chuckakers

Can you explain? If the bag is the appropriate size/shape for a container, are you saying there is a potential problem based on the stowless nature of the bag? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Complete crap. Just another case of over-think on someone's part. When in doubt, call John LeBlanc. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

The group size is irrelevant. Barrel rolls are not necessary to clear the air above regardless of how many people are in the air. Besides, a jumper's responsibility is to avoid others BELOW. And while we're on the subject, exactly what do you plan to do if you do a barrel roll and see someone somewhere above you? Hum it low? Change direction and end up causing traffic problems for someone else? No real good option there, eh? There's a reason that we use a uniform "low jumper has the right of way" strategy. It works and does so with minimum confusion - until people start throwing confusing, time-consuming extra procedures into the mix - like doing barrel rolls - which can easily cause a change of direction while tracking. We don't clear our air above and wave off because we should have to. We do it IN CASE WE NEED TO. It's a last ditch contingency to get someone off your back who has already made a mistake. Stop with the barrel roll crap. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Ask him/her why it's necessary to barrel roll to clear the air above. Unless a person has a problem rotating their neck, it is quite easy to see directly above by turning the head to each side and using the eyes to complete the task. A barrel roll is absolutely NOT needed to clear your air. Besides that, low man has the right of way so unless you deploy without a wave-off, it is the high person's job to clear you. No one should be tracking directly above you anyway. We've been clearing our air by turning our heads and using our eyes for decades. It hasn't stopped working just because some feel the need to fix what ain't broke. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

BSBD. Prayers for everyone there. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

When am I allowed to return? Any time you're ready to face the consequences. And put your tongue in your mouth. You look like a whuffo. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

That depends. If you want a/c packing, jump tickets would go up a few cents. Video review stations - couple a pennies there. Bottom line - we get what we pay for regardless of who pays for it. At the DZ I ran - Skydive USA outside Houston - we packed in a hot hangar, but we always had free cold beer on tap subsidized with a "throw in what you can" effort when it went dry. We didn't have a bunk room, but jumpers were welcome to crash on the couches in the air conditioned manifest/office - with satellite TV that doubled as a review station, thank you very much. No swimming pool, but an inflatable kiddie pool worked just fine for cooling off and made for many "interesting" drunkenese nights. No cafe either, but nobody cared when they were getting naked around the bonfire eating pizza delivered to the DZ - usually at DZ expense. Weight room? Nope, but climbing the beacon for midnight rides was pretty good for toning muscles anyway. And on, and on. I owned 4 tandem rigs and 20 student rigs. Tandems were important - but only as a way to get people to the DZ. From there, everyone on the DZ - including the fun jumpers - interacted with them, all of us looking for the ones that had "that". Those people were targeted for the Saturday night party. The parties of course included real skydiver talk. That usually sealed the deal. There is no "right" formula for making money in the DZ biz. Money in, money out. That's it. The DZO decides how to get it done. We did it with the vibe. Please let me know if you re-open this!!! Sounds like a real DZ! top It was a real DZ, Top. Exactly the kind of DZ I always wanted to be part of. We closed up shop after our youngest got settled in the sport. One of our big motivations in opening SUSA was to get our kids in the air at 16 and we accomplished that. We did an asset sale to Skydive Houston when he turned 17 and the wife and I became fun jumpers for the first time in a dozen years. We wanted our kids to chase the dream if they chose to and the effort paid off. Our daughter Heather Stephens is a rock-steady jumper like her mom, although she doesn't get in the air as much as she'd like between college, marriage, babies, and a busy life. My son Justin Price is another story. He went on to get his instructor ratings, fly camera, earn his rigger's ticket, develop his swoop skills to the national comp level, and most recently became the camera flyer and newest member of Arizona Airspeed 4-way. Mission accomplished and then some. I must admit I miss the place. Especially the parties. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

In Texas, THAT guy gets a good talkin' to, usually behind the hangar by a few old-timers. After that he shuts up or moves on. Done. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

That depends. If you want a/c packing, jump tickets would go up a few cents. Video review stations - couple a pennies there. Bottom line - we get what we pay for regardless of who pays for it. At the DZ I ran - Skydive USA outside Houston - we packed in a hot hangar, but we always had free cold beer on tap subsidized with a "throw in what you can" effort when it went dry. We didn't have a bunk room, but jumpers were welcome to crash on the couches in the air conditioned manifest/office - with satellite TV that doubled as a review station, thank you very much. No swimming pool, but an inflatable kiddie pool worked just fine for cooling off and made for many "interesting" drunkenese nights. No cafe either, but nobody cared when they were getting naked around the bonfire eating pizza delivered to the DZ - usually at DZ expense. Weight room? Nope, but climbing the beacon for midnight rides was pretty good for toning muscles anyway. And on, and on. I owned 4 tandem rigs and 20 student rigs. Tandems were important - but only as a way to get people to the DZ. From there, everyone on the DZ - including the fun jumpers - interacted with them, all of us looking for the ones that had "that". Those people were targeted for the Saturday night party. The parties of course included real skydiver talk. That usually sealed the deal. There is no "right" formula for making money in the DZ biz. Money in, money out. That's it. The DZO decides how to get it done. We did it with the vibe. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Doesn't matter. Ticket prices vary with costs, including fuel. That's called business. If you aren't willing to adjust for costs, you aren't running a business. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Funny, it worked for me when I owned a DZ. I leased turbines but owned a 182. It easily made its own payments through jump tickets and we only used it on weekdays and times when it was too slow to launch the big bird. BTW, we didn't even do very many tandems. The vast majority of our jumps were fun jumpers - just the way we liked it. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Fun jumpers buy airplanes. Many would disagree with that, but try this on. Many DZO's say they can't make any money on experienced jumpers, yet they get the fat tandem profits and spend all that money replacing rigs. Meanwhile the aircraft owner - who only gets the revenue of lift tickets (and usually only at the wholesale price, mind you) is the guy paying for a 7 figure aircraft with other people's money. From an aircraft owner's perspective, every dollar he gets comes from an experienced jumper - just lift tickets - yet he's the guy that will own that asset at the end of the day. And it's an insured asset that typically goes UP in value while he depreciates it for tax purposes. That's what people who understand finance call a wise investment. The DZO that says he can't make money on experienced jumpers probably leases his bird(s) from a guy who is banking from them. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Guess you guys don't go back far enough. The "original" Talon didn't even have tuck tabs. The talon debuted in 1985. I owned the 184th one made - serial # 284. It had regular velcro riser covers and pin covers. Sandy invented the tuck tab when he wasn't happy with his one-piece main pin cover/main top flap design's ability to stay closed when the velcro would get old. The original tuck tab was on the main pin cover and was called the "Talon Tongue" because of its shape. It worked so well that Sandy continued to develop it and the modern-day tuck tab was born. As for freeflying with older rigs of any kind, it is not recommended. Freeflying was in its infancy when those rigs were built and they were not designed for it. As for the video on this thread, it appears that back flying had nothing to do with the release. Pretty much ALL early riser tabs got weak with age and wear. It was only through ongoing design development that the manufacturers were able to cure that, and I still see rigs made today - in particular Wings and Javs - that have riser covers that come loose....on the ground. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Well said, TK. The feds aren't usually too quick to threaten a crack down when skydiving incidents peak, but they certainly will for aircraft issues. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

You're right about one thing. This conversation is useless. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Well there ya go, kids. Any questions? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Noob (if you really are), I didn't call you anything. I said your comments "sound like" a whuffo wife and did so for the purpose of making a point. If you're too slow to figure that out you might want to get out of the kitchen. "Cool it"? Wrong venue for that. You're right about one thing. This discussion isn't about me. That's why I didn't make it about me. Think, bro. I was/am discussing the wisdom or lack thereof of the behaviors in the discussion at hand. That has nothing to do with me. Might want to read through some of the many, many, MANY posts from older, more experienced folks on the thousands of threads here before you make yourself look foolish. This is what we call an OPEN forum, where EVERYONE is welcome to take the conversation in any direction they choose with the exception of forums that the moderators want to keep specific. BTW, if you want to be taken seriously here, I suggest you identify yourself clearly with your REAL name and your REAL data. Otherwise, to the relevant among us you are just another troll. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

You sound like someone's bitchy whuffo wife. They love to call a good skydiving discussion a pissing contest. Some of us see the prospect of a new topic as an opportunity to actually discuss various aspects of the topic. The OP said they were new to the sport, so commenting on the "why" or "why not" is as relevant as answering the question. If you really want to see a waste of a post, re-read yours. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

You may not be distracted, but apparently many others could be. EVERYTHING anyone does that isn't directly related to the logistics of the jump takes their mind from those logistics. There's no way to quantify how many unbuckled helmets have been lost, premature deployments from un-tucked p/c's have happened, and a million other things have occurred from doing "other than business" activities in the aircraft (especially in the moments approaching exit), but there's no denying that anything that takes one's mind away from the task at hand is a possible cause of seemingly stupid f-ups. I have on more than one occasion had to remind someone to buckle their helmet after they stopped midstream when they saw a bunch of hands waiting to be slapped, skinned, bumped, 5'd, etc. and then never went back to the process, so yes - it does happen. I guess I just don't see the piont beyond "everybody does it". Remember when going helmetless was the cool thing to do? Well that didn't end because everyone figured out it was dangerous. It ended when the cool competitors started wearing those awesome fullface helmets. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Not sure where it started or when, but I would personally prefer we spend those extra few seconds checking gear, or the spot, or something a bit more productive. Given how many people go out the door with gear gigs, plow through clouds, and an assortment of other silly crap I think we would be better served by paying attention to the task at hand instead of celebrating before a successful landing. How 'bout we play slap-ass *after* the jump. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Anyone know the wing loading? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Jumps - 6,000+ Yes - broken tail bone from turbulence at flare point with no chance to PLF, and ripped-off bicep from a funneled exit 1-8 skydiver error 9 - environmental conditions 10 - equipment failure Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Now here's a guy who might actually be around for a while! BTW, remember that you NEVER have to jump a Katana if you don't want to. There's absolutely nothing wrong with jumping a more conservative canopy your entire career. If you never jump a high performance canopy you will never die jumping a high performance canopy. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

The plan is simple. Deploy normally. If it makes you feel better, sit up a bit as the canopy pulls up your shoulders and cross your arms over your chest. Unless you allow your arms to be pulled pretty far back - which I suppose could happen if the canopy opens really hard - the deployment should be normal. An unbuckled chest strap shouldn't freak you out. Just get some nylon over your head and get a f*ckin' gear check BY SOMEONE ELSE next time. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

But how do we get the DZO's/fellow jumpers/DZ employees/S&TA/Ect that aren't locally enforcing anything to start enforcing something? Refuse to jump w/ the 200 jump wonder on a 120 w/ a wingloading of 1.6. Refuse to jump on the same load. Tell the DZO or S&TA that you won't jump on the same load and tell him/her why. The solution is in our hands. Same solution to the 50 jump wonder w/ a gopro. That's called peer and monetary pressure to force - here it comes again....."local enforcement of common sense"! You're on the right track. If the DZO or management won't do that, the jumpers can force it to happen through their refusal to accept it. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX