CrazyL

For sure !! Seems to be the most effective plan that i've seen and used so far. Communication with all jumpers on the load prior to leaving the ground can work, it's even better than manifest repeating the warnings all throughout the day. Communication at the loading area between groups generally sucks unless someone speaks up about which way to land as well as exit order. You know, exit seperation still sucks too. Jumpers are'nt always reliable. Sucks finding out homie did'nt leave enough seperation as their canopy opens right between me and my buddy. Happened 2 weekends ago and we communicated on the airplane 2 different times during the flight.

landing patterns won't be so zoo-like. *** that'll be the day. I've seen plenty of non-swoopers screw up the landing pattern , swoopers too. The most common time for a jumpers to land all different directions. is on a no-wind day. The wind indicators all read different directions and parachutist inevitably land like the wind indicators, all different directions. I agree that non-swoopers and swoopers should have seperate landing areas. Some DZ's have the space some don't. I also think that there is more to this lesson(collisions/landing pattern) than just seperating landing areas. I feel the lesson to be learned is being overshadowed by the seperate landing area quick fix. Two landing areas within close proximity pose other issues that must also be overcome. The airspace above a dedicated swoop landing area(go big or go home area) can be a even more hazardous place for the non-swooper as well as the swooper. Essentially the swoop area would be best as a no-fly zone for students and non-swoopers. Some of my favorite landing approaches begin between 1,500ft and 2,000ft. accelerating to high speeds prior to landing, can't do this every jump 'cause airspace does'nt always allow me to, even in a swoop area. It's the beginning of the skydiving season for many jumpers. Beware, skydiving is dangerous. No wind days are especially dangerous in all landing areas, even more dangerous than being in the air with a swooper. If we're in the air together remember the most important thing, "Don't take me out!"and have a great skydive. Many Blue Skies !!!

call Tony suits in Zephyrhills Florida ask for Tony

Sorry, i'm not an 'INSTRUCTOR'. Why not? Because I have a wicked addiction to hookturns. If i'm flying a parachute good chance that i'm gonna hook it. Instructors in a sense, lead by 'EXAMPLE'. I see that being an addicted to hookturn hookturner would be being a bad example to students, if I were an instructor. I chose many years ago to not be an instructor in part because i choose to hookturn. My 'getting off' by doing the 'hookturn' has outweighed my enticement to become an instructor. I'm just another skydiver, a paying customer.

Sounds like the good ol' days of the 'banned hook turn' is coming back into style, like bell bottoms did. I'm gonna be in trouble everytime I land, again. I'm so addicted to this facet of the sport. The final approach and landing is, has, and continues to be a huge part of why I still jump. Even being a responsible hookturner in having not killed any of the 30,000+ jumpers nor myself I still will abort the most exciting part of 'my' jump, so that others may land safely. I'm a bad jumper, as I approach my intended landing area and I deem the airspace 'clear' for me to perform, it's 'on'. Watch the f!@% out earth cause here I come. Rules, respect the rules. As the swoop competition era has come along after the banned hookturn days,to me, much has improved. At some dz's low passes for swoopers has become common. Separated landing areas as well. There are mentors for swooping and canopy control, more shared information. As long as there are freefallers there will be hookturners. As long as I fly high performance parachute, i'll excersize 'my' high performance parachute piloting skills. Other parachutist need not move 'out of the way' if they are in the airspace I may want to use to perform 'my' complex routine of hook'n it,if a parachutist is in'my' way i'll abort to the much more simple preferred landing pattern and go with the flow. Blame it on the hookturners.I've witnessed too many messed up landing patterns and collisions even when hookturns were banned altogether, when sounding off the landing pattern prior to every load, when preaching the word about landing pattern over the mic,even when all jumpers agree on the landing pattern prior to the jump. The part of skydiving that has lacked in evolving has been the landing pattern, since the early 90's not much has changed about the landing pattern. Which is more hazardous, if a jumper screwed up the landing pattern by unintentionally landing the opposite direction as the majority of jumpers or me intentionally rip'n it through the airspace.

Along with reading and understanding the cypres users guide, call SSK with your question about turning your cypres on/off. Have your rigger help you out as well.

My riggers cert # was my ssn, had it changed to an Airman #. The # is 7 digits. You may call the FAA in OKC, OK to get the details of your #. The FAA will also send you a plastic card that similar size as a credit card with your official info on it. Is your temporary certificate nearly expired/expired?

That sounds right to me. When a student is cleared for solos, Aff is over and an in air instructor to pull for them is gone. Student earned the right to be responsible for themselves as a skydiver when their released for solos, keep them from tracking into others airspace, teach them to skydive. Like alot of jumps go, dirt dive (learning to skydive) ,then go skydive(having fun learning to skydive).

I agree Lee. I don't want to be hung out to dry, nor have responsibilty and liabilty for anyone that i don't rig for. To me, SunPath has to authorize me in writing to alter their equipment, prior to me performing any alteration. I'm getting very picky in who I do parachute rigging for these days and the gear that i'll work on.

There are a couple of things i'd like to add here. In the past: 1. removal of the RSL lanyard from a riser exposes the hook velcro to wear on the reserve riser that the velcro would then touch. Of course I would put pile velcro on to protect the hook velcro and riser,makes since, manufacturer verbally approved this method for me but not in writing. 2. The jumper may disconnect the RSl shackle as they choose. There are no instructions on where to connect the shackle when not in use, nor instructions to let it dangle free when unshackled.The RSL is still a live ripcord. Causes a guessing game for the jumper on what and where to hook up the RSl shackle when the shackle is disconnected by the jumper. You and I know ways to hook up an RSL to stow the shackle in a place where it will not affect the deployment or release system.

