MakeItHappen

According to the Airtec report Adrian's CYPRES fired at 750 ft. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Might have something to do with the rates of occurrences of these events. See http://dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1786145#1786145 http://dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1786145#1786292 A couple of years from now some jumper will make a post like this: . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I threw in that Coke example because sometimes newer jumpers see stuff they think is a major safety gig, when it is not. You did not give specifics (at the time of my post) to indicate what type of things you had seen. As others have said, there are no requirements to communicate with students under canopy. It's a good thing, but not mandatory. It sounds like a very tiny Cessna DZ. Maybe the day you saw the un-manned radio was the day 3 people called in sick??? Is this a recurring problem? Maybe you can be 'on-call' for this dz when they are short-handed? This is not 'defending' the dz, just asking questions about its operations. About the packing (thanks Dave for the definition) - a rigger will hover over someone learning to pack. Once they are proficient, the rigger can go do other things as long as he's available to answer questions and it still meets the " Direct Supervision means that a certificated rigger personally observes a non-certificated person packing a main parachute to the extent necessary" requirement. You should come to the next PIA Symposium and hear the riggers hash this out. I think the biggest problem the dzo faces is getting new AADs with an apparently small budget. Maybe you can help find some second hand AADs. The dzo could sell one or two rigs or increase prices to get a better AAD for some of the rigs. Then he could build some cash flow to replace the other AADs. Is this DZ a Group Member? GM or not, I think your best course of action is to contact the RD. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

The SkyHook seems to be faster than an rsl for many situations. I remember you telling me that your test jumpers did not test horseshoe mals because of their inherent danger. That is a good thing. The situation of a horseshoe (premature container opening with PC still in pouch) is worth looking at. I think the SkyHook may increase the probability of a main and reserve entanglement in this type of horseshoe mal. The SkyHook essentially shortens the reserve bridle line and uses the drag from the cutaway main to act as the drag of the reserve PC to deploy the reserve, unless the reserve pc catches air first and the SH disconnects from the reserve bridle line. I made two little pics to show the differences. Pic 1 shows a PC (without a SkyHook) trying to blow by the cutaway main that is still attached to a jumper via a stuck pc. Pic 2 shows the SkyHook trying to blow by the cutaway main that is still attached to a jumper via a stuck pc. If the reserve pc with the SH inflates, it is likely that the reserve will find clear air to inflate in, but not if the reserve pc goes through the lines of the main or something similar. If the reserve pc with the SH does not catch air immediately, and is still attached to the SH wraps the trailing main, then I think that a main-reserve entanglement is almost a certainty. The remaining length of the reserve bridle line may provide enough drag for the reserve canopy to come out of the reserve bag, but maybe not. You can also get more slack in the reserve deployment (from the SH point of attachment to the reserve risers) that will allow the reserve (bag and or lines) to flap around and become entangled with the trailing main. At best you could hope for the drag on the reserve lines to pull the reserve canopy out of the bag, even if the bag is attached someplace along the trailing main. I think this is a failure mode of the SkyHook that has not been tested, not been explained and kind of glossed over. (I certainly do not recommend asking test jumpers to test this either.) . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I do not think this at all. I think the most important and most transferable lesson from Adrian's death is that a downplane takes longer to recognize and react to than a SBS or stack. I can't help but think that if the reserve deployed into a sbs or stack, then Adrian would have lived. Since the reserve went into a downplane, it took a longer amount of time to realize this. By the time he realized it, and cutaway the main, he was too low. A good question to ask, is if he had cutaway, say 50 feet higher, would he have lived? The second most important lesson is that canopy descent rates can overlap with freefall descent rates. If you do HP maneuvers that may place yourself in this envelope then reconsider your use of an AAD. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Hey Derek, USPA is not a police agency. It does not issue tickets or assess fines. USPA does try to convince DZOs to follow modern training techniques. If you have a problem with that, then join USPA, become a member of the BOD and change the policies. I'm invoking the 'take your turn at bat' rule. If you are not out there taking a turn at bat, where you can strike out or hit a home run, then you have no more pull than an irrate fan that's mad at a favorite player for striking out. Unless you are out there jumping and taking an active role in what goes on, your voice carries only in your own bathroom. If you want change, get out there on the playing field. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

