davelepka

I'm also curious, did you buy this canopy in-person, or was it over the internet? Was the seller fully aware of your experience and weight? Did those subjects even come up? Had the seller ever seen you fly your previous canopy?

I don't think you do, or you wouldn't hear it so much. For example, if you walk around with your shoe untied, you're going to hear, 'Hey, your shoe is untied' all the time, and the reason is that your shoe is indeed untied. Now consider that you have heard that your canopy is too aggresive and loaded too much all the time, and where does that leave you? That's right, you hear it all the time because it's true. Just to throw something out there, you complained that nobody ever checked your logbook to see what your canopy progression was, but I would suggest that there is no progression that could propel you from zero to an X-fire 2 @ 1.5 in just 150 jumps. I'll just guess that your first 20 or 25 jumps were done on student rigs, with no real WL to speak of. So if you knock that right off the top, you're left with 125 jumps to get to where you think you should be. How many jumps can you really put on a canopy before advancing if you only have 125 jumps to get to an eliptical at 1.5? Even if you put 50 jumps on each size, that only leaves you 2.5 steps between a rental rig and a well loaded eliptical, which means you skipped over several steps (sizes) in the process. Just give it up. Nothing you say is going to convince anyone that you're anywhere near right or deserving of any chance to prove anything. Make a suggestion that could be 'remotely' possible in terms of what you think you're ready to jump and you might get some sympathy, but what you're suggesting is absurd. Just for reference, Brian Germain would have you jumping that canopy at that WL in the neighborhood of 500 jumps. Even if you want to call his WL chart conservative, and push the limits by 10% or 20%, you're still way off from where you should be with less than half the jumps he would reccomend. Don't be stupid. 70-some percent of all fatalites in the US were under open canopies because it's a real problem, and not one you solve by pissing in the face of conventional wisdom. Even if the majority of the accidents involve higher-time jumpers, there are still low time jumpers on that list, and if you end up being one of them, the average will be of no comfort to your friends and family.

I wonder if the outlying circumstances surrounding the opening of the new DZ can or will be brought into consideration. The history behind FFE and Deland, FFE and Skydive City, the move from FFE to Skydive Deland as an aircraft supplier to Skydive City, and the static FFE has created over in Z-hills in the wake of that switch over should all be looked into. I know that it's Billy's brother Joe who is standing up in front of the board looking for the approval, and that all of this 'scuttlebutt' might not be related, but the problem I see is that if there is a hint that the motivation for opening this new DZ is anything but an honest effort to open a new business in good-faith, then it should be denied. So FEE and crew open a DZ across the field from Skydive Deland, and go to work to 'bury' them. They undercut their prices and do whatever it takes to steal their business and make them disappear. Now, the city has traded a 30-year tennant, contributor to the local economy and 'good neighbor' for the remaining FFE backed DZ which is unproven and born out of a desire for revenge. The city and the airport would have been better off just sticking with one DZ, the one that has proven itself for the last three decades. Is there any sort of system for city residents or other airport tennants to comment/object/etc? If there is, I would hope that somebody down there steps up and brings everyone involved up to speed on the back story, and what might really be going on there.

The guy who owns the DZ, or the guy the DZO puts in charge of the DZ. It's their sandbox, they make the rules. That said, the fact that they would not let you jump a canopy sight-unseen should be a message to you. No they did not check your canopy progression, or evern give you a chance and that shouldn't be your main gripe, that should be your main indicator that you're making a mistake. So you went to this new DZ looking for canopy coaching? I'm going to guess you didn't go to a backwoods old-shcool DZ where everyone still does style and accuracy, but you went to a busy, modern DZ where they see a wide range of jumpers, abilities and wing loadings. With that in mind, they wouldn't even give you a chance. So if you want to jump a big-boy canopy, start acting like a big boy and share the model and WL of canopy you're wanting to jump. I have no problem outlining any of the activities I intend to do on a skydive because I can defend my actions to the point that nobody could argue that I am aware of the risks, and have taken steps to mitigate them. So for the third (or fourth) time, what is it that you think you're ready for and some DZO does not. I'd even like to know what DZ this was, and who it was that denied you permission to jump.

