davelepka

There's isn't an access cover somehwere near the sunroof? It should look like a round plastic plug in the head liner, and it should cover the manual crank thingy to close it. It usually uses an allen wrench to close it. Also, if you have the motor off, check to see if there's power going to the motor (it should be 12v DC). A good fuse with no power to the motor may be a bad switch. The other thing you can do, is jump the switch alltogether, and get it closed. You'll need to re-install the motor, then make sure it's grounded. If there are two wires going to the motor, one is the power, the other is the ground. You can jump the ground wire to the body fo the car with a short peice of wire. If there is only one wire, the motor is most likely ground by it's attachment to the car. Now you need to run a wire from any 12v source (fuse panel, battery, etc) and touch it to the power wire on the motor. Unless the motor is shot, this will make it go, and hopefully close the sunroof. Is it safe? Kinda, just don't touch the wires directly, and you should be fine. Better yet, find some young guys with nothing better to do, buy them some beer, and let them fix it for you.

So, by your own addmittance, you had a habit of flaring too high, and your solution was to flare lower. I'm with you so far. You start to flare so low, however, that you have to move your legs out of the way of the ground rushing up to you to prevent an impact. In fact, it's so low that you couldn't even PLF if you wanted to, and you're wondering if this is a good habit or a bad habit? To top it all off, out of all the posts previous to mine, not one mentioned just flaring in the middle, where your legs were out of danger, and yoiur set-down at the end would be gentle (and you could even manage a PLF it you needed to). I really want to ask. "Is it just me, or isn't this really the obvious answer", but I guess looking at the other posts, maybe it is just me. Seriously, though, re-read your post, and see if what I'm saying doesn't seem like the most obvious, practical, and safer solution.

Shorter lines. Less drag.

Floats. What do I win?

Really? Has the idea of flaring at some point inbetween the two not occurred to you? How about you flare so your canopy levels off with your feet a few inches from the gournd? This way, you do not have to move your legs to prevent an impact, and at the end of your surf, it's a comfortable step onto the ground. Flaring at the right time, what a concept.

This sort of thing is highly dependent on who is doing the leading. Even a reasonably good tracker can be derailed by jumpers attempting docks, or other manuvers. It takes an experienced leader to keep the direction of the dive on the top of the priority list and not get distracted by cameras, other jumpers, or wayward trackers stealing his air. Like I said, tracking dives really don't fit into a jump run, so you do have to make some consessions to that, and sometimes pullng high and/or not making it back have to be part of the deal.

This is a tricky one, and there are a few differing veiw points on this. Soooo, the best plan for any tracking dive is to fly the standard jump run, and release the other jumpers as usual, then proceed out a ways (winds depending) and do a 180 turn to fly a paralell downwind jumprun, about 1/4 off of the original jump run. This way you have your tailwind, a clear path in front of you, and the exits are easier as you are tracking the same directions as the plane. Can't get your own jumprun? The next best plan is to exit in the middle of the load, and track 90 off of jump run, for about 3/4 of the dive, and 180 yourself back toward the jump run. The idea is to get most of the way back to jumprun, but to come up a little short to allow for heading errors in making the turns. You have a problem trying to fit a tracking dive, which has a long flight path, in with groups falling straight down, as the jumprun was not designed to accomasate both. Simply angling off of jumprun, and tracking back downwind may not be the best idea. Again, any error in heading can create real problems. If you are getting out last, you have high pulling tandems and students to contend with early on, and the fun jumpers further down jump run. The only time I will track just off jumprun (downwind) is if I am doing a solo. I'll sit in the door, and watch the drouges in freefall, and use them to draw a line back down jumprun. When I exit, this is my reference line, and I am strictly tracking belly to earth. As I proceed, I am scanning the jumprun for the earlier groups canopies, as well as any possible higher than planned deployments by students or tandems. Provided I can keep track of all the groups on the plane, I'll hold my line along jump run. If I should loose track of any of the tandems or AFF's I'll veer even further off of jump run. I beleive that this is the minnimum you need to be able to do to maintain the safety of those on the load. If I should pick up even one other jumper to track, we'll move to tracking 90 off jump run, with a 180 3/4 of the way down. If the dive should grow, I can also begin by tracking 90 off of jump run, and then turn another 90 back down jumprun about 1/4 of the way through the dive, resulting in a paralell jumprun without any help from the pilot. Keep in mind that all of the above requires a 100% ability to know where you are in the sky (in relation to jumprun) and where you are heading. Even with my experience, it takes some thought beforehand, and during the jump. I use the AC as a heading reference right off the bat, and will use clouds or the sun after that. All of this is combined with good tracking skills, and thousands of camer jumps where positioning relative to the sun is key. The other guy was right, You need to be VERY careful with tracking dives. They don't fit into the regular jump run, and by their nature, they are mid-air collisions waiting to happen. Even a slight heading error will magnify itself into a large one by the end of the jump, which is where it's really a problem. Undeveloped tracking skills, trying to take docks, or transitons can lead to large heading errors as well. It's a big complicated mess, that requires you to back waaaaay up, look at the big picture, plan accordingly, and accurately dive your plan.

