Hooknswoop

I think if I ended up in court, it would be me and my lawyer, regardless of SB's and AD's. Derek V

If the manufacturer could ground their aircraft, they would not have bought them back, they would have grounded them. Aircraft fly every day, legally, with manufacturer's SB's not complied with. Derek V

Right, we don't know exactly what the FAA would try to do. Until the FAA comes out and actually says that manufacturer's SB's are as good as an FAA-issued AD, I will continue to believe that skydiving SB's are the same as a Cessna-issued SB (non-mandatory). Derek V

So we can determine compatibility of components and put an AAD into a container without any approval form the container manufacturer? At best there is 'implied' approval? Can a container manufacturer issue a SB that says you can only put main canopies made by xyz company into their container and it would be legally binding as if the FAA had issued an AD? What about reserves? Where does the manufacturer's authority end and the FAA's begin? Derek V

What about the other AAD and harness containers? Where is there is a list of of what is approved? Derek V

For each harness/container, which AAD's are approved? Derek V

Sunpath has already done this. The RSL has known problems, some serious enough that they can lead to fatality, yet Sunpath makes it an alteration to remove it, requiring a Master Rigger. The argument for RSL's is that they have saved far more people than they have killed. Derek V

Part of my PPL course included a PC-based flight simulator. I could use the flight sim to 'fly' the flight the evening before the flight and when I actually flew the next day, it was very easy. I knew what to expect and when. I credit the flight simulator with making the course easy, less stressful, and not ever failing a flight. I am not saying take the jumper out of the sky anymore than using a flight sim took me out of the sky. Use the tunnel to almost ensure success in the sky. Use it to compliment your skydiving training. Identify and fix problems to prevent them before they cost the student a repeat jump. It sounds to me, and correct me if I am wrong, that you advocate the school of hard knocks. Just as pilots have discovered that simulators are indispensable tools for training, skydivers have found the same benefits from wind tunnels. Mistakes in the sky can be expensive, mistakes in the simulator are cheap. Flight sims are flight sims. They will never replace airplanes. But they are invaluable for flight training and always will be. Why not take advantage of every training tool? Derek V

First let me say that I am biased: I manage/work at a tunnel. Second, flight simulators are used extensively in aviation. They are a much better place to learn new skills than in the sky for real for several reasons. A pilot that shuns flight simulators limits how fast they can learn new skills and maintain those skills. Flight simulators has revolutionized pilot training. Pilots are trained better, at a lower cost, on more complicated and faster aircraft than was ever possible before. Skydiving is expensive, learning to skydive even more so. Going to a wind tunnel and working with a coach that knows what their doing and what the student needs to know to get through the AFF course virtually ensures they will complete the course without having to repeat any jumps. It will also improve their performance under canopy. That last point is important. The vast majority of injuries occur under a fully inflated and functional canopy. I know, I know, you are thinking, “How can a wind tunnel improve an AFF student’s performance under canopy?!?!?!?!?!?” People perform better and learn more when they are relaxed and not completely freaked out. AFF students experience several ‘peaks’ and ‘valleys’ of anxiety on a typical AFF jump. On exit, they peak and then begin to relax a bit as the skydive progresses. As pull time nears, their anxiety level peaks again, followed by a small valley and then peaks again during deployment as they hope the canopy opens. Then they begin to relax and finally peak again for landing. If the initial free fall peak can be minimized, the following peaks are not as severe and the student learns more and performs better overall. It is no secret that flying a wind tunnel enhances free fall performance. The student can take the skills and confidence they gained from a wind tunnel to the sky. Their fee fall skills will be more than adequate to pass the AFF course with about 15 minutes of tunnel time. This means they will be more relaxed and able to focus and fly the canopy much better than if the skydive went poorly. Instead of trying to learn to completely different skills (free fall and canopy piloting) on the same skydive, they have the free fall skills dialed and are just learning how to fly the canopy. Having to repeat AFF jumps or landing injuries causes many students to move on to other endeavors. No one likes to feel like a failure and no one likes to get hurt. The tunnel address both of these issues. Derek V

Would you steal? Would you steal from a thief? Would you steal from someone that stole from you? I don't think the intent of Wal-Mart's return policy is for people to buy something, knowing they can use it and then return it for a refund. REI has a similar policy. You could buy a high quality tent, use it and then bring it back for a full refund. REI also rents tents. If you want to rent a tent, then rent one. It is dishonest to buy one with the intent of renting it, and then return it for a full refund. If I loaned you my car with a full tank of gas and you brought it back empty. Would you say that I didn't specify that you return it full of gas? Or are you just taking advantage of the situation? You seem to feel that it is acceptable to steal from someone or a company that you feel deserves it. Who else do you feel deserves to be cheated besides Wal -Mart? Would you steal from me? What does it take to get on your list of people/companies that it is OK to steal from? Doing what is right, even if you do not have to is called integrity. When you used the system to your advantage, you demonstrated a lack of integrity. Sure Wal-Mart gladly honored their return policy. They stood behind their policy, demonstrating more integrity than you did. A company you feel is corrupt demonstrated more integrity than you. You have lowered yourself below Wal-Mart. Why did you return the tent? Because you wanted to take advantage of Wal-Mart because you do not like the company. You wanted to steal from a company you feel deserves to be stolen from. You stole from a thief. That makes you a thief. Derek V

