riggerrob

Recently I was at Okanagan Skydive (Vernon, B.C.). A student showed up with her own Go-Pro, so manifest handed it to the TI and he strapped the student's camera into his regular hand-mount. After the jump, he just handed the GoPro back to the student.

I tested some magnets on Cessna seatbelt buckles and they were strong enough to prevent the buckles from blowing out the door. The magnets were one inch diameter, similar to those used in riser covers.

The more stiffeners, the slower the free-bag extraction. The longer the stiffeners .... The wider the stiffeners .... The tighter the corners ... The more flaps above the free-bag .... The narrower the container ... The farther that riser covers overlap the top of the free-bag ... The more tuck tabs ... The more Velcro .... Top flap stiffeners have greater affect than flap width. If stiffeners in side flaps are longer than the diameter of the pilot chute cap, they might slow deployment. Cypres pocket makes little difference. Since the d-bag's axis of rotation is close to the pocket, there is little risk of interference. Only the Strong Dual Hawk Tandem still has the AAD pocket in the pack tray, because of cable length issues.

You got to jump out of a deHavilland Mosquito type airplane? Cool! There are only two airworthy Mosquitos on this planet! Seriously, sounds like the OP suffered typical first-jump discomfort and anxiety. Next jump, remember to breath. If he wants an accurate medical opinion, he will ask an FAA Flight Surgeon to examine him. As for his medical-related anxiety ... sounds similar to my allergy to lawyers.

Pinching a closing loop is difficult. You would need to stack all the variables on the wrong side of the equation: dull blade, weak pyrotechnic charge, loop too thick, etc.

"... Only rarely has someone shouted "do it NOW" - then they get ignored for the rest of the day." .................................................................................... Ignorance: the mark of a quiet professional. I must remember that technique.

What do your local instructors say?

Warning, I am not a medical professional ... I just have a dis-located shoulder, torn ligaments in my knee, couple of herniated discs in my lower spine, etc.. How quickly you recover depends upon how much soft tissue you damaged and how hard you work at physical rehabilitation. As soon as your surgeon recommends, start working with a physio-therapist to rebuild muscles surrounding your injured spine. You can return to skydiving when you can run up and down stairs, swim, play tennis, etc. .... AND when your surgeon says that you re strong enough to resume jumping.

.................................................................................. Agreed Andy. However, most skydivers - make sarcastic comments about military static-line jumps - have few clues and even fewer muscles. The average skydiver does not have the first clue as to how hard it is to jump with rucksack, rifle and snowshoes. ..... as for the next skydiver who puts down military jump experience ... I issue the challenge: you and me with rucksacks and once around the airfield.

Tandem instructors get paid to sweat. Professional TIs sit quietly until they are high enough to deploy reserves. Trivial point, the Strong manual says that tandem students must be attached to their TI any time the door is open.

something like this ? http://www.skyvisionpara.com/ ?? .............................................................. That SkyVision Pro helmet looks as snag-free as my Sidewinder and Bonehead Full-Box helmets. Sad thing is the old guys will lose this argument just as cameras shrink small enough to make the snag hazard disappear. Maybe we need to start writing out a list of pre-level skills before people start jumping cameras. The pre-list should start with "X" number of minutes of video of chasing your cat around, to demonstrate basic knowledge of your camera before you allow it within a mile of your parachute.

When in doubt, send that closet-queen back to the FXC factory for testing and updates. The last Service Bulletin was published about 6 years ago. FXC sells a test light for ground testing. The test-light allows you to ground test an Astra in the same test chamber that you ground test FXC 12000 AADs. There are two ways to install the test light. The first method involves reading the manual. The second method involves loud noises and expensive spare parts! I recommend reading the manual before you start testing. Guess how I learned that one?

Dinosaur? How dare you call me a dinosaur? I'll have you know that I am a "grumpy old grey-bearded Master Rigger" who made up his mind about cameras back in 1987, and please don't waste your time telling me anything new. Back in 1987, Robin Sutherland died after snagging alone on his ornate camera helmet. I cried when I heard about Robin's last skydive. Most Go-Pro mounts have more snag points than Robin's home-made helmet. Most Go-Pro mounts scare me! The short-term solution is filling those snag points with scraps of foam and duct-tape. The medium-term solution is invented (bolt-on) mounts with fairings that encourage lines to slide off. The long-term solution is cameras imbedded in helmets so that lenses are flush with the shell and impossible to snag As for pre-levels before junior jumpers can start joint cameras ... big organizations like USPA, CSPA, APF, BPA, etc. tend to talk in short-hand about numbers if jumps and license levels. Sadly, few big organizations explain the logic behind their limitations. This short-hand leaves a communications/knowledge gap between administrators and junior jumpers. May I suggest an alternative? .... similar to Bill Von's list of canopy skills before down-sizing?