Hence the service bulletin. I appreciate the companies responding to the error in a quick and well organized fashion. My choice of AAD's is still a Cypres or Cypres 2. Thanks for posting the SB.

The AAD had a defect.The unit as well as other Argus aad's went back to the factory. I still don't know why this AAD fired. There was no definitive answer why this one fired and the others did'nt that were from the same batch. An answer was given about a software upgrade and the return of a certain batch of aad's. There were more than one Argus that had the display turning off from the same batch that was returned.

The Argus. I've had some experiences with this aad. An Argus after being turned on, jumped, upon gear check prior to next jump display was off. Turned unit on, went on a load with the jumper display was on during jumprun, jumper landed safely Argus display was off. hmmmm. Unit was removed, Cypres 2 installed. Another occasion, Argus was powered up, set up, inspected,as i had cutter and display in one hand and brains and battery in the other hand, as i went to sit on the floor next to the container to install the Argus, the cutter fired ! Hmmm. Cypres 2 was then installed in the rig. An article was in Skydiving magazine representing these claims but was misrepresenting a fact about where this took place. I don't recall exactly how it read, mentioned the U.S. market units not being affected. These 2 incidents happened in the U.S. go figure. As a Master Rigger i'd suggest buying a Cypres or Cypres2.

Please have a rigger inspect your assembly prior to letting the canopy be jumped. The packing instructions manual for the harness/container and canopy have assembly instructions. I suggest reading them as well. RSL routing is very important here too among other things.

Contact the manufacturer of the harness/ container and/or the manufacturer of the pilot chute. As a rigger or person making the repairs to your kill line pilot chute, you must understand the design and contruction of the device. Even some riggers do not understand the kill line enough to replace it properly. A person training to become a rigger is'nt required to replace a kill line in a pilot chute. Get your info about replacing parts and repairs from the manufacturer.

See the PIA rigger forum www.pia.com for information on a new FCI manual that ban's clamps. I tried to no avail. Is this info on the PIA site?

Like billvon mentioned, don't freefly till you have a harness that fits you properly. Loose harness is no good for freefly and jumping out of airplanes. Another option if your going to be buying used gear is to have the harness resized. You'd send the harness/container to the manufacturer of the harness/container and have the harness resized and or replaced. Also, when you do jump smaller canopies the trajectory you land at will change, the glide,turnrate and descent will increase as you transition to smaller and smaller canopies.You can adapt. Hopefully you get lucky in your search for gear and it's purple! If freeflying and wingsuiting are your deal girl then invest in gear that fits you properly. Freefall is for learning to fly, not harness issues. Enjoy your flight.

All soft links are not created equally.With each soft link manufacturer there are also a set of instructions for the install.Not all instructions are the same for all makes of soft links. The soft link is such an easy puzzle that it's also easy to mess up. For those who read instructions, it is easy to get it right the first time.

Good posts, good guidance. As a rigger/swooper I have made and seen several removable PC/slider designs. What i've found is more wear and tear on the removable slider over time. Some combinations of the line vs metal used on slider i.e. rings/grommets will damage either line or metal. Since these aftermarket removables have began i've felt that they were a 'riggers toy'. Needs inspection and maintenance and replaced more often than standard slider. Hope this helps. Later, gone jump'n

Q:In a place with no way to hang up a canopy, what is the best method to use to inspect the inside of the canopy? A:sticking my head inside and looking around, pulling the fabric towards me until I get to the tail,*** In this instance, this is similar to my method. inspect assembly, at line stretch canopy nose down i'll pick up left nose stand midway down lines on left side of lines. My feet stay in that place and don't move throughout this part of inspection. What am I looking for anyway? Obvious: damage such as a hole, failed stitches, failed seams,crossport damage. Less obvious: missing stitches,stitch tension, missing reinforcement tapes, intersection of reinforcement tapes at line attachment, nose bartacks, rib backstitch at nose, overstitches,patches, bridle attachment(mains), reinforcement stitches etc. Fabric weave: during this inspection i look at the fabric while facing light. Having back light, the weave illuminates a bit while looking inside the canopy. If your going to inspect canopy by crawling into the cells beware of putting an elbow into a crossport, wearing sharp catchy objects, walking on canopy. As far as method goes, I inspect nose tapes,folds,and stitching, then one rib and top skin on the way in to the cell and other rib and bottom skin on the way out (while looking toward a light source through the fabric).Understanding the construction of the canopy also means that i'm inspecting for missing stitching and/or parts. What if there is no bartacks on each intersection of the nose tapes? There is still more to the inspection. Not saying this way is the 'Best', it's good though.

Seat Pack rated Master Rigger here !!!!!! Have serviced several makes/models of the seat pack. Bring it !!!

Ya Mick, well said !!!

Sounds great, sign me up !!!! 3 more weekends on the right coast for me... then to the left coast for 5 days, then to the island for 4 weeks, then to home for turkey dinner, then to trestles area through x-mas. I can assist you in Dec between sessions. Later, back to the rigging floor.

Thanks for visiting me in the Pro Shop this past weekend as I suggested. Within about 15 minutes you physically saw and learned how to pack/prevent the step through, untangle your main and 4 line/ brake line check, as well as a few pro propack tricks to make you faster. Any questions, come see me again.

Jumpadeejumpajumpayourassoffbro!!! We've had a great weekend here at the Ranch, skies cleared at 11 am, we been jump'n our butts off. It's all good.