peek

Sounds like what you did was well planned and reasonably safe. (Compared to nothing being perfectly safe.)

That's a good point. You know what you are doing. You are making small adjustments that work. What I object to is people just saying, "Double stow your lines, with no mention of which stows, and how to properly do it."

Understood. I have gained a good deal of practical info from John, but if he thought it was a good idea for the masses of folks who have purchased PD canopies, you would think he would see to it that it was documented. Negative! They are not PD. Folks, we all need to be careful about where we get technical information about gear. A lot of myths have gotten a firm foothold in our sport, and many have been passed from skydiver to skydiver and have lasted a decade or more before being changed.

I've heard someone else say that. Is there a document somewhere on their web site that has that in it? Is this something that certain people at PD are expressing verbally? I didn't see anything in these documents: "How to Prevent Hard Openings" "Main Canopy User's Manual"

Unfortunately they will. Apparently it is an "opt-out" list (as marked on your renewal form) rather than an "opt-n" list. (See the attached graphic excerpt from the membership app.) And unfortunately this seems to be all too common in many organizations. Now for one of my stories: Believe it or not, this mail list can serve a positive purpose. I remember a DZO who used to purchase the list of recently A licensed skydivers near his drop zone. He sent them a free jump ticket to encourage them to visit. (Can't imagine that happening now days.)

Ask them what the hell they are thinking! They propose to cover you only while you are are work? What about automobile accidents, a very likely cause of injury?

To some extent, it is the attitude of the students themselves. Many dropzones and/or instructors suggest to students that AFF is a superior way to learn how to skydive, and so, their AFF students sometimes think they are better. Well, they probably are better in freefall, but to do that, their focus is more on the learning of freefall topics and perhaps less on the learning of canopy control. Also, if a student can only absorb a certain amount of information during the training for a particular jump, they will likely absorb mainly the freefall part for AFF students, and the canopy control part for S/L or IAD students, as least until they get to the longer freefalls, which is about half way through their 25 jumps for a license (assuming the USA).

You mean like a Sundance Media Group or VAAST windblade? If so, are you going to volunteer again?

Fellow Pilots and Skydivers, AOPA, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, has created a web site, "General Aviation Serves America", at www.gaservesamerica.com to help educate policy makers and our fellow citizens about the important role that General Aviation plays in our country, and that it is not just a bunch of small planes hindering commercial aviation, or a bunch of wealthy people and their private jets. Since they offered, I sent information to AOPA about how fellow skydiver Dr. Jean Potvin and myself from the Parks College Parachute Research Group have used not only General Aviation, but also skydiving General Aviation aircraft do help us with our research, much of which has benefited the US military. The article can be found at: http://www.gaservesamerica.com/stories/090929peek.html There will be a link to the article on the main page of the web site for a week or so, until they create new articles. The author of the article is a public relations specialist, but not a pilot, so it took me a while to explain what we were doing, but I think it turned out fairly well. I think the most important point it gets across is that skydiving is not just a frivolous activity, but is a General Aviation activity that can help not only our country, but also our military, and perhaps to help keep them out of harms way.

I thought user name "sd-slider" was the OP, and appeared to be in the US by his profile, so that guided my responses. I agree wholeheartedly with your remarks. It should maker thing easier when you purchase from within your country.

I was mainly trying to focus on the "customer support" issue with canopies, but yes, I admit I got off on a tangent. Performance Designs passes the "Sinclair Test", so it is my opinion that they are an American company. For those of you who are now confused: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3343285;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread I buy plenty of products not made in America. I love Walmart. But if I am buying something that is expected to need service, parts, or customer support, it sure is easier to do business with an American company, (at least from here in the USA.)

That's debatable, as are most things. Here is a story to help fuel the debate: Just last week an icon in the St. Louis area died. His name was Dave Sinclair, was a Ford (and later other brands) dealer for decades, and was incredibly well respected. His radio and TV ads, particularly in recent years, suggested to Americans to buy American automobiles. He went so far as to say, "Please buy an automobile from me, but if you do not, please buy an automobile from one of my American competitors." While being interviewed on a local radio station, he actually posed this same question, and answered it. If the company is based in Detroit (or some other American city) it is an American company. Like I said, his opinion will fuel the debate. (Are we ready for Speaker''s Corner yet?) Back to the canopy manufacturer issue- I believe a person can still buy a canopy from an American company that is manufactured in America. It just depends on to what degree you want to support the American economy and what kind of customer service you desire. (There, I finally got the thread back to where it started, customer service!)

Sorry about your problems. May I suggest that next time buy American.

Good work! Thank you for making this information available.

You don't seem to be Becky Brocato, although you are using her D license number in your profile.... (Kind of a strange thread in which to place a tirade against USPA too.) USPA is not supposed to be a trade organization, (although the GM program gets it squarely in the middle of certain legal issues doesn't it?) and it is definitely NOT a "business". (You might want to check the Governance Manual, available on the USPA web site to remind yourself of its purpose.) USPA does not exist to help professional skydivers make a living. You are going to have to figure out how to do that yourselves. Maybe someone should start a trade organization. I'm sometimes not happy with USPA (in general) either, but at least I understand what its strengths and weaknesses are. Open your mind and ask around.

www.proskydiving.com Doug Smith, Chicagoland Skydiving Center, Hinckley, IL. I suggest that you do not speculate. By all means, go there, read about it, and make comments to Doug. Ask him why he is doing this. (To make money of course, but ask him in more detail.) He will appreciate the feedback. Check the bottom of the main page.

Even thought the GoPro Helmet Hero gives you nearly every kind of mounting system you can think of in the package, I wanted mine on the front of my ProTec so that it would be difficult to hit it on anything. The still pictures show the metal bracket I made. Two #4 screws and nuts, a spacer, and some sticky foam. With such a light camera, I am comfortable securing it with only gaffers tape. I have been using this camera without the box just to make the whole setup as small as possible. Since the lens is very wide angle, nothing is critical about the mounting. It is so nice not having to mess with a viewfinder. All you need is a tight fitting helmet liner. Demo jump was St. Louis Forest Park Balloon Race on 9/19/09, done by the Greater St. Louis Parachute Club, where I help out. You can see me looking into a piece of plexiglas mirror in the airplane which is how I check whether the camera is on and recording. This works well because I'm wearing a jumpsuit with a zipper breast pocket. The microphone level is set to "low". I left the raw audio on the edited video (even my strange utterances, which I sometimes don't even realize I'm doing!) When the flag jumper is landing the brightness is changing, so it doesn't look like this camera handles some light situations very well. To me, the whole video of this jumps seems a bit dark. http://www.skydivestlouisarea.com/gslpc/

One of the more innovative ideas I've heard lately, but I have no idea how practical it might be. It might only attract the interest of experienced swoopers.

OK, we also need info about what type of bridle material was used. Another rigger just showed me some one inch wide material that he says he has seen used for bridle, but I don't know the number. It is not Type 4 square weave.) It was very easy to poke a curved pin through it. It would not be the type used for a collapsible pilot chute, so do we know if these were collapsible or not?

But there are always those people who are not as careful as you are! I think the "basics" become a bit safer as you get more jumps and experience, but I don't count on it.

ds8221 pointed to "How To Make a Closing Loop". I suggest that everyone use this type of material or its equivalent. For example, Para Gear item W9680, with a number 8 flat washer. A lot of skydivers (including many riggers) seem to think that since "microline" is so much better than older types of suspension line, that they are better for closing loops. However, most of the newer types of line are slippery, and that make for a much less secure closing of your rig. But you say you have seen this large microline on tandem rigs? If it is a coated cable then fine. Also see: http://www.pcprg.com/flexcab.htm The "Supporting Research:" paragraph.

I question some things about this myself. It would seem to me that it would take a great deal of force to get the end of a pin to puncture a bridle. (The inertia created by the speed of this event could possibly explain that.) I think the bridle would have to be very taut between the pin and the bag for this to happen. 1. Anyone disagree? 2. Should we be looking for ways that this can happen?

I agree with all the other respondents that it was one of those stupid jokes tandem staff plays on students. If this makes another student (you) uncomfortable it kind of proves that it is stupid, doesn't it? Why would an instructor do something that makes (any) student nervous? Be glad you are an AFF student, and some day when you get many jumps and become an instructor, maybe you can be more professional.

Michael, I'm not concerned about a particular unit. I'm trying to find the reason that many original Cypres units sometimes will not turn off. The reason most often given is that the user is not activating the switch correctly. But there are many people who have experienced this problem that know quite well how to operate the unit. By the way, a cable failure is a reasonable possibility too.

OK, now we are starting to get somewhere. I asked the owner of the unit I caught not turning off, and he said it was getting near the end of the battery life. If anyone else has had similar experiences please tell us.