davelepka

Here's my take - first you're making plans regarding your downsizing that span out for the next several years. During this time, you'll make, let's say, a few hundred jumps, and you're making plans today when you have 27 jumps as to what you will or will not want at that time. You are right as far as the packing goes. A brand new canopy is a bitch to pack. Because of this, you'll want to lean toward the larger size container for a 170, which would wok today, but limit your downsizing later. Again, keep in mind that you don't really know what you're going to want 100 or 200 jumps down the road. You jump at a big DZ, which I'm sure has an on-site rigger. Take advatage of this, and ask for some help in buying your gear. Look around the classifieds, and forward links to the rigger for their opinion. Follow that up with having the gear shipped to the rigger for an inspection before you buy. To make it easier on you, buy a new Cypres2, as this will saty with you from rig to rig. Buy a new PD reserve, as they hold their resale value, and if you do want to buy a smaller contianer later on, you'll be able to sell it for a good portion of what you bought it for. Buying those two things new will save you some hassle for sure. But really, in the end, you can save yourself thousands buying used, and you can use the next year or so learning about gear, the different models and features, test jump a few things, and generally get a much better idea of what is going to work the best for you in the longer term. Additionally, if you take good care of your stuff, and make smart purchases this round, you'll be able to sell your stuff for close to what you paid for it. It's like a free starter rig to jump while you develop yourself as a skydiver.

There are no guarantees with nay canopy that it will always open soft. If you are in a position where a hard opening will result in further brain injury, you might want to think about that. Additionally, reserves are designed to open quickly, not softly. A reserve opening at terminal, or worse while unstable, can be quite hard. If your Dr is being overly cautious, as most docs are, then there a few good choices. The Sabre2 is not bad, but the Spectre is universally known as the softest opening canopy ouit there (which is why it's the choice for many camera flyers). Additionally, Dacron lines can add another layer of protection between you and a hard opening. Dacron will stretch significantly and absorb a portion of the opening shock before it gets to you. Finally, I would invest in some quality packing instruction. Once you have your rig assembled, spend some time with a rigger and develop a 'pack job' for your rig. Flaking the canopy is fairly basic, but each rig will have it's own method for the best possible result. How wide should you make the canopy to fit the bag? How big should the folds be? Given the width of the bag and the length of the lines, how big and how many stows will leave you with the correct amount of excess? Once you have these things figured out, practice unitl you can repeat the pack job in a consistant manner. This will go a long way toward avoiding packing errors, and possible hard openings/malfunctions. If you do switch canopies, buy used, and look for something with at least 100 jumps on it, it will be much easier to control during packing. I'm sure it goes without saying, don't use a packer. Do it yourself, and do it right.

When you turn the key, do you hear a clicking noise? The starter has a solenoid or relay that transmits the high voltage power to the starter itself, turning the key simply activates this solenoid/relay. If you don't hear this clicking, there's a good chance that the solenoid/relay has failed. The part should be less than the starter, but I have no idea about the labor.

It's the backflying that did it. When you arch and fly on your belly, you push your chest out and put tension on your chest strap, loading the friction adapter and keeping your chest strap in place. When you fly on your back, you reverse the arch, and end up pushing your main lift webs closer together, removing tension from the friction adapter, and you know the rest. What you need to do is use additional elastic bands, arranged around the chest strap and friction adapter in such a way that they lock the chest strap in place with or without tension on the strap. The trick in doing this safely is making sure that you can still accurately check the strap is properly threaded during your gear check. Some jumpers have devised an over/under/around method that makes a visual check of the strap difficult or confusing. Avoid this. Additionally, this is the sort of thing you need to address with your local instructors/riggers immediately after the jump in question. Do not jump the rig again, nor alter it's configuration until the situation has been investigated, and the cause and solution have been explained to your satisfaction. Jumping a rig that behaves in a way that you do not understand is asking for trouble. Remember that accidents are usually the end result of several bad situations coming together all at once. What seems like a minor problem today could easily add to another minor problem tomorrow, and that will be the day your buddy does something stupid right under you, and you can imagine the rest.

