peek

Thank goodness someone finally mentioned a product and a particular measurement. Do you think anyone will mention whether they are refering to true airspeed or adjusted? (and what adjustment)

My instructional focus is on "primary" instruction, therefore, reviewing basic instructional documents has always been what I have found most useful. Untill the time that USPA created the BIC they included in JCC and ICC documentation a standalone document call Fundamentals of Instruction, which was taken from chapters of the FAA document Aviation Instructors Handbook (still available). It contains a lot about how people learn, and things to do and not do. I continue to see instructors skipping some of the basic stuff which would make their jobs a lot easier. (Granted, there is much to learn past the basics.)

Moved to Rolla, MO (Vichy airport) skydiverolla.com, but nothing there yet.

Well, actually I kind of thought of one (under some circumstances). Ever since the Cypres came out I have had an uncomfortable feeling about closing loops. A normal reserve container closed with a normally tight Cypres style loop has always seemed to me to be less secure than a rig without an AAD and using a 550 sheathing loop, because the pin can slide easier. (There are some advantages to this of course, like, very tight rigs are unlikely to have a hard pull.) I have noticed that many people are no longer using 550 sheathing for closing loops, but are instead using some type of material that is much slicker. Added to that is that some people are not making their main containers close very tight. Some of the pins I have tested have been able to move quite easily. Some are kind of scary to me. I actually think that if manufacturers had not begun making rigs with more secure closing flaps that we would be seeing many more open container problems. The additional friction of a flexible cable combined with a 550 sheathing loop makes for a more securely closed container (although with the disadvantage of high wear, something that many skydivers are not willing to deal with maintenance wise.) That's why I recommend flexible cable pins only to those willing to take on the extra work.

You know what Bill? That made me realize that your thoughts on canopies, and in particular, non zero-porosity canopies, might be quite a bit different from mine because of where we most often jump. I have to say that I assume beautiful grassy landing areas and no sand when I think of canopy care and life. For example, I was surprised some years ago when someone told me that Tandem canopies at Eloy were breaking lines at 300-400 jumps, but when you think of it this makes sense. Now a good question would be how much additional porosity is created by sandy conditions.

(All your comments acknowleged, but I wasn't considering small ones.) Well I guess we need to ask ourselves what is wrong with training (or skydivers) today. Like why I can jump my friend's Fury with 1000 jumps on it for CRW and we can't train someone new to when they weigh 160. I guess most skydivers are at severe risk even having a reserve ride.

For a person with plenty of money to spend perhaps purchasing the latest design is not a problem, but there are people quitting skydiving because they cannot afford it. It kills me to hear someone refer to an "obsolete" canopy that might make a fine piece of gear for someone who cannot afford something newer. I'm always thinking about the novice skydiver reading these posts and reading that a canopy they are thinking about buying is considered obsolete. I know someone who purchased a rig with a Falcon and is satisfied with it (for now). He won't jump it forever but it was something he could afford. Goodness, I guess if a Sabre is "obsolete" then a Falcon is ?????

Now ask them how much time they spend inspecting their own (skydiving) rig.

Aah, one of my favorite subjects.... See:http://www.pcprg.com/flexcab.htm

What's obsolete about it? "no longer in use or no longer useful" is one definition of obsolete I found. It would seem that they are quite useful still.

Perhaps these would explain it a bit better: http://www.freefall.com/gear.php http://www.freefall.com/safety.php

I'll make you a deal. You don't tell me when to do software updates, and I won't tell you when to update your gear, instructional abilities, ratings, or anything else you feel are adequate. There are many reasons individuals (and companies) do not update software, and I won't go into any of that. There is a lot more to software than just using one of the lastest releases.

I don't know if it is "AJAX" that they are using but... I had to get Firefox to use UPS online shipping. When Netscape 7.02 got to the part where the shipping label is displayed for printing it would never print. I got tired of having to right-click on the label, save as a graphic file, and print it from Paint Shop Pro. With Firefox it prints most of the time but sometimes causes a printer error (displayed on the printer). This could be a Firefox error in printing, but I don't know. What's frustrating is these errors come and go. Telling the web guys at UPS is useless. Everything works fine as far as they are concerned.

Assuming you have JS enabled in your browser... can you tell me which browsers it doesn't work in? I'd love to test them. I haven't seen anything you have done. I use Netscape 7.02 and went to a Southwestern Bell page that was unusable. I clicked on buttons and got blank pages and messages that refered to other buttons that could not be found. I was so silly because using something that would work nearly every time could have been done in Perl. I understand the idea behind client based scripts, to make certain entry and validation quicker, but as with any newer technology, people think they need to use it to be cool. Kind of like skydiving huh?

As far as my experiences go, AJAX is a New Approach to Designing Web Applications that Flat Out Don't Work on Some (Not So) Older Browsers. I hope these are features that are not needed for normal article viewing and forum viewing and posting.

I have found no advantage to disconnecting them. Many years ago I used to, then quit because it was interfering with instruction.

Good explanations, thanks. Well, that's all I could find on the PD web site. And this may point out an issue with that type of document. When they come out with a new canopy it gets compared to what they consider the next most recent design. A matrix of canopies and their characteristics would be nice. We'll have to get Kolla right on that! :)

I'm of course not trying to pick a fight. I am asking for elaboration, which one person who I just got off the phone with provided. I would like the opinion of the gentleman that made these comments. I have still not gotten any specifics related to these comments. 1. Which of the Stiletto's flight characteristics did he not like? 2. Which of it's uses are more and more limited? 3. Which of the Stiletto's flight characteristics listed in this document does he not like? http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/stiletto.pdf

I have to admit I am even more amazed by those comments. I was hoping you would elaborate on both if you can.

Hopefully put an end to them!!!! That is one of the stranger statements I've heard in quite a while. Care to elaborate? What has a Stiletto ever done to you to deserve that? [edited to add, "Is this tongue in cheek?"]

Oh, goody, since so many of you have already hijacked this thread and are debating whether logging jumps is important... I'll take this opportunity to tell all you worthless maggots that don't log your jumps... Ok, now that I got that out of my system... :) I kinda think that when you get older you will enjoy going through those logbooks with found memories. Once in a while I find information in those logbooks that can't be found anywhere else. And it sure is a nice polite way of showing your experience and currency at an event. And now to answer the original question: I am often jumping with a student, so I start packing while waiting for them to debrief, then I get my logbook and fill it out while they are filling out theirs in prepration for my comments and signature.

Enter the aircraft prepared to jump My motto, be it my personal gear, any student under my supervision, and my advice to pilots wearing emergency parachutes. (And of course I tighten Tandem student harnesses when their position in the aircraft provides any opportunity at all.)

I just don't know what's wrong with people like that. I wonder where they are coming from..... But the good judgement you have demonstrated shows you _do_ have a high performance brain.

Well, I was hoping for some comments from skydiving who have recently made such a decision...... Why pick the "high performance" canopy?

I was including that in number one actually, but without being specific to flying the canopy. One needs to be at least a bit "high performance" in their body position on opening with some canopies. Thanks.