Remember that keeping your rig in-date will cost approx $150 (3 repacks at $50), and that your Cyrpes is losing about $100 per year sitting in your closet (they have a 12 year life span, after which they are worth zero). So for a year-round jumper, with a Cyrpes, it costs you about $250 per year to have a rig ready to jump. You can consider if the rental costs will excced this, or if not, how far under this will they be. Also, whats the value to you to jump your own gear? Thats certainly a factor. Also with a rugrat on the way, could you use the lump sum of cash you get for selling? Just some things to think about.

If you loan your rig to a friend, they will replace what they lose or fix what they break. If you loan your rig to a "friend" they will agrue the situation, point fingers, and in general give you a hard time.

Tell Scott you want to do the first few from full altitude, and work your way into the hop n pops. If he gives you a hard time, remind him that HE is working for YOU, and then have him get you a cup of coffee.

Looks like a shorter MLW might help to pull it back in a little. I think the MLW measurement becomes critical on fully articulated harnesses beacuse they are so flexible.

Drill the ther hole, and make a slot. Then fabricate an insert that will fill the unsed potion of the slot when there is a screw in it. If you make it right, you should be able to install it one way for your 2000, and then flip and move the insert to the other end of the slot to mount the XT. While your at it, make a few of the spacers, and hide the extras in a baggie under the liner. Losing a custom made spacer would suck during a busy day.

In that case, I might hold you (the TM) partially responsible. Without having first-hand knowledge (as-in previously jumped with them) of their skills, or a rating to fall back on, you are taking a chance by allowing them on your jump. Provided that you have first hand experience with them or they hold a freefall rating of some sort, then you have done all you can in making a safe addition to your skydive. From the exit forward, it is up to the jumper to either perform to the standard you had previously witnessed, or to the standard expected of a rating holder. You can't fully blame a guy with 100 jumps for over amping a tandem dock, and hurting a student. He does hold part of the responsibility, but so does the TM for allowing an under qualified jumper to accompany him. It really comes down to the nature of the relationship between the TM and the lurkers, and the qualifications of those lurkers when it comes to assigning or splitting up the blame. Again, in this case it is hard to tell, but why on earth would a new-ish TM agree to what happened?

This is where I get a little confused. Isn't there a point at which the camer flyer is responsible for his own actions? It would seem to me that a TM who would allow a camera flyer to jump with him based on personal experience with the flyer in question has provided for the safety of the student as much as he is capable of. The actions of the camera flyer are out of the TM's control once they leave the AC, and responsibility for any incidents casued by the camera flyer are the responsibility of that camera flyer. Just as the TM is required to do his job, in protecting the safety of the student, so is the camera flyer once they all leave the AC. This is when an un-stoppable chain of events begins, and the camera flyer has a responsibility to not interfere with that chain. As it applies to this case, provided that the TM ... -Personally knew, and had previously jumped with the jumpers in quesiton - The jumpers all had instrucitonal ratings - Had no knowledge of their intentions to do what they did .... doesn't the responsibility fall to these 'professional' skydivers to act as such? If not, at what point does responsibility ever switch? How about a primary AFF JM who has a secondary AFF JM endnager/injure a student. Is the primary JM responsible for the actions of the secondary? I'm not sure what the case is here. I have trouble believing that a TM would agree to in advance what happened on that jump (with multiple video angles no-less). I just think at some point a jumper becomes responsible for their own actions, and getting a rating sure seems like good milestone to conincide with one being expected to act as a professional (at least in the air with paying customers). Edit: They need to change the name of this thread, because there is no quesiton that that's some fucked up video right there.

In light of this, is a TM responsible for the actions of a camera flyer? What if the TM had jumped with said camera flyer in the past without incident, but the guy got a little tight on the opening shot, and contacted the student during deployment? Is the TM responsible? With this question, I'm making the assumption that any TM who was assigned a camera flyer they believed to be unsafe would refuse the jump or demand another camera flyer.

Hey look Mary, the guy made a mistake, he owned up to it, and spread the word to keep others out of trouble. You really could cjill with the CAPS, BECAUSE THER'S NO REASON TO SHOUT. But as far as your profile goes, if you're going to post, and have that info in your profile, and be critical of thers actions, people are going to look, and people are going to question. That shit about 'I'm jumping and you're not', thats just wrong. If your profile is correct, you may not be jumping soon as well, so watch yourself. Not to mention whats the deal with the $2000 canopy in the outdated $200 container? Is there anyone on the other side of the pond who can verify this guys story? Are his jump numbers or his equipment choices bogus? It's got to be one of the two, or god help him when he makes a mistake.

I'm looking for anyone in or around Ft. Lauderdale. Shoot me a PM, I've got a buddy who just moved there, and I have some questions about the area.

Many times like that, or many times with a skilled backflyer flying his slot? There's a big difference between that guy and a skilled backflyer.

Sweet

Look pal, I never mentioned jump numbers in any way, and in fact the 'experience' that I reference, seeing a freefall/canopy collision, happened when I had about 100 jumps, 9+ years ago. What's interesting is that I still remember it clearly, and I haven't let myslef get into that position since then, which are both indicators that it sucked when it happened, and that I've made it a priority to not see it again. As far as my attitiude, or my appraoch, fuck that. It's MY approach, and I'll do it however I want. Don't like it, don't read it, but realize you may miss out on something useful. As far the further explanation of the jumps, the detailed account painted a much different picture. However, many folks seem to agree the original story sounded a bit scetchy, and that speaking up was warranted.

Thats not a bad point. Three average size guys with 40 lbs of lead each might be about all a 182 could muster on a hot day. Or on a load with a lot of weighted swoopers, you could end up with 200 lbs of lead on a bigger AC. Thats equal to another jumper, and should be considered with weight and balance for the Ac.

Yeah, you're right. NORMALLY, this would be a bad idea, but since it's posted in the bonfire, it's just for fun and it's OK. News flash dude, all of the jumps involving freefall and canopy collisions started off as fun. Again, from personal experience, and reading the latest threads in the incidents forum, these accidents do happen, and need avoided at all costs. I'm sorry if I'm ruining your fun, but when someone dies or becoems seriously injured on the DZ it ruins my fun, and I guess I'm a selfish bastard. So before another newbie sees this and figures they can top this guys numbers, and they'll post their graph next week, I'll speak up. Edit: I just looked over your porfile, and if you are truely interested in "Learning to skydive worth a crap", it doesn't show in your attitude.

Yeah, Roger doing a swoop drill with some newbies is waaaaaaaay different than a guy with 90-some jumps grabbing his ankles a potato chipping his way as low as he can get. Waaaaaaay different.

In a funneld 8 way, the low man is not trying to outrun the rest of the jumpers. In response to the post above, "life is full of risks". Sure it is, but it's stupid to create additional ones for no reason.

My guess would be the lack of flaps covering the PC, and the thin-ness of the flaps covering the bridle. Main or reserve, there's nothing to a Racer besides a pack tray, and some flimsy un-constructed flaps, which is actually why it works so well.