skydiverek

OK, I am getting tired of this argument... ALL TSO'd reserves are test-dropped with THREE 360-degree twists in the lines. The reserve must be fully functional within few seconds (I forgot how many exactly). So, why are we worriend about the line twists on the reserves?!? They are designed to fly with them and "untiwist" from them quickly (TSO)! The RWS Skyhook video shows it! - check it here: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2463 Does this settle the "line twists by RSL" argument ?

'Break-off plan' link is dead on http://www.theworldteam.com (under 'The Skydives'). Can we have it fixed?

www.theworldteam.com

Let's ask this guy (www.deadmike.com) if he thinks it was worth it... Not paralyzed, but: "Mike broke both femurs, both knees, left kneecap, right foot big toe, left elbow, right arm radius, mandible (lower jaw), maxilla (upper jaw), nose, orbits (eyeball sockets) and palate in mouth. Mike also lost 10 pints of blood, 19 teeth and 25 pounds of fat/muscle. He has various nerve damage." FAQ from the webpage: "How much are your bills? That is a very good question. I receive copies of all the insurance statements, but I've not taken the time to calculate it all. I can say that my hospital stay in Quincy, without the surgeons fees, was $100,000. Yep, that's what ICU for 2 weeks costs. I'd imagine that my BILLED total is somewhere around $750,000-$1,000,000 so far. What the insurance company has actually paid is somewhere around $247,000. Luckily, my insurance will cover up to $2.5 millions, although I don't know if that can be used on one incident. Again, United Healthcare and Enron have performed flawlessly and honorably during this entire ordeal."

Are spinning malfunctions like on a sport canopies, too ?

I found the information on skydivingfatalities.info : "Date Location Category Age # Jumps AAD?/RSL? 10/16/2004 Skydown Sport Skydiving, ID NOP?/DMAL? 51 28 Y/Y Description: Jumper impacted without deploying either parachute. Lessons: USPA Description: This jumper exited the airplane at 13,500 feet for a solo skydive, his third jump since transitioning from a ripcord-activated main parachute to a bottom-of-container-mounted throw-out pilot chute. He planned to deploy at 6,000 feet and use the time under canopy to work on riser-turn exercises toward his USPA A-license requirements. None of the other jumpers on the load saw this jumper under canopy. After a short search, he was found lying face down with neither parachute deployed. USPA Conclusions:The jumper had received a thorough gear check both before boarding and then before exiting the airplane, and it was confirmed that the AAD was on at the time he exited the airplane. Investigators on the accident scene also determined that the automatic activation device was still armed and activated properly in preparation for jumping. The AAD was sent to the manufacturer for testing. The manufacturer reported that the AAD functioned properly during testing. The deceased jumper was found with his main pilot chute out of the BOC pouch, but it was apparently dislodged on impact. The cutaway handle and reserve ripcord were both in place. No definitive reason has been discovered for this fatality. Ultimately, all jumpers must deploy a parachute with enough altitude to allow for a safe landing."

I was unable to find a link, but this fatality was discussed at the last PIA symposium by Jim Crouch (from USPA), during his "2004 Fatality Summary" seminar. He confirmed it WAS an Astra and that it WAS turned on.

Upload it to skydivingmovies.com then, please! Anyone?

When you pack, this flap is touching the ground/mud. I think the idea is to protect the harnes stitches from ground fricction when sliding the rig.

There was a fatality in the U.S. in 2004, where Astra did NOT fire, althouh it WAS turned on prior to exiting the aircraft (Astra has the LED indicator next to the mud flap, and it was confirmed by other jumpers that the light was in the "On" mode in the airlane). It was still in the "On" mode on the ground, after the person bounced ...

From Bill Booth: "We have never seen a bag strip in literally hundreds of Skyhook videos. In the beginning, I too was worried about bag strip, so I did a lot of drop tower tests, and designed the Skyhook bridle to break before it puts enough force on the bag to cause strip. The military has now done a lot of Skyhook tests with much larger and heavier canopies, and much higher loads than we see sport tandem jumping, and also have seen no bag strips." Bill - what was the scenario with the C-130 tailgate deployment, you often use to ilustrate the above?

More like two and a half years...

Bill Booth did 50.

They all use DACRON.

Yes, by Patrick De Gayardon. And he is still the ONLY one to do it into teh SAME plane. You can see Jeb trying to do just that in one on his movies at skydivingmovies.com, and failing (not reaching the plane).

From Bill Booth: "To install a Skyhook from scratch you have to 1. Disassemble, and sew an RSL attachment ring to the right riser. 2. Sew an RSL bridle path over the right shoulder. 3. Shorten the reserve freebag bridle and sew a Skyhook to it. 4. Remove the single long 3-ring housing, and replace it with a split housing for the Collins' Lanyard. 5. Fabricate and install the Skyhook bridle attachment "pockets" and flap to the top reserve pilot chute kicker flap. 6. Fabricate the combination RSL, Collins' Lanyard, and Skyhook Lanyard. And 7. Put the "whole nine yards" together. Needless to say, this is much easier to do on a new rig while you are making it. As an option on a new Vector III, we charge $175. This is actually quite a deal when you consider that a lost reserve freebag and pilot chute cost $195 to replace, and the Skyhook greatly lowers the chance you will ever lose your freebag. But as I said above, all this is theoretical, because we have not tested the Skyhook on Vector II's and therefore do not offer a retrofit."

Here are some useful threads, especially the top eight: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_string=G3+G4+-re%3A&search_type=AND&search_fields=s&search_time=&search_user_username=&sb=score&mh=70

You might be right...

The airspeed was NOT 120 mph (it was hop-n-pop). Different story then.

Watch "Break-Away" (baglock segment).

Usually in January. Next one will be in Reno, NV, in 2007.

... and the thread on this topic already exists there ("Go Gary, Go"). Someone lock this one, please.

What is the direct link to the TRAILER ('trailer' as in 'preview' / 'short film commercial')? I was unable to find it on the flyourbody.com website...

Xerox anyone ?

From PD's website: "...Major concern involves tear strength at high speeds. Tears, friction burns, and other types of damage can be caused by something as simple as lines or a riser dragging past the reserve as it deploys. If a tear or other type of failure occurs on an “F-111” type canopy, it is likely to be self-contained and landable. With zero-p fabric, damage tends to be catastrophic and makes the canopy unlandable. Also, burn damage is much harder to detect on zero-p. Frequently burn damage just looks like a crease in the fabric, when in fact the tensile strength in the area has been lowered to only a few pounds. Zero-p canopies also tend to have a higher pack volume, and are generally not as easy to pack as "F-111" type material. We would prefer to make things as easy as possible for your rigger, and think the advantages of being able to fit a slightly larger reserve in your rig outweigh any advantages that a zero-p reserve would provide."