davelepka

UPT is a private enterprise that I have no interest in. They can handle this situation any way they see fit. The USPA, on the other hand, I do have an interest in as a dues paying memeber. They have taken it upon themselves to 'install' themselves into skydiving in the US, so I have to deal with them. The majority of DZs, and a bigger majorty of larger DZs are all group members, and seeing as I want to jump at these DZs, I have to be a member. Either way, I'll have a look at the governance manual. I don't see how a BOD member could engage in such negligent behavoir, and retain their seat. If they did impose a 90 day suspension of his instructional rating, that's an admission of guilt, and probably an appropriate course of action in terms of his ratings. In terms of his seat on the board, that needs to be addressed, and handled as a seperate matter. The last place you'll see me is on the BOD. I'm a member and have concerns about the USPA as a result of essentially being 'required' to be a member. If given the choice to not be a member, and still jump at group member DZs, I would save the $50 on USPA dues and spend it making two more jumps (or three hop n pops).

I'll take the 'info' you've provided so far, and conclude that the thrid party info I heard is indeed true. What I heard didn't include the part about backdating documents to the BOD, which makes the situation even worse than I had first suspected (which is hard to believe). So I guess it's safe to say that the RD for the Mideastern Region, none other than Kip Lohmiller is the dude in question. I wonder if he put an ounce of thought into what he was doing. Imagine the backlash if he had goen in with a 12 year old girl as his passenger. If this had happened at a bandit DZ, it would have been as bad as bad gets for skydiving when it comes to public opinion. Once the press caught on that an elected official of our governing body was not only invovled, but the actual instructor, what do you think the FAA would think about our ability to self-police? This incident is really the dumbest of the dumb. I, in general have a pretty low expectation from skydivers, as I've found many of them to be selfish, immature, and chemically dependant (still nice and friendly, though). I would hope that by the time you put the time and effort into something, and Kip ahs clearly down, you would have enough respect for the activity to steer clear of this sort of behavoir. Not only does he hold several ratings, he's a tandem course director and a drop zone manager. To further his involvment, he threw his hat into the ring and ran for RD, feeling that he could represent this district and it's jumpers to the USPA BOD. Why on earth would you invest so much of yourself into something, only to turn around and put it at such risk? While this man may have the skills to fill his USPA membership card with ratings galore, he obviously does not have the character you would hope to back that up. I for one would like to see him removed as RD of my district, and will be in contact with the USPA regarding this. Between having Kip as RD, or not being represented, I would take the empty seat at this point. At least the empty seat won't engage in behavior potentially damaging to skydiving as a whole.

Just to clarify, for the newbies, a properly fitting non-moving camera helmet can be flown in any and all orientations with a mark on the goggles and no sighting problems. I'm trying to avoid newbies reading this post and thinking that they need a ring sight if they want to sit or fly head down. Also, to add to what I said before about long lenses, if and when you want to shoot with long lenses, THEN set up a ring sight. Leading up to that, save yourself the trouble, risk and money, and go with the mark on the goggles.

I'd go along with that. I'd also have to say that the majority of stills taken in freefall are with wide angle lenses, generally ones that closely match the lens on the video. If and when a camera flyer is at the level where experimenting with long lens shots is the thing to do, then maybe a ring sight is the way to go. Otherwise, it remains an added risk with very little benefit.

I assure you I'm anything but half assed about my skydiving or my video work. If you have a camera helmet that moves around on your head due to the wind, you need a better fitting helmet. However, in that case, yes a sight attached to the helmet would be more effective. If your cameras move around on your helmet, you need a better way of mounting your cameras. If this situation, neither sight would be alaigned with the cameras. While it may depend on a secure fitting camera helmet and goggles, marking the goggles is an effective reference point for shooting video. Seeing how having a secure fitting helmet and goggles should be a prerequisite for any camera jump, those factors really become a non-issue in terms of choosing a sighting method.

***The tandem Instructor, pilot, and DZ owner might all agree to take the risk, but I can assure you, the manufacturers, who will also be sued if something happens, will not. *** How would handle this situation if the TM was jumping a Sigma or Vector tandem?

Thats a fair comparison. On the one hand you have an accident, on the other you have an elected USPA official and tandem rating holder engaging in a jump that violated BSRs, tandem manufacturers requirements, and possibly some FAA bullshit as well. I see how they are almost the same. Sure.

We have a winner. I recently heard that this very thing happened, and was surprised there was no chatter here about it. Although, in my example the TM was hoping to be elected an RD, and thinking about doing an underage tandem beforehand. What I heard was that the TM had already been elected RD, and then did an underage tandem. This was third party info I got, so I won't mention any names, but all of the RD's are listed in the inside of Parachutist, and only one of them ahd recently had their ratings pulled for 90 days, sooooo....

