jimjumper

Also get in touch with Mary Tortomasi, the Perris Windtunnel manager. She is one of the few people I know that has the skill and permission to fly a skyboard in the tunnel.

Never buy the "Latest and Greatest". Wait for the test jumpers to work the bugs out first!

Dick Spates. My FJC instructor over 25 years ago. Joey D'Afflisio and Wayne "Smitty" Smith. All from the Lakewood Skydiving Center in 1983.

You might want to find out if you prescription glases are different lens strength for each eye. Amblyopia will cause a resultant lack of depth perception and makes flaring height more difficult to determine.

You could also call James Perez at Perris. I don't know off-hand how far he's willing to travel but he is a rated and very experienced coach and Tandem I/E. Call Perris and I'm sure they can provide contact info.

The collectibles industry, (coins, stamps, antiques, etc.) has been fighting this for some months now. The last attempt at repeal was shot down. I don't know if it was in the Senate or the House. I think that the first year the IRS recieves the massive influx of 1099's it will be fixed in a hurry. Maybe we can fix the unenployment problem by hiring millions of people to verify 1099's!

We use a system in which each Instructor has a radio but the student is taught to go to a designated holding area after opening and a canopy control check. They are instructed to remain in the holding area until 1000' and if they haven't heard any instruction then assume that his radio's have failed and needs to land on their own as taught in the FJC. If the student has actually made it to the holding area it would be difficult for them to land off due to the size of our landing area. Again, all of this is only in the event of radio failure. We also use different colored canopies that allow for individual identification of students plus a written card with each radio with each students name. I would caution against using transmitting radio's while under canopy as it has been known to cause actuation of AAD's.

What the SIM needs is a workable index for the written version and a keyword search capability for the on-line version. It would make finding specific information so much easier.

We use a system on our tandem rigs that uses a bungee to retain the main ripcord. The students are taught from the first tandem to release the handle after pulling. It also has the added advantage of reducing snagged ripcords.

Also mate any velcro and zip up the zippers. The hook velcro eats up material. Check the pockets for stuff. I wash my tandem suit probably every week but I sized it to allow for shrinkage when I bought it. Also if you see any damage, (I.E. popped stiches, broken zippers, or torn booty stiches), get them fixed before you wash the suit. I've gotten over 3 years on my current tandem suit and it's still going strong although it's starting to look more grey than black.

Also think about pocket locations. My suit has a front leg pocket for breath mints, or my favorite, LifeSavers. I also have a arm pocket for a puke bag, although I may change to a hanker chief after my student had a spontaneous nose bleed on Sunday.

That is why we had to install wheelchair ramps and handicapped parking spaces. Unfortunately in California we have professional handicap experts that sue businesses for a living for not complying with ADA requirements. Last year they hit all of the hay and feed stores in the area. The paid them to settle and now they all have installed concrete handicapped parking spaces and compliant restroom facilities. They have literally sued over the height of grab bars and stall size. It's a legal jungle here. The choice usually ends up pay them or the lawyer.

I apologize!! The way I wrote belittled you and your experience and I didn't mean it the way it was written! What I really meant to say was I hope that you are able to present information that isn't usually out there. I tried to create a medical questionaire when friends of mine, (my wife and I raise service dogs to work with the handicapped), wanted to jump and our service orginization lawyer took one look and said "Are you Kidding!?"As a practical matter it is fairly easy to take a handicapped person on a skydive, It's the legal and medical hoops that's the difficulty. We are not allowed to ask any medical information from a prospective student because it may violate his medical confidentiality. If we turn the student down he has the choice of obtaining a letter from their physician clearing him to jump or he can sue us under the Americans with Disabilities Act for not providing a public service. I guess what I'm trying to point out is that there is a lot more to doing handicapped students than just creating the equipment to do it. I would suggest though that you submit your course outline both online and to Parachutist for publication. I also think it would be a great symposium topic at the next PIA convention. Again I apologize for the way I wrote my response and hope you don't think too bad of me.

