jimjumper

I know your asking about the Navy Conical, but just for info some of the LoPo reserves did have the wooden steering toggles your thinking of. My Strong LoPo had them. Had 3 rides on that canopy before it lineovered (with someone else under it) and got big burn holes in it!

Actually, instead of prune juice you needed to talk to the weapons guys. WWII torpedoes ran on ethyl alcohol and it wasn't unusual to drain a little torpedo juice. It also had methanol in it though and needed to be strained, (usually bread),because it could cause blindness or death. "Torpedo juice", the drink, is traditionally 3 parts pineapple juice to 2 parts everclear. Today's torpedoes run on Otto fuel which is extremely toxic and hazardous for the personnel doing maintenance on them.

Not to get too far off topic, but this is the Lakewood Skydiving Center (long closed) with an 1800' white sand landing circle. It was huge.

I won't go into all the details involved, but another thing to take into consideration is what type and the altitude setting of your AAD. Slow opening mains, combined with possible low emergency exit altitudes are a great combination for 2 canopy out situations. Discuss this with your instructors and your rigger that know your specific equipment and local conditions.

Your right. I made that assumption based on his past jumps being performed by the Golden Knights. That is the same TI that did his last tandem though and he was a Golden Knight then. If so, then I would say that the TI exercised poor judgement in the execution of this tandem but since it didn't result in an incident nobody will be very concerned.

I had about that many years jumping when I retired. I had gotten married the year before to a jumper though. We live in So Cal. When I retired Hemet was still open and 20 minutes away. Perris, Elsinore, and Oceanside are all about 45 minutes away. Otay is less than 2 hours and Taft and Eloy are both a drivable distance. An incredible amount of jumping variety and lift capacity in a small area. I live in the desert just south of Hemet on 20 acres so we have plenty of room for critters or toys. Skiing, Scuba, fishing, gambling, and the beach are all easy to get to. Of course the downsides are taxes, cost of living, politics, and overcrowding but as things go I'd rather live here than most places.

I had one once, that after a reasonable exit and drogue toss, looked like he was trying to grab his toes! He went into a full pike position 3-4 times till I swept his legs and he quit. After opening, I asked him what he had been trying to do, and if he had missed that little arch training thing I did. He said, "I wanted to go head down real fast. I saw it in a James Bond movie last week...Hey, can I fly the parachute around?" I said, "Nope, just keep your hands where I can see 'em." With an Otter, I usually dived out to the left and used their mass to bring us flat as we slid down the hill. This way it doesn't make much difference what contortions they do. The camera exit shots suffer though, because its harder to get a good face shot with that type of exit although they come out great with handcam. "Doing a tandem is just like getting a present from your Grandma. You don't know what your going to get, but your probably not going to like it!"

Another time suck I don't need!

Wow! I remember my first beer!

Pretty much SOP for this kind if thing. Deny, ignore, misdirect, distract, do nothing and then claim the problem was corrected and will never happen again. It's USPA's usual way of handling embarrassing events. Stick around, you'll get used to it and next time you'll be able to follow along in the play book and not even be mildly surprised!

Wow! I sure could have had fun with those when I was in the Phillipines or Thailand.

The Sigma's have collapsible sliders but they can be a little tough to reach.

I agree with your position on his individual ratings. He was not exercising his individual instructional ratings in this incident. But, he was by example demonstrating what should have been the safety practices expected of a S&T committee member and an active S&TA. In that light I find it difficult see a "lead by example" mentality on the part of the Safety and Training Committee and by extension the Executive Committee. If USPA wants to foster an atmosphere of safety it has to start at the top and do what's right by it's members and not hide behind procedural camouflage.

The Chairman of the USPA Safety and Training Committee and local Safety and Training Advisor landed his parachute in such a way that he broke his own leg and in an unknown way caused an injury to a spectator that was serious enough to cause her hospitalization. You can argue all day about exigent circumstances and previous injuries and all the rest of the nonsense but the broken leg and the spectator injury are a fact. Until someone can give a reasonable explanation as to why he is not responsible for the Incident, I don't believe that he should be passing judgement on fellow jumpers incidents, voting on matters involving the safety regulations binding on all of the members of the USPA, or as an S&TA, supervising and advising Instructors teaching students and novices. Even if the Incident is being handled in this way to prevent legal liability on the part of USPA, his USPA duties should be temporarily suspended without prejudice pending resolution of all the legal issues. In light of the actions of the USPA, the original title of this thread is certainly correct and in general conversation and posting about this Incident I think coverup is the appropriate description.

Saw him 2 years ago here in SoCal. One of the best bluesmen ever!

Not doing tandems anymore, but the DZ kept automated records of all requirements and would flag the TI if anything was out of date, just like the reserve repack programs.

Yep. Like I already posted, it's now back to business as usual. I do believe however, that the Safety and Training Committee and the dropzone Safety and Training Advisors have lost a lot of their credibility with the general membership.

I was 6', 230 pounds when I started jumping but I think they just liked watching me pound in under those old T-10 (round) student canopies.

"now that's funny right there! I don't care who ya are." Larry the Cable Guy

When I was in the Phillipines, I was stationed in the weapons magazine area in the jungle and we used to occasionally feed the bull monkeys soda or candy. Sugar makes them really horney and they would run around after all the females. The females climbed "like raped apes" in their attempts to get away!

I was just checking out USPA's BOD meeting agenda's, especially the Safety and Training Committee, and while I realize that none of the discussion items listed have anything to do with this non-event , it should be interesting to see what new BSR's and procedural changes come about. In any case, this should be a real interesting BOD meeting!

This is mine issued approx. 1987. I don't know when they started calling them "Master" or when they stopped.

I've always preferred a smooth grass area myself. Especially on those no-wind desert days. Tandems take a toll on more than the back though. I've seen a lot of shoulder problems probably from the high toggle pressures and knee and hip problems from a foot sticking on something when sliding. The old joke is, you can usually tell what kind of jumping a staff member does by what they rub at the end of the day: back=tandem, shoulder=AFF, neck=camera person, butt=pilot!

Doin' tandems is just like getting a present from your Grandma. You don't know what your gonna get but your probably not going to like it!

How the hell do you get rid of that stupid Toyota popup that keeps covering the navigation buttons???