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Same opinion here. I have been within earshot of several students who have suggested wearing dark googles to their instructor, only to have their instructor practically freak out over the suggestion. [sarcasm] You would have thought that the student asked to wear a GoPro. [/sarcasm]

I thought that dropzone.com had this article in the Safety area, but I can't find it. I wrote it a long time ago, but much of it is still useful. It is kind of written for the skydiver as well as the load organizer, so it kind of switches perspective as you read it. Let me know what you think. http://www.skydivestlouisarea.com/lo.htm

Thanks for posting that. Instructors, please take note! In a way, this information is contrary to some of the common beliefs about instruction and how student/novice skydivers learn.

I keep a copy of the original Parachutist article here: http://www.skydivestlouisarea.com/instruction/C206_torndoor.jpg

This is one of the unfortunate problems with this particular setup with the gear, the handle moves after the main canopy is out of the container. I'm surprised that the instructor does not allow you some leeway on this though. If you pull soon after the main is deployed, it shows that you can pull in a reasonable time. When you do the actual freefall, the handle will stay in place and it will be easy to find. Whatever you do, don't get discouraged. Any "extra" jumps that you require will just give you more time to learn about your canopy control, which is a major part of learning to skydive.

I've seen some references in some of the other forums on dz.com where a new skydiver speaks of having "graduated the Ground School", and seemingly not having done their first jump yet. Am I misinterpreting some of these posts, or is there a trend in skydiving instruction now where DZs are holding ground schools on an earlier day (or days) than on which the jump is made? I know of a small DZ in my area that prefers to do it that way, and in general, I think it is a very good idea, because it lets much of the instruction "sink in", and possibly provokes more questions when the student is later in contact with their instructor. If so, do you think that this is because tandem jumps have taken the place of many "same day" classes/jumps that we used to have more of?

Large(r) pilot chutes (in and of themselves) do not cause hard openings. In particular, the difference between 24 and 28 inches is small. I suggest borrowing someone's 28" pilot chute to do a few jumps without a wingsuit to demonstrate this to yourself. Edited to add: What did you do to determine that your old pilot chute is "nearly dead"?

Do you mean a DZ that is not USPA Group Member DZ? If so, that is unrelated to them allowing you to do your own tandem video. As to whether that was a good idea, well, it has been discussed in a few threads around here.

Since I have my office in my home, and have both an office phone number and a home number, I have the "opportunity" to get calls from a surprisingly large number of scammers of all types. (The no-call lists are honored only by those who wish to obey the law, and many of these people can get away with making these calls.) The latest one is someone with an Indian accent telling me that he can see that my computer is "at risk" or some such nonsense, and tries to tell me to do a "restart" on my computer. I pretend that I am, and then tell him the most ridiculous results of my actions, usually by screaming, "I got the Blue Screen of Death!" They are always confused because these "computer experts" don't even know what the BSOD is! (OK, I'll give you Mac users a pass.) After a while I can't contain myself any longer and just start laughing, at which point they figure out that they have been "had". The latest one actually called me a "motherfucker". I laughed even louder. I have never been so gratified to be called a name. So, does any one know what it is they are trying to get people to eventually do? Time permitting, I would like to take them as far as I can through the process before laughing at them.

In the picture handcam2.jpg, I don't think I've ever seen a student so relaxed. Could it be that it gives a student something to focus on rather than being nervous? (Granted, it gives you a bit more of a challenge when their arms are not symmetrical, but I think that in time you will be able to train them to do that better.)

I can't quite figure out what you meant by that, but yes, most manufacturer's tandem examiners are also USPA tandem IE's, and give both parts of the course to the candidate if they are USPA members. Back before much of this was in place the USPA tandem rating was literally obtained with a $25 payment to USPA after being rated by a manufacturer (that is exactly what I did), but now there are some modest requirements. It just bothers me when the USPA tandem rating is referred to as a "rubber stamp" or is otherwise considered nothing significant. For example, a solo student can be on the same load as a tandem, supervised by the tandem instructor because the tandem instructor has the knowledge (rating) to do that.

