hackish

So the NPA was finally published: http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2008/20080315/html/regle5-e.html I think it's a good thing. All it really does is enforce that anyone training students must comply to CSPA or CPSA rules and must be properly informed about the risks. They didn't try to assert any rules but effectively make it illegal not to conform to the rules of which we the skydivers have complete control. -Michael

It looks like someone forgot 2 things... A) to turn the AAD on B) to pull by the assigned altitude. -Michael

I think the real issue would be exceeding the maximum deployment speed as specified in the TSO for the gear. I can't imagine it being a very pleasant deployment anyway? -Michael

I don't think I could have summed it up better. How could anyone over the interweb who has never seen anyone fly claim that they're a DGIT? When I bought my rig I understood it was a sabre2 190 but found out that it was instead a 170. I asked the advice of every experienced instructor and coach as well as the DZO and they all felt I'd be just fine on it so I moved ahead. Conversely I know of someone with 200ish jumps flying something close to a 100. Although he's light and seems to land it OK he also had to get a friend to buy it for him because the owner wasn't comfortable selling it to someone with his jump numbers. That one person may be deserving of harsh criticism but many here, myself included are flying what they have under the blessing of instructors and the safety people. -Michael

Even if a jumper goes and kills themselves it hurts our sport through the perception and also the fewer fatalities the less regulators pay attention to us. As a lot time jumper I've asked a number of times to participate in jumps but been turned down because of the jump numbers. So when it comes to others everyone has to be aware of the risks and able to make an informed decision. In DeLand I was landing in the intermediate area and away from traffic - part of the low experience part. While I did fine I think it's important for everyone to recognise that with their skill level they need to improve for their personal goals. If you really do become this mythical sky god it's others who must recognise this not yourself. If others don't feel I'm really good at something then it's probably because I'm not. -Michael

Certainly in Canada that is not the case. To earn a coach1 rating about 1/2 of the rating is based with a coaching organization that knows nothing about skydiving - they cover how to "coach" or "teach". It is the same organization who would teach the local fitness trainers as well. I believe Canada has very good safety statistics and I feel that cost and dedication drive lots away - not fear and injuries. When it costs a couple of hundred dollars per jump as a student that makes the sport very expensive. -Michael

I've wanted to jump a PC ever since I saw Crazy Larry jump one the end of last season. I even have a local rigger who has a complete rig to jump. I would like more experience first but should be getting started on learning to pack it in a few weeks. I've found some info in poynter but it's more of a historical reference sort of thing. As for earlier posts about nylon rotting with age - this is untrue. Nylon degrades with exposure to some chemicals and mostly UV. Have your rigger do a pull test if you're unsure. As for phantom oscillations close to the ground the drive vents in a PC or modifications in any round should prevent this sort of thing from happening. Oscillations are caused by the chute needing to spill air and the hole at the apex plus any drive vents are designed to vent enough air to prevent this oscillation. At least that's what the technical info says. For those who have experience actually jumping these things - how do they behave in turbulence? -Michael

This is a very good and valid point. Last year I found myself thinking that another student jumper was downsizing too fast because he jumped on the sabre 210 as soon as he finished his classic progression. Now he ordered a 170 but at a point I had to turn things around and realize he's following the exact same progression as me and at similar jump numbers. Some years in the future I'd like to become an instructor but how does an instructor come up with the necessary guidance to keep their students reasonably safe? A judgment call I suppose and even those are open to errors. Finally on a point billvon brought up. Skydivers tend to be an aggressive bunch of type A personalities. My better half and I have been talking about these things for some time as she's into psychology. I think for those who must make the decision on a jumper going or not it matters how they are told they can or can't jump. Ever try to tell a drunk he's not OK to drive? Sometimes I think the same principles at the DZ can apply. -Michael

My experience has shown the quiet approach is usually better. If you mention that you're a skydiver and leave it at that then he spends more time wondering if you know his story is BS. I run into it a lot in the automotive industry. Someone will be shooting their mouths about how much power their car has or how fast it goes and I usually just smile and nod and say "yeah I've got a lot of experience with those" Later someone else will mention that I build race cars for a living. Rather than flat out calling them full of shit they spend more time worrying if I know they are or not. -Michael

Oddly those who read things on the interweb say similar things. Those who have watched and taught me in person all seem to feel that I'm fine on this canopy. I took the Scott Miller course at DeLand and got video of my landings. I have to work on getting used to a more accurate pattern but had no trouble landing up wind, downwind and crosswind on it. The guy giving the course felt I was just fine. For me the most important thing besides safety is having fun and I do find this canopy maneuverable yet slow enough to feel safe. I'll give you that - I haven't found myself in a bad situation and I haven't really jumped it in high winds 10mph is about the max. The flare is pretty good on that canopy and I was able to run out a 7mph downwind with relative ease. Can't remember having any non-standup landings since maybe my 25th jump. I'm used to dealing with kids showing up in corvettes or wads of cash asking me to make 400whp on their Honda. I can identify pretty quickly who is about to kill themselves. I know if I had a car like that when I was young I would have. Flying a 170 it just doesn't feel like that. I'll go with what Jimmy said - he's the guy who taught the Scott Miller course - he said I was fine and gave me things to improve on. Any way you slice it I and anyone else outside of the 1:1 wingloading that is required of low jump numbers are in a lose lose situation. If I get hurt people say they told me so. If I don't get hurt they say I was lucky. In any event I stand by what I say - I don't believe a 1 size fits all is appropriate for wingloading. Different people progress and learn at different rates. -Michael