Good point. Many tracking dives are flown at something less then flatest/fastest, making manuvering around during the dive than much easier. The closer you get to your max track, the tougher it is to stay 'on track' while manuvering. The more I think about it, 99% of all jumpers will loose something off of a max track by throwing a roll in there. Even guys who can hang with the tracking dives and be 100% all of the time will always be able to go faster/furhter by holding one orientation the entire time. Another thing I think the OP is missing is that a barrel roll in a track is cool in a lot different situations. Smaller dives with just a few people, for example, are a great place to have a little fun on the way out. Freefly jumps where you can peel out of head down with a ton of airspeed and really open up a gap also provide a good oppertunity to play. Guys who can really move, and just plain out run everyone else by a mile can also afford to toss a roll in there for sport. Low timers, who don't have the speed or range yet don't need to be giving up one inch of distance for anything with more than four people in the air. Not only for the obvious reasons of greater separation, but the longer you can track in a straight line, the more time you have to tweak and refine your body position. You generally only get a short time to track at the end of every jump, and you need to make the most of it.

This means you got smoked. Your 'as hard and far as I could' wasn't enough to outrun the guy who ended up over you. Spend less time thinking about a barrel role, and more time thinking about faster and furhter. A simple check over each shoulder as your track ends will clear your airspace, and allow you to maintain your direction and momentum. It's harder than you think. Until you can park yourself next to the base on a tracking dive, and complete the rotation in your slot, you're not doing exactly what you think you're doing. I might feel clean as hell, but I guarantee that you're not doing what you think you're doing. Just for perspective, I've lead more tracking dives than you have jumps, and have seen many, many skilled skydivers blow a transition or rotation, and fall off the pace of the dive.

What are so worried about? Have at it sport, what could possibly go wrong? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYc8E1x0Bm8

That's some funny shit right there. On a more serious note, I think the two of you do need a 'rematch', not in a pylon race, but in a safety meeting so Colon can relax a little. I always thought that skydiving was supposed to fun.

I've noticed a trend in a few of your posts, asking questions like, 'how do you find the time to jump all weekend, every weekend' and 'how do you know when you're to downsize' and 'does anybody just jump for fun and not try to downsize'. It really appears that you're a newer jumper trying to figure out how this whole thing works. What I think you're missing is that it works however you want it to. Not everyone can spend a ton of time at the DZ. Work, family, and a dozen other things will do their best to keep you off the DZ, which is just fine. You can spend as much time at the DZ as your life affords you. If this is one day per weekend, or one day per month it makes no difference, you're still a skydiver. HOWEVER - the less you jump, the more you need to remember that you don't jump that much when you're at the DZ. Many people talk about 'currency' as being a big part of staying safe, and it is true that staying current keeps you sharp. Another thing that keeps you sharp is re-current training, and simple skydives. If you don't jump a lot, you may need to ask an instructor for a review of your emergency procedures and to give you hand looking at the winds and landing pattern for that day. You'll also need to limit the size of the groups you jump with, maybe even just do a solo. I know an older (late 60's) woman who does a tandem every year on her birthday. She only makes one jump per year, so she is limited to the type of jump she's qualified to make (a tandem), but I would still consider her a skydiver. She's made several jumps in the past, and has plans to make more - a skydiver. Canopy selection is the same way. Whatever is the safe choice for you is correct. You don't ever have to downsize from a student size canopy if you don't want. Of course, you create some limitations to the wind conditions you'll be able to jump in as lightly loaded student canopies don't handle as well is higher speed winds, but in the end, there is no 'rule' that you have to downsize at all. Skydiving can be molded to fit just about any lifestyle. Now if you want to do 10 ways, or jump a HP canopy, or fly a wingsuit, then yes, it will require a commitment of time and money to gather up the experience and skill needed to be safe. But if your life doesn't allow that sort of commitment, you can still skydive, just in your own way. (Of course the catch is to correctly limit yourself with regards to your experience. Remember, if you make 15 jumps a year, even after you've been jumping for three years, you still only have 45 jumps, and your currency will be nil.)

As much as that sucks, it's the DZOs place, and he makes the final call about who gets what. Keeping that in mind, anyone with an interest in working at any DZ needs to have a sit down with the DZO before they make any work jumps. You are entering into a business agreement with this person, and both parties need to clearly understand the expectations of the other. Of course, there will always be the DZOs who will change the rules on you after the fact, and use the "It's my DZ, my rules" defense. At that point your best move is to get out of doing business with that guy.

