davelepka

Yeah me too. But since I know I'm not going pro, why not open the door for a guy who really wants to go all the way? We both know that a guy whos got the talent and skill can get edged out by any one of the 'sandbaggers', and will have to stay home at the end of the season. I mean, if you're not going pro, whats the point of competing at all? Fun? Personal fulfillment? Both of those are reason enough to show up and throw down your best, but how does keeping the other guy down get you further toward your goals? Just because it may say 'guest' next to your name, evryone who got beat knows they got beat. But if those guys want to take it to the next step, and you've taken it as far as you want to go, why stand in their way?

It's easy, loose the "OBO", and replace it with "price non-negotiable". You'll get far fewer e-mails with rediculous offers. Actaully you'll get far fewer e-mails period.

That makes perfect sense. Those slots to advance to the PST are few and far between, and you really shouldn't clog the system with ringers who don't feel like stepping up to compete in the PST. They should be allowed to compete as guests, right up to, and including the finals. There's really no money in the CPC aside from the finals, and once you get your shot at it, that should be it. From that point on, it's just for fun. For a second, I thought 'eligibility' was about good grades or drug testing.

Your front guys will steal the air from the rear floater. This kind of things happens to camera guys all the time, and this is why we have wings. Another idea, screw the floaters, everyone dive out conga-line style, and do it that way (aka the fun way). One more idea, get a life and start freeflying. Part of that last idea is a joke.

I read in the editorial in Parachutist that part of the new HQ was a some osrt of membership service center, where members can come in and take care of thier business in a modern a fully equiped enviorment. It said youcould still call, and now they do it through the net as well. When was the last tiem you ever considered going to the USPA HQ for anything? Furthermore, if you were in the neighborhood, and happened to need your membership renewed, why couldn't you stop in, and have the same conversation with an employee that you would have had over the phone? Unrelated to the HQ, I renewed via the website, a day or so befor emy membership expired, and AFTER I filled out the form, and submitted my payment, they mentioned that it would take 2 to 3 WEEKS to process. First off, I thought e-mail was faster than that, and secondly, they took my money the very next day. It's a good thing it's the off season for me, becasue I know my membership lapsed. I did not recieve my Dec Parachutist, but Jan came on time, and I have yet to see my new membership card. I think there are too many people there trying to justify their employment by 'projecting a professional image'. How about helping the jumping public first, and then worry about your image. Anyway you slice it, skydiving will always be a recreational activity. It's not big business and doesn;t need to be treated like it is. Yes, there's a ton of money in skydiving, but all of it goes down the drain in overhead. It a dead end street for cash flow. I could see if there were huge profits to reap, and we all stood to gain something besides a good time, but thats clearly not the case.

That must be from 'Ray's Discount Gulfstream Repair Emporium', and it's for the low buck bondo version of the repiar. But, yeah, you are correct with regards to the insurance. Intersting story, the only time I have ever heard of the insurance being used, was to repair a flap on Twin Bonanaza. A jumper gave a head butt on exit, and let a mighty ding. The DZ was NOT a USPA member, so the jumper was able to use the insurance to pay for the flap.

I have no discomfort with new ideas. You seem to have discomfort with the concpet that you don't know what you are talking about. There no inherent design issues with the Sabre. Lets review: -Highest prodcution numbers, leading to more overall jumps on Sabres, and more oppertunities for hard openings. I bet if we could track the number of cutaways, the Sabre would be near the top of the list, for the same reason. -Inexpensive market price leads to purchase by those not likey to reline when needed. -First canopy (due to low price) for many, which leads toward sloppy packing This is hard to understand why? Even when accompnaied by many experienced jumpers who have actually put 1000's of jumps on them? Look, I don't understand, nor would I ever want to jump a T-10 (round), but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it. I know many old timers who say they love T-10s and there are a few who maintain them and still jump them from time to time. I'm sure, however, that if I gave a poorly maintained T-10 to a newbie, with sparse instructions, and no suprevision, they're thoughts on the T-10 may differ. See?

This is where the point has just shot right over your head. If you can get stable, and deploy safely, your freefall skills are adequate. Having adequate canopy skills is a little more involved, mostly due to the fact that you WILL run into the ground one way or another on EVERY canopy ride. Think about it. Now think about how most skydiving fatalites and injuries are happenign these days. Choose your focus carefully.

Jumpsuit - forget it Goggles - optional Dirt dive - nada Long plane ride (more than 5 min) - nope Trafficy LZ - zippo High ticket price - no sir Freefall performance anxiety - not gonna happen Feezing at 13K - not so freezing at 4k Did I miss anything?