When you fully tighten the belts, it reduces the flail arc for hardware, but the overall length is still the same. IOW a soft strap end might still beat the paint off the the outside of the airplane, but will make fewer dents than a metal buckle. OTOH leaving belts short slows the boarding and belting process process and gives people an excuse not to wear belts. The second-best solution to short belts is having the first jumper on board straightening out all the seat belts before he sits down. If you give skydivers an inch, they will take a mile. Trust me, the bottom of a dog-pile is not a pleasant place!

Warning: thread drift .... How do you stow the ends of the seatbelt (before opening the door)? Has any one tried magnets? Do magnets work on stainless steel belt buckles? Do you attach magnets to the air frame or floor mat?

Alignment is important. Secondly strengthening the muscles around the ankle help. Finally, exercise to increase bone density. Kim's exercises mainly work on flexibility and alignment. Once your joints are correctly aligned, then start working on strengthening muscles: calf raises, etc. Muscle strengthening exercises help increase bone density, but in the long run (pun intended) the only solution is miles and miles of road work. Why do you think paratroopers do so many forced marches with rucksack, rifles and snowshoes? On a personal level, I am recovering from knee surgery. The surgeon was all smiles when he watched me walk down the hallway. Part my recovery included a series of stationary exercises taught by my local physiotherapist. Then we had a lengthy discussion about long walks on steep hills (British Columbia) is mostly steep hills. Good thing I enjoy long walks in forests.

I have a similar set of home-made soft links on my Ariel 150 main canopy and they work just fine ... hundreds of jumps.

Search webs of major dealers: Chuting Star, Para-Gear, Square One, Square Two and Square Three, etc. to compare prices. Often major dealers offer discounts on complete rigs. At a minimum major dealers offer free assembly and pack (more than $100 value). If the dealer's rigger assembles the rig, you can be sure that all parts are compatible.

Agreed! The United States Air Force has installed rear-facing seats in their cargo planes for the last 50 years. Two advantages: first crash impact forces your ass deeper into the corner of the seat. Secondly, impact forces are spread over a much larger surface

If you firmly strap a child to your chest, you solve one problem but create another. First, you prevent the child from flying around the cabin, smashing against walls and injuring others. I have been on the bottom of a dog-pile during a plane crash. Five guys landed on my left knee and tore it up in a most painful fashion. A mere 8 years later, my knee surgeon approved me to return to work. Secondly, strapping the child to your chest increases the risk of you crushing the child as your torso jack-knifes forward. Shoulder belts would vastly reduce the risk of jack-knifing, but are rarely installed in airliners. Why?

Sounds like you need some gripper lube. ................................................................ And remember to apply a little gripper lube to your "wedding tackle" because half the skydivers who complain about gripper friction also suffer friction to their "over-sized" wedding-tackle.

Yes. The market for sport rigs was strong from 1992 to 1997, then demand dipped dramatically. Smaller, newer companies like Stunts (Eclipse) and Fliteline (Reflex) closed. Meanwhile, older companies like RWS and Rigging Innovations laid of some of their staff.

The term "sweet spot" probably originated with the sports of golf and tennis when the perfect swing meets the ball at the perfect time, the perfect speed, the perfect timing, the perfect angle, and the perfect contact point in the bat/racket. Or perhaps the term comes from aviation, where a stabilized approach ends with the pilot pulling the control stick (the perfect distance) to the "sweet spot" to flare for a soft landing. The "sweet spot" (perfect toggle position relative to hips) of a parachute varies with canopy type, canopy size, line wear, length of steering lines, length of risers, harness fit, weight of jumper, density altitude, humidity, surface winds, etc.

Binocular vision is only used the last 33 feet before touch-down. The disadvantage of binocular vision is that it only comes into play the last few seconds before touch-down. Binocular vision can be so scary that it is called "ground rush." We teach students to keep their eyes on the horizon to avoid ground rush. Different people use different cues to judge when to flare for landing. For example, refer students to the 6 foot tall fence along two sides of the landing area at Pitt Meadows Airport. Another example was that I used to wait until I could focus on individual blades of grass before flaring. That technique worked well until my second night jump! The famous one-eyed pilot Wiley Post used to judge his landing approaches by the changing shape of the runway ... as he flew down final approach. In the long run, you are going to have to learn to judge your landing approach by angles, so binocular vision is not that important.

Folks I don't have an artificial knee, but 9 months ago a surgeon did a high tibial osteotomy (open wedge medial HTO) on my left knee. Today the surgeon was all smiles where he palpitated my knee and watched me walk. Then he wrote a letter saying that I am officially no longer a cripple. Yipeeee! Copyright: If any lawyers want to quote this post, they must send me $100,000 per word.