davelepka

Good for you. Don't take this the wrong way, but if you're not seeing big improvements, you're doing something wrong. The nice thing about knowing close to nothing and having everything to learn is that it's not hard to top your last performance, or notice something new on every jump. That's the nature of the learning curve, very steep in the beginning, and then tapering off to more of a gentle slope down the road a bit. Think about it, if you have 50 jumps right now, that's twice the jumps you had when you got your A license. Even though it was only 25 jumps ago, you've doubled your jumps since then, and should expect to see a vast improvement in your skills. To put that into perspective, I have had several occasions where I have done 50+ jumps in a week. While I may have had a ton of fun, I'm sure that I learned less in those 50 jumps than you learned in the last 25. What you are feeling is the brith of a tiny little 100-jump wonder in your brain. That's where it begins, with the steep learning curve, and mountain of new information and experiences you have in front of you, and sooner or later you start to get 'ahead' of yourself. Get too far out there, and you get hurt or turn into a dickhead. Keep it in check, and it serves as an internal motivator, pushing you to try harder and do better, while your good sense remembers that you're the F'n new guy.

This link shows the belt routing for AC and non-AC, but it's for a 99 instead of a 96. See if they are the same engine, and you should find what you need here. http://www.2carpros.com/car_repair_information/year/1999/make/mazda/model/protege/1999_mazda_protege_drive_belt_routing_diagram.htm

Most 4-cylinder engines have the water pump driven internally by the timing belt. The idea is to see if you can route a belt to hit all of the other pulleys and not come into contact with the AC compressor. If you can't do that with the compressor in place, you'll need to see what they do for non-AC cars. Most likely there will be an idler pulley in the place of the compressor, just to route the belt correctly. You can probably get one out of a junkyard, but it shouldn't be expensive to buy as it's just a bracket with a free-wheeling pulley. I'm guessing that with 200k+ miles on the car, you're not too worried about resale, so removing the compressor shouldn't be a big deal.

It's the fabirc. F-111 fabric was strong and durable after 1000 jumps, but the porosity went up so much that the canopy didn't perform as needed anymore. Z-po fabirc is good stuff, but not perfect. Higher time canopies can run into fabric strength problems, and some of this has to do with location. Canopies jumped in the dry, dusty southwest or sandy areas will have a shorter lifespan than one jumped in a dust/sand free environment. As usual, have all used equipment inspected by a rigger. Things like containers and reserves are typically airworthy or not, so those are easy calls to make. Mains are another story as an airworthy main may have little life left in it or the lines. It may hold together, and survive an opening, but the flare performance or state of trim may be less than desireable. Once a canopy has been deemed airworty, the condition of the fabric and lines becomes a seperate evaluation to determine the market value. Edit to add - a canopy with good fabric and worn lines is not a bad thing. Provided that the price is such that it accounts for a reline (about $250) then you end up with a canopy where you know the exact number of jumps on the lines, and not just a 'guesstimate' by the previous owner. A fresh line set will typically result in better openings and flare performacne.

Tracking dives are not typically flown at full speed. If they were, the flyers would no ability to close in on the base, or fly realtive to it. The idea is to fly the dive at a moderate speed so jumpers can catch up to the base, and then have power in reserve so they can manuver around the base. When was the last time you flew on an RW jump where every one arched their hardest and fell as fast as they could? Never, you fall at a comfotable mid-range speed. Same idea. You have more to learn than you know. You want a metric? Try this one - if you're healthy enough after a jump to pack up and make another, you're doing good. That's the one I use everyday, and it's served me well.

Vertical seperation only works when it works. It's much easier to control the factors surrounding horizontal seperation, and this why horizontal seperation is used as the primary method used to keep jumpers in the clear. Pulling at 4k, or 8k or 12.9k is perfectly acceptable, provided that all interested parties are infromed before loading the aircraft. Pulling higher than planned to make it back from a long spot is another story. It does work, as you're canopy has a much better glide than a jumper in freefall, and the more time you spend under canopy the more ground you can cover. The problem is that when you deviate from the plan mid-jump on anything but a solo, you deviate from everyone's plan and that can lead to problems. You need to be aware of EVERYONE in your group if you're thinking about pulling high. If one person is not with the group and you don't see them, then pulling high is not an option. In that case, you need to stick with the original break-off and pull altitudes as discussed in the dirt dive. The next thing to remember is that pulling high should in no way effect your break off and track procedures. If you should choose to pull high, you still need to turn out from the center of the skydive, and track to a clear area. Don't make the assumption that becasue you are pulling high you don't need to track as far. Your jump partners may also make the choice to pull high, and if everyone turns and takes a short track, you all end up pulling right next to each other. So the idea is that however far above the original break off you are is how far above your original pull altitude you can pull. Let's say you planned to break at 4.5k and pull at 3k. If you feel like you need to pull high at, say, 5.5k, the highest you can pull then is 4k. You still need 1500ft to turn and track to a clear area, and this is not optional. I was filming a gold medal winning 4-way team one day, and at break off I dumped in place as was the plan. Three seconds later I was snivelling 40ft away from one of the team members who was snivelling right in front of me. When we landed I asked what that was all about, and the gold medal winning, AFF-I said to me, 'When we turned to track I saw how far out we were, so I pulled right away to get open sooner". My natural response was to ask hew what ever happened to tracking away from the center, and she replied that she just forgot because she wanted to get back to the DZ. In the end, the best plan is to spot accurately, and not to exit the plane unless you can make it home with your original plan. If you are doing a group jump where you are an inside diver, assign a competent jumper in your group to be the first to climb out so they can verify the spot, and make the go/no-go call. Once the call is made, the best bet is to trust your jump partner, and follow through with the original dive plan. Beyond that, having a good handle on canopy control and knowing how to maximize your glide will help. Make sure you are able to set up an accurate landing pattern away from the DZ, knowing good stratagies for selecting an alternate LZ, be familiar with flat turns and be preparred for a PLF when landing off, and you should be fine in any circumstance.

I'm not sure I subscribed to that myth, or suggested it as being valid. Did you skip the first 9 words of my post? In case you did, here they are -

I'll echo both points. You should have a 'plan B' and a designated base on every formation jump, just in case. The 'low man' rule is also a good one to keep in mind becasue it's generally tougher to float back up to a formation than to sink down to it. If the 'low man' also happens to be the biggest guy on the jump (go figure, a big guy drops out further in a funnel) he may never get back in. The solution is to either designate the big guy as the default base, or make sure the designated base is sharp enough to account for the low man in a funnel. It's true that the base is supposed to 'lay base', as-in sit still and be a base, but there's no reason they can't punch it out and drop down to lay a base in a position where the lowest jumper has a chance to get back in. They could even suck it right down to the low man, and have that jumper be the 'first' one back in the base. All of this is dependent on the low man doing their job as well. If they are making an effort to slow down and get back in, it makes it even easier and quicker for the base to help them out. If they are down and dirty, looking up, backsliding and dropping away from the base, at some point the base has to 'call it a day' and just sit still or risk spending the rest of the dive chasing down the low man, wasting everyone elses time.

The rule of thumb with skydiving equipment, only buy what fits you and what you are qualified to jump at the time of purchase. You may hope to have an exit weight of 225-230 by the beginning of next season, but you may also not reach that goal. Even if you do have an exit weight of 230 lbs, that's on the high side for a 210 when you only have 30 jumps, all of them on student canopies. You can expect the Sabre2 to be higher performance than the Navs you have been jumping, even in the same size. Add in a downsize, and it's a double whammy. Add in to that an exit weight that might be north of 230 lbs, you can see where the problem lies. Any deal you can find on a canopy now, you can find the same deal next April/May. Start the next season on a canopy you are familiar with, and get current. You can demo PD canopies for not much cash for two weeks at a time. Take advantage of this, and work your way down slowly, one step at a time. Find out what you are comfortable and qualified to jump at that time, and then buy one of those.

In all fairness to those who might look upon you with suspicion, you claimed to have worked at ASC for two years, exactly what two year period was this? The past two years from now, or a previous two year period and you are just coming clean now? The reason I ask is becasue it's been no secret for many, many years that Skyride has been stealing photos and content from skydivers, cornering cusomters in markets where they don;t belong and withholding them from DZs for a 'ransom', and misleading customers as to the location and costs associated with making a jump. With this in mind, and your claim to not support anything that was a lie, how is it that you came to work for them at all, let alone sustained that employment for two years? Your profile claims you to have 7000+ jumps and many, many years in the sport, and as such you would have been well aware of the doings of Skyride and the fact that it, and ASC are one in the same. Now if your profile is a fabrication, and an attempt to mask your true identity, with the real truth being that you are not a jumper but an office worker who was hired with no knowledge of the business or it's reputation, that would be one thing, but if that's the case, then you have to wonder why your profile is anonymous. In fact, even if you are a long time jumper, one has to wonder why you would remain anonymous. You seem to be admitting that you made an error in working at ASC, so that's out of the way, and now that your employment there has ended, what's the point of remaining anonymous? It would certainly bolster your position to be truthful with your indentity, and if you are a working jumper, that work history would not effect your ability to get work at other DZs. If you're qualified to do the jumps, and a DZ needs help, you're hired. If you're not a jumper, and looking for work outside the industry, revealing your identity here would have no effect on that.

Considering that the loan was to a staff camera flyer who was not preparred for the load, in the absence of that info, the obvious question would be why the video jump wasn't given to the OP, who was obviously packed and not otherwise on the load. If the case was the he wanted to give the rig to an unpreparred staff jumper, while the owner of the rig was also a qualifed video flyer, then I would wonder why the OP was being passed over for video work, and why the DZO expected him to provide gear so another video guy could make the jump and the money. Knowing that the OP was not qualified to fly the video, explains all of that. It also adds to the possibility of sour grapes playing a part in the OPs reluctance to be a team player.

This is why I was asking if the OP was an employee at the DZ, and the general situation. At most DZs, once you join the staff, you become a member of the 'team'. Sometime the 'teamwork' goes in your favor, like when you get free slots to practice video, or you get to buy your mom a tandem for the price of 2 slots and rig rental. Other times, the 'teamwork' is on your part, like when you have to donate a jump for a staff members mom to do a tandem, or stay late to help pack every rig for the next day, or loan your rig to another staffer to make a staff jump to service a paying customer. I take back my position that the OP had every right to be upset. The rig was owned by a staffer, and loaned out to another staffer, who had no other options, and was making a staff jump. On top of it all, the rig was 'covered' by the DZO against loss or damage. Furthermore, the borrower was experienced jumper very similar equipment. Given the details of the story, both the post and not being willing to loan the rig in the first place is very bad form. Even if there was a rental rig available, how about helping a brother out, and giving them a 'fun' rig to jump? If you're not going to need it, and won't get hung out to dry in the case of loss or damage, what's the harm?

The idea is being floated in the incidents forum about this being related to the Archway fatality where a student went in with a Cypres equipped rig, and an intact reserve closing loop. Enough time has pssed in that incident for the police to have located an independent rigger to inspect the gear, and for the Cypres to have made it to SSK for download. There has certainly been speculation as to the operation of the Cypres, and if there was a problem in that operation, and provided that Airtec found the unit to have fired at the correct altitude, this statement would absolve Airtec of any involvement in that incident as far as the general public is concerned. Keep in mind that if the loop was outside of the cutter, I'm pretty sure that Airtec would have been informed as such before the Cypres arrived for download. Seeing as that information will surely play a role in the investigation, and impending lawsuit, you can see why Airtec would not come right out and say that was the case. In the absence of that, the existing statement about putting the loop through the cutter is the best they can do to clear their 'good name' at this point in time. The more I think about it, even if Airtec was not told that the loop was outisde of the cutter, I have seen macro photos of other cutters that show loop fibers on and around the cutter after an activation. If that unit activated 'clean', Airtec may have reached their conclusion in that way. Or course, this is all just pure speculation. The statement may have no relation to the Archway fatality, and Airtec might have just felt like issuing a friendly reminder.

While I have less than zero input to your actual questions, I will throw this out there just for kicks. Is there a cheaper, or already in place alternative, that might require more hands-on work where you could hire an editor to take care of the work? I ask because I've been fortunate enough to have an editor handling my footage for the last 8 or 9 years, and it is the way to go if you can swing it. I have never had to deal with any troubles with hardware, software, media, or the physical delivery of the product to the customer. I drop my footage in a box, mark a tape or memory card number on an edit sheet, and I'm done. What I'm thinking is that even if you set up the 'easy button' station, is it really going to be that easy? What happens when the PC crashes, or there is some other error? What about if your footage has a mistake or other special consideration that isn't pre-programmed into the easy button? Will you have to stand down from the video rotation to solve a problem, or postpone the edits until that night and mail the DVDs to the customer? We pay our editor $5 a video, and it's well worth it. Having the high-end hardware is nice, but you can't beat the versatility of a real person. We get the edits done, regardless of any special needs, DVDs handed over the customers, and she also ends up helping us out with logistics and communication with manifest to keep us all on the right track. I make about $40 for a video + stills, so it takes me 8 jumps before I spend the cost of one video on edits. It really is a huge reduction in workload when all you have to do is jump, pack, and keep the cameras running. Anyway, just a throught. You can check with local high schools and colleges with communication programs to see if they have any students looking for work. It's not a bad job for a student, and if they're interested in video production/editing, it's a good fit for them. Actually, one of our old editors when on to do some work for the Discovery channel and Disney.

About 290 jumps, you're almost there. No, really though, you're not too far off. If you put in 50 jumps to get current and back in the swing of things, and attended a big way camp at Perris, you could find yourself on a 100 way pretty easily. There are different types of big way camps, some are just big way meets, but others are actual training camps for doing big ways where you learn the specific skills needed for bigger ways, and practice them on 'smaller' jumps like 20 or 40 ways. In tersm of belly flying being 'dead' it's not now, and never going to be, at least as long as belly is the 'deployment' position. For that reason, every jumper starts off belly flying, and every instructor needs to be a top notch belly flyer. Freeflying is cool for sure, but also not for everyone. For starters, it takes more time or more money to learn over belly flying. You come out of AFF with the skills to do a 4-way RW jump, and if you do about 10 of them you can start adding jumpers to that number. By the time you have 50 jumps, you could expect to turn several points on a 4, 5, or 6 way, no problem. There's alot of satisfaction in planning a jump, and executing the plan. Freeflying, on the other hand, is a little different. You come out of AFF with little no experience in freeflying. Due to the higher airspeeds, and related higher speeds of impact with another jumper, you need to be 'in control' before jumping with others, meaning that you can hold a sit fly or head down for the entire jump, and maintain a steady speed and heading. This can take anywhere from 5 to 25 solos to accomplish. Less if you pay extra for a coach to jump with you, more if you go at it solo. Beyond that, even when you are 'safe' to jump with others, you're still a ways off from taking docks, and being able to 'plan the dive and dive the plan'. There will always be belyl flyers to jump with. Sometimes it might be a fresh A licesne graduate, and you have to limit it to a simple 2 or 3 way, but those jumps can sometimes be the most challenging and rewarding. You have to work hard to stay with the new guy, and they have to work hard not to shit their pants (not literally, but you get the idea).

In the military context, I think 'casualties' refers to any troop not fit for battle, not to actual fatalities. A twisted ankle or broken hand would be classified as a casualty because that soldier would not be available to participate in battle.

True, but at those joints you can get a go-around if the spot is bad. I'd be 2.5 times less pissed off if I got a bad spot and had to ride the plane down if my ticket was only $10. The truth is, if landing off didn't get my booted off the DZ, and I wasn't on a back to back, I'd just get out anyway. I'm not about to land in some farmers field, or inaccesible place, I'll just set it down by the side of the road, daisy-chain my lines and start walking. No need to for me, or anyone coming to get me, to trespass or destroy any crops or property, so it's a non-issue.

On the one hand, I want to say that's a pretty shitty way of handling a bad spot, but for $10 it actually sounds about right.

You're not insuring the rock, you're insuring the asset. If you lose the rock, they don't give you another one, they give you the value of the asset. It's all about the benjamins. If you have the dough to lose a $4k asset and not think twice about it, there's no need to insure it. If you'd rather lose a couple bucks a month due to higher homeowners insurance than risk the $4k, go that way. Insurance isn't a scam if you need it. If you never file a claim, it can feel like a scam after awhile, but it does deliver the advertised service, it insures your assests against loss. Even if you don't file a claim, you could have if need be, and that's the purpose. There really are only a few types of insurance that are required anyway, auto liability and motgage come to mind, and both of those are really insuring other peoples assets. The victim if you should cause an auto accident, and the bank if anything should happen to your (their) house. Everything esle is optional, so if you're feeling lucky (punk) cancel it all and see how it goes.

There's something odd about that for sure. The right line groups are not seperate above the twists, and the left line groups are twisted around themselves above the twist as well. At first when I looked at the risers, I was thinking 'step through', but then thought that maybe it was just the line twists turning the risers in. Now that I look closer, the whole thing looks like multiple step throughs, both above and below the twists. Line twists themselves are easy to explain. Bad body position, stuck rubber bands, not enough slack after the last stow, etc. What I see there is harder to explain. Nothing looks right above or below the twists. If you say you line checked it, then I guess you did, but that thing 'looks' stepped through several times. I'd be more inclined to blame the line twists on whatever it is that's going on with the rest of the canopy than any of the 'ususal suspects'. Do you have any more pics or frame grabs? How about a whole video, I'd love to see some more of this.

My ego? You realize that the OP has almost the same number of jumps and time in the sport as me, and that we're talking about being able to pack a slippery 94 sq ft parachute. It's not exactly a high-caliber achievement, and something that is reasonable to expect a jumper of half his experience to be able to easily accomplish. If this was a newbie, or some sort of extrordinary feat like winning a gold medal or holding a world record, I could see your point. For a guy in his position, to not be able to pack your own rig without using a 'trick' packjob, and not even doing it right then, is fair game for any comment I may have.

Lot's of people have been there. Be ready to have a good time, and be ready to see the heavies on approach to DFW while you're in freefall. The DZ is located right down the middle of the extended centerlines of the paralell runways at DFW, so it's not uncommon to have jet traffic running a mile or so off both sides of the jumprun. It's cool as shit, and distracting as hell at first.

Right up until you realize you don't know jack, and are worried your 3 rings aren't built right. Then, of course, you expect everyone to chime in with their expertise and be helpful.

Oh, I see. Your rig is too small for your canopy, and in 16 years and 4500 jumps you never learned to pack for yourself. That explains it all, how silly of me to comment on the situation.

That's not what I meant when I said don't blame the canopy. Don't blame the canopy being slippery for needing to twist it up to bag it. It's less than 100 sq. ft., just fold it and put it straight in the bag. The psycho pack was created for new jumpers who had trouble getting a Z-po canopy into the bag. Keeping in mind that newbies jump big canopies, and with little packing experience, a newer 170 or 190 can be a handful. With 4500 jumps, and a 94 sq ft canopy, just fold the thing and bag it, it's not that hard.