If you could see me, you'd see me not holding my breath.

I think the better question is who gives a fuck about how efficeintly you can inflate your end cells? Are you trying to keep your airspeed up during end cell inflation? Maybe I'm missing something. How about zipping up your jumpsuit, I feel like I may be using too much energy to make that happen. What can I do abot that?

Not really. There are people out there with good information in hand already. There's no need for more information, just a need to get it out to the masses For example, if every jumper took Scott Millers entry-level course before being issued an A license, and the advanced course before being issued a B license, that would solve a great deal of the problem, but as well all know (except maybe Scott) he's only oen man, and can only do so much. If we could get that same course material, and put in the hands of experienced instructors across the country, that would be something. If we could make it a license requirement, that would be even better. The information exists. Some people have it. We need to find a way for everyone to have it.

Again, don't get me wrong, I'm sure that all are very helpful. Many folks are. What isn't always helpful is the quality of the advice they're giving. This isn't intentional, but a result of the overall situation. If a guy is never tought properly in the beginning, there is a chance that they will be working with, and passing along, some sort of mis-information. Is this a rule? No. Is it happening to you? I don't know. Is this something that could be eliminated if new jumpers are taught properly in the beginning/ Absolutely. One last time, this isn't a commentary on any one person or groups advice or inentions with giving that advice.

It's an inherent problem in the community. Personal status and value on the DZ is often tied into skill/experience/accomplishments. Jumpers recall all to readily the days of student status, or brand-newbie-ness, and the aspiration to get out of that class, and be one of the 'cool kids'. This explains alot about the rush to downsize, and swoop, as it's the most widely visible display of skill on the DZ. Only a select few will see your skill in freefall, but the whole DZ can watch your swoop. An example is a swooper I know who may be the best on the DZ. Others somehow inferred that he also posses similar freeflying skills, when is reality, he has little to no freeflying skills (dork). The same theory can be applied to the resistance to listen to more experienced jumpers. Once beyond the brand-newbie status, jumpers are often reluctant to accept training/guidance/critisism, as it carries with it the implied need for said assistance. They're not students, and they don't need your help.

Try banging your head on the desk. It always works for me.

I'm not trying to discount your point, or make a judgement about the people you jump with. Most jumpers feel this way. The issue here is not the experienced folks don't care about newbies, or that they don't share information. I've never been to a DZ where the staff and senior jumpers didn't watch out for and assist the newbies. The issue is that the help it coming up short in the areas of canopy control amd selection. This isn't intentional, it just a situation thats developed over time. Canopies have changed alot, while the training, and many attitudes have not. What we need to see the dissemination of accurate and complete knowledge, along with a unified front on the issue of proper canopy selection. The changes to canopy design didn't happen by accident, they were intentional and deliberate. The changes to the community and culture need to also be intentional and deliberate. We have waited it out long enough, and the evolution of the training and attitudes just isn't keeping up with the changes in the canopies. It's time to make a deliberate move toward getting jumpers ahead of the parachutes, not behind trying to play catch-up.

Those charts are from other folks. I supported Brian Germains old chart. where the first digit of your jump numbers is equal to, or greater then the second digit of your WL. I didn't even read his new chart, so I'm not sure what he's got in there. As far as exceeding the chart, canopy size, field elevation, and canopy model have alot to do with how safe or unsafe excceding may be.

Did you check the link? They've got one for $25. Thats no biggie. It might not be the top of the line, but they're all just toys anyway.

For shooting real video, it's got be Sony. Provided they can stay on, and survive the openings, it would be fun to strap them to an arm or your belly. Maybe even do a hand held (left hand) self portrait. You could do stuff with it you wouldn't want to risk with a regular camera. Like the disposable stills cameras people jump with, it fun to play with, and if it gets dropped or broken no biggie (unless it lands on someone or something valuable).

Lets keep in mind when you get down on the Sabre that it most likey has some of the highest production numbers of any ZP canopy. The more of them there are, and the more jumps that are put on them, the more problems you will see. Also, they're all getting old, and not everyone relines their canopies the way they should. Often times it is a price motivated purchase, and with a well used Sabre selling for $400, the cost of a reline really increases the cost factor. Lets remember too that they are often bought as first canopies, which means sloppy and inconsistant packing. Many of the Sabre supporters are either more experienced, or use a good packer. It's true that the design is older, and the parameters for good openings on ZP were a little different back in the day. People didn't expect an 800 ft snivel, and manufacturers didn't work toward that. Compare the size of a Sabre slider to a similarly sized newer canopy, and you'll see that sliders have grown. Alot. I have owned two Sabres, a 135 and a 107. Both of them treated me well, with one or two hard openings out of 500 and 700 jumps on them. I was more experienced when I was jumping them, and I always packed carefully, and didn't use a packer. A well packed, and well maintained Sabre will give you the same occurance of hard openings as any other canopy.

