riggerrob

If you really want to see racism, go to Quebec. Quebec includes the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains so some of the older families act like hill-bullies. Sadly, the oldest Quebec families act whiter than the KKK on laundry day! (Sarcasm alert) Bissonnette reflects long-standing racism within Quebec society. Quebec Separatists, Les Berets Blanc and the Bloc Québécois want to party like its 1616. They believe that the Golden Years started in 1608 when Samuel de Champlain founded colonies in Aciadia and Quebec. Iroquois and Abenaki natives had been devastated by disease. Farmers from Norman France could claim as much land as they could plow. French-Canadian women still got pregnant a dozen times in their lifetime, but better food and fewer diseases meant that most of those dozen children survived to adulthood. This "Revenge of the Cradle" ensued that "Pure Laine" (pure wool) families dominated Quebec until the mid-twentieth century. As Pure Laine birth rates dropped during the 1960s, they searched for new French-speaking, catholic immigrants. Many potential immigrants applied from former French colonies, but - horror of horrors - those applications came from Algeria and Haiti. By far the worse problem was that these new immigrants were BLACK! As immigration floodgates opened after 1962, huge numbers of immigrants applied from all over Africa and the Carribbean and too many of immigrants were BLACK!

Agreed! These last few years, a variety of - initially - peaceful protests have been hijacked by handfuls of hooded vandals. They get their thrills from breaking things and taunting police. One of the more amusing videos of the Vancouver Riot Essa guy taunting police for 10 minutes, then getting whacked once! He got what head asking for! These vandals have a similar mind-set to skydivers. The only difference is that skydivers taunt the law of gravity.

Berkeley protestors went too far when they set things on fire. Protestors deserve the same treatment as Vancouver's hockey rioters. With that many cell phone cameras, it will be easy for courts to identify the guilty vandals. While I may not agree with everything he says, I will defend his right to state his opinions. I would much rather hear his cold hard analysis than some wishy-washy, limp-wristed, politically-correct boiler-plate that by the end my ears are tired, but I have learned nothing new. If you get offended, you are probably insecure in your own beliefs. I agree with him that "political correctness" went too far in censoring me when I referred to my neighbors' female dog as a bitch. Critics distort his views when they quote him out of context. Standard practice for modern journalists reporting on any celebrity, politician, business leader, etc. When you lose your ability to laugh at off-colour jokes ..... things get worse. OTOH his arrogance can be annoying This whole debate reminds me of a talk that Larry Flint (Hustler magazine) gave at the University of Ottawa. By the end of the debate, the audience concluded that Flint's freedom of speech was important even if his magazine was slightly beyond the pale of polite journalism. If you did not like Hustler magazine, you did not have to buy it. My own political views may be slightly left of Center, but what scares me the most is right-wing politicians' ability repeatedly (think US Revolutionary War, Civil War, Korean War, both Gulf Wars, etc.) to enlist poor whites into voting into office a 45th president who will only keep them barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. I.D.Vance details this process in "Hillbilly Elegy."

My first recommendation is Precision 350 reserves and my second recommendation is PD360. Originally, Tandem Vectors were only supplied with Pioneer Hi-Lifter 370 reserves. When Pioneer left the skydiving business, Vectors switched to PD360 reserves and that has been the written standard ever since. UPT is reluctant to approve any other reserve for two reasons: technical and legal. Technically, UPT does not want the expense of drop-testing another reserve design. They also want to discourage cheapskate DZOs from packing tiny, solo reserves (e.g. Micro Ravens) into tandems. Legally, UPT and Strong are both tired of lawsuits involving accidents that they were not directly involved in, or when users blatantly ignored manuals. Originally, Strong only approved Master 425 reserves. Recently, Strong approved their SET366 reserve after a few million jumps as mains plus the usually reserve drop-tests. I Have jumped: Hi-Lifter 370, PD360, Strong 425 and Parachutes de France reserve canopies back when they were fashionable as mains. More recently I have packed Angelfire, Precision and Next reserves. I recently told a Canadian DZO that I would cheerfully remove his Next reserves from worn-out Next containers and pack them into Sigmas. These Next reserves have few jumps and are still in like-new condition.

The latest ad illustrates a demographic shift in the motorcycle industry and North American society as a whole. The Baby Boom (1946 to 1964) produced millions of people who severely "bulged" population curves. Now (50 to 70 year old) "Baby Boomers" are retiring and can afford the "rebel" motorcycles they could only dream about in their younger years. Too many Baby Boomers buy motorcycles to fulfill their mid-life crisis. Sadly, they soon learn that old bones cannot ride all day. Old reflexes slow down. Older reflexes are too slow to prevent colliding with some cell-phone-distracted car driver and old bones heal slowly. Vancouver motorcycle shops have enjoyed great sales since the turn of the century, but sales are slowing as Baby Boomers admit that they are too old and too feeble to ride all day. Now Mercedes is trying to attract those aging Baby Boomers to buy "racy" "adventurous" "rebel" convertible sports cars. We are seeing similar trends in the skydiving industry.