Fall with a teddy bear stuffed in your jumpsuit? -Michael

Dunno. I'm 1.25 on a sabre2 170. Done about 30 jumps on it so far. I might even try a 150 by the end of next year but I'll stick to the 170 for a long time yet. It feels conservative to me but definitely isn't according to your evaluation. Some feel I'm natural at it too but I don't - I just happen to really enjoy flying the 170. There are lots of things for me to work on. Some people are better at things than others so I don't think a 1 size fits all formula is good for everything here. -Michael

Thanks that confirms my recollection is correct. For all those who've jumped their kid's packjobs how many conformed to that FAR? -Michael

The sealing thread has to be able to break at about 4.5lbs. If you were able to use a wire that would do so reliably then I suppose in theory it could be used but then if your sealing cord is breaking then I don't know that a metal sealing material would be any better (probably less so). As for using aluminum sealing material it could be less harmful to the environment and as long as it's annealed and a soft alloy I can't see it harming the dies. -Michael

I think in the US the kid would have to be supervised by a rigger for you to legally jump it. I can't remember the exact rule here off the top of my head. So if I were a rigger and asked to supervise a kid packing I'd watch them very closely but I see no reason why they couldn't pack a good opening. -Michael

So if your Cypress 3 says "Ich bin Kaputt" do not jump it. DOS never was more reliable than later versions of windows. It had no measures against any simple program magically corrupting your filesystem or formatting your hard drive. Along the same lines it seems to me that the problem with the AAD may very well relate to a firmware problem - program as these things typically wouldn't have much of an OS which is more like DOS than Windows. When I jumped a cypress I generally watched the countdown to make sure the battery was OK ad at least checked to make sure it read 0. It sounds like one person had to try very hard to make his AAD fail in this way but if a simple set of conditions exists to cause the failure - let's say weak battery then it is also possible for someone to experience this same sort of failure during a fairly routine startup - aw shit my battery is dead I'll drop it at the rigger's at the end of the day... -Michael

I would suggest that the owner of that rig should be visiting their local rigger so the situation can be looked into and the manufacturer consulted before it is jumped again. It looked to me like it required a significant tug from the AFFI and definitely a safety concern. Even if it is a totally in-spec system I'm sure the container manufacturer should look at the situation. -Michael

I'm still so traumatised over the packing fairy posts that I just couldn't click on the image icon. -Michael

The interesting point many people are not aware of is that airtec will upgrade a cypress 2 or even switch a student to a pro to a tandem or whatever you want - many people assume they have to sell their unit and buy the one that they want. -Michael

Most wuffos have no idea how much a canopy or rig costs. None whatsoever. Will be interested to see if it really was returned. Definitely the owner will want their local rigger to check it out. -Michael

One of my happiest jumps was getting out at 16,200 at DeLand. The PD test jumpers still took longer to get down but I was up for a good 20min. Coming from a small DZ we always check the uppers and such. If you're not used to that get someone to show you how to read them. -Michael

If you did find that your cutaway had been loosened during a or before a dive then just shoving it back up to the bottom of the cutaway housings may also create a dangerous situation where your non-RSL side is disconnected and your RSL side still is. Many times the rig manufacturer will spec the RSL side cutaway cable to be 1" longer than the other. They could both be out as well. (I feel this suggestion is reasonable but I'll let the more experienced jump in with other suggestions and corrections.) In the plane I think it could be visually inspected fairly easily. If you're in FF you could grab the smallest ring and give it a tug after you've re-seated the cutaway handle just to ensure the cable still passes through the loop. If the ring flips up you'd better go for the silver... -Michael

The situation I'd be more concerned with is that the AAD is turned on and fails to end with a "0". The owner then assumes they've incorrectly attempted to turn it on so they try it again. If this time it passes the self-test and calibration and shows the "0" then what are the chances that it is in fact safe to jump? -Michael

Your asnswer isa bit trite and maybe even harmful. At the best it's naive, Hackish. The middle of an emergency is not the time that anyone with limited experience needs to be thinking about whether or not to disconnect an RSL. Actually there was a definite point to the comment. For a beginner and from a beginner's point of view there are not many cases where one would want to remove the RSL. Also, when you've got something to be chopped then the most likely reaction is to follow your muscle memory in executing the EP's. Snap shackle is unlikely to even be a consideration. -Michael

I've thought that getting out of a balloon would be great fun... unfortunately I didn't figure there was any chance of a balloon outfit here letting me bail out... On normal sightseeing flights I don't suppose they usually go that high anyway? -Michael