chuckbrown

Personally, I never, ever, let a first time CRWbie pilot anything. They are always docking on the instructor. If the instructor isn't good enough to topdock, they shouldn't be instructing. I'll dock on a CRWbie on the second jump, but never the first. I'm not putting my canopy under the control of anybody, until I know that they understand the basics of piloting by having watched the instructor first.

The Maytown Sport Parachute Club will be conducting a CRW Pup course October 8 -10, 2010. Friday night we'll have a seminar & pairing students with Lightning canopies. Saturday & Sunday will be jumps, starting with 2 way and progressing to larger formations based on skill sets. Last year's course was a great success, so if you're in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic & want to see what CRW is about make a note to come. You can post a reply here with your exit weight or send an e-mail to Terry Ross ([email protected]).

What is this? 2 to 1's are like using a pulley system, usually a ring is installed on the risers with a string run through it from an attachment point below the ring, and the other end has a handle attached. You pull on the handle and you feel about half the normal riser pressure. On the other hand, you have to put twice as much input on the front risers.

You mean there's a difference?

You could have used light front riser input to close the gap. If I'm high on a stack formation, I almost always use front risers to dock (of course I have lots more CRW jumps). Get directly behind the formation and apply front riser input as needed to dock. Your canopy should hit anywhere from directly below his/her canopy to his/her legs. It's also better to hit the target with some downward momentum instead of upwards. High speed and lots of upward momentum is wrap potential. Always dock straight on. I too learned CRW by doing it with equally inexperienced Dogs, but you'll learn LOTS more if you find an experienced Dog.

My suspicion is that the top skin of the lower canopy got pulled down over the nose of the end cell causing the collapse.

Well... I didn't receive subpoena a but was 'threatened' with one so to speak. A couple years ago there was a comment I made in the incidents forum that sparked interest from some mouth piece for a plaintiff. It was a liability suit regarding a demonstration jump with injury. The comment wasn't derogatory in nature, but in retrospect could have been interpreted in various ways. This guy wanted to interpret in a way beneficial to his client. The eye opener is... I'm not an easy guy to find. (by design) I finally surfaced after repeated harassing calls & visits to my 80 year old mother (1500 miles away) by a P.I. That idiot had been goose chasing for a couple months trying to locate & interview me. After an interesting 25 minute conversation with this attorney the issue concerning my opinion and possible involvement as a 'professional witness' was put to rest, but it definitely gave me pause to reconsider what & how I say things in a public forum. ~That being said. I understand the point you're making TK, and I agree the machine isn't running right in many ways. ...I don't know what the answer is on how to fix things, but I have concerns when we lean too quickly toward publicly throwin' a 'family member' under the bus. You & I have been around for a while, we've seen Skydiving leave the realm of 'Hobby & Sport' and move into becoming not much more than profitable busine$$ in many instances. As such, we all need to become acutely aware that our words and actions can & will be scrutinized during those circumstances in which fault and money may play a role in some way because of an unfortunate outcome of a citizen's participation. 'Hush things up' isn't what I'm saying, thoughtful consideration within the open discussions, while understanding the current 'business aspect' now being the nature of the beast ~ IS. And BTW TK~ I'm not referring negatively to your post(s) by any means, just replying to the subpoena comment... In most jurisdictions, just because you post your opinion on DZ.com doesn't mean someone can subpoena you to testify as an expert witness in a skydiving case. Expert witnesses can only testify if they choose to do so voluntarily (and most only choose to do so only if paid a FAT fee;). Fact witnesses on the other hand can be compelled to testify (and get a couple of pennies for mileage:). If you have direct knowledge of facts (not opinions) relevant to the case, you can be forced to testify. If you don't you can't. Not saying a negative post here can give a plaintiff some insight on standards of care in the industry, but I am saying that the plaintiff still needs to find an expert who will voluntarily testify.

The Y-strap is a subsequential remedial measure. Evidence of subsequent remedial measures is inadmissible in federal court (and lots of state courts, too) to prove liability. The courts want to encourage people to make improvements to items without fear of having evidence of such improvements used against them. Summary judgment is not trial. The court was basically saying there are issues of fact which a jury needs to consider to resolve the lawsuit. Depending on the extent of Strong's assets and liabilities the bankruptcy may effectively end the negligence litigation.

It's not a regulation or even a BSR. It's a recommendation intended for people with little CRW experience. My personal hard decks are 2,000 feet for "normal" 2-4 ways, and 3,000 feet for 4 way competition (if you get into competition, you'll see why). If I & a teammate are very current, I'll give and accept very gentle 2 way docks down to 1,000 feet. Even then, it's pushing the safety envelope.

