freakyrat

I think a good thing to do would be to take a picture of your Cypres (The Computer Unit, Cutter, And Control Unit) the next time it is due for Maintenance or at your next repack. I took some photos of mine while it was out for it's 4-yr maintenance and include them in with the Cypres DOT and USPA letters when I travel so there is no doubt of what the security people are looking at. I also took some of the Pilot Chute Spring which seems to bither some of them also. Chris

Cornholio I got it right this time but my spelling is kind of bad this early in the morning. Blue skies and have a safe and fun weekend. Chris

Cornholio I'll try again with this attachmnet. I think I got it right this time will see. Chris TSA.htm

Here's the letter from the USPA website. Chris USPA parachute link.htm

[url] www.uspa.org Chris

Paul USPA has new guidlines on their website that were posted today. They have this already worked out with the TSA. You can lock your hard shell suitcases with your rigs inside. Your rig and Cypres will NOT trigger any alerts on any of the various kinds of explosive detection equipment that would require a hand search. Chris

The USPA has posted new guidelines for travelling with your rig on the USPA website today. USPA and the Cypres folks have been working with the TSA since it's inception to reduce the hassle factor for us at the nation's airports. Basically the TSA has run tests on various rig and Computerized AAD combinations without triggering alarms on any of the equipment. The TSA has been working with their screeners also to minimize problems for skydivers travelling with their rigs. A suggestion that along with the Cypres DOT approval letter from the SSK website, print the USPA cover page along the USPA suggestion letter and take it along with your USPA membership card/or FAA Rigger Certificates if applicable with these other support documents with you when you travel. Since my Cypres had to be sent off for 4-yr service, I took some digital pictures of it installed in the rig and of the cutter and computer unit separately and also of the pilot chute spring to take with me when I travel. All of these items I feel will reduce any misconceptions about what they see on x-rays to an absolute minimum. Chris

The TSO standards require the reserve to open quickly. After all, our lives depend on it. When I demoed the 126R at Quincy it opened brisk but not hard. When I had my cutaway the weekend after Quincy (3yrs ago) my 143R opened pretty quickly. I was slingshotted backwards upon cutting my Stiletto away from the spinning mal and was under a fully open reserve before I could blink my eyes. At 5K field elevation I don't think it would be prudent to jump a small reserve. The air is just to thin at opening altitude and landing it or any small canopy at 5K is just operating on the edge of the envelope for the canopy. Chris

I have 1 reserve ride on my PD143R after my Stiletto 120 became a "Spinetto". The cutaway and ride was uneventful. I used a container that now contains my older Stiletto 135 main in it. A couple of weeks ago I had a few line twists on my 120 again and it threatened to become a "spinetto" again but I got on it quickly and kicked out of them. I have a PD126R in this container and have demoed it at Quincy a couple of years ago. The canopy was real easy to fly and land and flew like a bigger canopy. I landed it in moderate temparatures and little or no wind and came out just fine. The one thing nice about PD is that they do have these reserves set up as demo canopies but were kind of suprised that people don't take advantage and demo them.

Yeah I remember my only big dive was a POP's 80-way attempt at Eloy. I was on an outer whacker and traked from 5,000 feet breakoff to 2,000 feet. I was the third person to land with my Stiletto and had to grab everything quick and run and look when all those canopies were suddenly coming in to land. It was a real rush but was over quickly. Good luck to all the participants on the 300-way dive and have fun and above all means be safe. Chris

I've travelled with my rig with no problems. X-ray will not harm a Cypres. Go to the SSK website and print out the Airtec letter that explains that Cypres is non-dangerous goods and have it with you. Act like a frequent flier. Put your rig in a kitbag. Make sure it meets the airlines size requirements. Don't mention a thing about it to the security people unless asked and then be polite and explain it to their satisfaction. Most of the airports that have dropzones nearby have security personell that are quite familiar with what rigs look like. Here's a hint that most people wouldn't even think of. With the popularity of digital cameras etc. Take a picture of the inside of your reserve container at your next repack , get the Cypres cutter and Cypres unit wiring and all and the reserve pilot chute. It seems the pilot chute also spooks some of the x-ray people. Download them to your computer and print them out and put them in your kitbag with your logbook. You then have more documentation for the security folks if they question it. My Cypres is going for it's 4yr maintenance Monday and I took some pictures of it in my Mirage and uninstalled and downloaded them to my computer and will print them for the above mentioned purpose. Pack your hooknifes and assorted tools in your checked bag. I found that flying with your rig is so easy in fact in Atlanta in November I just put my rig through x-ray and grabbed it at the other end and I don't think the guy running the machine even looked at it and if he did he probably seen enough of them that he knew what it was. I've had this happen several times now. The Cypres folks along with the USPA have liasons with the TSA people to try to iron out kinks to make flying with our rigs easier. The Director Of Safety for Southwest Airlines was one who worked with Cypres to get the DOT Approval for our Cypres AAD. Cheers Chris dot_pr_082500.pdf

In Search Of Sunrise Panama Vol 4 - DJ Tiesto Global Underground 022 Melbourne- DJ Dave Seaman Nocturnal Frequencies 3 - Danny Howells Get the Lead Out- Tom Stephan aka. Superchumbo On Vynyl: Hallucinogenic Effect- Roosat & Spencer Freeland Chris

I was working when this incident happenned. You folks should have heard the MAYDAY call from the instructor pilot. Filler told the flight school where he and the instructor departed from that he was recovering from ear problems and that he needed to go up and see if his ear was OK now. He was flying in the left hand seat of the Cessna 150. The most ridiculous thing about this whole incident is that after it happened the powers to be tried to make a determination if they needed to drug test the controllers who worked the aircraft. Like they had anything to do with this incident.

Lummy Your jokes are really funny, especially the commuter flight joke. It's just got to be that Byron water. Chris

Though you'll might like this I just went through security at Houston, O'Hare, and Midway with my rig in a kitbag with no problerms. hassles. In case you folks don't know this the TSA who has already taken over security at some airports including OHare know what rigs look like through the x-ray machines. Things are already happening behind the scenes with the TSA to make our trips with our gear hassle free. The only thing we should do is either pack our gear in a hard shell suitcase and check it or if you desire to carry it on make sure it is in a non-descript kitbag and that it fits the airlines size requirements and all your tools and hooknifes are in your checked luggage. Airlines have not changed their policy on parachute, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, USair and even small carriers such as JetBlue allow rigs. Southwest was instrumental in working to get our Cypres AAD's approved by the DOT. The hassle a skydiver had with JetBlue at Palm Beach was ironed out later when the Safety Chief of Jetblue was put in contact with John Andrus, Safety Chief of Southwest and now they are on board with the Cypres approval etc. All it takes is communication and being polite with security. As far as the random gate inspection go's, just don't let them pull on any deployment handles and explain that the rig is packed in accordance with all FAA regulations. Show them your USPA cards, license's, ratings, logbooks and carry the letter from your airline that is posted on their website reference parachutes. Continental and Delta both have them under baggage rules and specifically sports equipment. Travelling with a rig if you don't make it or yourself obvious is really not a a problem Chris

Lummy Agrred the window that said you were out of paper was dumb anyway when the red light flashes on your printer. Duh! Well I hope this fixed skymama up in the audio CD dept. Cheers Chris

Hi Andrea It seems like in XP earlier versions of some software are just no compatible Roxio being one of them. I use Paint Shop Pro 6 at work for some of our graphics and version 7 is a little more compatible with XP. I would go to Best Buy and get a copy of Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.1 or Easy CD Creator 5 if 5.1 isn't available and dowload the 5.1 update from Roxio's site. A friend I work with had 5 on his machine and he had to download the 5.1 XP update from Roxio Music Match Jukebox 6 or 7 will work with XP also and I've used it for burning audio CD's but I use Roxio for copying discs and making backup discs etc cause it's a little better designed for that. Hope this all helps. If you decide to go with other audio CD software just make sure it's compatible with Windows XP. Some people on this forum may not like Windows XP but I think it works just fine, has onboard computer diagnostics etc and is really stable. The only quirk I've found with it is it doesn't come up with the little troubleshoot window when your printer is out of paper etc. HP told me that that was a separate feature in earlier windows systems that didn't make it onto XP. The only other thing XP eats a lot of resources like hard drive space and memory to run all the hidden stuff like the diagnostics etc. That's why I bough a huge hard drive and double DDRAm memory when I bought my Dell last year. I'm using about 6 Gigs of HD space and I don't know how much memory. Also Jump Track software is fully compatable with Windows XP. Blue Skies Chris Skydive Houston

My Dell8200 came with Windows XP and it works great. I have both Music Match Jukebox 6 and Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.1 installed. I've made CD's with both with Jukebox 6 being the easier of the two programs. If your friend has Roxio CD Creator 5 installed on her computer it is NOT compatible with Windows XP. You have to go to Roxio's website and download an upgrade patch to make version 5 work with XP. This will convert her version to version 5.1 which works well with XP. Hope this helps. Chris