Thats not helping anyone. The idea with the slider is to allow it to A) catch as much air as possible, and B) to block some of the air from the nose. Packing wise, the slider is THE key to good openings, more so than nose treatments. Make sure that it is firmly on the stops, and quartered evenly between all line groups. Be sure that the center of the slider is pushed down all the way. Then, when you go to wrap the tail around the pack job, get it most of the way around, and do one last check the center of the slider is still down, and (without distorting the rest of the slider too much) pul a little more of the slider towards the nose. Now spread that part fo sldier out sideways so it looks like it will catch air. Take care during the rest of the pack job to be gentle with everytning. Tossing the canopy down, or being sloppy with pushing out the air or folding it, will just ruin the pack job you just did. If you do consider another slider, which can work, make sure it's the same size spanwise (left to right). A bigger spanwise measurment allows the line groups to spread further apart, and seems to allow the nose to open up a little more, which will speed up the openings. An extra inch or two chordwise (front to back) will help to hold the slider uplonger and keep the nose in check during opening. The bottom line is that you are dealing with a canopy that is 'opening challenged'. ou can take steps to make it better, but if you forget a step, it may hurt. If you should end up with a rouge hard opening it will really hurt. The best choice is to find a canopy that seems to open slower without the special treatment.

All the legal stuff aside, are you personally ready to make decisions regarding spotting, selection of the landing area, proper jump AC procedure and the like? Remember that on a DZ, many of these desicions are made for you. There are experienced jumpers and jump pilots present to oversee the operations, and will catch errors or mistakes in the making before they develop into actual problems. Will anyone in your group recognize a gear issue in the plane? What will be the recourse in the evnt of a cutaway, off-field landing on in the case of an injury? Make sure you've got all your bases covered, and remember that a three hour dirve isn't that bad when you consider the advanatges of being surrounded by experienced jumpers and DZ staff.

I don't want anyone to jump a 230 that could be jupming something else. I'm behind the concept of 1.1 up to 199 jumps, 1.2 up to 299, and so on. Mix in a few *'s for extra light people, and field elevation, and thats that. I don't see the downside to this. You do, but you're not lookinf too far into the future. My first jump was on a 280, and I was fucking thrilled for weeks. Up unitl I made jump number two, also on a 280. I proceeded to jump every nice weekend for the next 10 1/2 years. I did work my way down, but never got past a 190 (ragged out F-111) for the first 100 jumps. That thing had four lengths of binding tape with grommets for a slider, still took 1000 feet to open, and had zero flare (I mean zero, I pounded in 90% of the time) but what do you expect for $100. Either way, I'm still here. You're makng the mistake of thinking that people won;t jump if they can't jump a faster canopy. I've got news for you, skydiving is exciting enough. People will come, they will jump, they will keep jumping. The key is that the culture needs to support the limitations. If everyone sayd that this is the way it is, than who is a newbie to argue with EVERYONE? Will newbies want to go faster, and want to swoop? Yes, they will. This is where we get a bonus side-effect. These new guys that want to swoop wil lhave a new measure of respect for canopy piloting. Now it's a an open and unregulated area, giving the impression it's not that big of a deal. Everyhting that is important is regulated right? Pull altitudes, reserve repacks, gear TSO's. You don't hear much complaining about those things becasue the culture has deemed them important, and by virture of being regulated, they appear to in fact be important ( I know that the repack cycle is in question, but nobody is questioning that a rigger needs to do the work). So put some regulation into canopy piloting, and give it a leg stand on. Have it supported by the other jumpers. The newbie who wants to swoop needs to study hard, jump hard, and earn the right to jump a pocket rocket. I'm no canopy nazi. I love fast parachutes, and I want to see them go faster and further than we can imagine. The trick is that the community can barely handle what we have now. How do we move forward with canopies without moving the open canopy incident numbers up in accordance? Something has to change. Either pilots need to get better at what they're doing, or the canopies have go to dial back their performance. I vote we get the pilots up to speed. Oh, and eductaion is just as important.

Thats not bad at all. The website is cool too.

It's just a parachute. They all swoop if you pull the right things at the right time. I'd hate to see a rear riser stall. Or a pax putting their feet down early. Or anything that involved the two them touching down mid-swoop. Otherwise, good show.