1400 jumps 1- Total on student gear (single operating system). 2- AAD misfire on student gear (cutaway the main after the reserve was out) 3- Broken suspension line (cutaway and reserve) 4- PCIT (reserve after fighting with the bridle for 3K) 2 cutaways & 4 rides (unless you want to count the cutaway after the reserve was out on no. 2)

My first 2 reserve rides were jumps 18 & 19. I've had 2 more in the intervening 1400 jumps. Quit whining JK

There. Fixed it.

Personally, I don't want my reserve firing unless I give the command. An AAD is a computer & while modern AADs are very reliable, I have had a "modern" AAD misfire & deploy my reserve while under a fully functioning main canopy. I don't want that happening while in a CRW formation.

Hi Bob, I use a shortened bridle & a kill cone. The PC is pulled through the kill cone's grommet & into the center retracting ring. I also have to untangle the bridle quite frequently (as do my teammates). Since I generally see their bridles in formation & they're not tangled in the air, my suspicion is that the tangling happens during the landing flare & not during regular flight (not sure why or how it happens). Chuck

Don't worry about it. Just untangle as necessary.

I like this pic better.

The List: 1. Terry Ross (Instructor) 2. Frank Matrone (Instructor) 3. Chico Tomaselli (Instructor) 4. Randy Persi (Instructor) 5. Alan Ressler (Instructor) 6. Chuck Brown (Instructor) 7. Ted Cheung (Instructor) 8. Eduardo Guillen (Instructor)(maybe) 9. Lyn Hannah (Instructor/video) 10. Jen Galbraith 11. Scott Lazarus 12. Joe Caulfield 13. Mike Kauffman 14. Greg Mirkin 15. Pete Torland 16. Dave Norbert This is gonna be fun!

The List: 1. Terry Ross (Instructor) 2. Frank Matrone (Instructor) 3. Chico Tomaselli (Instructor) 4. Randy Persi (Instructor) 5. Alan Ressler (Instructor) 6. Chuck Brown (Instructor) 7. Ted Cheung (Instructor) 8. Eduardo Guillen (Instructor)(maybe) 9. Jen Galbraith 10. Scott Lazarus 11. Joe Caulfield 12. Mike Kauffman 13. Greg Mirkin 14. Pete Torland 15. Dave Norbert There's a great instructor/student ratio, so people will learn alot. There's gonna be a lot of beer owed

Where: Maytown Sport Parachute Club; www.skydivemspc.com; about 25 miles SE of Harrisburg, PA When: October 2-4, 2009 Friday, 10/2/2009 @ 7pm: Class room & gear-up. Saturday, 10/3/2009: 1 on 1 coaching & larger formations in the afternoon (experience permitting). Sunday, 10/4/2009: Larger formations (experience permitting) Instructors: We have 7 signed up, including several world record holders. Fee: $50 for pups. We'll have Storms & Lightnings available. Aircraft: Multiple C-182s. If you've never been to Maytown, it's beautiful Lancaster County farmland all around. We're about 1 hour north of Baltimore & 1.5 hours west of Philly. If you're interested send Terry Ross an e-mail([email protected]) or PM me with your name, jump numbers, current canopy/size and exit weight.

Amen to that. I know a guy who tried to cut the brake line on a line over & ended up cutting through the entire riser. D'oh!

You're right the analogy does work and we see it work every time we get in a car. When the car in front of you has a red light and applies the brakes to slow down, you apply the brakes too to you don't rear end it. S turns don't have to hog up lots of sky, and they're a valuable tool to use in the right situation. This dogma of thou shalt not do S turns on final is silly. They have their place and are a vital skill. Learning how to S turn might save your ass one day when you find yourself landing off into a tight area.

Uhhhhh....Fred please re-think that. It used to be that S turns were exactly the response to being too high on final. Preferably the S turns should be braked, flat turns. The problem with S turns these days, especially at turbine drop zones, is that the jumpers behind you don't necessarily know how to fly their canopy and can't adjust to someone making S turns on final. Can't be touching your brakes if you want to have a high performance landing.

http://www.ushotairballoon.com/ Get some people to fill the load & these guys can help you out. I know they did a load in the spring for jumpers from my DZ. Don't know what he charged per slot. Probably $80-$100.

If your spot is long, you can always run back with the wind. If your spot is short, you will be blown past the dz and it's much harder to make up ground. I'm not sure I agree with calculating the exit point based on the highest winds instead of using averages. If you've got very high winds at higher altitudes, but negligible winds at lower altitudes, you can easily be stuck long with not enough wind to get back. Not that landing off should be a big deal. I average speed and direction and get pretty consistent results.