I did not experience any time distortion during my first reserve ride. I pulled the main ripcord and it pulled me uptight. My first hint that something was wrong was all the wind still roaring past my ears. I also saw the - rapidly approaching - ground in my peripheral vision. Half a glance told me that I was too low to continue free falling. I looked up to see the (Crossbow) stabilizers all knotted together. I asked myself: "Can you land this?" I replied "Yes! But you will break a lot of bones." So I laid my left hand over my chest-mounted reserve and pulled the ripcord. I started to hand deploy the reserve canopy, but wind tore it out of my hands. I landed that 24 flat reserve in a plowed field off the end of the runway. All that adrenaline kept me vibrating for hours afterwards. The whole debate about hand-deploying reserves started with wimpy, sissified, girly, limp-wristed springs in the original "umbrella" pilot-chutes. Also consider that most chest-mounted reserves were deployed by soldiers who exited around 1,000 feet and were already hanging under partially-inflated mains. Capewells were designed during the 1950s after a few US Marines got dragged to their deaths. Capewells were originally designed to be opened after landing. Using Capewells to cutaway malfunctioned Para-Commanders proved "problematic."

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Could you explain? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Back in the good old days, 3-Ring release handles were simple, floppy nylon pillows and were easy to fold under the harness while dressing. I have embarrassed several jumpers - walking towards the plane - by asking them "Hey Paul! Where is your cutaway handle?" They looked, fumbled, then straightened out their cutaway handles. Modern cutaway handles are far more difficult to fold under because they contain stiffeners.

Large doses of adrenaline distort peoples' sense of timing. Mouthing numbers helps restore your sense of timing. Mouthing numbers helps you focus on tasks you need to perform during your skydive. Relaxing after pulling is a bad habit. While you might believe that the most dangerous part of the skydive (freefall) is over most injuries occurr during landings. If I may provide some historical perspective ..... We did not understand the whole "relaxing too much after opening" phenomenon back when static-lines were the only way to make your first jump. We just knew that one student out of "X" hundred would never try to steer his/her canopy and drift over the forest. Much later - after tandem gained popularity - we learned that some students lost consciousness after opening. The start of their problem was skipping breakfast. All that adrenaline rapidly burned through their (tiny) reserves of blood sugar and they vomited or lost consciousness after opening. The cure is simple: eat a normal breakfast. Then nibble snacks and drink water throughout the day.

Poorly informed people mis-calculate risks.

USPA statistics say that main parachutes malfunction once every 700 hundred jumps. Roughly one skydiver dies per million jumps, but we do not have complete statistics. Minor nuisances (line twists, closed end cells, etc.) are common, but usually easily corrected before decision altitude (1700 feet). I did my first jump 40 years ago and have made 6,500 jumps since then with 5 solo reserve rides and 20 plus tandem reserve rides. Most of those reserve rides were after cutting away damaged first-generation tandems. None of those canopies (28 foot round, Crossbow, Cruiselite, Diablo and F-111 tandem canopies) are no longer manufactured. If you brought them to my loft today, I would enjoy a laugh and point you towards a museum! Reassure Mom that if you buy reasonable equipment and plan your dives methodically, you have an excellent chance of surviving long enough to join Skydivers Over Sixty ..... one of my resolutions for 2017.

Hi grunt, Good questions. Like you, I stand 6 feet tall and weigh 220 pounds. Back when I was young and beautiful and weighed 190 pounds, I did hundreds of jumps on 135 square foot canopies. Unfortunately an accident and knee surgery grounded me for a year and I gained 30 pounds. Now 135 canopies fly to fast to be comfortable on final approach. Since I no longer do 350 jumps per year, I am looking to up-size to a 170 or 190 square foot canopy. Now I find myself competing with jumpers half my age for gently-used 170 or 190 square foot canopies.

Adrenaline! Yes! Adrenaline What a marvellous drug. Best things about adrenaline is that it is free and legal! Bad thing is that you need to approach the threshold of breaking bond before your body starts producing adrenaline. Adrenaline routes blood to major muscles. As blood rushes to major muscles, it improves strength and reaction times. The disadvantage is that you become clumsy, deaf and too narrowly focused. Better athletes learn how to tap into adrenaline and also how to adjust arousal levels so that they enjoy the focus and strength, but not too focused to lose peripheral vision. A large part of police and military training is keeping arousal levels low enough that they can react to threats from the side.

Common errors include: Mis-routed chest strap Miss-routed 3-Rings Release handle folded under harness Miss-routed RSL Miss-routed main bridle Worn out BOC Pins inserted too deep AAD not turned on

----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Uneeded" if all the other ligaments, tendons and muscles surrounding your knee are strong ...... ........ But in my case, I tore 3 ligaments in the same knee. Healing was slow and painful. Five years after the accident, that knee started dis-locating, so I needed surgery. At my age: 55, the surgeon was reluctant to waste time rebuilding ligaments. He kept mumbling to himself "but you don't smoke." Since smoking reduces blood flow to muscles and slows the healing process. Eventually, the surgeon re-aligned my tibia to reduce the risk of dis-locating again. Moral of the story, hire a surgeon to repair your knee while you are still young. Because young people heal quicker.

A guaranteed minimum income will only work if it is tied to part-time employment. "Hillbilly Elegy" by J.D.Vance describes how chronic unemployment saps the souls of the unemployed. Generations of chronic unemployment can sap the energy out of entire towns or states. Back in the old days, under-employed (Scots-Irish) hillbillies made money on the side distilling whiskey or growing marijuana. Sure many of hillbillies developed drinking problems but their addictions were nowhere near as big nor as bad as the current opiate (morphine, heroin, oxycondone, fentynal, car fentynal, etc.) addiction cruisis. Idle hands are the devil's tools means that bored hillbillies do stupid hints to amuse themselves: drinking, drugging, child molestation, wife-beating, feuding with neighbors, etc. Chronic un-employment is not just an American Appalachian problem because I grew up in the north end of the Appalachian Mountains of Southern Quebec and was born into a family with the same Scots-Irish roots. I am at risk of slipping into the same rut, especially after my last accident. I only took Oxycondone for one week after my surgery. After one week constipation caused more pain than infection, swelling, deep vein thrombosis, etc. But I can understand how easily people get addicted to prescription pain-killers. Laying around staring at my wounds as bad for moral. It was depressing and exhausting. For a workaholic like me, losing my identity as a big, tough, dozen-a-day tandem instructor shattered my my self confidence. I hobbled to the loft 4 or 5 days a week. Injuries limited me to working half days and I was not half as productive as before but walking the 2 kilometres to work for good therapy for my battered legs. Getting out of my apartment also helped lift me out of my emotional rut. As an aside, it never ceases to amuse me how effectively American politicians manipulate poor white folks (aka. hillbillies) to support a political/economic system that perpetually keeps them near the bottom of society. So ao vote against a guaranteed minimum income unless it is tied to part-time employment .... say half days sweeping trash or collecting soda cans.

Your first instinct is correct. The forward crew door is ahead of a propeller and way too close for safe jumping because it presents too high a risk for prop strikes. The aft passenger door is safer because it is slightly aft of the propeller, but still uncomfortably close. You could launch a few experienced jumpers from the rear passenger door but it is a bit small for students. I do not have door dimensions and wonder if the aft door is big enough for tandems. The other issue is operating costs. For the similar engine operating costs, you can stuff twice as many jumpers into a Britten-Norman Islander or a pair of Cessna 206s. Islander and 206 cargo doors are popular with tandem instructors. The only place I can see an Aero Commander being profitable is if you get a turbo-charged version and operate it out of an airstrip high in the mountains. Low purchase cost will be your primary advantage, but maintenance will be expensive in the long run.

If your knee feels unstable when you walk, immediately get a knee brace, closely followed by knee-strengthening exercises, closely followed by surgery.

That was a slow opening. Not a bag-lock. Bag-lock implies that the deployment bag never opened. The d-bag cleared the container quickly enough, but I took too long (10 seconds) until the student felt line-stretch as the bag opened. Normal time between pilot-chute toss and line stretch is 1-3 seconds. I would review pilot-chute porosity because that is the most likely cause of slow deployment. Rubber band strength might have delayed lines un-stowing, but rubber bands have a minor influence (maybe 20 pounds) compared with how hard the pilot-chute is pulling (80 or more pounds at terminal velocity). Copyright: Ambulance-chasing lawyers are welcome to quote anything I say on dz.com provided that they pay me $1000 cash per quote.

............ Skydivers use the term 'Wingload' (parachute surface divided by suspended weight) to indicate the speed and performance of a parachute. I am out of my depth trying to accurately explain this concept in English and too lazy to search for it; if you want to know more I'm sure someone will pipe up. ....................................................................................... For the definition of "wing-loading" look at the article that I published in CANPARA Magazine (circa 1983) or Poynter's Manual Volume 2 (circa 1991). Suspended weight/canopy area = wing loading. Suspended weight includes: naked jumper, shoes, helmet, jumpsuit, goggles, canopies and harness. Solo rigs (versus tandem) weight between 20 pounds (experienced) and 30 pounds (large student). ...... IOW 9 to 14 kilograms. Suspended weight/canopy area=wing loading Wing loading a start at 0.7 pounds per square foot for students, BASE jumpers and precision landing competitors. Junior sport jumpers usually limit wing-loading to 1 pound per square foot. Highly experienced canopy piloting competitors (pond swoopers) push wing loading as high as 4 pounds per square foot. Severity of malfunctions increases with heavier wing loadings. For example, line twists might be only a minor nuisance at student wing loadings: [0.7 lbs/square foot] (land able or easily untwisted by the jumper). OTOH line twists on a heavily loaded canopy can spin so fast (uncureable) that the jumper loses consciousness and the only cure is cutting away before you lose consciousness.