Draw a circle on your goggles with a Sharpie. Be sure to put your helmet and goggles on the same way every time, and you'll be all set. A camera helemt in itself is a snag hazzard, and there is no reason to add an additional snag point in the form of a ring sight. I did my first 150-ish jumps with a ring sight, and was resistant to the idea of not using a ring sight when I got a new helmet. 10+ years and 4000 jumps later, I am sure that the ring sight was a waste of time, and the handful of guys who have gone in due to a line snag on the ring sight died for no reason.

What if we wanted to avoid the paperwork, and possiblity of the request being denied? What that change your opinion of the DZO? Or the TM? It's not like it makes them a bad person for taking a shortcut, right? Lets say the TM wanted to run for regional director, and had done something like this, would that factor into your decsion to vote for him?

I guess that would suck, especially if the TM was a full time professional jumper. Any ideas on how the USPA might view this? What would you think personally about this happening? I know they do this all the time in Austraila and NZ, so it must be safe, but would you think it's OK to 'skirt' these rules here in the states?

I'm trying to talk a TM friend of mine into taking a 12 year old girl on a tandem. I'm also trying to talk a local USPA Group Member DZO into letting this happen at their DZ. Any thoughts at what sort of action the USPA, or any tandem manufacturers might take if news of this got out? How bad could it really be? It's not like the TM is a USPA regional director or anything, just a regular guy.

The line set on my Velo 103 is the original set, and has at least 600 jumps on it. The openings have slowly been getting weirder and weirder, but still slow. In the last few weeks I've jumped a 90 and a 96 with newish lines, and was shocked at how much nicer the openings were. I guess I just got used to the weirdness of my 103. Anyway, the cats eye on my left steering line had worn through to the point where I grounded the canopy. With only a month of jumping left here in Ohio, I had my rigger replace just the one line to get my through to the end of the season, when I'll send it in for a full reline. I was shocked at what a difference the one new line made. The openings are waaay nicer then before, almost as good as the 90 and 96. If you had told me that one line would make such a difference, I wouldn't have believed it. I thought maybe my rigger had measured off of the right steering line when building the new left line, resulting in a perfect match. If the brake settings were uneven before, then that would make for weird openings, and if they were even now, it should be good, right? Nope, he said he made an exact replica of the old left line when building the new left line. So I have no idea how it happened, but replacing one line with an identical line has made a huge difference.

Baby stpes. Baby steps. Start with a single turbine, like a Caravan. Build some turbine time, then find a DZ with an Otter who will let you fly right seat. Build some time there, and then you're all set. Really though, how easy did you think it was going to be to get in the left seat of an aircraft worth half a million dollars (or more)? Especially when that's by far the most expensive piece of equipment the DZ has, and represents at least 90% of their assets? The regionals present a very structured, very regimented situation for a pilot to get into. Being SIC and working in the system builds your time and experience. Flying jumpers is like the wild west. Wen you're PIC, it's just you and what you know calling 100% of the shots. Factor in a 30-something year old twin turbine (most likey a shade or three behind Part 135 maintenence specs), un-controlled fields, and 20 some idiots in the back, and you've got quite a challange onyour hands.

If a jumper is only able to control one axis at a time, and cannot combine control inputs to fly the canopy through complex situations, then they have no business being in a turn or a dive close to the ground.

On that subject, has anyone else noticed that many new jumpers spend their time on the DZ not paying attention to anything related to skydiving? These are the same people who can barely pack their own rigs, and couldn't possibly hook up a three-ring release. Time in the sport or time on the DZ does not always equal what you would hope.

Top mount vs side mount should have nothing to do with what you are shooting. Nothing. As far as weight distribution goes, the further away the weight is from the pivot point (your neck) the more stress it will apply in a hard opening. For this reason, the side mount is a better choice. Also, if you use a PC style camera, they are often times lighter than a top mount model. So you end up with less weight closer in to your neck - good and good. Forget the ring sight. If you can put your helmet on the same way evrey time, and put your goggles on the same way every time, you don't need it. Using tape is not a great idea because your covering what you want to be looking at. I use a Sharpie marker to draw a box around the center of the frame so you see through it and see what you're doing. Maybe experiment making a box out of thin strips of tape until you get it right, then draw the box becuase those Sharpies really are permanent.

I regret my decision to use an anti-homosexual slur. Really. There's nothing wrong with gay people, and I should have chosen to offend the OP in a different manner. I applaud your choice of offensive remark. Very PC, and exclusive to the recipient. I apoligize to any gay poeple who may have read this (you know who you are) and I really am sorry.

