jimjumper

Masterigger1 did say "a little" and I did say "bungee pilot chute". If you cock a kill line pilot chute at all, it usually produces enough drag to deploy a main even if the kill line is pulled back a bit while packing. A bungee pilot chute has no kill line and the pilot chute is always uncocked till about 50-60 mph airspeed is attained.

My bungee pilot chute is always uncocked when I pack it. It still surprises new packers sometimes!

No help with a ny photo's but Cathy Jacklin-Phillips says it sure looks like the Howard she used to jumpamster from. She wants to know where its located now?

It's Hemet! The idiots clash with each other here on a regular basis. It's an interesting town with a lot of culture and age differences.

When I was young I made a conscious decision to not get married just to be part of the social norm. I got married at 35 just before finishing my first career and both of us had also made the decision early to not have any children. We both say we weren't born with a "kids" gene. We watch other people with marital and child troubles and wonder why someone would choose to do something that causes them so much strife in their life. The time where a wife , 2.5 kids, and a house in the 'burbs is the norm has long past. By the way, I'm 54, still with my first wife (19 years) and no kids.

Get a bunch of TI's together and mention it and you'll realize its pretty common to have neck and back pain from doing this stuff. You'll probably get your share of hard openings and less than perfect landings and over time they do damage. Also as you age your body doesn't recover as quick. I try to stay in as good a shape as possible. Also I use glucosamine/chondroitin supplements. I don't know if they work but I seem to notice more inflammation when I stop taking them. I try to avoid NSAID's due to the effect on the stomach and liver but if I strain something specific they usually work good for the inflammation. Soreness is one thing but pain is another! I know a guy that wears a neck support while doing tandems and that seems to work for him. Stretching helps a lot. Listen to you body and try to cut back when you hurt. i know thats easy to say but its tough to do when the DZO is on the hunt for TI's for a busy weekend. I've been doing tandems for 16 years and its tough to avoid some long term effects. The neck problems have long been known among camera flyers, maybe they have some more specific tips?

Sorry, but I was only visiting with some people from my home DZ (Cal City) at the time. The only names I can think of that might have been around are Sammy Ramos, he was around organizing large diamond formations at the time, and Rick Horn, deceased, was working as an Instructor/Load organizer at the time. I believe the trail plane shots were taken from a Twin Beech. Coolidge had a few of them at the time and it would have been cheaper to use one of those.

The picture is from about 1988 and it was taken at Coolidge. I was there for the Valentines Day Boogie,around that time frame and the picture was being shown then. The picture you have Is one of the modified ones with the N number airbrushed out. The goal was to see how many floaters you could get on a DC3. There is a knotted rope dangling from the door (and possibly wing window) that a lot of them are hanging on. If I recall they managed to get around 25 to 30 people hanging outside. Tough to get an accurate count since some would fall off as others got out. It's possible Larry Hill was flying but there were plenty of good DC3 pilots working at Coolidge at the time. If you want a specific date let me know and I'll dig out my logbooks and check.

Should be all covered. I have TriCare Prime (USN Retired) and they have never denied any claim I submitted including bills for a badly sprained ankle that needed x-rays and a specialist evaluation.

That's not true! While a "D" is recommended I know of at least 2 S&TA's that didn't even jump. The RD can appoint anyone that is a USPA member. A lot of RD's just sign off on whoever the DZO recommends and the DZO uses them for administrative purposes. That has been a problem in the past and will continue to be in the future as long as USPA keeps pushing off Instructional responsibilities on S&TA's. I still find it unbeleivable that USPA is willing to grant more authority to an unrated and unlicensed person than someone they have vetted thru their own instructional rating system.

I waited to post this till my 30th Anniversary of my first jump. This photo was actually taken 3 weeks later and it's my first freefall. It's a 35' T-10 and it was taken in July 1983 at Lakewood Skydiving Center in New Jersey. I also still have original jump tickets, a T-shirt, and the first new container I ever purchased, all from Lakewood. The container is a National Warp III and currently has a heavyweight Delta Cloud and a 28' Phantom in it.

And when you find out that your over a 1500' mountain you'll be glad the pilot didn't let anybody out. Happened to me in 1991. 3k on the altimeter, 1500' AGL! Listen to the Pilot in Commands instructions.

After $3,000 in electrical damage and 1 dead mouse in the air intake that was blended when we turned the aircon on breaking all the fan blades, we have a half dozen dryers sheets zip tied all over the engine compartment. It's a PITA to change them every 2 weeks (at least!) but it does seem to work. Keep them away from anything hot. There is also a new trap out called a Ratinator that works really well for rats bit it's a little to big for mice.

My '84 Paragear catalog has the Swift at 177, the Cirrus at 230, and the Orion at 220 square feet respectively. My '98 catalog has listings for the Swift Plus in sizes 145, 175, and 225. Poynters manual Vol. 2 has the Swift Reserve at 178 and the Swift Plus in 145, 185, and 225. There is also a Swift main, that was discontinued in '84 that is listed at 199 square foot. All of these canopies were made by Paraflite.

I did a tandem on my 50th too! But I was the Instructor...

Let's see. From 5500 feet, recognize bag lock, disconnect RSL, pull cutaway handle and clear cables, manually clear the risers, fall away clear, pull reserve and clear cables. What could possibly go wrong?

We all know it couldn't possibly have been a problem with the rig. Most likely the TI pulled the handles out of sequence!

I've shipped mine on PCS moves probably 7-8 times. I always sent mine with the express shipment. Express shipments are moved fairly quickly and don't sit in one place exposed for very long. Leave it packed and in some type of plastic but hard container. Do not! mark it valuable in any way and leave the lid loose for the shippers to close. Keep any receipts or proof of value with you in case it comes up missing. Most household goods thefts are by someone at the shippers that has access to the crates and marking anything valuable just highlights what they should take! I used to put mine in a black heavy trash bag and then in a plastic box with a latchable lid and then pack the box tight with extra clothes or jumpsuits so it looked like an extra clothes box. When you get it leave it packed so it's easy to store till you find a place to use it. If it's a really humid area pack it in a sealable box with desiccant material or a sock filled with rice and check it for mold once in a while. Good luck in Africa!

It's been done for the movies before. Check out "Terminal Velocity" and there is some backwards tandem footage in it. Uncomfortable and the landings were interesting to say the least.

You mean you actually called the manufacturers and obtained an accurate and correct answer? Wow, what a concept! Well done.

Shirley got out of the suit business at least a couple years ago. Said it didn't pay enough for the labor involved. Too bad. I used one of her suits for tandems until the material was see-through and couldn't be patched anymore.

Try out the idea that most people won't even consider getting one till they buy new gear. Also remember that it's still a relatively new innovation. While 3 rings are now standard, some of us still remember when bolt cutters were used as a rigging tool to cut off defective 3-rings. I'll stick with my proven RSL at least till I buy new gear but that's looking 7-8 years in the future. By then maybe! all the glitches between the container manufacturers,the designer, and the materials suppliers will have been worked out.

Is Leigh Webb still out there? He had one that was really nicely fixed up. He had it forever!

I haven't seen anything posted yet about flotation gear. Whenever the question comes up there's always somebody with an old Aquabuoy that thinks he'll be just fine. Few jumpers check their floatation gear like their jump gear so when they do you find a lot of leaking or torn gear with dead CO2 cartridges. If there is a chance of going in the water properly worn, serviced, and appropriate type floatation gear is some of the best insurance you can have. Open it, inflate it, and make sure you know how to use it before you get stuck landing in the water.

I laughed and said "Hey, you signed the waiver!". I then gave him the short version of how overbuilt each hook was and moved on.