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Im a student doing IAD and I waited for 4 hours today and never got on a load. Two planes (a 182 and a 206), each went up 4 times, packed full (they were organizing the 5th load for each plane when i said enough was enough and left) .... and I wasn't on one. I kept getting the "you will be on the next load" line and it just never happened (with two packed student rigs hanging on the wall). Is it normal for students to constantly get dropped to the back of the load or do I have a legit reason to be upset with the DZ? It seems to me like its, at the least, crap customer service to let a paying customer (I paid for all my A license courses in full with cash) just sit and wait and wait and wait while you are constantly asking for any fun jumper to make a full load. How should i handle this? I wasted $140 on a baby sitter to watch my kids while i sat at a DZ 50 minutes away to get passed over for walk-in tandems.

I see more than enough of that crap on Facebook. I don’t need to see more of it here.

And why exactly would I want to watch a video that’s been doctored? Wendy P.

Easy now...the art of tracking has improved significantly in the past 30 years. Back in the day the idea was to get as much speed as possible and convert that into horizontal movement. I can definitely attest to having been slammed by dumping in a track. You could even hear it from the ground when people used to open at 2 grand. Kind of a "crack" followed by several folks giving it a woooh!

>> A guy calls a company and orders their 5-day, 10 lb. weight loss program. >> The next day, there's a knock on the door and there stands before him >> a voluptuous, athletic, 19 year old babe dressed in nothing >> but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck. >> >> She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. >> The sign reads, 'If you can catch me, you can have me.' >> Without a second thought, he takes off after her. >> A few miles later huffing and puffing, he finally gives up. >> The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens. >> On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs. as promised. >> >> He calls the company and orders their 5-day/20 pound program. >> The next day there's a knock at the door and there stands >> the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. >> She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, >> 'If you catch me you can have me'. >> Well, he's out the door after her like a shot. >> This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck. >> So for the next four days, the same routine happens >> with him gradually getting in better and better shape. >> >> Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, >> he discovers that he has lost another 20 lbs. as promised. >> He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/50 pound program >> >> 'Are you sure?' asks the representative on the phone. >> 'This is our most rigorous program.' >> 'Absolutely,' he replies, 'I haven't felt this good in years.' >> The next day there's a knock at the door; when he opens it he finds >> a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes >> and a sign around his neck that reads, >> 'If I catch you, your ass is mine.' >> >> He lost 63 pounds that week

I have been getting a lot of questions such as "what makes this AAD any different?" and "Can a jumper change the activation altitude?".. I am finding that I am too close to this thing to keep it simple when I try to answer those questions lol, so I thought I would post some graphics from one of the PIA seminars I put on in Dallas. Question: Can a jumper adjust the activation altitude? Answer: No.. This AAD actually adjusts the activation altitude, within a window, based on the jumpers descent rate. At a descent rate of 170ft/sec or slower, the activation altitude is 998 ft AGL. Descent rates above 170ft/sec but bellow 250ft/sec will result in an activation altitude between 1200 ft AGL and 998 ft AGL. Speeds above 250 ft/sec will activate at 1200 ft AGL. The goal being to have an open reserve over head by 500ft AGL regardless of the jumpers descent rate through reserve deployment. The current AADs use a fixed activation altitude regardless of the jumpers descent rate which puts all the variable tolerance (how far a jumper will travel during the reserve opening sequence) on the bottom end (between the fixed activation altitude and the ground). In contrast to that, by automatically increasing the activation altitude as the jumper's descent rate increases, I are attempting to put the variable tolerance on the upper end and provide a reasonable cushion between jumper and the ground by the time the reserve is open and over head. There is an exception to that where the AAD will delay activation, and that is if a main deployment was detected prior to reaching the activation altitude. This delay is based on the jumper's real time descent rate and a reserve canopy over head altitude of 300ft AGL. This delay allows any usable time for either the main to open (if the jumper pitched low and the canopy sniveled) preventing a 2-out, or allow the jumper to use any valuable time to try and deal with a main malfunction and clear the air above the reserve prior to automatic activation in an attempt to prevent a duel entanglement malfunction. This ability eliminates the need for the jumper to manually adjust the activation altitude. I would like to note that the jumper will be able to adjust the DZ elevation for a remote DZ which is one way some jumpers are raising the activation altitudes on their AADs now, but it should be noted that doing this also raises the altitude where the AAD will no longer fire, usually around 300ft ish AGL. Question: "What makes this AAD any different?". One thing is that this AAD is able to identify where it is during a flight. The Situational Awareness graphic shows the flight mode changes that this AAD actually identifies every jump. This ability allows this AAD to resist firing in an aircraft regardless of the altitude and descent rate. It also allows for the detection of a main deployment, if it has malfunctioned or has opened and is flying, and if so, locks out the ability to fire regardless of the jumper's descent rate while under canopy (preventing a two out due to a high performance landing). It can also detect a cutaway, and if a reserve deployment is not detected in 4 seconds, it will determine an activation altitude based on the jumper's real time descent rate and a 300ft reserve over head altitude, and if a reserve deployment is not detected by that altitude, the AAD will activate. This allows for a delayed reserve activation provided the altitude is available, as there are times when a delay between a cutaway and reserve activation is beneficial, and I do not want to take that "pilot in command" decision making power away from the jumper. I am however comfortable in saying "times up"..lol. The Dynamic Activation graphic below shows the difference in activation altitudes based on speed and if a main deployment has been detected or not.

Snap toggles made by Parachute Labs.

Hmmm. my two cents on that. Billy is a hardball player. And he can sure be irritating with his name calling. But I haven't seen him directly attack other posters here. I'm hoping we can keep him around for a little while longer. I need the shredding practice.

Can the helmet be removed by undoing the chin strap only? Also at $600 it is a bit excessive for something that you don't really need.

After pissing away 300 bones on some "other" brand with ZERO impact rating, one then finds the above ^ My next helmet will be a Tonfly for sure... The rest fall into the glorified GOPRO holder realm.

I think you meant to say Polished . . . In my opinion, he is not the politician you are wanting to see. OR - maybe he is - but hes on the wrong side of the fence for your taste and you may have serious bias issues. Either way, the simplest truth is that if Trump was on the democratic ticket - There would be so many apologists in the media covering his ass that this would be mute. I think its comical that he is the President and the reason it is so comical is that the majority of Liberals simply cannot bring themselves to admit that they did this to themselves.

I highly recommend looking into Tonfly TFX helmet. I tested it and it is definetly a go to helmet in the future. The worksmanship is next level, comfortable, reduces noise, impact rated ... all other helmets really lag behind. The only one I haven't seen is the G4.

It's a dance they do. Trump says something stupid. "Well, look, I believe what people DO, not what they SAY." Trump does something stupid. "Why not give him a chance? He has the right idea." His stupid idea leads to disaster. "Look, the important part is he's trying. He's bringing new ideas to Washington. What he SAYS he is going to do next is what's important." And repeat ad infinitum.