It doesn't matter what I think. You're the demo police, do your job and police the demo. Really, though, this passive-aggressive shit is so lame. Be a man, post your name and state your position on the matter. Fag.

I see this sort of thing a lot. Usually it's when a new girl starts jumping, then a staff member will start dating them, and the new girl ends up hanging out in the video room all the time. Next thing you know, they start getting down on themselves if they don't stand-up a landing, or their accuracy is a little off. The probem is that end up comparing themsleves to the people they hang out with, and at my DZ the video staff is made up of the most experienced jumpers on the field. You've got plenty of jumps, but just a handful of tandem videos. Remember that when you debrief your videos, and remember what I said about the 'home field advantage' the existing video staff has when you compare your work to theirs. Also, keep in mind that while you might like to see breathtaking footage from every jump, the customer will be happy with an adequate video documentation of their skydive. As long as the customer is happy, you are 'producing'. Don't forget that the footage you shoot on the ground and in the plane makes up more than half of the finished product, so make sure you put the same forethought and effort into that as you do the in-air footage.

The money shot is in a different place for each and every tandem. Sometimes you can get it from anywhere. Just depending on the time of day, and direction of jump run, the position of the sun will dictate the money shot. The type of exit each TM uses will also alter the best exit slot. You can do great things from rear float. There's no reason to be way back on the rear edge of the camera step though, you can be right on top of them with a foot in the rear corner of the door (if ti helps you). Front float only seems to work if you're going to exit either head down or on your back. Maybe give-in, and rear float with a belly-fly exit for awhile just to get used to being on the hill with tandems, and seeing where they (and the drouge) go. Keep in mind that many of the full-time video guys you see around the DZ will do 8 or 10 tandem videos a day out of the same plane, with the same bunch of instructors. That's a lot of practice, and a lot of uniformity in what they do. It's easy to hone your skills, and shoot your best under those circumstances. Give yourself time to learn, and remember that a safe conservative plan (like exiting early) will produce a nice, quality video that a customer will be thrilled to take home. Learn to shoot those, and get yourself a position on the video staff. Then work on your fine tuning, and worry about the kind of quality that would take another vidiot to notice.

Whatever happens, don't get above the tandem ever. Especially on exit, becasue the drouge will be taking up that space soon. Then again at pull time, if you're above them the drouge will be the least of your problems. If you're going to err on your exit timing, do it by getting off too early, not too late. If you do miss the count, don't rush off the plane. Hang on, let the tandem go by and give them 1/2 sec or so get away from the plane, THEN peel off and chase them down. This will help keep you out range of the drouge bridle. Once the drouge is out, it's not that tough. They're not really going anywhere, just move in and do your thing. If you have a beeper, set it for 1000 ft above the tandem pull altitude, so you know it's coming and can be in your slot when the TM is ready to pull the drouge release.

Too little is worse, and is most likely the cause of your line twists (your risers crossing qualifies as line twists). First off, why are your stows too short? If you are the one making the stows, just make them longer. Additionlly, the length of your lines, and the size of your bag never changes. Figure out what size line bight, and what number of stows will get you closest to the corrrect amount of line slack when you're done. Simply repeat this procedure each time you pack. Packing is not, and should nto be a random event. You need to develop a pack job for your rig that results in a neat, and correct pack job. How wide you make your canopy before you fold it will depend on the width of your bag. How big you make your fold will depend on the depth of your bag. How you stow your excess steering line will depend on the amount of line, and type of line stow your risers are equiped with. How big and how many lines stows you make I already mentioned earlier. How much bridle you leave in between the pin and pc pouch will depend on the size of your rig and placement of your pouch. How you fold your PC will depend on the size of the pouch and the size of the PC. All of these factors are individual to your rig, and it's up to you to develop the techniques for making all of these parts work together in the best way possible. Pay attention to these areas, and note is you need a little more stuff here or a little less stuff there. None of this should be random, or variable from pack job to pack job. Having a system in place will let you pack neater, and faster with improved reliability.

It's spelled 'bored'. As in, "Mike is in a room and he's bored, so he thinks of stupid things to post".

It's not your pilot chute. Prove it to yourself, and puts your buddy's Velo in your rig, and see what happens. If he's a real pal, he'll hook yours up in his rig get the shit beat out of him for an afternoon. Your canopy opens like shit. Check that the slider is the big one, and that it's the right size. Call PD for the dimensions. If that checks out, get a reline. Tell PD about the problem, and ask them to jump it after the reline to make sure everything is right.