Agreed Gowlerk, American conservatives are remarkably narrow-minded and short-sighted when it comes to healthcare. Obamacare was an attempt to bring the USA in line with its first-world trading partners. One of the things that has been hobbling rust-belt industries (e.g. automobile manufacturing) is the high cost of medical care for retire auto-workers. When the cost of (retiree) health care benefits exceeds the cost of the steel ....... Obamacare was an attempt at limiting the number of bankruptcies and law suits. Consider that the leading cause of bankruptcy in the USA is serious illness or major accidents. All those disabilities and bankruptcies only profit one segment of society: lawyers! Guess how much I enjoy lawyers reminding me of my injuries 8.5 years after a plane crash! No nation's healthcare system is perfect, but the alternative of limited health care is a sickly, unproductive population that drags down an entire nation.

Backing the nurse on this one. Take a year off and get your ACL repaired. Then do extensive physio-therapy to strengthen all the muscles around your knees. Torn ACLs are common and surgeons have plenty of experience repairing them. Delaying will only make it worse. For example, I tore my PCL and a pair of lateral collateral ligaments when I was in my 50s. I suffered so many other injuries during that accident that I was not immediately aware of how badly my knee was torn. Five years later, my knee dislocated and doctors diagnosed me with 3 torn ligaments. Because PCL surgery is far more complicated and risky than ACL surgery (cutting near a bundle of nerves and blood vessels) and my age (late 50s) surgeons declined to repair my PCL. The best that the best surgeon in the province could do was realign my tibia. Because I don't heal as fast as I used to, surgical complications included infection, swelling, deep vein thrombosis, a second surgery and a year on the ground. Since I was unable to work during that year, I also lost a lot of money. Despite continued exercises, both my knees are weaker than before. Bottom line: knee surgery will ground you for a year now or a year later in life, but you heal much faster when you are young.

Have you asked Pete Swan or Mel Lancaster?

First remember that tendons and ligaments heal much slower than muscles. For example, I dislocated my right shoulder a few years back. Two rounds of physio-therapy helped but my insurance company kicked me out of physio' 4 months after the accident. The insurance company approved me for "light duties." Five months after the accident, bone bruises to my sternum and ribs quit aching. Six months after the accident, I tried jumping again but was still too weak to pack for myself. Eight months after the accident, I resumed jumping with tandem students but it was a full year before I could lift anything heavy without immediate pain in my right biceps. I did thousands of push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups during that first year. My muscles regained strength far faster than tendons and ligaments. To this day, if I lift something heavy (e.g. sewing machine) my right shoulder (acromia-clavicular ligament) throbs for a week or two afterwards. Patience grasshopper! And while you are being patient, pound out thousands more exercises. Tendons and ligaments will eventually catch up with your growing muscles.

The baby is a Little Bigger.

Back during the 1970s and 1980s, pioneering BASE jumpers jumped skydiving gear because that was the only gear available. Back in 1986, I did my first bridge jump with a skydiving harness and a fashionable skydiving canopy, a 7-cell, 220 square foot Cruiselite. While I still wore a reserve, I had no illusions that it could save me from a 600 (200 metres) foot tall bridge. Main Assisted Reserve Deployment devices (e.g. Skyhook) were invented by BASE jumper Mark Hewitt. A MARD will only save you if you jump from the tallest objects and only if you pull high. Similarly, AADs (e.g. Cypres) will only save you if you opening well above their firing altitude (750 to 1000 feet). Since then, several generations of specialized BASE gear have gradually reduced risks. BASE canopies evolved from popular skydiving canopies, which were similar to modern skydiving reserves. BASE manufacturers experimented with various pilot-chutes and sliders to speed openings. Then they experimented with various aspect ratios and airfoil sections to improve the chances on on-heading openings. Then they added bottom skin vents and valves and different brake settings to speed openings. Tail pockets and multiple bridles also improved on-heading openings. Since then I have gained a few pounds and accumulated scar tissue, so would prefer a 300 square foot BASE canopy. Since that canopy is considerably larger than modern skydiving canopies, I would need to borrow a student rig. In conclusion, skydiving gear might be okay for jumping the tallest of buildings, but you can learn a lot from well-seasoned BASE jumpers.