I recently flew from Houston George Bush Intercontinental to Chicago Midway and back (WFFC) with absolutely no problems carrying my rig on board in a kit bag. I flew on Delta Connection carrier Comair and returned on Delta. Delta just wanted to know at Houston if I packed my hooknife in my checked bag Last weekend I flew to O'Hare from Houston on Northwest, again with no hassles. The guard at Houston just wanted to make sure that he was actually seeing a rig on the x-ray machine and was satisfied when I told him. TSA has taken over security at O'Hare and again the man running the X-ray machine knew exactly what was in my kitbag and was satisfied with what he saw. I have a MT size Mirage G3 packed in a Aero Tech Products of Deland, Florida kitbag. THis kitbag is really cool cause it is totally plain colored, is extremely well built, and has a backpack bag that unzips off the front that you can store your jumpsuits, logbooks and other items in. This makes it easy to get your bag in the overhead bin or under your seat and allows the bag to meet all the airlines carry-on size requiremwents. The airlines I've flow with my rig scince last September 11th have been Airtran, Delta and Delta Connection Comair, Continental, Southwest and Northwest with no hassles at all. Airports: Chicago O"Hare and Midway, Houston Hobby and Bush, Atlanta, Ontario, Ca , Minneapolis, and Cincinatti all hassle free. One word of advice though, If you get selected for random screening at the gate, of which I have not yet, just be polite and make sure they go through your things slowly and don't pull on reserve or cutaway handles. Chris

Funny. I've taken my rig from Hobby to Ontario and back on Southwest over Easter with NO problems and just got back from Rantoul and flew from Houston george Bush to Midway on Delta and Delta Connection Comair with my rig in a kitbag as a carry-on with no problems. I'm flying Northwest to O'Hare next weekend with my gear and also don't anticipate any problems. I agree that security is pretty much a hit and miss thing though. The powers to be in Skydiving are working with the TSA to make them aware of our situation with Cypres's etc but we're just not the big fish on their radar screen right now. Also the situation someone had with Jet Blue should be resolved now after their safety chief was put in touch with Southwest's and is now on board with the same policy in regards to rigs and Cypres. Though I'd let you folks know that. If you want to check your rig just lock it up in a hard side suitcase such as a Samsonite or one of those Pelican Cases you can purchase on line or at a scuba shop. Gotta Run Chris

First off NO. I don't think it's a problem on any DZ. I live and jump in Houston, a city with one of the largest gay populations. Would I skydive with you? Yes. I think Narcimund had some of the most intelligent post's here on this subject. I know another gay couple that one of them jumps and there DZ is in a Bible-Belt conservative state and they are totally accepted at the DZ. If you look around at your DZ or mine, we're a pretty diverse bunch, especially the freeflyers with the retro Tye-Dyes and the Hawaiin Print's etc. Hey I jump a 120 Stiletto with a wild colorful pattern that one of the female skydivers nicknamed a "fruit salad" I still laugh my ass off when I think about it. I also have a second rig with a pretty much boring colored canopy in it. One day at the DZ I made the comment "should I jump the gay rig with the straight canopy today or the straight rig with the gay canopy" The comment got plenty of laughs. There is a clothing line out there that has a cardboard label on it concerning diversity. It says: " were all diffferent but were all pretty much alike" Kind of like the DZ. Diversity is what makes us great and is one of our best assets. There is also Rainbow Skydivers group on Yahoo Groups Laughs, Hugs, and Blue Skies. Be safe and have fun. Chris

P O P You can also print out the DOT Approval Letter from the SSK website. Don"t Ask, Don't Tell is the best advice when traveling with your rig. Also if asked be polite and shoot straight with the security people. It goes along way. Some airlines, notably Continental and Delta have a section on Parachutes on their website under the baggage section. Print out that info and take it with you. And above all put your hooknifes and tools in with your Checked bag. I've personally flown after September 11 with my gear with no problems. Delta, Continental and Southwest.

Hey Andrew. Positive vibes and heal quickly

You know how you know you're getting close to College Station, TX? "Sheep back up to fences"

Just a little thing to add. If the WFFC is in Rantoul which most likely it will be, Southwest along with security at Midway is going to get a real workout seeing all of us as they have before Sept 11th when Roger ran his big-ways at SDC.