The loop the toggle goes through is created by fingertrapping the bottom of the upper control line into a loop. The lower control line is attached to this loop by being fingertrapped to the bottom of the loop. This finger trap is pulled tight around the line so there is no second loop created. Both of these fingertraps are sewn down, usually with a bar tack. The bottom of the lower control line is fingertrapped into a loop, then an overhand knot is placed just above the loop, locking the fingertrap into place (no sewing required). This loop is where the toggle is attached. When you make the bottom fingertrap, you intentionally make the loop so the portion of the line you fingertrap up into itself has 6 or 8 inches of additional length, which ends up being 'stored' inside the lower control line. When you go to set the length of your lowers, you use the excess to allow you to move the bottom fingertrap (and loop) up or down on the line. There's no sewing required, and you don't need to construct or attach different length lines. The lowers are essentailly adjustable.

A little while? What, like a couple of hours? Punk or not, this guy still needs to get from point A to point B, and I figure that he'll have his tires fixed the same day. I vote for the note on the windshield. Be nice, and see if he can notch it up a gear while in the neighborhood. Maybe even leave a second note (not as nice) if he doesn't comply. If that fails, take care of the problem directly at the source. Get a can of that expanding foam house insulation, and insert the nozzle directly into the 'fart can' muffler. Dispense the product. I suggest doing this at night, so the foam has time to expand, and dry before he tries to drive the car. There was a pizza place a few doors down from me who hired a delivery driver with the same fart can muffler, and dumbshit attitude. I came up with the expanding foam idea after a few weeks of putting up with the noise. He stopped working there before I could put the plan into action, but I really think this is the way to deal with this sort of problem. Twoply has another solution. He stands in his driveway, and throws a rake into the street in front the offending party.

I sounds like they want DZs to buy into the "Training Center" concept, and are using the 'Solo Challenge' to ease it in there, all nice and lubed up. Of course, later on you'll have to deal with - - whatever that means. Does anyone know why 'such criteria' cannot just be rolled into the GM program? No DZ is required to be a GM, and they can be notified of rule/regulation/requirement changes at the time of renewal. We really need another DZ membership program, and band-aid fix for the student program? Because along with more of anything you run into this- Does anyone here really think that any student who comes back for jump #2 isn't fully briefed on the student progression? How it works, how many and what kind of jumps? These people are well aware of the milestones - being released in freefall, one JM, solo exits, no JM, etc. Is it really the idea that jumpers will strive to tackle the solo challenge? How about the fact that after they do, of course they have to go back to jumping with a coach to get their 'A'? "Hey Jimbo! Way to go, you just met the Solo Challenge, and jumped all by yourself. Please go find a coach so you can get your A card completed, and one day you can jump by yourself again."

When I think of it, both options seem like pretty bad ideas. The first, to exit tight, and 'keep an eye' on him - how do you expect to coduct your own skydive if you are trying to keep visual contact with another jumper? Let's say you 'somehow' loose sight of him, you have still exited closer than you should have, and now you are close by, and have no idea where he is or what he is doing. Your second option is only valid if you are the last jumper to leave the plane. If there is anyone behind you, you need to stick with the agreed upon exit separation based on the winds that day and the make up of the groups on the load. Your best bet will always be to stick to the plan when it comes to factors that are agreed upon for the entire load. You are sharing the sky with these people, and they will be expecting you to abide by the choices you all made proir to take off, as you should be expecting of them.

In response to the title of the thread, "Did I get ripped of?" - Yes. Yes, you did.

I can't see this as being a reality. Due to the fact that 'qualified' canopy course instructors do not grow on trees, these courses will be taught by instructors who have been 'taught' the course. These people will largely be pulling from the written cirriculum, and won't have the same ability as the Scott Miller types do to stand there and go on for hours, while stil making sense and staying on track. Of equal importance is attention span you can expect of the student. There will be limit to that, as well as the amount of info we can expect the 'average' jumper to absorb in a single setting. If you are indeed trying to replicate a full canopy course, then yes, you will run into this situation, but not by choice. You'll be limited to this by the small number of instructors you'll have. But it does need to be available at every DZ, like the live water training. By keeping it simple, you can have an AFF I, or the S&TA run the course at every DZ. The USPA would never get behind something they thought to have an unreasonable level of effort to achieve, especially if that thing was to be a requirement (aka roadblock) to one of their liscenses. Let's face it, this idea has been presented to the USPA types several times, and they have yet to back even the simplest of ideas. Making it more difficult or more complex isn't going to help matters.

