chuckakers

done.

You are likely about to find that some on this forum think you should have searched the forums for a previous thread on this topic before posting your question. I'm not one of them. >>>1) What gear are you guys using (still/lens/video/camera suit/helmets etc)?

That's just about the coolest thing ever! By the way, you need pie'd. Get after it, DZ buds.

If you're going 130 to 150 while tracking, you need to practice your track. A good flat max track should not have a fall rate much faster than belly-to-earth terminal, if faster at all. Some people can even slow down a bit while tracking. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

"Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do - but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it." A. Einstein ah, what does he know. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

That was my first thought until I saw how well planned it was. It was all good. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Jumpers at Skydive Houston just having some Skydive Houston kind of fun. My kid Justin as the ball. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Opposing uppers & lowers are not all that rare in some places. In southeast Texas, it is quite common in the winter months to have very strong uppers from the northwest, regardless of the direction or speed of the ground winds. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

That's completely cool. God's speed!

Well said. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

We have a winner Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

...and folks, if you're going to throw your partner under the bus, make it a big-ass bus and throw her straight under the front wheels!

Welcome. Now go jump out of an airplane.

I catch crap for showing up at the DZ unpacked. I remind them that if you trace your rig's life, it was packed before it was jumped, not after. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

So a flight further than 25 miles from the departure airport must - by definition - NOT be a flight for parachute operations??? Also... does that mean that any flight further than 25 miles should NOT have skydivers onboard unless they are in a approved seats? Seems to make sense if what you say is true. This would also take away the "we were onboard to jump" arguement if the other end of the trip exceeds 25 miles. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Furthermore, a commercial pilot may be paid to fly a privately operated flight. A private party that owns, rents, or leases an aircraft may hire a pilot to fly them anywhere part 91 so long as they have operational control and it is not the pilot himself who is leasing the aircraft. And a DZO may certainly fill the plane with his staff/good customers and fly them to a boogie while paying the pilot to do so. No different than a bunch of fortune 500 execs/clients hopping on the company jet to go to a business meeting. Correct me if I'm wrong - I'm not a licensed pilot. I thought the only people allowed to ride on a plane without being in an approved seat are "skydivers onboard with the intention of making a parachute jump" - or some such FAA lingo as that. I assume that within the bounds of this conversation, the ferrying in question is in a jump plane set up for jumping. What have I missed - other than the "they were onboard to make a jump...at our destination". Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Had to bail from a Huey at Ft. Hood once. The master caution light came on and the pilot screamed "get out", so we did. Hop n Pops from 9000 ft. Turned out the master caution light came on because the crypto gear lost its' code. It had nothing to do with the flying. That was a long walk. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

That's great... but fast forward 100 jumps, and that same student hasn't packed for themselves, just paid a packer, hasn't done 3 ring maintanance, just hands it over to a rigger every 120 days, and what they knew as a student has fallen out of their heads from disuse. The problem isn't as much student training as it is continuing training after the student program and actively maintaining a knowledge base. That may be true of some folks from some DZ's, but I bet you can't find any of my former students with that problem. We pounded gear knowledge until it was second nature and stressed the importance of always understanding the gear they jump. We even made them understand every type of deployment system and other variables, so they knew how to inspect anyone's gear, not just their own. As far as packing, I'm sure anyone could lose some details if they don't pack for a long time. But even then, I'm pretty sure my old students would know enough to stop and get assistance rather than trying to wing it if they weren't sure about something. I really think a lot of the problem stems from a lack of getting detailed understanding in students heads to begin with, and failing to convince students that gear knowledge is essential to their safety. If a DZ doesn't force the issue, many of today's skydivers are satisfied just knowing in what order to pull handles. Those are the people I call scary. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

This thread is disturbing. Every training program I have ever been involved in included specific gear knowledge requirements throughout the student's progression. As mentioned in a previous post, students should not have detailed gear knowledge crammed into their heads during the FJC or first couple jumps, since proper performance does not depend on it and it could serve to generate overload. However, I find it absurd that any student would be allowed to progress to solo jumps without a complete knowledge of how their gear works. After all, how can you "self-supervise" if you don't know how to inspect your own gear?? I was at a DZ recently when a complete lack of gear knowledge nearly killed a guy right in front of his wife and two small children. This guy had about 100 jumps and hadn't jumped in a year. He came out previously to get his paperwork current, then showed up on this day to actually jump. He got on the plane without a gear check from another jumper, then rode a pilot chute in tow until he was so low that his AAD fired as he dumped his reserve into the trailing pilot chute. I inspected his rig after the jump and discovered that he had routed his bridle under the right side main flap in such a way that it couldn't pull tension on the pin. We only knew that beat his AAD because the cutter was installed on a reserve flap instead of the bottom of the pack tray allowing us to see that the closing loop wasn't cut. When I explained to the guy what he had done wrong, it didn't seem to phase him. I only hope his casual attitude about the incident was just a way to make his wife think he hadn't nearly burned in. Folks, having a full grasp of how your gear works is imperative. Remember that in this sport, what you DON'T know can kill you. By the way, I can honestly say that NO student EVER went on to level 8's under my watch or that of any of my instructors without being able to explain in great detail how their gear worked, including how to inspect it. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Having dealt with the same question hundreds of times over the years as a (former, thank goodness) DZO, this advise seemed to get good results across the board: Eat normally but don't stuff yourself, don't skip breakfast on any day of jumping, and hydrate++. Oh yeah, don't eat anything that will make you hated in the aircraft. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Kinda funny - the article you linked says "Along the way, he apparently dropped 200 lbs. of cocaine by parachute in the vicinity of Georgia's Chattahoochee River, where it landed in a tree and was recovered by narcotics agents." As I remember it, the dope was actually discovered by a bear, which was later found dead of an overdose. Seems bears like the smell and taste of cocaine. It was after the bear was found that the authorities searched the area and found some unclaimed cocaine filled duffel bags. The article also says Cowboys Caravan had sugar-spiked fuel when it went down, which was suspected early on. According to the FBI, the fuel was contaminated, but not spiked, and they later dismissed the sabotage possibility. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Seems to me someone told me once that song was performed by one of the bands at the convention. I don't remember the name of the band, but I believe they were regulars for several years. "Hey, Freak Brutha...as soon as you arrive. You better get yourself on the manifest brutha, cuz were gonna flyyyy-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Hell, my english isn't as good as your english, but I'm from Texas where spanish is the primary language.

Art supply stores often carry it. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Wow, very nice. The shot "thomas500th-Kopie.jpg " could be a contest winner. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX