hackish

I'm from a different prospective since I started with IAD. Last time I was in with some regulars and they just stepped out the door facing the tail. Is that the source of the concern? Being able to get stable when the relative wind is hitting you from behind? Or is it just that you're so low compared to an AFF exit? -Michael

I took my FJC at a different DZ. That was SOS and this one is TAS. Both taught 2 hands. Personally I think it means less likelihood of pulling things in the wrong order. -Michael

Interesting and I can understand your points. Remind me next jump to put my head up as I toss out the PC. Maybe things take longer than I realise. I haven't had more than IAD and one PC so maybe things will change as I drop faster. -Michael

Some people call it a perfect opening and others say it's a nice long snivel. What is it? From the time he pulls at 1:28 until the slider reaches the bottom at 1:33 that seems like a really really long time. It is open with the slider at the top for almost 3 seconds, then it descends and everything is okay. The most I've fallen was a 2 second delay but my chute seemed to be open well under a second from releasing the PC. Maybe things take longer than I realise. -Michael

Grafico posted an AFF video in the sensory overload thread. I watched it and am curious. This is not related to the other thread so I copied it here... Can anyone explain the slow opening that the camera person has? Would that be classed as a snivel? -Michael

Even thought I am a newbie I'll throw in my 2 cents. I've seen oldies on the racetrack driving a low powered car with lots of time on it and absolutely schooling some of the new punks with their much higher powered machines. The old ones definitely got the respect. I read a few of the downsizing articles and canopy control things around here. It sounds to me like in this sport it is equally possible to school those doing the taunting with great canopy skills and accurate landings. That is if you feel such a need. I'm in this for my own enjoyment. Took me 2 extra jumps just to get my PRCP's right. They wrote little price tags on the papers after that. I got so stressed I put my helmet on backwards. Yeah, I got teased about that too. So what - everyone was congratulating me when I got my PC done and I still make jokes about the helmet thing. -Michael

I went through the same thing on my first handful of IAD jumps. I've only got 8 jumps so far but I still experience the lack of detailed memory to a smaller degree... So I spoke with my better half about this. She's in her PhD for clinical psychology so she has some knowledge on this type of response. I didn't get 100% of what she explained but here is my take on explaining it. High levels of adrenaline have a tendancy to affect both the memory encoding process and some of the higher functioning. It is a fight or flight type instinct where part of the hypocampus that is used for parts of your memory are affected. Essentially your brain short circuits some of its functioning in order to improve reactions. I guess those who slowed to commit the scents carried by the wind and the ripples on the fur of that saber toothed tiger to memory were eliminated from the evolutionary pool whereas those who skipped the functioning to more quickly throw the spear or run away had a better chance of surviving. So from a physical standpoint it is just an evolutionary instinct and proper functioning of your brain. I've been around the auto racing community for a few years and can appreciate that in stressful situations many people have different reactions. Some freeze, some close their eyes, some try to correct depends on the person. Even in years of marital arts I've found that the repetitive motions cause a sort of memorised functioning. Someone jumps out of the dark and the brain immediately executes a defensive move. For you that learned response seemed to be look reach pull... I wouldn't let this discourage you. When I'm stressed my arch tends to fall apart but I'm improving. You will probably do better on the next try as well. -Michael

This is the first year for my DZ. I am the only student at this time. There are 2 TM's and a handful of regular jumpers. I've talked at length with the owners as I am a business man myself and they feel that the tandems pay the bills while students and fun jumpers are important to feeding the tandem business. I think that is the right attitude. -Michael

I skimmed the thread and thought I read that the intro price was $750 with the regular pricing somewhere above that. I've never seen a tunnel but let's say it holds 5 people is that $5k per hour or is the 1h price to rent the entire thing? At a grand a pop I think my hopes of trying one out would be dashed. I'm just trying to figure out how it works as there isn't anything like that published on the site. Unless you're doing tandem you don't exactly show up and jump out of a plane 10 min later - same deal with a tunnel? -Michael

So I'm reading up on this whole tunnel thing... Unfortunately the website for this tunnel doesn't seem very complete. For who knows how many million were spent on construction the website seems to come in a little short... So it's somewhere around a grand to get into the tunnel? Am I reading that right? -Michael

I can't imagine 80F causing a problem with the materials a rig is made from but 80C could possibly. Is your life worth the $65 repack fee? You decide. -Michael