You do realize that the price you pay for freefall represents a very narrow profit margin for the DZ, right? Furthermore, do you also realize that the altitude you fly to is a cross between turn around time of the AC, and fuel burn, right? Let's say you own a DZ, and want to make a few bucks, then you need to charge more than you do for fun jumpers. You see this all over the place with tandems and students paying more than you do. Let's also say that you run a DZ, and want to fly to higher altitudes. Once you factor in slower climb rates at higher altitudes (which of course includes higher fuel burn and more time on the engines), along with the cost of operating an O2 system, you can see that you may need to charge more per 1000 ft above 13k than you do below. Now let's say that you're a DZO, and you expect your TIs to spend more time sitting in the plane, and more time in freefall (and hopefully, time spent monitoring a student with onboard O2), you can see how you might have to kick them a few extra bucks. How about the extra time the drouge spends being dragged through the sky? You realize those things have a limited life span, and are not cheap to replace, right? So really, who's the retarded son of a bitch here?

You've got it backwards, Captain. You roll your altimeter forward, so you can get certain shots in the plane before they really happen. This is in case you need to be doing something else at the actual time. If that were the case here, and the camera flyer forgot to reset it, it would have read higher. Either way, I think the over-riding factor here is oxygen. I find it hard to believe that anyone would run tandems to 18k without O2 on board. I can't imagine that any TI would want to take an unknown tandem student way up there without O2 to keep both of them on top of their game.

Let's not gethung up on the one hour time frame. Just to be accurate, I did say 'an hour or so' figuring it would be more than an hour and less than two. The size of the class, and the number and nature of questions the students have will have an effect. As far as the class you offer, remember that your students are there by choice. These are people who have come to the conclusion that they need the information you are presenting, and that you are qualified to present it. In the case of a required course, it's possible that neither of those factors will be present, and so you run into the need to balance the attention span of the student vs. the information you choose to present. Much like ISP, or the FJC at most DZs, the course structure and content will grow and develop over time. Start off with simplicity, and continuously evaluate the outcome in order to focus and hone the final product.

You have to keep in mind that this needs to be general course. There has to be a balance between what people need to know, and what people will be willing to sit through and pay attention to. It's already been mentioned earlier in this thread that a priem motivator for the students paying attention is that they are paying for the course out of their own pockets. With a required course, you're going to be removing a large part of that motivation. On that subject, I see this course as being very inexpensive, something on the order of $5 or $10 a head, just to cover the instructors time. Lets keep in mind that I'm still looking at an hour or so of classroom time as the entire course. Why would I exclude the jumps? I know that this is the most exciting part, and yes, you can learn quite a bit from a video and a debrief of your landings. The trick to this is that it takes a MUCH more experienced and talented instructor to effectively handle this part of the course. It's no secret that the current crop of guys running the courses available now are not only highly experienced canopy pilots, but also talented instrcutors as well. If you were trying to recreate these courses at every DZ across the country, this is where you'd run into trouble. Finding a jumper with the experience, ability, and most importantly, the time and willingness to run the course. Making the jumps a required part of the course would either make it an impossibility due to lack of instructors or give the course dimished value due to sub-standard instruction. By keeping the course to classroom time, you make it much easier to ensure that the information is correctly and completely taught in a consistant manner from DZ to DZ. I think you'd be surprised how much your average 50 jump or less jumper does not know about canopies, how they work, and how to use them. Additionally, you make the logistics of running a course 100 times easier, and in turn boost the chances of them being run in the first place. Can a DZ choose to include jumps? Sure. Could a jumper take away an interest in canopy control, and choose to seek out a course including jumps? Also yes. It could lead to alot of things, but in the beginning you need to start off slow, and work your way into a bigger and more complex situation. Let's give the Scott Millers out there some credit for what they have accomplished, and realize that not just anyone can do what they do.