We have a winner. Not everyone has multiple DZs to choose from. Not everyone can afford (time or money) to travel several hours to another DZ to be able to jump. Some people were already jumping and working at DZ that eventaully started to accept Skyride certs (becasue if we all recall, the choice was either do it, or the guy down the street will). There are a small handful of people who should be held accountable for the actions of Skyride. Ben and Cary of course, and a handful of their 'right hand men', but aside from that, the vast majority of jumpers who jump or work at a Skyride owned or Skyride affiliated DZ are simply victims of circumstance. We're not buying cheeseburgers here. There isn't a row of DZs at every freeway exit ready to service your every need. When a virus like Skyride gets itself embedded into the industry, it becomes very hard not be connected in some way to Skyride within a few degrees of seperation. If anyone thinks that boycotting a magazine is going to make a difference, more power to them, but to then turn around and condemn anyone remotely connected to Skyride who's only avenue to sever the connection would be to quit jumping is absurd.

Just a guess here, but I think he meant the inverse of what you're saying. It's not suggesting to relax and expect perfection if that's what you get in the dirt dive, it's suggesting that if you take a student up who is only 75% on the dirt dive, the best you'll ever get from them is 75%, more likely something less than that. Maybe it could be more correctly worded as, "The best you can get from your student on the ground is the best you'll likely get in the air. If they can't perform there, they'll never be able to perform upstairs".

The exact plan will vary from DZ to DZ, and sometimes even from load to load. You don't want to track in the same direction of jumprun, but which way to track otherwise and other details are best discussed with someone on staff at the DZ who knows what the rest of the load is doing. Make sure you check in before EVERY tracking jump you do because what works on one load may create a dangerous situation on another load. If the person you talk to is not on the actual load with you, make sure that an instructor or senior jumper on the load is aware of your plan, and who you consulted to devise said plan. Communication is key, make sure everyone knows what you're up to, and that you fully understand what's expected of you.

It's a double edged sword. On the one hand it might help to keep the slider up at the stops, and even hold it there for a fraction of a second into the deployment, giving the slider an advantage over the canopy it wouldn't normally have. On the other hand, the bight of slider you put in the rubber band is less material presented to the wind, and might even effectively 'pinch off' more material than is in the bight, rendering the slider less effective than normal. The better bet is to develop a pack job that allows you to keep the slider at the stops, and quartered evenly while you bag the canopy. The people who designed the canopy packed it that way, and sized the slider accordingly.

You say (in several different posts) ..and then you say- If that's the case, how do you know your limits, or what to do when you exceed them? Just because things have gone well for you so far does not mean that they will continue to, nor does it mean that your methodology is correct. Unlike many things in skydiving, we do have the hard numbers to support the connection between high and/or gusty winds, and accidents involving perfectly good canopies. Even if your personal experience goes against those statistics, putting it out there as the correct course of action is ignorant at best, and illustrates that whatever you've learned jumping thus far, good judgement in giving advice is certainly not included. Be honest, and realistic about what you're doing. You're taking a significantly higher risk in jumping the conditions that you do. Just because you, jumping the equipment you do and with the experience you have choose to do so, the added risk is very real and something a jumper should consider long and hard before gearing up. A good rule of thumb is that if ANY of the TIs are sitting out due to weather, it's probably not a good day for jumping. Note that I said 'any', not all, because they're are TIs with good judgement, and TIs with bad judgement, and if you wait for the ones with bad judgement to stand down, you'll be jumping in some squirrely shit. Some jumpers might need to be even more conservative than that, but very few jumpers should be less conservative. If you take an experienced TI who is at the DZ to jump, and waving money in his face won't get him on the plane, it's not a good day to be on the plane. This is the same guy who will be met at the touchdown point and have his canopy collapsed for him by a catcher, when you can't pay him (literally) to skydive, it should mean something.

I'm not sure how you figure. There are two scams in used gear sales, the one is to collect payment for an item you don't own. In that case, there is no way to send anything to any factory because the equipment does not exist. The other scam is to market a product you know as sub-standard without disclosing the problems with the product. In that case, a scammer would never agree to a factory inspection before being paid for the item becuase it would surely fail and be a waste of time. That's one safeguard the idea has covered, the seller needs to have the item they are advertising, in airworthy condition and be willing to ship it to the manufacturer for an inspection. If a seller is willing to agree to those terms, there's a good chance they're a legit seller. Likewsie, the buyer needs to be serious enough to pay for an inspection on a piece of equipment they don't own. Keep in mind that you don't get the results of the inspection until the bill has been paid, so a buyer willing to shell out the cash for an inspection is going to be a serious buyer, and not just 'window shopping'.

I always agreed to pay for the inspection, and the seller paid for shipping to the factory, and return shipping if the deal fell through. If the canopy passes and I pass on the deal, the seller is on the hook for the shipping money, but they have a passing inspection from the factory to use in trying to market the canopy. If the canopy fails the inspection, the seller is on the hook for the shipping money, but that's what you get for sending a sub-standard canopy in for an inspection.

What makes you think the KA is an upgrade from a Porter? How many slots per hour are you flying in the Porter, and how many do you think you can get from a KA? Have you considered upgrading the engine in the Porter? Even if that equaled the aquisition cost of the KA, you would retain the lower maintenence costs of the Porter. Are you running the Porter non-stop from sunrise to sunset? Start jumping earlier, and create an extra hour of daylight, you'll be able to run that many more loads for no cost increase at all. If you're not running non-stop all day, why not? Purchasing additional tandem and student gear would allow you to turn more students per hour for a fraction the cost of different airplane. What about purcahsing a second Porter? The KA will require maintenence on two engines, just like two Porters would. The KA would also require maintenence on the gear system, which wouldn't be required on two Porters, and I have to figure that the airframe maintenence on KA is going to be higher than a Porter, so two Porters wouldn't be that much more to keep up than one KA. On top of that, you can 'save' one Porter and keep the time down when you don't need the extra capacity, saving some of that extra maintenence cost until it can produce revenue. You have to run the KA every day if it's your only aircraft. Additionally, if the need for the extra capacity dwindles, you can always sell one Porter and go back to running a single Porter. You really should be running a plane all day, sun up to sundown with no shut downs for a season before upgrading. It's by far the biggest cost factor in running a DZ, and the best way to drown yourself in costs is with excess aircraft capacity. It might seem like a mad, crazy rush to run an aircraft at capacity, but that's how you make the most money.

I have done similar several times in the past, and it works well in terms of inspection, and buyer/seller comfort with the transaction. Mr Seller e-mails PD (and copies the buyer) indicating they will be sending a canopy in for inspection, and that Mr Buyer will be paying for it, and that it most likely will be shipped to Mr Buyer after the inspection. Mr Buyer then contacts PD to arrange for payment, and then waits for the results of the inspection. Mr Seller recieves the results and forwards them to Mr Buyer, and provided they are positve, Mr Buyer then remits payment to Mr Seller. Upon recieving payment, Mr Seller instructs PD to ship the canopy to Mr Buyer. It's not a perfect 'safe guarded' transaction, but it's close. Not many scammers would go to the trouble (or be able to) ship an airworthy canopy to PD for the sake of passing inspection, only to then collect payment and instruct PD to return the canopy to them. The buyer knows that the seller has, and is willing to ship, the product in question and in the condition advertised. The seller knows that PD will not ship the canopy anywhere he does not instruct them to, so his product in secure until payment has been recieved. You should never purchase any skydiving equipment sight-unseen from an unknown seller. If you can't agree on a local rigger or DZ to handle the inspection/secure payment, the manufacturer is always a good option.