I think I have a pretty good access to qualified tandem instructors that have experience with handicapped passengers. James Perez has over 200 jumps with Coral including 10-30 ways. Jim Wallace has over 200 jumps with para's, quads, and in between. They have both designed harnesses and special techniques for doing these kind of jumps. Jim, as an example, took a full quadriplegic that required a tracheotomy tube to breathe. They arranged to have a nurse in the airplane that unhooked his oxygen tube just before exit and hooked up a bailout bottle. After opening they landed next to another nurse who reconnected a main bottle. Since both are available every weekend at Perris I would like to think I have some of the best advice available. I also work for Jim!

It helps if your significant other jumps. My wife knows exactly! what to expect if she were to get the phone call and how I would like it handled. I have been on 3 ash dives and the organizer of 2. My wife knows what I would like and I trust that she will do what's appropriate!

I consider being sued every time I take anybody out of the norm. Overweight, unfit, aged, or handicapped passengers/students are a risk that may result in a lawsuit. If you think that students or their relatives won't sue because they signed a waiver, you just haven't been sued yet. The reality is that as a TI you get to make the choice to take someone or not. The first rule of doing tandems is to not let your student be injured.

I've never been asked by a student for credentials but our DZO requires us to keep a current copy of all credentials on file (on paper!) at the school. He occasionally checks to make sure everyone is current. My file goes back to when I started working for them!

A true "Boat Race" involves bottled beer. Usually 4-5 contestants per team. A bottle for each is lined up in a row and are consumed hands free (I.E. pickup up and chugged holding the bottle with lips or teeth). The anchor man is required to consume any unfinished bottles plus his own. We used to play it once in a while in the PI when we had a good party. It is almost impossible to stop the beer flowing without putting down the bottle in which case a tough anchorman is neeeded. Puking is considered a disqualification!

I asked about an over fifty category and according to a very! senior POP's member the acronym of "Skydiver's over Fifty" becomes "a Softie". Not a good association at that age!

Regardless of whether itis legal or not, sewing a patch involving a seam that will be truly airworthy requires sewing skills and equipment that are beyond most senior riggers. Rags Raghanti does a wonderful demo at every PIA convention on just this subject. Even some of the manufactuers call him in to do major repairs when it's beyond their abilities. It's usually better (and cheaper!) to let the builder and designer do these kind of repairs.

Try SeaBands. They are an elastic band with a hard dot that you wear on the wrist. They supposedly press on an accupressure point and reduce nausea. I don't know if it's more psychologcal than anything else but we have been using them on all our tandem students for 3-4 years and have dramatically cut down on the pukers. They are available in the same section of the drugstore as Dramamine and offer the advantage of being drug-free.

I used to jump a 26" Strong Lopo reserve. I had 3 rides on it and was happy with it. After I loaned the rig to a novice she cutaway and had a lineover malfunction. It burned big holes in it and was unrepairable. She landed it but screwed up her back. I replaced it with a 28" Phantom. It was soon recalled to have the diaper changed. After that there were at least 2 incidents of the lower lateral band breaking, 1 at Davis CA, and one at California City that I personally witnessed. In the one I witnessed, it was a terminal opening and the canopy was alternately collapsing and inflating and the jumper got lucky and landed at close to full inflation. The canopy I had was then recalled for a $100 kevlar modification to the lower lateral band. I then went overseas and read about the acid mesh problem with the drive vents in Skydiving. Sure enough, my canopy was on the recall list! I retired it and finally bought a square reserve! I still have the canopy and the container and used them during my rigger training.

20 years Navy. All civilian jumps, although I did get to jump out of military helicopters thru MWR while in Okinawa.

Step 18: Rigging Innovations Talon 2 Owners Manual and Packing instruction's, "Wrap Molar Strap around center. Pull molar strap tight and lock.". If you have a problem keeping track of your tools, use a checklist or a pegboard with outlines of all tools used! Also one of the first sewing projects I did at RI's rigging course was the pull-up strap RiggerRob described.

National Warp III with a custom Delta Cloud made of 1.1 material and a 24' flat round with a 4-line release steering. They had many horseshoe malfunctions because the main pin protection was non-existant. The Cloud had the pack volume of a tandem. As far as the reserve, I weighed over 220 pounds and it was (in humour I'm sure!) recommended to not cut away from anything better than a streamer. And yes, I put over 400 jumps on the rig.