peek

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Everything posted by peek

  1. peek
    I think what Ron is trying to remind us of is that once a product is in this country and owned by an American, any profit from the sale of that item is going to an American. Sure, something made in another country by citizens of that country is going to benefit them. It would be nice if we all bought only things manufactured in America. But most things get distributed and resold enough times that Americans are making money from them, perhaps more than the original manufacturers in some cases.
  2. peek
    Yes, an article in AOPA Pilot would be nice. Maybe we can all lobby Randy Ottinger, our Government Relations person at USPA headquarters, to write one. Maybe he has already done this and we can't find the article on the USPA web site. I think it would be smart for every dropzone to have a brochure (and a page on their web site) that provides information about skydiving at that dropzone, for pilots who may fly there. Then you could just go grab a brochure and give it to them. Here is my contribution. From my web site logs I can see that it still gets quite a few visits. I would be happy to see people use part of it to help create their own document for their dropzone. http://www.skydivestlouisarea.com/skydivng.htm
  3. peek
    What did he mean by "too much for the tunnel"? Too fast of a turn? If so, we can simply adjust how much we train to "tip the shoulders", just like we teach them to turn during "team turns", then tell them that during the release dive they don't want to do it so much. Teaching both methods in the tunnel sounds great. I think they would learn a lot by turning too fast and learning what caused it.
  4. peek
    Actually, a while back USPA was able to get dropzones listed in GPS databases, but I cannot find an article on the USPA web site, so if I give you any more details I might get them wrong. I recall that some people had to work long and hard to make it happen. As far as reaching out to pilots, well, articles could be written for pilot magazines, but which ones? Not all pilots belong to an organization or get a magazine. These things don't come easy, and then, pilots will need to remember the information.
  5. peek
    Be advised that the use of "NOTAM" on that page is confusing. They should have used the word "notification" as is used in FAR 105. NOTAMS can be filed too, but the notification is what is required. See this article for a full explanation: http://www.dropzone.com/safety/General_Safety/Jumping_Away_from_the_Normal_Dropzone_896.html
  6. peek
    I am one of those people concerned that having both sides of the bridle coming from the bottom can reduce the security of the pin. I would worry a lot, except that most protective flaps now are very secure. If this was done on a rig with Velcro holding the flap closed, I would object. Attached is a picture of my Talon 3 and my preferred bridle routing. I find it hard to believe that the pin could puncture the bridle. Of course, the pin on this bridle is attached in a way that makes this routing easy. Some pins are mounted differently, and this may make some "clean" routings nearly impossible. Also, note that the tip of the protective flap get inserted into the orange colored section above. This flap stays in place throughout the opening, which means that the bridle is pulling from the side, at least until the pin is extracted. (At least on this rig.) Some people think that the bridle is pulling from the same direction as the pilot chute is pulling from. On some rigs, maybe.
  7. peek
    This is one of my concerns. When we suggest a "new" method of routing a bridle, we must let everyone know which rigs on which this method is suitable. We must not assume that a person has a "modern" rig. Some people blindly follow suggestions to change to something "new" without asking someone knowledgeable about the ramifications of doing so. I would like to figure out what is really going on before I suggest a "new" method of anything.
  8. peek
    Wow, so there are 2 places that they can obtain inexpensively to try out the concept before going big? It is interesting how people have such grand plans. But again, somebody kick me if I am being too negative.
  9. peek
    I would like information about exactly how the bridle was routed, the position of the pin, and the main flap arrangement that led to these bridle piercings. Does anyone have that information? I don't think we can assume that the bridles were routed "like the manual says". There are variations that people use. For a particular flap arrangement, who can tell whether their protective flap remains in the pocket for which it was designed or does it get pulled out? For example, my Talon 3 flap stays stowed after deployment. My other rigs are older and by design will not remain stowed. (Tongue or "walrus tooth.") From what direction is the bridle really being pulled, and why? I think that if we get some data on these things that we might be able to determine a cause for the bridle piercings.
  10. peek
    Ok, I have visited the web site, www.phoenixmart.com read quite a bit of it, watched some videos. (A giant permanent trade-show of sorts?) (I didn't find out who is spending all the money to develop it.) Someone kick me if they think I am being too negative, but does anyone really think this is going to fly? (Pun perhaps intended.) And is it worth a big fight trying to keep a thriving business (a DZ) off the airport? Mentioned in PhoenixMart is even a "resort". Perhaps a skydive available at the nearby airport might be one of the amenities of the resort? This is going to be fun to follow.
  11. peek
    That is correct, but in post #37 it did not seem like you were referring only to yourself, and you were replying to the DZO of a US DZ. That might have been confusing.
