Hooknswoop

But an A & P, Pilot, Parachute Rigger are all certified for life. The FAA does not have currency requirements listed, therefore there are none. The argument that the Manufacturer can require a medical is only valid if the FAA requires it. You have to comply w/ the FAR's when skydiving, not manufacturer requirements. Manufacturers could require you to wear a pink jumpsuit, but that wouldn't mean anything to the FAA. When it comes to rules and enforcement, the FAA is the only game in town. As for getting a tandem rating, the manufacturer won’t issue the rating w/o a copy of the candidate’s medical. But there is no requirement to send the manufacturer $30-#40 a year nor keep a FAA medical current. If the FAA were to question me upon landing from a tandem jump, I currently meet all of their requirements to legally act as a parachutist in Command. Derek

That can get you through the jump, but doesn't fix the root problem. For example, holding one toggle down a bit can stop a built in turn, but doesn't fix the problem. Every student I had try to spin was because the tensed up. Relax and no spin.

Really? I didn't read that in the FAR's. I think you are reading something that isn't there. All is says is has been certified. I have been certified. The FAA didn't think too hard when they re-wrote Part 105. I'm not saying it's right, in fact I think the FAA should fix Part 105, but as it is currently written............... Derek

Bad term. 'Hard Arch' tends to make the student tense up. Think, "Good, relaxed arch and chin up". A spin is caused by an unsymmetrical body position. Want to fall straight down, no turns? Deflect the same amount of air for 360-degrees. To turn, deflect more air one direction than the other and you turn. Imagine a leaf. The leaf falls out of a tree and flutters to the ground w/o turning. Pick up that leaf, bend the corner and drop it. It spins as it falls. You have to relax and feel the air, once you do, no more spins. Remember, you are causing the spin, and you can stop it. Derek

Which one of the FAA's requirements do I not meet, i-iv? I wouldn't do a tandem now, way too uncomment, but thanks for the vote of confidence (i) Has a minimum of 3 years of experience in parachuting, and must provide documentation that the parachutist -- I have 3+ years (ii) Has completed a minimum of 500 freefall parachute jumps using a ram-air parachute, and I have 500+ ram-air jumps (iii) Holds a master parachute license issued by an organization recognized by the FAA, and I have a USPA “D” license (iv) Has successfully completed a tandem instructor course given by the manufacturer of the tandem parachute system used in the parachute operation or a course acceptable to the Administrator. I have completed 2 tandem instructor courses given by the manufacturers (v) Has been certified by the appropriate parachute manufacturer or tandem course provider as being properly trained on the use of the specific tandem parachute system to be used. I have been certified for 2 different tandem systems. Derek

FAA Medical is not required by the FAA. §105.45 Use of tandem parachute systems. (a) No person may conduct a parachute operation using a tandem parachute system, and no pilot in command of an aircraft may allow any person to conduct a parachute operation from that aircraft using a tandem parachute system, unless -- (1) One of the parachutists using the tandem parachute system is the parachutist in command, and meets the following requirements: (i) Has a minimum of 3 years of experience in parachuting, and must provide documentation that the parachutist -- (ii) Has completed a minimum of 500 freefall parachute jumps using a ram-air parachute, and (iii) Holds a master parachute license issued by an organization recognized by the FAA, and (iv) Has successfully completed a tandem instructor course given by the manufacturer of the tandem parachute system used in the parachute operation or a course acceptable to the Administrator. (v) Has been certified by the appropriate parachute manufacturer or tandem course provider as being properly trained on the use of the specific tandem parachute system to be used. (2) The person acting as parachutist in command: (i) Has briefed the passenger parachutist before boarding the aircraft. The briefing must include the procedures to be used in case of an emergency with the aircraft or after exiting the aircraft, while preparing to exit and exiting the aircraft, freefall, operating the parachute after freefall, landing approach, and landing. (ii) Uses the harness position prescribed by the manufacturer of the tandem parachute equipment. (b) No person may make a parachute jump with a tandem parachute system unless -- (1) The main parachute has been packed by a certificated parachute rigger, the parachutist in command making the next jump with that parachute, or a person under the direct supervision of a certificated parachute rigger. (2) The reserve parachute has been packed by a certificated parachute rigger in accordance with §105.43(b) of this part. (3) The tandem parachute system contains an operational automatic activation device for the reserve parachute, approved by the manufacturer of that tandem parachute system. The device must -- (i) Have been maintained in accordance with manufacturer instructions, and (ii) Be armed during each tandem parachute operation. (4) The passenger parachutist is provided with a manual main parachute activation device and instructed on the use of that device, if required by the owner/operator. (5) The main parachute is equipped with a single-point release system. (6) The reserve parachute meets Technical Standard Order C23 specifications. I haven't done a tandem in a long time, and haven't made a skydive in 6 months, but I could legally act as a Parachutist in command because I still meet all of the FAA's requirements. Derek

Checking the wx before a 40-mile mtn bike race at Castle rock and I just got back. Derek

Yep, you are right, I just went back and copied and pasted, oops. Sharing expenses, no-one making any money, a Private Pilot can fly jumpers. Derek

No, it is not legal. The FAA had violated pilots for flying jumpers w/o a commercial license. It is not legal. Jane F. Garvey (FAA) vs. Robert R. Rawlins. Docket SE-14006 August 21, 1997 The private pilot's license was suspeneded for 90 days for flying jumpers. The FAA argued that the DZ, even though it was a club, was being paid. Not all of the jumpers (tandems, students, etc) were members of the club and the club advertised like a business. Even though the pilot was an unpaid volunteer, they were not sharing expenses with the passengers. The shared-expense exception is only valid where the pilot and pasengers share a common purpose in the flight and does not apply to parachutist operations. Bottom line, you must have a commercial license to fly jumpers, even if you are not being paid. Derek

You can make the flare stroke anywhere you want by adjusting where the toggles attach on the brake to toggle lines. Derek

I did 6 and got out, but wasn't on inactive reserves for the full 2 (to make it 8) because the delayed enlistment counts towards the 8 I knew the exact date I would go over 8. Derek

I stayed on an Island where they raise endangered species, including ring-tailed Lemurs. I woke up one morning and had about 6 of them in my room going through my all stuff. They got in through the window. I yelled at them and they hauled ass Derek

My last cutaway, I cutaway from my main for the fun of it, sucked it down and fired off the reserve. It was a hoot. I figured if the reserve doesn't open, I deserve what I get since I packed it. Is it risky or necessary? No. But neither is skydiving, or if you skydive, hook turns, etc. Everyone chooses a level of risk they are willing to accept. BASE jumpers jump with one canopy all the time. Some people consider that risk unacceptable. I do laugh when I hear skydivers call BASE jumpers crazy, as whuffos, sitting on their motorcycles, just out of their earshot are calling the skydivers crazy and some other people are calling the motorcyclists crazy. It is human nature to consider anyone that accepts a higher risk level than you crazy. Everyone that has posted that anyone that would cutaway a good main and use their reserve is crazy, is considered crazy themselves by someone else for simply jump out of airplanes. So try not to be critical of those that accept a higher level of risk in their lives. Derek

Depends on the DZ and the person doing the tandems. TM: A jumper w/ a tandem rating that does tandem jumps where the pasenger is like a passenger in a car, one drives, one rides. TI: A jumper w/ a tandem rating where the jumper teaches their passenger about skydiving such as correct body position for free-fall (not "kick me in the butt), altitude awareness, deploying the parachute and flying the parachute all the way through the landing. Derek

Excellent. Derek

Is there any way to make it impossible to find the owner through the S/N? How many of the Base gear manufacturers keep S/N + owner records? As someone that was once very worried about being tracked down from a S/N I am very interested in this. Derek