LOL, no. Put about 100 jumps on this design with a Velocity 84 and a 9-foot bridle. Always comes out of the bag on heading and zero hard openings. Easier and faster to pack than a normal bag. Derek V

I haven't noticed any wear on my two bags, with either Crossfire or the Velocity. If I do notice wear, I'll switch to using some Kevlar tandem drogue bridle material to hold the magnets on the next bags instead of the nylon. Derek V

I did some testing of a couple of reserve PC's in the wind tunnel recently. The results created more questions than they answered. I asked myself, what makes for the best reserve PC? I think it the PC that get the bag off the PC at line stretch the quickest in any situation. That is asking a lot of a PC. Low speed or high speed is two very different situations. I do not think that the PC that produces the most drag is automatically the best PC. Before that becomes a factor, the PC must get clear of the burble and inflate. A PC with more drag may end up deploying a reserve slower if it spends any time at all in the jumpers burble. A PC that orbits can contribute to an off-heading opening or line twists. I tested drag force at lower speeds (up to about 42 mph), how quickly a PC would inflate and pull from laying on it's side and from up-side-down. The last 2 tests, I tested 2 reserve PC's side-by-side. With the PC's laying on their sides, one inflated and began to pull, while the second layed there. With the up-side-down test, the PC that layed on it's side inflated and began to pull while the PC that came up off it's side remained inverted on the net. One PC tended to orbit significantly while the other was much more stable. It is these results that caused me to re-think what makes a good reserve PC from simply a PC that pulls the hardest to one that inflates and pulls from any angle. The PC's were about as far apart from a design perspective as you can get. Derek V

That debate will never end. There are upsides and downsides to .45/9mm. Basically stopping power vs. capacity. The best choice varies from person to person. It depends on several factors. My personal choice is 9mm. Let me explain why. Stopping power is worthless if you don't actually hit your target. Standing at the range, well lit, relaxed, with unlimited time is not the same as 3am, grabbing and aiming. The Glock 21 holds 13+1 rounds. My Glock 17 holds 19+1 rounds. 6 extra rounds is a lot of options. I can punch off rounds without worrying too much about running out. The rounds are cheaper, so for the same dollar, I can practice more. Lower recoil is nice. The new Grixxly Xtreme 9mm +P rounds have a tremendous amount of stopping power. Anyone that thinks the 9mm round isn't powerful enough should check into these rounds. One of these will stop someone cold. For a LEO on duty, the larger rounds may make more sense. For home defense or carry, I'll stick with 9mm. Derek V

If the DZ fails to follow this pledge, nothing happens.......... They are still an USPA GM DZ. USPA does not inspect DZ's for compliance. Derek V

Happy April Fool's Day! Derek V

Most people in the U.S don't know it either Derek V

No, it doesn't. In order to be DOT approved, the manufacturer must believe the helmet would pass the tests. No actual testing required. Every year, a bunch of DOT approved helmets are independently tested. About half fail. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/comply/fmvss218/ SNELL testing is a whole different animal. Derek V

I apologize, I missed it. I always see those signs at the gun department with the guy in handcuffs and the slogan, "Don't go to jail for the other guy." or something along those lines. I know that it is illegal to buy a firearm for someone else. I asked someone what happens if you do? They told me that if a gun you have purchased is involved in a crime and you have not reported it stolen, you can be charged with accessory. This is what I was told. I thought then why don't people buy a firearm and report it stolen the next day and then go sell it to their local gangbanger? I take this to mean that in cases where a firearm used and was never reported stolen, prosecutors still do not go after the original purchaser? If yes, then I agree 100% that prosecutors should go after people for this. Seems like a simple fix. Why would that not be enforced? So he still passed a background check when he shouldn't have? If yes, then that system is broken. How can it be fixed? My impression was you cannot buy a firearm if you cannot pass the background check. I also assumed that the risk of being charged as an accessory to a crime after buying a firearm for someone was enough of a deterrent to dissuade someone from a straw-man purchase. I know I would absolutely never risk it, even if there was profit involved. If what you are saying is true, and I have nothing to cast doubt on it, then the system needs to be tightened up. How is that done? Why are current laws not being enforced? Derek V

I was under the impression that you have a solution to nutters and criminal buying and/or owning guns. I would really like to hear your solution. Derek V

???

Kallend- I agree 100% with you that nutters and criminals should not be allowed to buy a gun. What do propose to change (laws, enforcement, etc) and how (specifically)? Derek V

It isn't unlimited weight, put enough weight in the harness and it won't hold together. It is just that they do not have placarded weight limits, so you can't legally go over the weight limit. As for airspeed, there are altimeters that measure it and store that information. Derek V

The Mirage is placarded to 150 MPH. No weight limit is placarded. (Low-Speed Category) The Vector/Micron has no placarded weight or speed limit. (Standard Category). TSO-C-23B. Derek V

Go to a wind tunnel. Derek V