It not as hopeless as you make it out to be. At lot of us went through student status with no AADs or only had one on our first hop-n-pop. It can be done. It is not encouraged nowadays. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Going from memory here…. SSE withdrew (or recalled) the Sentinels, but then about a year later said they could be used, but would no longer be supported. That was around 1992 or so. About 4-5 years ago, there was a student fatality that involved a Sentinel. The DPRE that did the investigation said the Sentinel fired and that it fired at x many feet. (I think x was between 1500 and 1000 feet. I'd have to go read the report again.) Roger Allen told me that there was no way to determine firing altitude or even if it occurred on the jump in question. The former DPRE said, and I think Roger said this too, that technically the Sentinel was legal, but from a modern technology, industry standard POV, the Sentinel was considered obsolete. I definitely agree that Sentinels should not be used today. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I suggest calling the RD for the DZ in question. I have a feeling the RD already knows about this. I *think* this is a DZ that USPA is trying to get to comply with the rules and regs. A couple of other comments: It's ok for the radio operator to get a can of Coke during climb to altitude. SL used to be considered an AAD. It's only the latest FAR revision that said they had to be on the reserve. The DZ may be a throw back dz to the early 90s and only a recent GM. It was ok then and probably still is today. Today's standards are higher than yesterday's. On the students packing for other students. The 'supervision' part means that a rigger is available. It does not mean a rigger has to stand watch over each and every pack job. I have a strong feeling that this dz is already being 'modernized' by the RD efforts. It may take a bit of time, but that would be better than what the DZ has been doing. It is better for USPA to open a dialog with DZOs and 'convert them' to modern standards than to toss them out and have them stay in an early nineties mode. Call the RD. PS- About the Sentinels--- I do know of a rigger and former DPRE that would actually testify in court that it is negligent to use a Sentinel today, given all the other available AADs. Technically, you can use them, but from an industry standard practice, it's way below standards. Given all the things you listed, I would ask for better AADs first before fixing the other problems. Sentinels actually meet all the rules. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

You do not have to know precisely what your descent rate is. What people have known, for several years, is that canopy flight and freefall flight speeds overlap. That cool picture of a birdsuit jumper docking on a canopy indicated about 5 years ago that freefall and canopy speeds overlap. This is not true for most jumpers, but there are situations where canopy descent rates are comparable to freefall speeds. If you do those canopy maneuvers, close to the ground with an active AAD, then be prepared for an AAD to fire when firing conditions are met. A downplane may take longer to diagnose than a SBS or stack. It took Adrian 95m or about 2.6 sec to cutaway his main. (estimated from the Airtec report) . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I do not have my mag this month yet and have not seen the ad in question, but your comments really concern me. Your statement is similar to 'wait for the AAD to fire.' There are numerous scenarios were the SkyHook or an RSL or pull the cutaway would not open your reserve: 1. a total 2. a pilot chute in tow if you jump a throw out 3. a container lock 4. a horseshoe, riser hangup, line caught on grommet, etc 5. a mis-configured or disconnected SkyHook or RSL All of these situations have happened and have claimed lives. This is why instructors tell you EPs are 'cutaway-pull reserve' for partial malfunctions. It is not just 'cutaway'. You need to pull the reserve. You cannot count on an RSL, SkyHook or AAD to open your reserve. This statement just does not make any sense to me. How does a SkyHook decrease the probability of a 2 out entanglement? If you dump your main at the same time your AAD fires or a pilot chute in tow decides to release as you pull your reserve, you can have a 2-out situation: biplane, SBS, downplane or entanglement. The SkyHook or RSL would not change that situation. In a premature container opening with a throw out pilot chute still stowed situation, that you cutaway from, it might increase the probability of an entanglement. Reserves do not always deploy immediately. There have been incidents, including some fatalities of reserve bag strip, container lock, reserve horseshoe etc. The SkyHook may reduce the probability of say container lock, but it may also increase the probability of occurrence of bag strip. It is really too early to tell the overall advantages of the SkyHook. Bill Booth has created a lot of great things for skydiving. None of them have been fail-safe and took years to perfect. The throw out started as a belly band, then migrated to the rear of the leg strap and today is on the bottom of the container. This still has disadvantages. A premature container opening is a non-trivial horseshoe situation on a BOC. It took almost 20 years to get to the current day BOC, yet it still has malfunctions modes that do not exist on a pullout system. One day you might have that loose RSL shackle that popped open during the jump or that you disconnected because the winds were high or a SkyHook installed improperly. At 1000 ft someone clobbers your canopy and you cutaway. I hope you remember how to pull the reserve handle. Cut-away - Pull Reserve. That’s it. [Unless you have an SOS] . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

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USPA (sung to YMCA by the Village People) Young man, there's no need to feel down. I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground. I said, young man, 'cause you're at a new DZ there's no need to be unhappy. Young man, there's a place you can swoop. I said, young man, when you're short on your flare. You can play there, and I'm sure you will find Many ways to have a good time. It's fun to play with the U-S-P-A. It's fun to play with the U-S-P-A. They have everything for swoopers to deploy, You can hang out at all the ponds ... You can get yourself cleared, you can have a good chute, You can do whatever you feel ... Young man, are you listening to me? I said, young man, what do you want to be? I said, young man, you can make real your dreams. But you got to know this one thing! No man does it all by himself. I said, young man, put your pride on the shelf, And just go there, to the U.S.P.A. I'm sure they can help you today. It's fun to play with the U-S-P-A. It's fun to play with the U-S-P-A. They have everything for swoopers to deploy, You can hang out at all the ponds ... It's fun to play with the U-S-P-A. It's fun to play with the U-S-P-A. You can get yourself cleared, you can have a good swoop, You can do whatever you feel ... Young man, I was once in your shoes. I said, I was down and out with the blues. I felt no man cared if I were alive. I felt the whole world was so tight ... That's when someone came up to me, And said, young man, take a walk up the street. There's a place there called the U.S.P.A. They can start you back on your way. It's fun to play with the U-S-P-A. It's fun to play with the U-S-P-A. They have everything for swoopers to deploy, You can hang out at all the ponds ... U-S-P-A ... you'll find it at the U-S-P-A. Young man, young man, there's no need to feel down. Young man, young man, get yourself off the ground. U-S-P-A ... you'll find it at the U-S-P-A. Young man, young man, there's no need to feel down. Young man, young man, get yourself off the ground. U-S-P-A ... just go to the U-S-P-A. Young man, young man, are you listening to me? Young man, young man, what do you wanna be? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Would this be a serious type questions interview or just flippant 'How many jumps does LampChop have?' type interview??? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

1st load is about 6 minutes from exit. They just turned in on jumprun. go for it. oops- another circuit - about 10 min out. AC formation was really good. I loose site of them at ~1minute out. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

If you bothered to go to the site you'd see that 100% of profits are going to JFTC. We are paying for our own tunnel time and fundraising in addition. No suits or any expenses like the jump here. Oh, and we're over $1000 now If you bothered to actually understand what I wrote, I was asking how much of the now $1000 actually goes to City of Hope? I understand that your $1000 goes to JFTC. How much of that goes to City of Hope? Yes participants are required to raise a certain amount. It is over the costs. What JFTC does is state that total number as the number raised for cancer research, when in fact the amount actually donated to another charity is significantly smaller. See http://www.makeithappen.com/wis/bios/jftc.html for examples of the misleading numbers. Look at the fund raising totals page of JFTC today. It says that Current Progress is $386,273.77. That gives you the impression that nearly $400,000 will be donated to City of Hope. But if you look at the expenses that have to be subtracted from that number you get about $108,333 that can be earmarked for City of Hope. See Don't Need No Stinkin' Women's Record! I am not doing JFTC for two major reasons: 1. the money trail and the promotion of the money trail 2. the reinforcement of stereotypes I fully support a Women's World Record in skydiving. I would love to do the dives, but will not because of all the excess baggage that comes along with the JFTC event. Someone asked me if I could 'look the other way'. I did that at the last JFTC. I won't do it again. BTW, the reason I made the first post was because of the many people that asked me about JTFC during Nationals. Some people knew I wasn't on the roster and wondered why. Some people assumed I was doing JFTC and I told them that I was not. Last weekend I got another flurry of questions. I'm sure this weekend, I'll get a bunch more questions. That's not quite correct. Some of the excess monies raised by some are used to fill-in the deficit funds by others. Look at the Fund raising Totals. You'll see that several women are below the minimum and even below the costs. If those women cannot find the funds during this last week before the event, then excess funds from people like you that have brought in more money may be used to subsidize their costs. I'm glad you said this. JFTC is based upon the idea of using other peoples' money (OPM) to finance a WR. If you lay that concept upon a socially acceptable fund raising opportunity, people may tune out or not be aware of the parts that may not be what they perceived the event to be. Just this weekend, a Southern California jumper did not realize that part of his money went to pay for jumps, jumpsuits, motel etc. He has donated $50 to everyone that asked, for a total of $350.00 so far this year. He has since said that he would not donate in the future, unless something changes. I think my next post will concentrate on education of the suspected causes of breast cancer and the products that people use that increase their body burden. I'll be around at Perris during JFTC, so if you want to discuss these issues further, I'll be happy to. I can give you many more 'for instances' that range from Norm Kent's strip tease to a bunch of men running around a dirt dive with bras strapped on and panties on their heads. I see these things as very undignified and disrespectful. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

FYI: Collision Course . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

There is so much of this "what's in it for me" stuff that it is hard to keep track of. "Do I get a prize for raising more money than anyone else?" Of the $800, how much actually goes to City of Hope for Cancer research? You get a free jumpsuit, free meals, free jumps, free accommodations, pay a little to management and fundraising expenses and whatever is leftover goes to City of Hope. That's about $424 that goes to City of Hope. And you love to put my picture on the cover of your calendar. I'm the middle person in first row of 3 yellow jumpsuits on http://www.gaiasrose.org/calendar.html I'll never sign a photo release again without a clause to approve the final use of my image. I am disappointed that a WWR photo, one that I am in, has been used for such a purpose as to perpetuate the stereotype beliefs that women exist for their sex appeal. I have to explain why I am in a calendar that sexualizes women skydivers when my intent of every WWR that I have been a part of has strived to elevate the status of women jumpers based upon their skydiving skill. That was a typo. Gross income uses line 10b, not line 12. The numbers donated are taken directly from the fund-raising page stats on jftc. The whole breast cancer research is NOT one big organization. You can read more about who does what and for how much at: http://thinkbeforeyoupink.org/ http://www.bcaction.org/ I was under the impression that the $5 was to cover the printing costs. You raised $7000 for printing via a raffle, all the while saying 'it was for a good cause' when in reality it was to pay for printing costs. Why do the women on JFTC even have to pay $5 for the printing costs - isn't that already paid? Doubling the wholesale cost is because???? Kate, Tony, Mallory and Richard do a lot of hard work for JFTC. The reality is that the numbers, based on what is presented on the JFTC web site, show a flailing effort. Two weeks out, I doubt anything I say or do will have any effect, except for getting the affluent women to pay their way. For those women that can pay for their jumps, meals, motel and jumpsuit, pay your way. Then JFTC will have better numbers. I know of two S. Cal jumpers that are doing this. I doubt that many businesses would allow the JFTC calendar to be displayed in the work place. I think a lot of wives would also object to having the calendar displayed in their home. What does that tell you? I know that JFTC did not produce the calendar, but they do endorse it by providing links to it. The calendar is a great erotica calendar. It is inappropriate for endorsement of a Women's World Record in Skydiving. What I have done or not done in skydiving has little relevance to this. It is my personal beliefs that come into play here. Long before I started jumping, I had strong feelings about what women can and cannot do. I never liked the wanted ads for jobs listed by 'men' or 'women'. I never liked the fact that women were not 'allowed' in the military academies when I was going off to college. Times have changed, These throw-back events should be stomped out. Some of the things JFTC does or endorses and the calendar in particular, undermines the advances that women have gained in the past 30 years. Hey, I thought I was the 'official' watchdog! BTW, I was also on the 2000 JFTC event too. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Is Jump for the Cause on track? Follow the money trail………. Jump for the Cause Estimated Accounting Summary 2005 . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Samples (from someone that has lived in many places)… New Orleans, LA - hurricane plus floods, c1963 Swartz Creek MI - snowed in for 3 days, tornadoes, flood -1965-1969 Palatine, IL - earthquake, early morning and strong enough to wake you up, from New Madrid fault line -sometime between 1970-1974. West Lafayette, IN - snowed in for 4 days. first time Purdue was ever shut down, c1977. We played the longest game of Risk ever known. Snowed in west of Denver at a campsite in the end on May 1977 on a motorcycle cross country trip. Snow plows were out clearing the roads. Tucson, AZ - floods from a hurricane, c1984, city was cut off by road for about a week, all freeways were washed out. Tucson also has dust storms, only caught in one of those in 6 years. Davis, CA - El Nino Floods c1997, earthquake risk - did not feel Loma Prieta because I was driving on the freeway. I did live in Poway, CA for 1.5 years. The big fires burned the field across the street from where I lived. That entire neighborhood was evacuated and several homes at the top of the hill (about 10 homes away) were burned. I had moved to Hemet by this time. Hemet, CA - flood (a few weeks ago, last January), high winds - strong enough to down trees (a few weeks ago plus usually 5 times per year, had a neighbor's tree fall and damage my library building this past winter), earthquakes (about a month ago plus one or two +4 per year) and in the man-made disasters category - the NE corridor blackout of c1962. Choose your poison. Quade and I were talking about the looting and people shooting at police and rescuers in NO. He can't understand it, I can. Here's a story I have about NO. My bf and I did a cross country motorcycle trip from Purdue to NO to DC and back to Purdue in the summer (c1977). Stan and I were driving in an offset configuration on the 4-lane road that ran along the French Quarter. Some guy pulls up behind me, then changes lanes to the right. He slows along side Stan, who was in front on the left. I see this guy rummage into his dashboard. He pulls out a gun! We fortunately were driving on a 4-lane road that had islands and breaks where you could turn. Stan immediately turned left and so did I. It was an Easy Rider scene. Later we looked up the address of where my family lived in 1962 or 3, at the Tulane library. I took pics of the house and the street in both directions. I don't have that info now, but I'll bet it's not there any more. Other people in LA are much nicer. I met two interns from Lafayette, LA while hiking the Grand Canyon on that same MC trip that I was snowed in near Denver. The next summer on the trip to NO we stopped by to see them. They were still very nice. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I think you are already involved because you publicly stated that a DZ was not using properly rated Instructors. It's not that hard to figure out what DZ you are talking about and even which Coaches you are talking about. Your friends' ratings and memberships are already in jeopardy. If there was a fatality, their ratings and membership would be pulled in a heartbeat. You can look through past BOD Meeting minutes and compare revocations to the incidents to see that this is true. At the very least, you should talk to these new Coaches and let them know what position they are being put in. They all should have a copy of the IRM. Ask them to re-read Section 2 of the Coach section. USPA tries very hard to make sure all GM dzs use properly rated instructors. Formal disciplinary actions are the very last step that USPA will take. USPA will try to convince members to do the right thing via its network of S&TAs, Directors and individual members. There is a Catch-22 here. USPA cannot initiate disciplinary actions if they don't know about a problem. USPA also cannot fix a problem by talking to new rating holders if they don’t know about the problem. USPA tries to fix these problems without formal disciplinary action first. A conversation between these Coaches and the RD can go a long way at this point in time. If a fatality happens, then the Coaches would definitely be SOL. Many years ago, I was asked to teach a SL FJC. I had an AFF I rating, but not a SL rating. I received a tutorial on the SL handling prior to the FJC. It was one of the items on the proficiency card. I taught the FJC under the supervision of a SL rated I. Then the Chief Instructor asked me to dispatch the students. That's where I drew the line and refused to do that. [I had been jumping for about 10 years and had around 2000 jumps at the time.] The students were high profile too. It was the Chief of Police of SF (later Mayor of SF) and his son. There was no way I'd put myself in a position of being an un-rated instructor tossing students, no matter who they were. I could have dispatched the students safely, but it was not right to do that. One way or another, these Coaches need to stop dispatching SL students or get their SL I rating. Students expect that they have properly rated instructors. I think you need to look at the student's rights and expectations and put that before your friends' ratings. I think that a conversation between you and your RD can clear this up. The RD can then talk to the coaches and DZO. The Coaches would probably not be fired. The DZO has a staff shortage anyway. He might bend over backwards to help these coaches get their SL rating. If your motive is only to shut down this DZ, then sitting on the fence might do that. If your motive is to enhance safety then you need to talk to your RD. Do the right thing. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

That may be true. Keep this in mind, USPA is not the 'cops' enforcing rule after rule. USPA strives to enhance safety. USPA does that by creating what are known and accepted by other agencies as industry standards. USPA can do something like convincing a newly minted coach to not do something he's not rated for and enhance safety that way as opposed to yanking a membership or rating to attain the same effect. Also, when you read this thread, you should know that Derek is a former cop and is not a current USPA member. I am a ND of USPA. Who are you going to listen to? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

They might listen to the RD. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I think you ought to contact your RD or anyone else on the USPA BOD to discuss this. I can't guarentee that the coaches will not be penalized, but in the long run they will be better off bringing this to the attention of USPA now as opposed to later. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Screwing the students is of no concern because they are not your friends.????? Perhaps, it might be better to educate your friends, the ones with ~100 jumps, that the DZO might be taking advantage of them and that they are exposing themselves in financial or legal ways that they might not realize. Of course, you could also contact your RD and ask her to bend the ears of these coaches. It is not like anyone from USPA is reading this???? ;) . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker