livendive

Pack opening altitude. Must go check and see if there is anything on intentional cutaways too. There are BSRs applicable to both as follows: and I've seen nothing to indicate the jumper did not have a C or D license, or FAA TSO'ed equipment, or that he did not have an open container by 2,000 feet AGL. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've seen nothing yet in this thread to suggest any BSRs or FARs were violated. If the guy had a legally packed tertiary reserve, and he packed the second canopy to open just like his BASE canopy does, then what is the problem? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I can't tell from the picture whether he's got a belly-mount or not. If so, and it was packed according to manufacturer instructions, then the point is moot, right? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Stupid close? In violation of BSR's close? Which BSR would that be? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

We've got a guy at the DZ with 225 military (s/l) jumps who wants to get into the sport. The trouble is his right arm, while present, doesn't work. He's already gotten himself a big student rig that is currently being converted to left side BOC & SOS and has done a couple tandems. I've got some loose ideas about how to teach him one-armed canopy flight, but don't want to be re-inventing the wheel. Anyone else here had such a student? If so, can you tell me what lessons you learned, both good and bad? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Congrats! I just got mine a couple weeks ago and it's a good feeling when you're done. Like Ed says, be prepared to be really nervous when you take up a real student. I was suddenly very glad the evaluators had tried as hard as they did to hose me. Looking at my first student and realizing he would NOT roll to his belly or stop a spin on his own if I hadn't caught him by pull time made me focus even more on being there then I did in the course. I think that's probably a good thing. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

...with one of my instructors from college. He's 74 years old and "on the clock." He's written his obit, recorded a video for his wake that his friends are already loosely organizing, and just always wanted to jump out of an airplane. He's wheelchair-bound, with one leg already amputated and the other leg trying to beat the rest of him in escaping this world. Anyhow he had a blast in freefall trying to geek the camera and was pretty much speechless at the view from under canopy. There was a joking thread on here a few weeks back that mentioned hotties as a reason for being a TM. I know that thread was in jest, but thought I'd share this jump with you folks anyhow. This guy was the absolute polar opposite of being a "hottie", but still provided me with an awful good reason for keeping the rating.

The first piece you place needs to block the laser that's hitting the bomb. Edit to add...#23 is a bitch! I've got all but one lit up (attached) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

attached. It should be obvious the splitter at the bottom right needs to be moved diagonally one square. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If you're on 21, mind telling me how you did 20? I can get everything but the one on the left, and then the pieces I used to get the thing started are blocking the way of getting it back up to the middle left! argghhh! "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

17 is kicking my ass! "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

You know, there are DZ's on the other side of the mountains too, and they usually have better weather. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That's a good idea. Easier to keep track of than e-mail. I'm not sure if that's the best idea. If a candidate just happens to be swamped for a couple weeks and doesn't have time to respond to a 12 question interrogation than we'd get no or limited input from them. I think I'd prefer to limit it to a question or two a week, with two weeks for them to respond, so that while they may not get every question, they'd most likely be able to answer a fair number of them. Thanks. I'll start a separate thread, either here or over in general skydiving, and add that one to it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Yeah, I guess I could do that again, at least through the election. First I'll need a list of who's running, both on the ballot and with write-in campaigns. I'll put some feelers out to see how comprehensive a list I can come up with. In the interim, I'll also need to develop a bank of questions, so feel free to e-mail any you can think of that aren't among the obvious ones. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

10/10 first try. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

QuoteRemember the old saying. If someone wants a leadership position, it usually not the person you want in that position. MikeT=Bad choice. Bill, Derek, Treetop, Mike Mullins, Gary Peek=good choices. I think it's time for change. Quote It's been time for change for quite some time now. I don't know Turoff personally, only his online persona, but my gut feeling based on those interactions is that he's more interested in another feather in his cap than in forcing USPA to return to it's roots, i.e. an organization for JUMPERS rather than the trade association it has become. I'm all for Gary Peek and Mike Mullins, Treetop if he runs again, and Winsor Naugler. Bill and Derek would also get votes from me if they expressed a willingness to accept an ND slot. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Ba-luut! God I loved Subic. :-) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

LOL! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've spent entirely too much time staring at these things without ever seeing them. I'm guessing it's because I have a lazy eye and do most of my "looking" through my other eye. Either that or they're just a joke that some of you are in on and the rest of us are just patsy's. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Experience: 170 jumps Experience at the DZ at which I found myself: 0 My main canopy: Triathlon 175 (square 7 cell @ ~1.3:1 wingloading) The main in the rig I borrowed: Jalapeno 108 (elliptical 9 cell @ ~2.2:1 wingloading) Deployment sytem on borrowed rig: Pull-out (my first) Exit altitude: 2100 feet w/ very poor visibility. I didn't get hurt, but man that was stupid! First jump at a new dz, first jump on a pullout, first jump on an elliptical, first jump at anything remotely close to that wingloading, and all from 2100 feet with an awful lot of "haze". Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Well, reading the letter of the regulations, I'm wondering whether all TM's are currently in violation of this regulation. Does USPA still issue something called a "master parachute (sic) license"? In any case, I agree that "holds" means currently, but "has been certified" means in the past. That said, my USPA, Vector, and Eclipse "certifications" are all current. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Two steps would have been enough if they'd been backwards rather than forwards. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've found myself in a somewhat related position in the past, but different roles prompted me to reach a different decision. I worked at DZ "A". When a jumper couldn't raise the cash to buy DZ "A" he went and opened his own DZ ("B") about 7 miles away. I don't know if it was ever *specifically* stated, but it was common knowledge that the DZO's at "A" did not want us working for (i.e. making money for) the DZO at "B". My roommate at the time said screw it and went to work for DZ "B". Sure enough, he was no longer welcome to work at DZ "A". He could still show up, have fun, pay for fun jumps, etc, but the DZO's were not going to employ someone who was helping their direct competition. For this reason, I never did end up working at DZ "B". I made a few fun jumps there once in awhile, but that was it. DZ "B" went out of business a few months ago leaving only DZ "A" within an 80 mile radius. I'm glad I still work there. On the other hand we are not only welcome to, but sometimes encouraged to go work at other DZ's that we are not directly competing with. It's not uncommon for us to call in help from other DZ's when we need it, nor for us to offer help to other DZ's when they need it. All in all not a bad deal. And if I had been in your shoes on this one, I think I'd have reached the same conclusion. Stick with your friends...them and their 207 will bring you many more smiles over the years than a strained relationship would regardless of a turbine aircraft. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

14:5:1 14 is now the record for # of people partying at our new house, set Saturday evening after I invited all the jumpers up. Nothing got broke. :-) 5 jumps. Took it easy...3 tandems, 1 AFF jump, 1 hop & pop. 1 case of beer for my first real AFF jump. He asked me afterwards "So how did I do in the grand scheme of things, average? better than average? below average?" I didn't have the heart to tell him that my n=1 experience made him *exactly* average. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

We like skydiving, talking about skydiving, and watching other people's skydives. Non-skydivers typically don't. That's about it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)