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Good work! I hope you continue to work on this program using the feedback you get from the forum. One problem that I had was that the up and down buttons scrolled the entire browser window instead of having effect on your program. Firefox 26.0

So I'm sitting here in my home office at 6:30 AM looking out the window into the dark at the school "bus stop", where some dumb-ass kid is wearing shorts in 20 degree F weather. I can see how in his undeveloped pea-brain it might the cool thing to do, but where are his parents? Don't they care? If I ever tried that kind of thing when I was a kid, (which I wouldn't because I don't like the cold), my mother would have thrown a fit. Edited to add a response to some of the posts: It doesn't seem to be self correcting. He has been wearing shorts all winter. It's just that the 20 degree weather this morning made me finally comment on it.

Someone posted this in the Announcements forum, so I thought I would repeat it here: "Is there some way you can post an outline for classified sales? I am amazed at all the people who want to sell a jumpsuit, for example, and yet do not mention SIZE, colors, or anything pertinent about the item." I will add to that request: Please make an outline for the Aircraft section of the classifieds too. I find it hard to believe how little info is given sometimes. Some people do not even include whether it is a jump plane.

Maybe it is just being assumed as the first thing to consider, I don't know.

That is what I do. I recommend used gear as long as they can find something that fits well and has appropriately sized canopies. If they don't find something within their desired time frame, I suggest that they might need to purchase at least the rig new.

I have a Softie "back" model with a square reserve. The only difference from a round reserve was about $100 extra for the deployment bag. I think I have heard of a square reserve in a "seat" model, but it was less straightforward due to the length of the risers, and I don't remember which manufacturer offered it. You will need to talk to each manufacturer about it.

I like nice restroom facilities as much as anyone, but it doesn't bother me at all to be in a hangar built during the "golden age of aviation". Of course, I'm a pilot and like those things. Visiting the airport office, if it is different from the DZ, can reveal a lot of aviation history about the airport. But also, I would think that in most cases, a dropzone operating at an airport that has been there for many years simply must use the facilities already available, unless they have a lot of money and can build/rebuild "modern" facilities, and can talk the FBO into letting them do that. In other words, many dropzones do not even have the option of providing "modern facilities". They can spruce it up to some degree, but that might be all.

I have always felt that we have always had that, in the form of the "one hand on each handle" form of emergency procedures. However, it seems that we have given this up in favor of the "both hands on cutaway handle, then both hands on reserve handle" form. The latter seems to be better for students, to prevent pulling the reserve handle first, and perhaps it is better for everyone. It is difficult to say.

Very nice link for a thread like this one, thank you.

Just wondering what you all think about the James La Barrie articles that have been published on dropzone.com, the latest being "Preventing Subjectivity From Destroying Your Dropzone".

Rules, as in FARs? True as far as I can tell. But as Rob mentioned in post #2, you would need to refer to the alteration paperwork for the airplane used. It is interesting that STC SA462WE mentions "observers" and "passengers" specifically, which kind of implies that it is expected that observers will sometimes be carried. STC SA1-193 mentions "approved seating" for pilot and passengers. Ad far as airplanes modified for skydiving via "Field Approval", it just depends what is specified in the alteration documentation, i.e., Form 337. It just ain't simple! http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgSTC.nsf/MainFrame?OpenFrameset

I made Spandex sheaths that cover the links and the first 2 inches of the lines. This is where the slider winds up and the grommets rub only against the Spandex. They are tacked down to prevent movement. I use a stretchable material because the lines need to spread out going toward the canopy. Works fairly well. Might need replacing often if you make a lot of jumps on it, but it is cheap and easy, and you can always use multiple layers.

Well put. I'm so happy to see you post that, and I emphasized your points that I feel strongly about. Most of the skydivers that think that dz.com forums are all BS simply don't put enough effort into it. Yet they will spend a lot of time on Facebook learning nothing from their Friends (often meaningless) posts.

Jack, I concur. (Sorry, Dave.) While what Dave suggests may be appropriate for student rigs, I don't think it is once a person gets their own gear. For example, my Flight Concepts Manta and Man o' War canopies require that I take 2 wraps around my hand of the steering line in order to stall them. No kidding, 2 wraps. There is no way that I should shorten the steering lines until they stall with no wraps. The tail would be pulled down all of the time if I set up my canopy that way. Perhaps what some people think should be done to set up their steering lines is assuming a high performance canopy, (which even some novice skydivers now have). There are just so many variables. It is difficult to come to an agreement discussing these things online. A person needs to trust someone locally to help them set up their canopy. I offer this graphic file for discussion: http://www.skydivestlouisarea.com/instruction/steeringlinelength.jpg I have modified it several times to accommodate the feedback I have received, and they changing trend in student canopies. I made this to show people how steering line length should be set in general. I have already found that some people disagree.