Except for the fact that a POV video is useless for training students. You can't see the hand/arm position, nor the body position (remember to prepare for a PLF or you could break your leg), and these are the key features a student would need to see in order to learn properly. A much better training aid would be an aerial photo of the DZ and surrounding area where you could outline the wind direction, sopt, opening area, hold area, and landing pattern. Follow that up with an OUTSIDE video of an experienced jumper flying a student canopy and making a student landing. The outside angle allows the student to see the hand/arm position, bondy position, the way canopy reacts to inputs, and how the pilot should hit the ground. Ok, now let's be honest with ourselves. Just because you are stuck in the cold and bored, jonesing for anything to do with jumping, this idea is rediculous. Skydiving has been around for 50-some years, and went through it's biggest 'growth spurt' (post 'Point Break') all without the benefit of the internet, DZ.com, or 'stickys' of any kind. You're grasping at straws trying to keep your end of the argument afloat, and it's not working. Do youself a favor ala Leo Dicaprio at the end of Titanic, and let it slip peacefully underwater and die. This is starting to turn into the old, 'ask a question and then argue with the answers becuase they're not what you want to hear', and those generally don't end well. Give it a rest while everyone still likes you and understands you're just enthusiastic and suffering from cabin fever. We were all there at one time or another, but most of us with a few years under our belts were there before the internet provided us with a way to communicate all the dumb shit ideas we came up with.

There are, and they are produced and shot from the start as instructional videos, and are more than simple POV from a random track day. There are also some amazing videos out there regarding learing to fly canopies, and none of them are the random videos you happen across on youtube. How do you know the video you're watching is a good representation of a canopy flight? How do you account for the length of the lens and the aspect ratio of the video in terms of your depth perception? The answer to both is that you don't because you can't. It's nice for you that you're all jacked up on jumping, but making shit up that doesn't exist isn't going to help you get in the air any sooner, or perform any better when you finally do. Want to know the #1 thing you can do in the winter to make yourself a better skydiver (aside from going someplace warm and jumping)? Simple, find a way to dedicate more time and money to jumping when the weather breaks. Get a part-time job, a raise, lower you bills, sell something, recycle, whatever you can think of so that when the weather breaks you can be at the DZ jumping hard every free minute you have. Miracle of all miracles, the one thing that can make you better at the thing you want to spend all of your time doing, it actually doing that thing. Praise the lord, what a wonderful time to be alive.

Depending on several factors, a harness resize will give you essentially the same harness you would get if you ordered the rig brand new. The cost will vary depending on the type of harness, and the amount of work you would need done. Figure $500/$600 for an all new harness, less if only adjustments are needed. The value of the rig would most likely increase a bit, because of the new harness. As far as who to do the work, the factory is generally the best option for this type of work. They have all the correct materials, threads, and machines in place, and the people doing the work build and re-size harnesses, all day, every day. Sometimes it's cheaper than using a local rigger because it will generally take a local guy longer in terms of ordering material, setting up machines, and just needing to work slower because they don't usually build harnesses every day. You do have to account for shipping if you use the manufacturer, but an empty harness/container only weighs 10 or 12 pounds, so the shipping isn't a fortune. Get the serial number of the rig you're looking at, and get measured for a V3 as per the instructions on the order form. Have an experienced rigger or gear dealer measure you, so you know the numbers are right. Contact UPT with that info, and they can determine the scope the work and give you an estimate.

The problem is the guy was only thinking about money in the first place. He assembled this pack of 300 dogs to suck off the tourist dollars created by the winter olympics. Unlike a truckload of bootloeg, poorly screen-printed winter olympics T-shirts, this investment had reprecussions well beyond the closing cerimonies. It was no secret to this guy that dogs need to be boarded and fed for the rest of their lives. Despite this, he let his wallet do the thinking, and simply disposed of the surplus inventory when he was through. What a dick.

I won't question the AFF I who was there. It was a single jumpmaster dive, and the call was made to dump the guy out. I don't know what kind of shape he was in, but the instructor had a hand on him, the PC was within reach and it seemed like 'go time', so the PC 'went'. Who knows, maybe the spot was long on top of everything else?

Nice and complicated, great way to start out. I would suggest that if you haven't worked your way up to that type of helmet, and figured out what you want along the way, you might want to dial back your plans until you do.