The biggest hurdle to this is going to be developing the cirriculum and qualifying the instructors. You don't need to be a super swooper to teach the course, you just need to have complete and accurate understanding of the course materials. Scheduling the course is not going to be the hard part. We're talking about an hour or so of classroom time in total. Just to be clear, I'm not behind the idea that this type of canopy course should involve actual jumps. That would require another level of instructor, and would be a logistical nightmare. Back to the hour or so of calssroom time - anyone without a B is welcome, and anyone planning on ever getting a B would be welcome, you would not have to be B qualified to participate. Look, everyone boasts how great their small DZs are, and how everyone is like a family. If you need to get your B on the quick, hit your family up for some help and see if the course instructor can meet you one on one to get it done. Hell, invite the guy over for dinner during the week and get it done that way.

The way to work this is to tie it into the B. By the time a jumper has gotten to the point where they are B qualified, they have shown that they are going to stick with skydiving for awhile, and they are also coming into the phase where they will be going from student type (larger) canopies into more mid-size sport type canopies. As far as guys who will hang into an A just to avoid the canopy course, well, fuck them. Even having a mandatory course doesn't guarantee that people will actually pay attention, or adopt an interset in canopy control. It's the old 'you can lead a horse to water...' situation. The idea is just to make sure that ongoing jumpers have had an exposure to correct and accurate information about some advanced concpets in canopy control and aerodynamic theory. What people choose to do with it afterwards is their choice. As far as placing an 'undue' burden on a smaller DZ, I disagree. How many jumpers at a smaller DZ will be applying for a B in a given season? Because it's a smaller DZ, there will be fewer jumpers, and the need for fewer courses. It's just like the live water training. That's a real pain in the ass, especially because you need a pool (generally off-site for most DZs) and some ratty old canopies to throw in there. Despite this, live water training remains a requirement.

Maybe there was traffic the spotters did not see, but ATC and the pilot did. Maybe the pilot was having trouble configuring the plane for jump run. Maybe the pilot just felt like taking a go around because it's was anice day. Whatever the case, no light, no go (aside from a cabin fire or structural failure).

Great, thanks for sharing how you with 3000 jumps flies a camera in a thread designed for new camera flyers. That's helpful. I agreee, you need to leave very close to when the tandem leaves, and hopping off just before them is the SAFE way to stay tight, but also be clear of the drouge. If you back that up with a mental plan to sit tight if the count gets past you, you go into camera flying with a solid, safe exit plan. Let's remember that how you or I fly a tandem video is not the same way the new guys should approach things. There will be areas where an experienced guy can put a good number of things on 'auto pilot' and really focus on some of the trickier areas of camera flying. You can't count on the new guy to be able to do this. For the new guys - Take a conservative approach to the exit and opening shots. Yes, there are some great angles out there, but you need to approach them slowly. Once the drouge is out pay attention to your framing and lighting. If you can do a really great job following a conservative plan, you will produce a great product everyone will be proud of. As for all the cover shots you see in the magazines, and the shit-hot disco flying you see all over youtube, take your time and you'll get there.

The one thing that bugs me is exit timing. I've seen it happen in person, and seen it show up in internet videos, but the newbie camera guy will either miss the count, or just wait too long, and end up exiting at the same time as the tandem, directly downwind of the tandem pair, a.k.a. exactly where the drouge is about to go. I've mentioned this to a few guys in person, and maybe posted it at some point, but it's important to understand that there is a window of time you have to get off the plane before the tandem (a leading exit). Once you miss this window, you need to just hang on, let them go by, and follow them off of the plane (a trailing exit). If you leave at the same time, you wil be in the mushy air of their burble, and about to get a drouge tossed at your face. It's not easy to hang on and let them go by, but that what needs to happen. Maybe you can hop off next to them, and side slide your way out from behind them, then backslide and sink back down into your slot. It could happen. But you could also loose the air to one wing, and have no power going sideways. You could end up stuck back there because the TM just had his most stable and square exit ever. He just might want to fire the drouge right then and there. Who knows? Either way, that's not a chance you should be taking. You get a shot at the sweet leading exit shot on every jump. Sometimes you blow it, and when you do, man up and hang on. When you let them go by, you let the chance that you get popped with the drouge go by.