I suggest giving it a try. There are no prerequisites. You need not "be prepared". If email does not work there is always the telephone, which is an even better method of communication. Reporting back to us would be helpful. As I mentioned before, you will want to take into consideration the holiday schedules of people you contact.

See post #125 in this thread. He didn't say anything that I recall. Why would he? Are you getting him confused with someone else? Do you know anything about USPA? (You could start with your Regional Director. See post #125 in this thread.) Did you read what I posted in the other thread about the 3rd class medical? http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4579392#4579392 Chris, are you going to do any beneficial work to help skydiving or our organization, or are you just going to go on and on posting nonsense in dropzone.com forums? (You could start with your Regional Director. See post #125 in this thread.)

If you are a USPA member, you could start with your Regional Director. What you need to know to contact them is in your Parachutist magazine. Otherwise, www.uspa.org. Please note headquarters vacation schedule if you contact them.

Below are links to aviation medical test standards. I offer them for study because of the posts I see from people suggesting that because tandem jumps are commercially oriented that tandem instructors perhaps should have FAA Class 2 medicals and not just Class 3, (because the Class 2 is "better"). The only thing that might be considered "better" about the Class 2 (for tandem instructors) is that it is required more often. If you think about a pilot in the cockpit of an aircraft, you may find it easier to understand why the different classes have different requirements. The Class 1 includes an EKG test, which arguably may make it "better" in some regards, but my purpose for making this post is for people to compare Class 2 and Class 3, and understand them. The first is provided by an Aviation Medical Examiner on his web site, and is a very good summary of the differences among the 3 types of medical. http://flightphysical.com/Exam-Guide/Synopsis.htm The second is the related FAR's. (You would need to print out these standards and lay them side by side to interpret the differences.) http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=946fd17306d68d75f266219a2010a1de&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title14/14cfr67_main_02.tpl

I'm going to leave it at METAR only at least for now. I use METAR for cloud ceilings because it is actual data from the airport/station. As far as forecasting goes, I think there are better sources that TAF. When I try to figure out what the weather is doing, I check a lot of sources. For example, here is an entire set of links I have collected over the years for the St. Louis area. http://www.skydivestlouisarea.com/weather.htm

Try this one: http://www.pcprg.com/cgi-bin/metars.cgi Main page, has Winds Aloft Forecast program too: http://www.pcprg.com/weather.htm

Do it! For your piece of mind if nothing else. If you skydive for more than a few years, you will eventually even save enough money on your repacks to pay for the course.

No kidding, on PBS last night. I found it while channel surfing: "Lady Gaga And The Muppets' Holiday Spectacular" It was Lady Gaga singing, and the music was some kind of hard driving pop, at least when I was watching. (I didn't notice the lyrics.) I watched it for a couple minutes, more or less because of its "train wreck" effect. For what demographic did they make this program? Any parent of young children who has been paying attention to the actions of Lady Gaga lately surely would not say to themselves, "Oh, look, Lady Gaga and the muppets, that will be a cute show!" Would they? I thought I had seen everything!

I'll be there...

I doubt that any news program will ever give any information at all about safety aspects. They just show people using them and do not indicate their experience level. (Of course you added something to the conversation!)

What I got out of that piece was a bit more understanding of the viewpoint of people participating in various sports, who of course want to attach a GoPro to their piece of sports equipment. I was thinking about how experienced people in these various sports might suggest to a newbie that they are not yet ready to use a GoPro while participating in that sport, because they might get distracted and create additional risk. Or maybe they don't. Maybe some people are using a GoPro since the very beginning of participating in a sport, and so there is not really much additional risk doing any particular "new" maneuver. The expectation of using a GoPro is very high. What is the sport of skydiving doing about that besides just saying "no"? (I'm not suggesting that we all just start letting skydiving students wear a GoPro. I'm just asking if we as a sport plan to continue to just say "no" forever while other sports are embracing the GoPro.)