OnYourBack

I don't remember how tall this little person was but he wasn't four feet. He could walk in the 206 without bending over. Easiest exit ever!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States There are a ton of variables but it looks like about 60% of households make over $35,000.

Me neither, they work better if you're under it.

Pacer is only for federal court. Looks like this was filed in state court. Missouri uses a site called casenet for its state court info. http://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/base/welcome.do His suit was filed back in the beginning of 2004 and looks like it never went anywhere.

There was an instructor working at freaks this year who is an examiner for both Strong and Vector/Sigma. He had a Strong rig with a 366, and a Sigma rig with a Sigma 340. I found it interesting that whenever we weren't busy and he the choice of which rig to grab, he always grabbed the Sigma.

So he only takes passengers less than 145?

Thats a pretty scary story as 430 isn't really a very high exit weight at all.

Its not worth taking any student if you don't harness them properly. She fell out because she wasn't harnessed properly, not because of size or lack of a Y mod.

Sounds like there should just be a walk off between the Legend and Martin.

I think the last commercial I saw said 1 in 3 dies.

Isn't an engine designed to run and a plane designed to take off, fly and land? What difference does it make how many times you do it in one day or what is being carried by it? Do you get a manual with a new PT6 or plane that says only so many times per day?

Peek, I have respect for your time in the sport and your attitude toward creating a safer environment for skydiving but I just can’t subscribe to this notion that carnival ride tandems are doing damage to the sport. You make statements such as in the last post like, it will make a “big difference.” What proof do you have of this? A decline in our sport could be blamed on any one of a myriad of obstacles there are to becoming experienced in this sport. I think one could successfully argue that the more people you give a quick ride to (as long as it can be done safely), the more chance you have at coming across those individuals who are going to stick around and make a go of it. The more out of shape couch potatoes I take, the more of their friends who will see their video and say, “gee if he can do it so can I.” One could argue, if it hadn’t been for the advent of carnival ride tandems we wouldn’t have half the big planes, a lot of the little dz’s might not be able to stay open, and there might not be the amount of skydivers we have now. There might not have been the money to research and come up with all the new safety features that have been developed. I believe you should make information readily available to any who express even the slightest bit of interest in continuing but I think a person knows whether it’s a sport for them or not immediately. If a day full of training is all it takes to keep someone in the sport, then why don’t more of the solo students return?

Thats what I thought at first but then saw this: "With the Tandus even someone's first skydive could be a wingsuit jump!"

Wuffos don't know what they want. You have to train them to want to come back.

As evidenced in the thread regarding recovery, the consensus regarding stable exits and stable freefall positions seems to be more about what the instructor is doing and not the student. I think its a pretty huge leap to say that minimal instruction leads to flipping exits and freeflying tandems. I'm not saying these procedures are not more dangerous, but doing multiple flips on exit or flying head down with a tandem is about a bad instructor not how much training we give.

How did you get from giving someone a ride with minimal instruction to flipping out the door and freeflying?

Wait. . .I have heard the argument that rides are leading to a decline in the amount of first timers that stick around numerous times. This is the first time however that I have heard they are "creating dangerous situations." Why are they more dangerous than a progression tandem?

You aren't the first angered relative who can only see their deceased loved one as a poor victim. Like those others though, you probably won't make any real changes to the system. In the end, you will most likely just have wasted your own preciously short time on the earth dwelling on the past and neglecting the joy you could be sharing with the loved ones you have that are still living.

The analysis is in the first post. A brief synopsis with a link to the full story.

Funny, I was just thinking about that in the plane this weekend. Students have no idea who I really am and they are trusting their life with me. I keep my license with me to show if asked. I have never been asked once. They often ask how many jumps or how long I've been doing it, but none ask for proof.

I'm guessing CF means cluster fuck. And he is right, there were many links broken in that chain. I was just bringing her up because she got dinged by many people for saying she thought the reserve was 100% garaunteed. You're absolutely right though, using your reserve is a far better option than landing some malfunctions. You should have and respect a safe hard deck. Its just that hearing someone say a reserve is 100% is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I always feel compelled to say something.

40 Days!!

Thats what Shayna Richardson thought about her reserve. She had a rude awakening when she opened it and it spun her all the way to a face plant in a parking lot. Proper understanding of your gear and what your doing is what should keep you calm and relaxed.

I don't understand why people keep pointing out "including flaring." You can flare with your risers. You can turn left and right with your risers. Therefore, you can pass a controllability check without your toggles. Whether or not you have the skills or confidence to do that is ultimately up to you but one steering line gone is not an uncontrollable canopy. I have seen reserves fail more than once.

Oh sure, they didn't see it. More like, "hey. . .hold my beer and get some video of us jumping over this spillway!"