craigbey

+1 No love for the midwest... http://skyventure.com/tunnellocations/locationsmap.aspx?region=north america

5'2 with really big, uhhh ... 'muscles'

Get a reserve for a demo... http://www.performancedesigns.com/demo_sport.asp "We offer all available sizes of the PD Reserve and the Optimum Reserve, set up as mains with an attachment point for your d-bag and pilot chute. This is a great opportunity to become familiar with your reserve canopy without being in a stressful emergency situation and to decide what size you are comfortable with in every situation."

If 'burning a canopy' looks or smells anything like the process of 'burning a mule', I'll take a pass on the video.

2 words ... 'Weather Hold'. This spring really sucks. Something that Sandy has been cultivating at our DZ for years is a 'Culture of Safety'. It takes root when people respect and listen to each other and are active participants in the sport. It is fostered by instructors and experienced skydivers who communicate with each other and teach everyone at the DZ to do the same. It really doesn't mater how effective the rules or punishment(s) may be if the consequences of a mistake can be fatal. You have to convice people to work together, respect each other and respect the dangers that are part of the sport. You also have to watch the behaviors of others and help them recognize when they might be taking on too much risk or potentially risking the safety of their fellow jumpers. That's what friends do for each other.

I take Dave's quote to mean that those with high jump #'s and canopy experience need to toe the line as well. Indeed, had someone intervened sooner at Perris, at least one very experienced instructor would still be with us today. The irony is that some here have referred to the deceased as a friend.

Are you talking about packing? That made me think of something else. FWIW: I always liked the old stickers. They are very easy to recognize and somewhat nostalgic. But it's time for an update. The new stickers won't be around long -- hopefully. So perhaps something new again next year. Maybe someone landing a wingsuit.

Congrats on the jump and GREAT choice of music. The first time I heard that song, it immediately clicked ... skydiving doesn't remind me of anything. And that's ok.

Wait, you mean that if you buy a Katana you're not automatically a badass?

What is Jeff's modeling fee? Hope things are going well in Plymouth.

So, it's business as usual at your DZ? 3:12

I wouldn't worry to much about knee-jerk reactions from the USPA. They've been thinking about it for a while... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3964876#3964876 Too bad nothing more specific was said or done earlier. Same goes for the enforcement of DZ rules at Perris.

I've jumped my reserve and am comfortable with the way it flew and landed. If I was not, I would not have purchased one that size.

Give it a rest about the recent changes to DZ management practices. Dan should have been out there a long time ago. How long do you expect him to continue?

If you have personal experience with such a situation or know someone who does, please say so. What specific wing loading do you recommend?

Yep, and we have people routinely throwing 270's through the landing pattern...

I'll never understand why people are not more careful with such a purchase.

PD-R 126 flies and flares really nice even with WL 1.75.

Thanks for posting the link and pics. Cool stuff.

Bump...

Skydive Iowa had Safety Day yesterday (3/26). We squeezed 30 people into the nicely heated training room. This included DZO, instructors, pilots and almost all of the regular, experienced jumpers. Thank you Bruce, Cliff, Sandy, Gary, JunkYard and everyone else who participated and contributed to the discussion.

Reference, please.

Bump. Great post, Chuck. One company I know of carefully documents everything that might be considered a safety-related incident including 'close calls' that do not result in injury or equipment / property damage. Any situation that someone witnesses can become an 'incident flash' and documented as such to help others work safely. Many of the incident flashes are actually submitted by the person directly involved. In working to find real solutions to safety problems, the company has a solid set of documentation about many incidents that fall outside of the normal 'required reporting protocols'. This depth of information has allowed them to consistently operate with minimal lost-time due to injuries or equipment / property damage -- in an industry that has been historically very dangerous. It would be helpful to have such information regarding skydiving incidents that did not result in injury / death. That information is mostly not available, so people are free to speculate and develop their own interpretations of what needs to be done about the perceived problem. We can see how well that has worked up to now. The Canopy Control problem is still a serious issue. It goes beyond swooping, low-timers or those who may need an 'attitude adjustment'. If you simply blame one group for the problem, you won't make any real progress.

Bill ... excellent post. You used wingsuits as an example, but I like the classic downsizing argument. Same result ... we now have less experienced people jumping high performance canopies who have no business under such wings. Back to the topic: I know this was said earlier, but if someone thinks they can or should just 'turn it on and forget it', they're a bad camera-flyer and an unsafe skydiver.

Do you get a pair of 'toe-socks' with those? edit: Sorry, I just noticed that they DO sell toe-socks. Weren't the 70's great?