5.samadhi

I agree Bill. For me it has been a fun thought experiment delving through the FARs. Chuck, I agree there is more points to counter to make a solid case. At least we have sketched out the beginning of a legal argument for anybody in trouble here though. I do indeed hope that the FAA does not try to pursue this legally against the gentlemen involved. If I were going to do a jump like this then I would go somewhere isolated and remote and I would not be participating in the jump if it was a for-profit operation. Hell at that point might as well be going off a cliff.

who is to say that they were not instructing? The jump could have just been an additional bonus for the student to enjoy after learning any lessons the instructor had to teach. These guys do have a paragliding school after all so its not a stretch that they could claim their flights are instructional. And yes the flight must be foot launched to count under the exemption. Normiss, am I still incorrect?

Your post is cryptic and intriguing

Your post is cryptic and intriguing

well it still remains that tandem paragliders are not aircraft in the same way a cessna is an aircraft (according to the FAA) and thus not under regulation of FAR 91. the very first section of 91: [QUOTE](a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section and §§91.701 and 91.703, this part prescribes rules governing the operation of aircraft (other than moored balloons, kites, unmanned rockets, and unmanned free balloons, which are governed by part 101 of this chapter, and ultralight vehicles operated in accordance with part 103 of this chapter) within the United States, including the waters within 3 nautical miles of the U.S. coast.[/QUOTE] So, clearly ultralight vehicles are not governed under FAR 91 - they are governed under FAR 103. Here is applicability of FAR 103: [QUOTE]This part prescribes rules governing the operation of ultralight vehicles in the United States. For the purposes of this part, an ultralight vehicle is a vehicle that: (a) Is used or intended to be used for manned operation in the air by a single occupant; (b) Is used or intended to be used for recreation or sport purposes only; (c) Does not have any U.S. or foreign airworthiness certificate; and (d) If unpowered, weighs less than 155 pounds; or (e) If powered: (1) Weighs less than 254 pounds empty weight, excluding floats and safety devices which are intended for deployment in a potentially catastrophic situation; (2) Has a fuel capacity not exceeding 5 U.S. gallons; (3) Is not capable of more than 55 knots calibrated airspeed at full power in level flight; and (4) Has a power-off stall speed which does not exceed 24 knots calibrated airspeed.[/QUOTE] Notice the above bolded section. This would seem to prohibit tandem paragliders from even being able to operate (let alone being able to drop a human off). However, the FAA has granted paragliders an exemption to be able to do tandem paragliding. Thus tandem paragliding is legal despite the applicability section of FAR 103 seeming to rule that it is not. Now, FAR 103.9 is the last section we need to investigate to determine whether or not BASE jumping off a tandem is legal. [/QUOTE]Sec. 103.9 — Hazardous operations. (a) No person may operate any ultralight vehicle in a manner that creates a hazard to other persons or property. (b) No person may allow an object to be dropped from an ultralight vehicle if such action creates a hazard to other persons or property.[/QUOTE] So, as long as the drop is not hazardous to other people or property (say over a residential area), then it seems to be legal to drop objects (people included). There is no mention about TSO'ed gear being attached to the dropped objects. Thus, the object being dropped can be attached to a harness manufactured by a BASE gear company with a BASE canopy being used to decelerate the drop before impact. This is my understanding after studying the FAA regulations. I write all of this because I wanted to be clear I was not seeking to lay legal blame on the individuals involved when I asked whether the gear used was BASE gear or skydiving gear. I want to be clear that I think what they were doing was legal - and that my question was intended to seek any learning points from their actions so that more of us won't go in doing this type of jump.

I jumped them all in that size range and could not tell a difference between the canopies. They are all 9 cell semi-elliptical canopies with relatively short recovery arcs. Everything written above comes down to trim issues and brake settings of individual canopies and really has very little to do with the planform of the canopies being discussed. IMO.

Yes, it is a violation of the FARs if he did not have a reserve. Incorrect. There is no rule regulating letting a tandem passenger on an ultralight glider (paraglider) going overboard. As long as its not over National Park land (its called aerial delivery then and is illegal). Tandem paragliders are governed by FAR103, thus all limitations of FAR91 apply. well what are they going to do take away the FAA license required to pilot a tandem paraglider? Oh wait a second... anyways apologies for the thread drift. Should start a separate thread if it is of interest.

Yes, it is a violation of the FARs if he did not have a reserve. Incorrect. There is no rule regulating letting a tandem passenger on an ultralight glider (paraglider) going overboard. As long as its not over National Park land (its called aerial delivery then and is illegal).

hahahaha

I am very interested in learning CRW from somebody with experience. I do not have any experience with CRW besides doing some proximity flying with another person under a 9-cell....but never docking or anything like that. I understand the basics from talking with people that used to or seldomly do CRW but nobody I have met is actually doing any! I live in western NC but will travel anywhere around here to learn. I will go down east near Raeford or south carolina or TN or north to VA. Wherever I just want to begin to learn this discipline. best to all the CRW dogs out there

active flexibility helps you get into a tight arch while not straining. The key to freefall is to be able to be in the position you need but be relaxed and able to 'flow' into the next position (whether its freeflying or turning points on your belly whatever). I find being flexible increases my fall rate. I weigh 150 (so not a lot) but I regularly jump with people well over 200 pounds because I can arch deeply and thereby decrease my surface area and fall faster to keep up with the fatties (err big people). I would say that stretching and working out would help a lot with skydiving. Treat it like a sport (approach it athletically) and you will progress faster.

incorrect. Read my post above. The best you'd get when the main container opens would be partial drogue bridle released (and then hopefully? the drogue released from the BOC pouch). Whether or not the dbag would extract the drogue from the pouch would depend on the drag of the dbag and the force needed to pull the drogue. You could end up with the drogue being pulled or you could end up with a horseshoe. The sigma is designed with the drogue release pin in place preventing (if the drogue release pin functions normally and not malfunctions as per my post above) the main container to open. If the drogue is pitched then the drogue release pin is pulled and allows for the main container to be opened when the time is right with the handle (on either side of the TI).

some risk for out of sequence deployment exists with sigma if the drogue release pin is not seated properly. To seat the pin, fit the pin into the closing pin, and then pull the handle that would deploy the main. This will seat the drogue release pin in the closing pin. Sometimes this is not necessary but sometimes it is very necessary.

actually its a great move to get into a backtrack while tracking (half barrel roll).

The tendency for a dz to charge for a packing class goes up the bigger the dz is, in my observational experience. I have worked at multiple dropzones packing and I have always had time out of the unpacked tandems hitting the packing mat to teach beginners the principles of packing. Whether thats showing them as I pack a sport rig (slower than normal to walk them through it) or whether thats giving them pointers while THEY pack. I have visited a couple big dropzones and overheard paying for packing classes...this is because they have so many students come through that it becomes hard to manage and you need to pay somebody to manage it (its more work compared to a student or three every weekend to teach when its 10 students each weekend that need to learn). peace

anyways I'm just kidding...i know quite a few people going and i hope ya'll get good weather. I would go if I did not have to work. every.single.weekend. good vibes! have fun

skydiving has changed I went to a few boogies in 2001 when I started and never paid a fee for the weekend...boogie fees haha Anyway, nobody is being made out to be evil. It just is a laugh to be asked to pay money before you're asked to pay money. Then pay money. Pay money. Pay money. haha. You're so cute!!!!!!!

So I guess you'll be bowling that weekend instead? I'm sure you'll have more fun than the folks who are enjoying a specialty aircraft, big-name organizers, and beer (none of which are free, last I checked). So your theory is that they do not make enough money filling the plane to pay off the plane contract for the weekend that they need to charge more money...and that they need to pay experienced organizers to jump at their dropzone that otherwise wouldnt come just for fun! And the rest of my 40 bucks that hasnt been used on the above will be spent on alcohol which I dont drink. I hope your theory is not right and they are offering some free jumps or something...for their sake

just make sure while you're messing around with that top part you are controlling the slider and not allowing it to creep anywhere. Slider control is probably most important part for opening speed. Introducing some creep in between the slider and the canopy will cause a very harsh deployment that can actually damage the canopy and your body! I like my method because my hands or knees never leave the slider once I am getting the air out to get it sized up for the dbag. but whatever works for you!

I agree with you...there's something very sad in the thought of a customer getting home with their pic files and going out to a photo or copy center and getting their pics printed out on high quality photo paper...and then seeing the photo has shitty resolution and the colors are off...

so you register for 40 bucks and get a shirt???

so you're saying it would work for an operation selling tandem vid/stills on DVD but it would really suck if they were offering to print out photos for the customer? Many DZs I have seen offering 'stills' give the customer the stills on file and thats that.

I have heard through the grapevine some DZs around are doing tandem vid and stills with gopro 2. Has anybody heard about this being done and are they able to get good quality stills for the customer? I have never seen any actual stills printed or on file from this camera so I dunno if it would be quality enough? Surely it would be quality enough for a facebook pic or something like that but actually printed out on photo paper how would it fare??? Just curious...

can you explain it? for tandems (big canopies): I always grab the area near the slider with my hand underhanded and grab with other hand underhanded 3/4 way up the canopy, then make first fold with slider hand then second fold with other hand over that fold. Then smash down the top with my chest while controlling spillage with my right knee. Then place left knee on top of canopy and slide dbag under canopy assymetrically then slide other side of canopy into squaring up the canopy in the dbag. Then sit dbag up controlling it by straddling it with my knees and kinda gently jerk the dbag up to complete the canopy sliding down into it while pushing any loose fabric down and in. edit - controlling large canopies is really all about knee placement, you can totally control a canopy once it is folded by your knees (hands free so that you can position dbag). A lot of people really lose the canopy here because they either squash too hard (really bad for slippery canopies) or they just dont utilize their knees the right way. You gotta really hump that canopy the whole way through.

quartering the slider by preferentially pulling it out over the nose will help slow the canopy down when deploying it. Still quarter it normally just pull the quarter over the nose a bit further than the other three.