stratostar

See that is the problem... SSK can handle it if you will cool your jets, but if I saw that MSG I would have sent it over seas for two reasons 1. so that I wouldn't have deal you & 2. to make it an even slower turn around for you because you are acting like a PITA. You sure seem to bitching a lot about that mom and pop shop that is a service center for north America. And saying you get nothing but excuses from them.... Sounds more like you just don't care for the answers you were given and are unwilling to wait for them to get the needed info and plan of action from Airtec, so you go about bashing them. Yea it would have been, but guess what ace Eli, it's the start of the season so that is out, I have no problem pushing the button as part of my gear check, check that damn AAD each and every time I grab a rig, more so on TDM, whole rig gets 3 checks. The AAD has never been a set it and forget deal, only a moron would do that, you don't know who fucked with that rig from the last time you touched it. Way more then sport units world wide for sure, don't see or hear any governments around world doing the same amount of bitching as you, they are working with the companies airtec & SSK to resolve the issue in professional manner. If that is part of the gear check then yes they will, military is a tad anal about shit like that. Then stop taking your bullshit out on the VERY nice and industry supporting Cliff Schmucker and the outstanding staff over at SSK by implying their unprofessional & incompetent bozos when the real people you have a problem with is located in Germany! you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Have you ever been to SSK? DO you have an idea the size of that company? Not that any of that matters, but you really need to get a clue as to the the volume of units just in the USA alone is enough to shut down that place for two yrs, you want your goddamn unit fixed pack the mofo up and send it to Germany along with bitchy letter. I have know Mr. Schmucker going on 18 yrs. now, the man is one of the most honest, ethical, caring and giving people in this industry, hardly a "insider" or a card carrying member of the good old boys club. In fact I doubt you are getting the answers you are bitching about because they care enough to take the time research and find the best possible way to resolve the issue. In the mean time they have provide the industry the needed info to CYA, until the units in question are serviced during the service checks. If your until is one to fail, pretty sure those will get top priority over still functioning units. You should be damn glad you have a service center and a person you can reach and talk to here in the USA. Try shipping and dealing with someone in Germany ONLY and see how that works out for you. Oh and BTW I have six TDM units all of them a season & half old, without them it shuts down my business, there are many more dz's out there with a large number if units in use, and you think you got a pain in the ass to deal with, with only one unit? Suck it up cupcake and wait like everyone else or stop your bitching and ship that shit over seas and see how long that takes and costs you. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

First of all not everyone can afford to go or have the time to go, how about instead that kind of lame ass attitude, USPA record the votes openly by name... or better yet, maybe instead of wasting a shit load of members money on a goddamn PR firm for fluffy feel good media stories.... how about we spend a small amount on setting a live webcam during the meeting and then any member who wishes to attend via the internet could do so. It would seem that a few would rather 1. waste our due monies on stupid shit and then hide behind closed doors on their votes. Then we have the issue of HQ not disclosing staff rates of pay to BOD or members. Everything should be in the open and for all to see! you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

I don't see how the dude (DSE) ever gets anything done in his real job....always busy busting ass to help others in many many ways! you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

You use a broker, like a dzo or rigging shop, chuting star has this service for free, FYI.... yea don't be stupid in the quest for gear. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

This is one of those deals where those of us who have lived through seeing the carnage of the 70's when this was first in vogue... We all learned rather quickly what a bad idea this is and it didn't take long for the word to spread. Kind of like cutting away above water too. Well all the old fucks go on thinking new ways to have fun, along comes Johnny come lately who missed the memo, sees a photo or video on youtube of someone else doing XYZ that the old fucks already dreamed up, tried it and decided bad juju and moved along..... Young whippersnapper get's big idea, going to show us all how it's done.... the modern way, right. Stupid is as stupid does. FYI- not something I would teach in a FJC per say outside of don't hit anything with your canopy while in flight. Catching cutaways is a continued education topic best suited later in the progression, I'll worry about teaching you that crap after you come back a few times. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Sorry I don't do free advertising for places that have policies I don't agree with. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

another thing to call ahead on or at least check out a website is.... some places now dick-tate what canopy you can jump there.... for example today I checked on attending a camp, and the online wing loading chart said I can't jump my 120 with current 300 jumps in a season and well over a 1000 jumps & more then 30 yrs exp. Exit weight of 200lbs. 1.6 wing loading. DZ is also a cypres nazi dz. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

No I think hackys for a handle is stupid, and I don't care for them for a number of reasons, like they float around and don't stay in place, adding a tuck tab is just a band aid IMHO and don't solve the snag hazard that hackys have. In theory, there is no reason you couldn't use another mfg's pilot chute and handle, out side of the fact your rig will not have the mating point that those rigs that have that would. Then you will need to have a rigger make a mod to your rig to make it work. So yes you could use a Mirage on wings, most of the time. It would be best for you talk to a rigger you trust to look at your rig and the two of you decide if that is the best set up for what you want to do. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Calling it the way I see it, seen your kind before, nothing new. Yep I sure as hell do and they are DZO's who have been running dz's twice as long as you been in the sport and they have a lifetime of experience with little to no jumps. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Like I said they make handles with tabs.... maybe if you called them and asked they might make you what you want? Did you ask them? Or as stated get a rigger to build one for you, can't be all that hard.... however I think it is a stupid idea, personally I think hackey handles suck, so if I was to seek out a handle with a tab, the pud handle wings makes would work much better because hackeys float. The FF PUD as you call it.... can also be set up on a normal boc set up and not only on a "pull out deployment" set up. The only problem is if the tab comes out you now have a floating handle. The person I know who uses one, has it fallout all the time, I think he had velcro added to that tab to stop that. I don't remember if wings now adds that or not. Sometimes trying to reinvent the wheel is not practical or safe. IF that hacky is so great, why do you need a tuck tab? Wouldn't be because of that floating handle, would it? you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Wow pretty dickheaded reply there.... I know people with less jumps then that, like 3 or 0 and they know way more then you do with all of you're short time in the sport, all of 9 yrs. Judging someone based on jump numbers is pretty fucking stupid. That was SOP for many places back when you decided to grace the sport with your presents. If you don't like it, don't go there or land out and walk back... not that big of a deal! Only it seems now we have a bunch of cry babies about minor shit. Well then ace why don't step to the plate then show us all how to do it then, after all you seem to have all the insight and wisdom that is clearly lacking at one of the longest running skydive centers on the earth. Put up or shut up! Again if you don't like it don't go there, pretty simple! you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Wings makes there own handles with a tuck tag.... maybe try calling them and ask questions and get the info from the mfg. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

It's very hard to judge distances above the water and people get hurt dead trying this. There fixed that for you. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

They are still having problems up there with locals/government. http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2013/stories/skydivers-hollywood.html you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Why yes I heard one today.... http://www.journal-topics.com/news/article_19530642-7baa-11e2-b4f7-0019bb30f31a.html you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Not the same guy. but yes there is... in this case it's NOT him. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

You would have to have the right equipment to do it first and the right program to put it together. Not worth the cost unless you plan to go into business. If all you want is a pano of you plane you hire it. You also would have to host it on a server if you want it to spin like that... a little more info on what you want to do would help. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

IDK... that space was the only thing I could see wrong. All the same nice pic to show people r you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Yea that is pretty fucking stupid! Put that flush on the front or on one of those small half boxes on top. Oh well it's not on my head or yours, so no worries mate. PS take the space out of the inline text.... it's on the end ] should look like this... end] then the pic will show in the post. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Yes I missed the second post comment about the attached image. That said I stand behind the point I was making to the OP and to any others who read here... a little research before posting will provide a wealth of info.... most of us who been in this game a long time in fact do think there are a lot of fools now jumping small format cams. While the body count is very limited at this time, I contend that the use of these is still new and exploding at a huge rate and mounted in all kinds of fucked up ways full of snag hazards, such as the OP's attached image. We don't have a large pile of dead camera flyers, but we have lost a number of them over the years, we learned lessons for those deaths. I strongly believe we sill see a rash of deaths involving these small format cams in the in the future, I believe the numbers will be larger then the current numbers of dead camera flyers. It is then a bunch of you will wise up and only then will you all get it! Hope I'm proven wrong, but history of this sport says other wise. YMMV. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Do you see anything in that post that says you pulled that image off the internet and it's not your helmet? If you need to ask questions ask them by all means... however if you leave out key info like... " I saw this set up and was thinking about trying this, anyone have an idea" you would get way less flack fired at you. When people post photos of stupid set ups and act like it is theirs to test... don't be surprised if some of us call it out for what it is, stupid! As was said, no one wants to be a dick, but there is a few sticky's on the top of the forum that a great deal of noobs don't bother to read... nor do they do a search and then come here and ask the same questions that have been covered in great detail already. Thank god that is not your helmet and you won't jumping it, smart idea. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

What do you mean? I'm surprised to see so many jumpers not believing a uncontrolled canopy can or would hit the dz LZ. Sorry it can happen I've seen it a number of times, the last one I was on radio and the dude died in FF check in and then he really checked out the way down... canopy opened @ 5K and drifted in circles and landed pretty much on the dz, only dead as dead can be, not one control input and the toggles still stowed. So nothing all that surprising about it. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Maybe the pilot filed an ANSR report to cover his ass for dropping that unsealed rig? There are many questions left unanswered as too how all of this went down. Did the family of dumbass call the FSDO? If they did the FAA is required to respond. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Jerry how do you know they are sticking their nose where it don't belong? Can you say there was not an FAA inspector present on the airport when this event took place? Because if there was and they saw an event take place on an airport they are free to investigate anything they want too on a airport. Maybe the pilot filed an ANSR report to cover his ass for dropping that unsealed rig? There are many questions left unanswered as too how all of this went down. Did the family of dumbass call the FSDO? If they did the FAA is required to respond. you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo