GLIDEANGLE

Last Nov we had an AFF standardization meeting. We talked through each AFF level and ironed out any differences in what we were teaching our students. It was a good thing. If we ever have another I want to go over all the canopy skills on the A - lic proficiency card, because I think we don't have a shared view of some of them. . If planning a Rating Renewal Seminar, I would certainly search the last few issues of the [I]USPA Professional[/I] as well as the published and local incidents for potential topics. I would also ask the instructional staff for issues. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

I know a VERY experienced and skilled RW jumper who so dislikes the plane ride that he reads a paperback on the climb to altitude. I don't know if he is claustrophobic or just not fond of airplanes. Either way, the distraction works for him. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Here is an interesting video for your safety concerns. This video is from the Parachute Industry Association meeting earlier this month in Reno, NV. http://www.youtube.com/user/VASSTTraining#p/u/28/tQuJr5wuvSw The guy with the beard is Bill Booth. Bill Booth has invented many of the key parts of modern skydiving equipment. Listen to what he says about the fatalaties in 2010. When he refers to deaths under open canopies, what he means is that the equipment was working perfectly and the jumper made an error. The canopy errors typicaly fall into three groups: Flying the canopy into the ground (high performance landing "swooping"), flying the canopy into another canopy (collision), or landing in high/gusty winds. As a student your equipment, training, and instructors will keep you from most of these problems. For example your instructors won't let you jump in dangerous winds... thus that problem goes away. Note what Bill Booth has to say about tandems in 2010. Very interesting. Students in the US typically jump equipment that is designed to be student-friendly... highly reliable, canopies with low flight speed, canopies which are hard to stall, with all the saftey options. Do students get hurt?... of course they do! But if you do what you are taught... the odds of SERIOUS injury as a student are pretty low. My reccomendation is to do a tandem first. That lets you have the emotional experienced of freefall without the burden of performing. When you move on to AFF or Static line or Istructor Assisted Deployment... you can focus on performance with less emotion clouding your judgement. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

From the US perspective: To describe AFF as a "qualification" overstates the matter a bit. All it means is that the student can jump without an instructor. The student still remains a STUDENT... and is subject to whatever rules the DZ applies to students such as: ~~Who they can jump with. ~~What winds they can jump in. ~~How long you can go between jumps without recurrency training (usually 30 days for students in US). ~~What equipment they may jump with... specific safety equipment may be required and some advanced equipment may be forbidden. Licensed skydivers can jump any other licensed skydivers who will have them. Licensed skydivers usually can jump in whatever wind they want... provided that the pilot will fly the plane in those conditions (and if there are enough other jumpers to make the plane go). Licensed skydivers usually are allowed a longer period between jumps without retraining. (The USPA reccomendation goes as long as 180 days for C & D licensed jumpers.) A "B" or higher is usually required for night jumps or specialty aircraft such as helicopters / balloons. A "C" license or higher is reccommended by USPA for some high altitude jumps. AFF is simply the first phase of student skydiver training. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

***This stuff gets into your SOUL, huh? You have no idea..... It can get much worse. If you are lucky, it will. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgFAR.nsf/0/5d73a27815be37a986256eed005e150d!OpenDocument&ExpandSection=-3 The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Flexibility is one of the ways that the spine handles impact. By losing some flexibility you lose some impact tolerance. Spinal stress is a part of skydiving: 1. The proper "arched" position may be a problem for you. 2. Canopy openings can be wicked hard without warning. I have a friend (not the one mentioned above) who is in a wheelchair from a hard opening due to a premature main container opening. 3. Skydivers can collide in freefall. Usually this isn't high impact... but sometimes it is. 4. Landings can be hard without warning. Given that the risk is that you will harm your spinal cord with the attendant risk of permenant loss of function.... you REALLY need to discuss your SPECIFIC situation with your surgeon. Vague guidance from your surgeon doesn't cut it. Would your surgeon let you do competitive gymnastics with your spine situation? If not... skydiving may not be for you. (I am not saying that skydiving is equivalent to gymnastics in all ways... just that the impacts from gymnastic landings give the doctor a frame of reference for thinking about you and skydiving. Most skydiving landings are soft and gentle... but some can be tough!) Depending on your degree of flexibilty you may find simply getting in and out of the aircraft to be a challenge. Good Luck... I hope to see you in the sky (if you have fully assesed and accepted the risk). The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Skydive Dallas (Texas, USA) has 1. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Excellent... I needed entertainment this afternoon! The definition of a good skydive is that you walk into the hangar under your own power. Thus, you had a good skydive. Absolutely your jump was not "TOTALLY" awful. Your jump did not involve power lines, nor a helicopter ambulance ride. I hope that you remember to give beer to those hardworking AFF-Is. Welcome to the family! The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

True. It is also important that we set a good example. When all the "cool kids" land right next to the beer line in rapid succession it does not show the sort of canopy separation that we want people to create. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

I think the issue is more one of what features you want/need rather than good brand / bad brand. I would look for a rig which had: •Reserve static line •BOC throw - out PC (if you want to wingsuit) •Perhaps a freefly pud handle. •AAD compatible •Set up for leg-strap bungee for freefly. •Strongly consider main assisted reserve deployment (MARD). Examples are Skyhook on VEctor, Javelin, and Icon; and possibly the "Air Anchor" which Strong announced would soon be available on Quasar rig. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Yes, no and maybe. What a perfectly vague and entirely accurate answer to this question! Well done! The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Probably the same way many of us end up with a 1/2 pair of shoes. CReW dogs have unique ways to lose shoes. How often do they wear matching ones on a CReW jump? The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

I have only 4 years in the sport: In my back room I have: •6 harness/containers (3 airworthy, 2 for practice packing reserves, 1 damaged and now in pieces) •4 mains (1 Spectre, 2 Lightnings, & a Challenger) •6 reserve canopies (4 airworthy, 2 for practice packing reserves) •4 Altimeters: Galaxy, ProTrack, N3, N3Audio •2 helmets •4 jumpsuits •2 AADs (1 current, 1 paperweight) •2 1/2 pairs of gloves •3 logbooks •2 flags and their deployment systems. • 1 strobe light & a handful of chem lights. • odds and ends of pilot chutes, bridles, and who knows what else. I plan to buy one or two more AADs this Spring. And that doesn't even begin to touch my rigging gear! My suggestions: •Buy nothing now. •Buy used rig at first. •Buy your rigger beer now and monthly for a while. •Do NOT steal your rigger's girlfriend. •Smile, breathe, relax. Blue skies The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

For exactly the reason I stated in my original post. As part of a teaching in a progression from simple to complex. Trying to help students LEARN in managable chunks, rather than simply giving them a large complex and manually difficult task and being satisfied that they "all learn to pack in the end". My observation is quite different that what you have stated above. Many students find packing so difficult that they never learn more than is necessary to pack the one time that is required for their A-license, and become forever dependent on paid packers. My hope is that by creating series of tasks from simple to complex that the students will learn, better, faster and without the frustration that is so common. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Imagine the future... an Alti-2 AAD talking to an Alti-2 N3Audio. Rather than just a tone at "dirt alert" level you could actually have the AAD trigger a voice alarm ..... "EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! AAD firing now!". The "emergency" warning might prompt action in time to prevent an AAD fire. If not, the "AAD firing now" might be a help to identify a two-out situation early. I don't know for sure... just musing here. Perhaps too many words is a bad idea at that point in a skydive gone bad. I would have to give that some thought. Interesting potential to think about. It is sort of like the communication between the airbags, the GPS, and radio on vehicles with "On-Star". The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Do you have students learn to pack a 0-3 cfm ("F-111") fabric canopy first, BEFORE moving on to packing a ZP canopy? I wonder if students' frustration with packing ZP might be less if they first mastered packing something less challenging to handle. This would give them a chance to practice the basics AND EXPERIENCE SUCCESS, before tackling the slippery stuff. If you do, how does it work for your students? How is the process structured? If you don't... Why not? Thanks The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Skydiving has room for all kinds. When I think of the women at my dropzone they range from genuine OMG hotties to grandmothers and EVERYTHING in between. All are welcome parts of the DZ family. Put your effort into learning to skydive... that will open many, many social doors. I suspect that the "beer rules" may be your friend. I do not mean that in the sense of of getting drunk in order to be able to have a social life. I mean that the purpose of the beer rules is to provide a structure for you to make connections at the DZ. When you owe beer... look at as an opportunity! Buy your beer, chill it, and after the beer light comes on... walk your beer around and offer it to people. They will ask you "What is it for?"... you tell them and suddenly you find yourself making a new friend! If you are lucky, your DZ honors the traditions of the Star Crest Recipient ceremony... That is a way to make "friends" too... (Shut up, Maggot!) http://www.starcrestawards.com/awards/awards_ceremony.html Regarding my non-skydiving wife: 1. If it makes me happy, she is happy. 2. Skydiving got me out of the house... a good thing. 3. My wife has unwarranted confidence in the ability of an AAD to keep me alive. I have no intention to inform her otherwise. 4. I didn't start jumping until our son was out of high school. Yes, this is an unusual avocation... that is part of its charm. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

I cannot explain the behavior. However, Skydive Dallas is organized in a manner that inhibits this behavior very well. In our large packing area the hangar floor is concrete. Rather than carpeting the entire floor, only the various packing areas are carpeted. Between these carpeted areas are concrete pathways. This naturally channels the non-jumpers away from the canopies. It works really well. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

This one always makes me laugh. Back in The Day, when men were men and so were the women, we usually did no-contact exits, so this had some meaning. Not only do many of today's aircraft allow for large linked exits, but the good jumpers are so good that often all a novice has to do is fall stable, and the formation will build around them. I see this fairly often when SCR jumps are being organized. There will be the low jump number candidate surrounded by seven experts. Often the experts include several World Team record holders. When I see this I smile and think to myself.... The odds of that formation failing to build are vanishingly small! I am not complaining... The maggots still get mighty wet and cold, and the old dogs still get free beer. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

If you have log entries that show successful completion of formations which are two way or greater, you should be golden. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

In US here is what you want: http://www.uspa.org/SIM/Read/Section3/tabid/165/Default.aspx#654 http://www.uspa.org/SIM/Read/AppendixB/tabid/175/Default.aspx Keep your eyes open for potential changes to these requirements. I would not be surprised at all to see the above change in the near future to include canopy skills beyond accuracy alone. I am only speculating... But it seems likely to me. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Just a guess here, but I think he meant the inverse of what you're saying. It's not suggesting to relax and expect perfection if that's what you get in the dirt dive, it's suggesting that if you take a student up who is only 75% on the dirt dive, the best you'll ever get from them is 75%, more likely something less than that. Maybe it could be more correctly worded as, "The best you can get from your student on the ground is the best you'll likely get in the air. If they can't perform there, they'll never be able to perform upstairs". Dave you got it perfectly... Thank you! Your re-statement is exactly what I meant. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Works for me on my Spectre. I don't get line twists any more often than anyone else. I think psychopacking might me a lot more popular if it were called something less frightening, like "roll-packing". The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

I can think of several drugs which if EVER taken would probably be disqualifying until the case was fully explored by the FAA. For example: Nitroglycerin is used almost exclusively to treat angina pectoris or myocardial infarction. If one EVER took that drug, the FAA would probably assume a history of one or both of those conditions….which are automatically disqualifying, until the FAA is satisfied that the condition won’t likely be a problem. Note that the rule is a HISTORY of the condition… it need not be active to be initially disqualifying. FAR 67.311 Cardiovascular standards for a third-class airman medical certificate are no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any of the following: (a) Myocardial infarction; (b) Angina pectoris; Another example would be any anti-convulsant medication which doesn’t have other uses* (some of them can be used for other things too). If one EVER took one of those drugs, the FAA would probably assume a history of epilepsy or seizure disorder….which is automatically disqualifying, until the FAA is satisfied that the condition won’t likely be a problem. Note that the rule is a HISTORY of the condition… it need not be active to be initially disqualifying. FAR 67.309 Neurologic standards for a third-class airman medical certificate are: (a) No established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any of the following: (1) Epilepsy; A final example would be any of the drugs below which are used for substance abuse. If one EVER took one of those drugs, the FAA would probably assume a history of substance abuse….which is automatically disqualifying, until the FAA is satisfied that the condition won’t likely be a problem. Note that the rule is a HISTORY of the condition… it need not be active to be initially disqualifying. Opoid dependence: ---SUBOXONE® (buprenorphine and naloxone) Alcohol dependence: ---Campral®(acamprosate calcium) ---Antabuse (disulfiram) ---Vivitrol (naltrexone) FAR 67.307: Mental standards for a third-class airman medical certificate are: (a) No established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any of the following: (4) Substance dependence, except where there is established clinical evidence, satisfactory to the Federal Air Surgeon, of recovery, including sustained total abstinence from the substance(s) for not less than the preceding 2 years. As used in this section— I am confident that I could find other examples. If in doubt, consult with one of the aviation medical consulting firms BEFORE you take the drug. These firms can answer your questions knowledgably without the FAA ever knowing. Some examples: http://aviationmedicine.com/ I have been satisfied with the work that they did for me. http://www.leftseat.com/ *Anti-convulsants are a large group of drugs. It would take me a while to develop and sort through a list. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!