Hooknswoop

Right, but Ron was refering to the clear "pouch" under the reserve flap that holds the Cypres control head. There was some confusion there. Standard on the Sigma and some student rigs. I don't know what other rigs you can order a clear reserve flap for. Just to make sure, there are two different "windows". One is a "pouch" that the Cypres control head slides into and the other is clear lexan that replaces part or all of the reserve flap, making the reserve pin (and in some cases the Cypres control head) visable without having to open the reserve flap. Hook

To clarify: The Javelin has a "window", (clear plastic) that is in the back pad of the container where the control head for the Cypres is installed. Once the jumper is wearing the rig, it is difficult to check the Cypres to see if it is turned on. Also, you can turn the Cypres on without opening the reserve flap. On Vectors (VI, VII, VIII, and Micron's and M's) the Cypres control head is mounted under the reserve flap, at the top, near the yoke. The reserve flap must be opened in order to turn on the Cypres, exposing the reserve pin, and the Cypres control head can be checked when performing a reserve pin check. So it would be very difficult not to notice a reserve pin that was turned 180 degrees while spending the time to turn on the Cypres, (which we know was on). Sigma tandem systems have a window for the Cypres control head on top of the yoke, then another window in the reserve flap making it possible to turn ont he Cypres and check the reserve pin without opening any flaps. The pre-flight for a Sigma is very simple and easy to accomplish. Hook

It isn't easy, but watch people with their rigs on. They open otter, caravan, king air, etc., doors, scrapping their rigs as they go, they sit heavily back on them, the back into things, turn while back into things, scrape their rigs on climb-out, move from the last bench seat to the floor as if they were TRYING to pop their reserve pin, etc, etc, etc. I agree that it would be difficult, but the way I see people treat their rigs, not impossible. Hook

If he didn't notice his reserve pin, he sure didn't notice his cypres control head, which is 5 inches above the reserve pin on Vector II's. We know he did turn his Cypres on, it would be very difficult not to notice a cock-eyed reserve pin. Maybe it got turned in the plane or on climb-out? Hook

It is Volume I. Start downloading/collecting/copying/buying all the owners manuals/packing instructions you can get your hands on. The disks for the written test. RWS reserve packing video. Para gear catalog. RWS 3-ring book. FAR's 65 and 105, AC 105.(down-loadable). Hook

The Talon 2 manual shows 415 cu in for the reserve and 475 cu in for the main for the T5. Para gear lists pack volume for: Heat wave 150 335 Hornet 150 335 Diablo 150 342 Stileto 150 364 Spectre 150 370 Omega 149 378 Silhoute 150 398 Sabre 150 413 Vengeance 150 472 and the Triatholon 175 382 Hope this helps.

Have a rigger put a pocket on the slider. No more hard openings. I charge $40.00 for a pocket, installed. Hook

Skydive Walterboro, SC Skydive Space Center, FL Skydive Sebastion, FL Skydive Deland, FL Skydive Daytona Beach, FL Skydive Palatka, FL Carolina Sky Sport, NC Raeford, NC Laurenburg-Maxon, NC Murtle Beach, SC Skydive Carolina, SC Blue Sky Adventures, SC Greenville, SC Skydive Houston, TX Skydive Spaceland, TX Skydive Aggieland, TX Skydive Dallas, TX Skydive Arizona, AZ Skydive San Marcos, TX Beeville, TX Mile Hi Skydiving, CO Skydive New Mexico, NM Skydive the Rockies, CO Skydive Santa Rosa, CA Skydance Skydiving, CA Skydive San Francisco, CA Lodi, CA Lost Prarie, MT Brush, CO Skydive Atlanta, GA Skydive Monroe, GA Skydive USA, TX I think that is all of them. Not counting some demo jumps and "other" jumps. Hook

I'm 5'9" and wear a C17 Javelin Harness. My J4 has a C20 harness. It is a little big on me, but fits OK. You are 3" taller than me, so a C20 should fit you well. Hook

If you have good riser covers, pack the main, pull the cutaway handle, clean the cables and flex the 3-rings. Be careful when flxing the 3-rings not to open the riser covers. Put the handle back and re-connect the 3-rings. Double check your work. If your riser covers aren't up to the task, use a weight to pin down the risers, then clean the cable/flex the 3-rings, and re-assemble. Hook

I think your first solo after 3 tandems was under either a Sabre 190 at .63:1 or a Sabre 170 at .71:1. Probably the 170, because I don't think you would have fit into anything larger. Javelin with a BOC, 2 handle system, Kill Line PC and Slider. You were a fun student

Actually, I have an 1959 NB-8 Navy pilot bail-out rig sitting here that needs a re-pack. It is covered, completely, in Poynters, but I was looking for more info on it. That company also sells these rigs. So after checking out the info on the rig, I was surfing around their site and found those pics. No only survival gear I need is my Glock 17. i haven't played paintball since moving to CO. Too busy jumping, rigging, flying, and snowboarding. How is your "free tandem jumps to deserving women" project going? Hook

I'll second the congratulations on living. And, as a bonus, you saved the aircraft. Closest I've had is 2 different generators failing. I was in the backseat of a Baron that lost both vacum pumps, while under IMC. Hook

If you plead not-guilty (if you are even allowed to), the judge will probably ask you for your story, "What happened". You will have to make something up, I mean, you WERE speeding, so now you are lying to the judge. Judges tend to be smart people and used to people trying to sell them a lie to get out of the fine. Try this, Plead guilty. If given the chance to explain yourself, say, "I knew the speed limit was 55, I knew I was doing 70. I got caught, and I am here to pay the fine." Standing up and taking responsibilty for your actions might impress the judge (so few people do that these days) and get you off w/ a small fine, or traffic school. Or you might get hammered. Either way, you'll sleep better knowing you tooke responsibilty for your actions and told the truth. You'll respect yourself. And if the police officer doesn't show up, you get off for free. Hook

http://www.lifesupportintl.com/UNI-PAC.htm For 2 of the pictures, they used Skydive Sebastion's old Casa. Cool Hook edited to add "old". I didn't thin they had a Casa anymore.

What would you do if; 1. You lose altitude awareness, look down and see massive ground-rush (sub 1000 feet AGL)? 2. The load organizer says before boarding the airplane, "that due to zero winds, we will all land facing North", then under canopy you are going to be the first person to land the winds are now out of the south at about 7 mph? 3. You are on a 6-way RW dive and notice one of the other skydiver's main pin has come out of the closing loop, but the deployment bag is still in the container? There is a video person on the dive. 4. You are on a 4-way RW dive and realize that the 4-way is 500 feet below the planned break-off altitude. Do you track for the same amount of altitude and pull 500 feet low?, or track less and pull on time? 5. You are climbing out after another group and you notice that a jumper in the group ahead of you, which is half-way through their climb-out, has their cutaway pillow folded under their main lift web. The aircraft is a twin otter and there are people between you and this jumper. 6. Same scenario as the one above, except instead of the reserve pillow folded under, the jumper's BOC handle is tucked completely into the pouch. 7. On the normal main you jump, a steering line breaks on opening? At 1,500 ft? At 1,000 ft? At 500 ft? 8. The first group is climbing out and you notice that a tandem Instructor, all set to exit, has forgotten to attach one of the passenger's upper harness attachment hooks? 9. In a Cessna 182 on jump run, you will be the person spotting and just before you open the door you see the jumper in the back of the airplane push their reserve pin out of the loop, firing their reserve pilot chute into the back of the airplane? 10. On short final, you see another canopy coming directly at you. You neither of you do anything you will collide at about 30 ft. Hook

Fair enough, but that has been my experience. Good point, I haven't seen that tactic used. it could be defended against with "Deland is a USPA Group Member Drop Zone, which is a national organization and meets or exceeds USPA's standards for safety." But if a regional director is presented with proof of BSR violations and takes no action, then I think that person is not doing their job. I don't think USPa should have people sneak onto DZ's with hidden cameras wearing trench coats , but if they become aware of violators, they should take action. Otherwise the BSR's are hollow. If people knew that repeated BSR violations would result in some sort of disciplinary action, I think there would be less violations. I agree that it is up to fun jumpers to stand up for what is right, but I see/hear of cases where everyone (exageration) knows what is going on, but no-one says anything. Recently here in Denver, the police started enforcing the 2 person minimum occupancy in the HOV lanes and increased the fine to $100.00. The number of people driving "solo" in the HOV lanes has dropped noticeably. Hook

What about a waist band w/ a short pole that goes out to the left or right from your waist? Like a camera belly-mount system worn with the camera on your side. Hook

If the rigger that did the work doesn't make a note of it on the reserve card, then how ould the FAA find out? I bring this up not as a way of doing illegal rigging work and how to get away with it but because I recently had to send a Javelin back to Sun Path. It was an old one, but in terrific shape. It was brought to me for a re-pack, but I noticed that the main closing loop toungue grommet was facing the D-bag and had a plastic stiffener in it, so that the SB couldn't be applied. Sun Path replaced the toungue, but made no notes on the reserve card that I was careful to include with the rig or on the container's data label. I expected them to make a notation on the card and the container's label indicating the work performed. Great advice on keeping the authorizations from the manufacturers. I have done that in the past too. CYA . Hook

Your'e right. I read it as 1.1:1. Duh.. Hook

At a 1.1:1 wingloading undera 175 puts your exit weight at 193 lbs. Under a 150, that would put your wing loading at 1.28:1. A good question to ask yourself is why do you want to downsize. Bill Von has an excellent list of skills someone should posses before considering a smaller canopy. A search should turn up his list. Another factor is your container and what size mains it can safely hold. Talk to instructors that have watched you fly and land your Triatholon. Ask them if they feel you are ready to downsize. If yes, then ask them what canopies you should demo. Options would include, but not limited to, the Safire2, Sabre2, Hornet, Sabre, a smaller Triatholon, Spectre, Omni, etc. Hook

In the past, USPA has suspended ratings and suspended membership, and if the person in question was a DZO, they could terminate the DZ's Group Memmership. Wasn't a GK's ratings suspended because he was simply aware of some non-rated AFF JM's doing AFF? Hook

True, a lot of DZ's follow the BSR's, for the most part. But they are only bound by a "pledge". USPA doesn't actually regulate skydiving. They tend to follow the BSR's because they make sense and smart DZO's don't sacrifice safety for profit. Most skydivers don't really care. If someone does stand up and say something, they are labeled as a troublemaker and either banned or ostracized. [qoute]>If, as part of being a USPA group member DZ, the DZ had to have an inspection > once a year and be subject to no-notice inspections with the penalty of >their GM status being revoked, then the USPA and the GM program might >actually have some regulatory power and being a USPA GM would actually mean > something. So they get inspected and fail, and their GM membership gets pulled. They continue operating, and nothing changes. How does that improve things? (unless you go the boycott route, and you don't need to pull their membership to do that.) [/qoute] Not being a group member can really hurt a DZ when a competitor uses the "they aren't a USPA member and therefore don't have to follow the Basic Safety Requirements that we do." A student reads that figures the DZ is un-safe and goes to the USPA DZ. I have heard several DZ's say they are GM DZ's only for marketing reasons and to defend against being labeled as un-safe by their competitors. If the DZ had to follow the BSR's to be GM DZ and be inspected, they could advertise that, which would be very valuable if their competitors didn't pass the inspection. "The only Drop Zone in the XXXXX area to pass the USPA DZ Safety Inspection program." Powerful statement. I laugh when I read things like "Endorsed by USPA", or "USPA Group Member" on DZ's web pages. We know that it means nothing, but 1st jump students don't know that. Maybe I am a bit un-realistic, but I don't think the current system is a good one. DZ's advertise being a USPA GM as if it means something. A non-USPA GM DZ can be just as safe or safer than a USPA GM DZ. A non-USPA GM DZ can follow the USPA BSR's without paying the USPA. An USPA GM DZ can dis-regard the USPA BSR's without repercussions from USPA. Hook

USPA is already doesn't regulate anything. "Self-regulation" is a myth. It doesn't really exist. DZO's do what they want and if USPA doesn't like it, too bad. DZO's laready set the standards, rules, and limits. I think it is hypocritical for a DZ to be a USPA group member, violate the BSR's with the knowledge of the regional director, and nothing happens. If, as part of being a USPA group member DZ, the DZ had to have an inspection once a year and be subject to no-notice inspections with the penality of their GM status being revoked, then the USPA and the GM program might actually have some regulatory power and being a USPA GM would actually mean something. Currently, being a GM DZ means the DZO wrote a check to USPA and "pledged" to follow the BSR's, and we all know how much that "pledge" is worth if it gets in the way of profit. The inspections would be paid for by the GM dues. I am sure DZO's would not favor this, because then they would have to actually follow the rules. Hook

True, the FAA doesn't care if Instructors have a USPA rating or not. But if the USPa doesn't care, doesn't pull membership or do anything, why get a rating, unless the DZO requires it? Kind of de-values the rating. Hook