Maybe talk to your doctor about being tested for hypoglycemia - I believe they do a sugar resistance test of some sort. I know in stressful situations my blood sugar goes down a lot (I am a diabetic). I know some non-diabetics who when stressed end up hypoglycemic just like a diabetic - not a good combination with skydiving. -Michael

Told by who? Michael, you have more than enough jumps to challenge something like this. Questions you can ask: Are these people assuming a particular type of canopy. Are they assuming the deployment process is starting from terminal velocity. I'm sure there are others. I was told by several people I asked and even read it in a few places. I assume this is a catchall answer for beginners and I suppose if you've got a really bad snivel plus are opening after 12s of freefall it might take that much... I got 4 jumps in this weekend and tried to check the altimeter as quick as I could after it was open. I'm flying a 285 student canopy - not sure exactly the make but they call it a 9-cell in my logbook. Last time was a jump and pull and the chute was open by 3200 from a 3500 exit. My rigger said he packed it up that time for a nice opening which I assume was a quick one. The other ones were IADs and open by around 3000. -Michael

I am by no means an expert but I would say it depends on the student. Jump #4 I was doing PRCP's but I had trouble arching and keeping the arch so it took until jump #8 to pull my own. I think it may be best to get into it with a series of objectives rather than an expectation that on jump #x you will be doing this or that. -Michael

Ok, here is a newbie question... anyone got a pic of how it should look on that type of rig? I'll look at the student gear I use tomorrow and study it a bit closer to make sure I understand what's wrong there. -Michael

I enjoy these discussions because we can all learn from them. I was told that the jumpmaster would tell us on an emergency exit if we're to use the reserve, otherwise he would just grab our pilot and throw us out the door. I've been consistently told that it takes 1000' for a parachute to open. I've always disagreed but need more jumps to observe better. Last time I finished all my tasks, control checks and such from a 3500 IAD I was at 2800. Does part of this come from the kinetic energy from the plane causing me to pass through 1000' of air (some of it in the forward direction???) Suppose you did go for the main with a 1500' exit. If you passed 1000' at high speed as your main is opening and the AAD did fire would the proper procedure be to cut away the main or just leave them both up and hope they fly side by side? I understand there there isn't any easy way to cut away the reserve but suppose the reserve did fail and you threw out the main pilot then the main would come out wouldn't it? -Michael

Let's take the bridge example. This bridge collapses and they start looking into it. They have a complete paper trail from the engineer who first designed the bridge to every last bolt and rivet that was replaced. From what I can tell an incident investigation with an airplane is conducted in much the same way. I do know that the engines have a mandatory overhaul after a certain number of hours. Do the aircraft not have a similar inspection where critical places are checked for fatigue, stress cracks etc? If this is the case then would such an inspection not notice a repair and audit the maintenance logs to ensure it was performed correctly? Someone I know works for Air Canada and he told me that every last part is documented. If they change a sensor then everything including the serial number of the old and new sensor is logged. Now I realise that a DZ's plane wouldn't be that well documented but is there not some sort of requirement? -Michael

I was reading the fatalities database and I did notice that several times people have suggested than a jumper was incapacitated by a malfunction that caused an extreme spin - and or should have cut away but didn't on an obviously uncontrollable main. I only have 4 jumps under my belt and have only experienced a very minor problem on my first jump (line twist probably from a poor arch). I wonder how frequently a spin would cause a high-G situation where the jumper was unable to reach the handles or would pass out... The reason I wonder is that I was thinking it would be fairly trivial to design an embedded device like an AAD or as part of an AAD that detects when the opening occurs and if a high - G spin follows and continues below the safe altitude then it fires off the reserve automatically. From my embedded design and computer experience I know this is all possible from a detection point of view - I was just wondering if it is common or not and if people think it's a good idea... not that i'd design such a thing but it's just a 02:20 idea before bed... As the saying goes they would probably just build a better idiot... -Michael