It's a little bit more than that. :) USPA Tandem Instructors have been tested on teaching skills and knowledge related to the ISP, assuming that the instructor is going to do training tandem jumps and sign off things on Proficiency Cards. (As to whether these privileges are useful or used all that often is another thing, and possibly a good area for discussion in the S&T forum.)

Brian, Now why is it that you give it that nickname? It is my experience that the Stiletto misbehaves only if there is something wrong with the trim, the packing, or if the jumper has a body position issue, in other words, things that can possibly affect the openings on most elliptical canopies.

These are not numbers that anyone is expected to "abide by". They are simply best guess numbers, that, combined with the way the systems are operated, and where they are operated, can give the owner a decent idea of how long the components will last. There are a lot of variables, for example, landing in the grass versus the desert. I think that using these numbers to help determine when to repair or replace tandem gear components is a very good idea, and that merely waiting for something to wear out is not a good idea.

I must be dense today. What is "322"?

I'll be there this weekend unless the weather changes such that I can't fly there. Weather looks good so far.

Where did you make your 2 tandem jumps?

I spoke with many people about this when I was there. No one seemed to have a definitive answer. One of my theories was that with the weather being so hot, many people decided that a day at the local DZ (that probably has a turbine) followed by going home to their air conditioned home, is preferable to driving a long way and camping out in the heat. Sissies!

You know, I was thinking that when I created that post. (But at least I could tell what your post meant!) So your saying I shouldnt wine about suc things?

More whining about the technology: I know that a lot of people access Facebook on their handheld devices, and it seems to me that a lot of the applications running on these devices have a spelling/grammar checker that thinks it knows how to spell, (or select the proper word), better than you do. How many of you are using a handheld device to access dropzone.com? If you are using a PC, do the browsers have a spelling/grammar checker that does this too? I just read yet another post that contained words that do not even make sense. And I'm not just talking about leaving out one letter in the word. Can't a quick proofread of your post keep this from happening? Dropzone.com posts include a Preview Post button.

From what I recall, I think it would be about half of the posts as the Tandem forum. It may not be as many in the winter too.

That is so sad. She was so helpful with her posts to those who needed her knowledge, skydiving related, and other things. I'll miss her. Chad, we're all thinking of you.

One more person who thinks an Aircraft forum would be very helpful. Although we discuss aircraft in other forums, it would be much easier to find previous posts about important aircraft issues if there was a separate forum. I think the volume now warrants it. Also, I don't think that Chris Schindler is going to revive diverdriver.com any time soon.

I know a guy that used his round reserve about 20 years ago (don't know what type) after having been packed for 7 years. Normal opening.

OK, here is a good story that we can learn from. First jump IAD student, and I was out in the landing area when the instructor was doing some of the canopy control training. This student sounded nervous about his ability to control the parachute, so he received some extra attention. PLFs are taught and physically practiced, canopy control training is done well, students do not jump unless winds are low, and the student radios are reliable. (Edited in response to comment: Radios are considered backups and students are off radio in just a few jumps.) So I volunteered to do the radio, and we of course did a radio check, followed by the student radio being turned off until close to exit time. The instructor turned on the radio before exit, but somehow it got turned off. The student said something about not remembering if the instructor turned on the radio, so he turned it on, but instead turned it off. (The possibility exists that the student deliberately turned it off, because he was whooping it up under canopy, and that sounds odd for someone claiming to be nervous about canopy control. I don't recall his explanation for why he did not check the radio after not hearing any commands.) The good news is that with good instruction, the student flew around in the "holding area", did a good pattern and landed within a couple hundred feet of me. He flared a bit high, right before I was going to yell "flair". A decent landing anyway. Ideas for discussion: 1. Good canopy control training can compensate for problems in other areas. 2. Perhaps student radios should be left on after being tested, but many DZs seem to be concerned about battery charge. New batteries that are charged well should work for many hours, but unless someone takes the time to make a plan for rotating the radios to have the best charged one marked, you never really know.