If you want to ask a stupid question, expect to be treated like a guy who asks stupid questions. In terms of your reply, fuck off.

True, but the way I'm reading the story is that nobody (from their group) was in the door. It sounds to me like jumpers were exiting the plane and as space was opening up, the outside JM just hopped to the door side bench in preperation of the exit. She followed suit, as she had done before, and the inside JM got a little 'handsy' with her. There does come a point where the outside JM will instruct the student to take their commands from the inside JM, and this is right before they climb out and can no longer contribute to the verbal instruction. Again, this incident sounds like it occurred well before this point, when there were still other jumpers in the plane scheduled to exit before them. That said, unprofessional behavoir is just unprofessional. If I am correct about my assumptions, and that all of this occured up-plane, away from the door, the actions of the JM represent a failure based on the fact that the student came away with a bad impression. I'm not suggesting that every student can be pleased in every way, but it terms of a non safety-critical situation with the action in question being inappropriate physical treatment of the student, that's a failure of the instructor.

Have you given one ounce of thought to what 'freefly friendly' means, and why it is important? Have you done any research into that area? If you then go on to look at backflying, your answer should be quite clear.

If you recall, in the thread where you were considering buying your own rig to modify and use for your student jumps, I said that it was a bad idea because until you make a few jumps, nobody really knows the best way to modify the rig to suit your needs. We could guess, but the sure way to find out was to jump the DZs rig, and see how those mods worked out, and go from there. Until you made one jump, we had no idea of what would be best, and once you make one, two, or three, we'll know worlds more about how to build a rig to suit you. Jumping in general is the same thing. Before your last exit, you had NO idea how this was going to go, or what to expect. With such unlimited possibilities, it's not surprising that the fear got the better of you and took control. However, going into jump two, you have 100% more experience in making a solo skydive. You have an exit, an opening, and a successful canopy ride under your belt, and there to boost your confidence for the next jump. You no longer have the fear of the unknown working against you, because there is no longer an 'unknown'.

Like I said before, don't start jumping, it just wouldn't work out. The point you have so skillfully missed is that it's not that we don't udnerstand the math you used to come up with your 'chart', it's that we don't understand the point of coming up with the chart in the first place. What we do understand, and you don't seem to, is that the numbers you are looking at are so inconsequential in terms of canopy flight. The larger up you go in canopy size, the less changes in WL will be noticable, and you're looking exclusively (in this instance) at the largest and slowest canopies made. Nobody here can tell the difference in performance between changes in the second decimal place on a WL. I have jumped at 2.5+ to 1, and I don't think I could have detected a difference between 2.51 and 2.59, even at that extreme loading. You're looking at loadings well under 1 to 1, and not grapsing why nobody gives a fuck that the chart isn't prefectly linear, and some of the loadings are off by a couple hundreths of a pound. You think John LeBlanc is your kind of guy? Here's a news flash, John is more like me and likestojump than you will ever be. He's a jumper, and a danm smart one at that, and the reason that the chart his company posted has the 'errors' you found is that they don't mean shit, and aren't errors. How do you tell the difference between one canopy and the other? As previously mentioned, get off your fat ass and jump them. I've jumped dozens and all different loadings in all different conditions. I've studied the aerodynamics, and experimented with modifying my one canopies. I've flown the highest performance canopies made, and proved my skill in competition. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to parachutes, their operation, performance and applications. Nobody ever suggested you become an expert, but yes, you should make at least one jump and get a fucking clue, and yes, that costs money. I know this because of the tens of thousands of dollars I've spent on jumping and gear, to educate and provide myself with the expereince needed to speak with authority on the subject. So yeah, pay up and jump sucker. Everyone else did, now put your money where you mouth is and get you ass off the ground. Until such time, fuck off.

I was wrong. Don't go to a DZ, or start jumping. Keep 'internet skydiving' poindexter, there are plenty of other canopy WL charts you can analyze and transcribe onto a spreadsheet, then you can stick your sliderule up your ass again, I'm sure the two of you will be very happy together.