sized.

What year did your school introduce tandems? What was the first year tandems out-numbered solo (s/l of AFF) students?

You could love Bill or you could hate Bill, but you had to respect Bill. I may not have agreed with everything Bill said, but I would fight to defend Bill. Never met Bill face-to-face, but am mighty glad of Bill's contributions to the early days of skydiving in Canada. God speed Bill Cole.

First guess is that those medals are confiscated from Prisoners of War at the end of World War 2. Thousands of allied soldiers brought home Nazi souvenirs. Definitely offer them to the nearest museum.

When did your school introduce accompanied freefall? When did AFF dominate your school? What percentage of students only did 1 jump? What percentage graduated AFF? How did those percentages change over the years?

I saw Point Break 2 on Boxing Day and enjoyed it more than the first version. Point Break 1 is one of my all-time favourite movies. PB2 adds motivation and philosophy that was weak in the first version. Glad to hear that modern extreme athletes are trying to achieve more than just an adrenaline rush. Yes, it looked like there was a bit of CGI in some of the wing suiting, but it was good see so many familiar names in the credits: Margaret V. took over my old job at R.I. .... just talked with Todd Shoebotham about re-lining a BASE canopy .... Glad to hear that Jeb Corliss is still alive.

Contrary to you, I enjoyed the second version of the movie more than the first . Most of the action scenes were believable and I like the way they explained the Ozaki 8 philosophy, because it lent greater meaning (gravity) to the story.

And a Happy New Year to you too dear

The other day - at work - one of guys complained about small birds flying into the warehouse and shifting on the shelves, so I suggested hiring a cat. A lengthy debate about cats - as rodent hunters - ensued. Apparently our problems pale in comparison with a warehouse worker in Surrey. He also requested a cat, but his rodent problem is so big that he requested a big cat .... he requested a cougar-sized cat to eradicate the beaver-sized rodents that have been stealing his wooden pallets! Hah! Hah!

My guess is that they have an underwater rotor. The rotor spins are the central island, lifting the wave as it passes underneath.

Friday I was buying a ticket for the latest Star Wars movie, when the cashier did a double-take! "For a second I thought you were George Lucas!" I reassured her that George often attends screenings to judge audience reaction .....

............................................. That round stamp is a Deutscher Fallschirms Verband "Prufur" stamped for its 2-year inspection. Translation: German Parachute Association "Inspector" stamp.

Yes

I have packed hundreds of original Swift reserves (Para-Flite USA, 5-cell, Dacron suspension lines, serial number beginning with R3-????) and dozens sewn by Parachute Industries of South Africa. The only way I distinguish between the two factories is: colour. Some PISA Swifts are made of more colourful fabrics (e.g. dark blue). PISA also used lower-quality ink that tended to smudge. A marketing agreement limited PISA sales to Africa and Europe. I have also packed dozens of Swift Plus (7-cell, F-111 fabric, Kevlar reinforcing tapes, Spectra suspension lines, serial number beginning with R6-???) sewn by Para-Flite USA. This is the first I have heard about PISA making Swift PLUS reserves (R6-?????) ??????

.................................................... I may be Canadian, but here my response to your propoosals: 2. And collapse the import and export of all goods? The Anerican economy will collapse. 3. They are already being deported. The majority of illegal immigrants who at deleted are deported directly from the county jails where they were held for stupid minor crimes like drinking and speeding, or drinking and brawling, or drinking and wife-bearing or drinking and petty theft. Stupid criminals deserve to be deported back to the worst "Hole of Calcutta" in the country of their birth. Similarly, any immigrants - who claim religious or political motivation - for violent crimes deserve to deported to the worst "Hole of Calcutta" in their country of birth. Finally, any "home-grown" jihadists deserve a free ride to the trenches surrounding Aleppo .... and their ankle should be chained to that trench, so they can die a martyr's death. 5. agreed. And force all long-term residents to learn to speak English. 12. Repair relations with a murderous dictator??? 13. Only if it is funded by Jews living in America .... Oh! Wait a minute! Doesn't that clash with number 3? 27. Slam into reverse! .... Allow foxes to regulate the hen-house? 28. Yeah! Finally a point we can agree on. Force tort lawyers to focus on "making the victim whole." Also force courts to limit secondary damages by limiting the number of years a tort lawsuit can drag through the courts. e. g. "if the case drags beyond the 3 year anniversary, the wounded gets all the compensation he originally asked for. In reality, we should pray that Obamacare will starve out all the ambulance-chasing lawyers, because once your major medical bills have been paid (and you are healthy) the incentive for suing drops dramatically. 33. End bulk data collection by telecommunications companies. Good luck on that one! Hah! Hah! 40. Limiting mitary exercises in American cities limits American soldiers fighting overseas. More than half of this planet's human populations live in cities. Recent fighting on Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, etc. required American soldiers to fight on foot in built up areas. Maybe limit military exercises to abandoned neighbourhoods on Detriot? Declare them free-fire zones. Use American Army artillery to level abandoned building vs in the name of slum-clearance, urban-renewal, or whatever the politically-courteous term is this week. Finally, revise the Second Amendment to allow freedom to carry muzzle-loading muskets. All more recently-invented weapons would require training, paper-trails, etc. Oh! And civilians would be restricted to smaller magazines than police.