I cannot imagine repairing a dammaged prop with jb-weld. I work on performance engines all day and I refuse to do substandard work such as JB-Welding a turbo oil drain to an oil pan. The auto industry isn't regulated like the aviation industry. I've seen this JB-Weld story posted more than once... If someone really did JB-Weld a prop then would questions not be asked about where this JB came from? Or is it still in operation somewhere... waiting to fail? I mean how stupid could you be? Why don't you just hammer that bent valve back into shape while you're at it... Here that would clearly fall into criminal negligence - forget about losing the pilot's license and think about spending time behind bars... Back on topic I understand that being a small community nobody wants to turn their DZ against them by being seen as the squealer. The idea of "look at how much you cost us by reporting this accident or illegal repair to the FAA" has to be replaced with "look what mis-reporting this illegal repair ended up costing us". The regs that I skimmed through seem very specific on the procedures. I wonder if there is a tech support like line for the FAA where a DZO can call and ask if they're allowed to oil this stiff rudder cable or if it must be done by a licensed tech. Or do the more educated here think it's seldom a case of a pilot not realising that their minor DIY repair was not permitted? -Michael

From my original post what can you correct on my RSL understanding? I thought that I understood what it was for and how it works. I think the suggestion of dirty air behind the plane is a good one but suspect even with the RSL you would drop well free of that before the reserve actually opened. In-air collisions with exiting skydivers strikes me as a valid point but again the amount you would drop and be left behind the moving aircraft I don't know if this would be likely or possible. Being hit by the aircraft on its way down? I think the pilot would need to do a 180 before that's too possible. Even if the aircraft stalled immediately after you cut I can't imagine a 2 ton aircraft slowing down nearly as fast as 250lbs of jumper. -Michael

It seems to me that DZ owners are afraid that paying customers will be scared away with the report of an accident. I have to admit that hearing about a pilot using a plane with known problems like carb deicers not working would scare me off. I know little more than basics about aircraft so I have to put my safety in the hands of the pilot and mechanic(s). I don't have a big problem with people posting straight facts as long as they're not deliberately misreporting to make a competing DZ sound bad. Perhaps these individuals hiding accidents would be better off if they could demonstrate that all the proper care was being taken so if there is an accident there is no negligence on their part. -Michael

tdog, I'm not asking about modifying my equipment as I don't own any equipment and even if I did I'm not about to start dicking with it having not only student status but also only 4 jumps under my belt. Instead I am trying to better understand the fine details and gotchas of how the equipment works. The pros and cons you did post are more of what I was looking for - a discussion on the operation in this sort of case. -Michael

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imo3Nip-slc&mode=related&search= I was watching that video where an apparent lack of pin check led to the jumper being entangled in the tail with his main chute. Someone made the comment that he disconnected his RSL then cutaway the main and used the reserve. I'm wondering if removing the RSL was a precaution or very necessary in a situation like this? I thought it was the risers pulling away as you fell free of the main that would pull the RSL and then the spring loaded reserve pilot would pop out and finally pull the reserve out... By this time I would expect the jumper to be far clear of the aircraft. Comments? -Michael

I do remember reading something that said do not exceed XXX knots with wingtip extensions installed. I do not know if this means they have them on - as I know engines not airframes. I'll ask the pilot if I ever see him not busy. For the loading and fuel they get 2 trips per fuel load. On the second load they will sometimes take up 5 of the thinner guys. I'm guessing that even I weigh in at 225ish with gear. (185 without). Compared to the plane we used at the DZ in NS which was also a 182 widebody this thing climbs like a rocketship. As for engine performance with the amount of fuel these things consume it surprises me that nobody seems to worry about fuel consumption. The plane has a nice padded interior with seatbelts where the one in NS was stripped bare like a tin can. It feels solid and looks good where the one in NS looked well used. This is my impression and it's not based on any aircraft experience - as I have none. -Michael

This is only somewhat skydive related but I didn't think it was enough OT to go over there... My DZ uses a widebody 182. Apparently it's got the 300hp upgrade package on it and they're using a 3 bladed prop. Some at the DZ claimed it had a turbo that gave it the extra 40hp. I was like that's it? 40hp - what are they running 1 psi of boost??? So I watched the instruments as we climbed. First it doesn't appear to be EFI as it had a carb temp gauge. One thing the non-pilots were wrong on already. Second there was a big manifold vacuum gauge and clearly it didn't show boost so I'm guessing they were also wrong on the turbo thing... During the climb it was turning 2600 rpm which sounded like a good place for power and people commented at how it sucked back the fuel. Surprisingly it was still well below 20in of Hg. Maybe I'm stuck in the automotive world. Under load and burning a lot of fuel I'd expect it to be running somewhere in the 0-10" hg range. Can anyone spill some of their knowledge or even suggest a place to go read up on it? -Michael