I've seen worse when a diver didn't clear their mask, then pulled it off their face at 40 feet. 2 black eyes and eyes that loked like Marolyn Manson. We laughd at him for weeks before it went away. To answer your question, nope, never happened to me. Derek

You be the judge. OK Moderator(s), you may delete my post now since it is off-topic and very un-helpful. I just couldn't resist. Man, it is fun to be bad. Derek

I gave away a PD-170 not too long ago. W/ 700 jumps it really isn't worth anything. It is worn out and not worth the cost of a re-line. I would recommend looking for something else. Derek

The 'pledge' wouldn't stop his kids from jumping unless he chose for it to. ame way that the 'pledge' doesn't stop DZ's from violating the BSR's. Derek

Would you vote for a Senator that said the Pledge of Allegiance every day and leaked state secrets to another nation or a Senator that refused to recite it because they objected to the use of the word “God” in it but never leaked state secrets? DZ’s intentionally launch loads when there isn’t a chance in hell that all the jumpers on the load will be able to adhere to the cloud clearance requirements. That is intentionally violating the pledge. I have seen EVERY DZ I have been to intentionally violate the ‘pledge’. Why should Mike sign a pledge if he doesn’t believe in it? *I do need to put a disclaimer in here that I don’t speak for Mike, and am only guessing at his motives, opinions, etc for the sake of argument* I don’t think it is better that someone sign a pledge and sorta follow it. If a Senator recites the Pledge of Allegiance and does a great job, but also leaks state secrets to another nation, the Pledge doesn’t mean squat, even if he did his best to follow it. If being a GM DZ and signing the ‘Pledge’ meant the DZ would be a safer DZ than one that didn’t I would agree with you, but it doesn’t. The ‘pledge’ might as well be the Barney song for all it is worth. I fail to see how his DZ not being a GM affects his appropriateness to be a BOD member. The GM program is optional. He supports USPA through his dues and the dues the jumpers at his DZ pay. He is doing the skydivers a service by not using their dues to supplement his DZ being GM DZ. He is doing the skydivers a service by serving on he BOD. If I were a DZO I would not sign the ‘pledge’ because I know that I could not run a DZ w/o violating it and I wouldn’t want to sign a pledge knowing I was not going to adhere to it. Not to mention I think the USPA GM is a sham. Derek

No worries, had to say it. The wind, in a steady state, doesn't hit the top skin counter-acting your lift vector. You are flying your canopy within a moving air mass. Look up the thread about 'Does a canopy dive more in wind'. Some people believe(d) that when diving a canopy when it is windy, the wind hits the top skin of the canopy, destroying lift, causing it to dive more. This simply isn't true, for a steady state wind. For turbulence, gusts, etc, the canopy may dive more or may dive less. Same thing here, your perception of what the canopy is doing is different from what he canopy is actually doing because you are referencing the ground, but the canopy is flying through (flying in reference to) a moving air mass. To get the canopy to track 90-degrees to the wind across the ground, the canopy must be actually crabbing into the wind. Your perception: the canopy is flying 90-degrees to the wind (ground reference). Canopy’s perception; it is flying through the air straight ahead (air mass reference) A had gust of wind may have caused it i.e. turbulence, but if the wind was steady, then it wasn’t the culprit. Most likely you had to turn away from the beer line harder than normal through the air in order to get the same ground track as on a light-wind day. This required more energy and a higher angle of attack to get the harder turn resulting in a stall. Derek

Would you be OK w/ Mike being on the BOD if he paid the GM fee, signed the pledge and then violated it? Derek

Which is why you shouldn't cross the beer line since you can't guarantee you can re-cross it. One side of the beer line is for skydivers, the other for spectators. Derek

I still don't see how you think that a hypocrite that breaks their word and supports a program that does not benefit skydivers is better than someone that maintains their integrity and won't support a bad program that they don't believe in. Derek