  12. peek
    That is incorrect. Please refer to the Governance Manual, available on the USPA web site. Section 1-6. Also, USPA members are required to follow the BSR's, period. (wherever they are) Are you a USPA member? I can't tell because your profile is incomplete. Having said that, I will now add my commentary. Tandem skydiving has now become so common, so commercialized, and so much of a "job" to many instructors that they no longer care about doing the right thing for their student. It is all about them instead of the student, which causes them to substitute ridiculous actions with training. Me? I don't need to do tandem hook turns because I get so much enjoyment and fulfillment from teaching my students how to fly a pattern and flare the canopy.
  13. peek
    Yes! Thank you for your hard work, and for caring about the sport.
  14. peek
    I stand corrected. Getting information is not "almost impossible". I should have said that it is not easy or quick. I must admit that I am used to the speed and ease at which we get much information on dropzone.com forums. I have filed numerous FOIA requests and received information. (However the last one I filed with the NTSB is going on 10 months now. It depends on the organization.) A "week or so" sounds optimistic from any organization.
  15. peek
    Do you know what the malfunction types were? Having a slider should prevent certain deployment issues, but packing, being slightly more complicated, could provide more opportunities for mistakes.
  16. peek
    "fatalities" as in more than one? If you know for sure, please tell us what you know. I have heard of only one fatality, and it is nearly impossible to get any information about these things.
  17. peek
    At least I found some specs, and maybe a place to buy them. Same diameter as CR-2032. Slightly thicker, 4.0mm versus 3.2 for the CR-2032. Maybe you can use CR-2032 in the device if the battery contacts allow. http://www.batterybuyer.com/cr2040-maxell-coin-type-lithium-battery-only-coin-cell-will-sent-image-display-only-p-748.html By the way batteries like the CR-2032 are cheap if you get them at electronics places. http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Panasonic-Battery/CR2032/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtLck3p7ZBovbxA0OP75j3l
  18. peek
    I can't even find any technical information on the CR2040. Don't use 2 batteries to replace one, get more info first. Are you sure that the Dytter manual does not specify an alternate battery? If you are talking about the original Dytter, I think I have used an alternative.
  19. peek
    If possible, the best thing is to ask another instructor who has jumped with them. Otherwise you just have to make an educated guess. I can't think of any good solution other than the DZ having a wide variety of jumpsuits and then picking one for the student that insures that you will not go low on them. I suggest avoiding that in all but the most extreme cases, like if there is no other smaller instructor to jump with them. You would be increasing their wing loading, perhaps making their landing less gentle, and if there is a body of water nearby, could be dangerous.
  20. peek
    You would think that I would know better, but it just demonstrates how a person can get distracted when things don't go as planned. We were in a Caravan, and did a go-around because of clouds. I am actually the person that decided to close the door while we went around. Unfortunately I forgot to remove my hand from the "floater bar", and got my knuckles scraped, big time. I often visually check the clearance between the bar and the door on many Otters and Caravans, and it seems to me that there is usually just enough clearance to prevent that. Well, not always!
  21. peek
    Except... If he tells other people about getting away with something like that, then we might see more students doing things like that. Years ago, I was doing a first jump AFF and the video guy took us all out, with lost grips all around. The student was stable by the time we got back to him, but right before I re-docked, I saw a strange smile on his face, and then he bent at the waist and did a front loop. When I asked him about this on the ground he suddenly could not understand English very well and did not have an answer. If I had not been needed on the next load, I would have given him the 3rd degree. I'm about 99% sure he did this intentionally, because right before he did it, he was quite stable.
  22. peek
    Ok, very good to hear. Do you know the original poster that complained of the hard openings? Maybe he does not know about the new sliders.
  23. peek
    Yes, I'm sure they do, but if their phone and/or network is set up correctly they should get an error message if they set a text to a phone that cannot receive one. I find it hard to believe that their network could be smart enough to change to a text-to-voice message automatically, but it is possible. Does anyone know?
  24. peek
    A search resulted in this, which might be helpful: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4531247#4531247 Oh, that was my thread from a year back. Not much has changed -- Here's a pic of another student's Solo opening this year. Sucked to be him. Lots of canopy out while only slightly above his instructors, plus twists and a broken line. Yes, my point was that it may just be one of those canopy designs that open hard (or inconsistently), like the original Sabre. In both the video and photo you can see the Solo with some cells that are inflated to a great extent early on. With canopies that open "well", this major inflation of the cells does not happen until later. Some really nice opening canopies spread mainly on their bottom skin only, then have cell inflation.
  25. peek
    I'm sure that some of you have read my previous rants about cell phones. Well, I embrace new technology just fine, but it needs to actually work! So I get a phone call on my office phone (land line) and it seems as though someone sent me a "text-to-voice" message. What a useless method of communication. Here is what is wrong with them. 1. The artificial voice generates audio that cannot be understood much of the time, 2. The audio actually starts when you pick up the handset while you are getting it to your ear, thereby causing you to miss several seconds, 3. It tells you what telephone number it is coming from, but not what person! Is there some reason a person can't make a phone call or send an email? (If you can find my office phone number, you can find my email address.) I understand the usefulness of text messaging, but don't people want to first of all successfully get the message through?