larsrulz

Back in 1996 at Archway Skydiving, where I jump, Kirk Verner's equipment was tampered with and nearly killed the jumper who had borrowed it from Kirk. The main bridle had been cut as had one reserve riser. Fortunately the reserve managed to slow the jumper enough to not kill him, but merely leave him with serious injuries. Never found out who had sabotaged his gear. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

I probably did 20% of my jumps between jumps #150-300 as coach jumps, which are free and possibly paid depending on your dropzone. The easy answer is to talk to your DZO/DZM when you get about 100 jumps and see if they will need any coachs. The big dropzones may have normal requirements, but smaller dropzones will just base it on what they need at the time, so there is no one answer. But you'll probably have better luck with the previously mentioned strategy of packing. If you're on a static line dropzone, then there's a better chance they'll be willing to let you do instructor jumps once you get your rating, because they aren't the most pleasant thing, and most instructors would rather shoot video or do tandems, as the pay is much better. As to your original question, there is no jumpmaster anymore, the USPA phased it out with the ISP. You are either a coach or an instructor. Instructors can do method specific and coachs can only do general (i.e. coach jumps). I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

I submitted my B and C license cards about a week apart, so they never actually sent me my B license number. I just called USPA up and they told me over the phone. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Sec. 105.49 Foreign parachutists and equipment (a) No person may conduct a parachute operation, and no pilot in command of an aircraft may allow a parachute operation to be conducted from that aircraft with an unapproved foreign parachute system unless-- (1) The parachute system is worn by a foreign parachutist who is the owner of that system. (2) The parachute system is of a single-harness dual parachute type. (3) The parachute system meets the civil aviation authority requirements of the foreign parachutist's country. (4) All foreign non-approved parachutes deployed by a foreign parachutist during a parachute operation conducted under this section shall be packed as follows-- (i) The main parachute must be packed by the foreign parachutist making the next parachute jump with that parachute, a certificated parachute rigger, or any other person acceptable to the Administrator. (ii) The reserve parachute must be packed in accordance with the foreign parachutist's civil aviation authority requirements, by a certificated parachute rigger, or any other person acceptable to the Administrator. ________________________________________________________________ Essentially, you need to show that your are a foreign parachutist (BPA membership card), show that your rig is in date by UK BPA regulations (maybe print out/copy a page from your regulations saying what your repack cycle is), and then you merely need to follow that. So if your rig will be in date by BPA standards, then you will be fine. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Saying bad body position is responsible for hard openings, isn't actually correct. Hard openings are often due to gear selection (some canopies just open hard a lot) and most likely packing. Body position is what is responsible most the time for some of the malfunctions that can be caused by sitting non-symmetrically in your harness during opening, i.e. bad body position. This is the ever common line twists which lead to spinning. More likely than not, wing loading will be insignificant with respect to the likelihood of a hard opening. If gear related, it is merely that some canopies are just prone to hard openings, i.e. large sabres and all cobalts. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

You might have better luck in the Gear and Rigging Forum where this will soon be. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

More of something I witnessed with student coach jumps, but don't make whoever you're coaching wait around for you to pack. Unless they want to get packed up first, then do the debrief as soon as they get down, not after you make them sit around. Demonstration on the ground. If someones feet are too wide in a sit, then have them sit down in a chair and actually feel where their feet should be. Video is a useful tool; it is not the end all, be all. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Dress for success...if you don't have a jump suit with swoop cords, then get one! As for as body position goes, lots of people talk about hugging a beach ball to get a very good dearch, just as important is to really drop your knees. I got this suggestion from a GK a few weeks back and the first time I tried it I noticed the huge decrease in fall rate. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

It's funny cause I was just talking to a GK two weekends ago about all the tunnel time he gets, and he was saying that, even with a coach and lots of experience, one will pick up bad habits in the tunnel. The tunnel airspeed will not be the same speed that your body will fall in the air, and learning to correct for this difference will often cause problems such as exaggerated mantis or such tunnel-induced positions. That said, I have never been in the tunnel, so what do I know!. Failing a single AFF level or having freefall problems never necessitates getting tunnel time. Simulation can never make up for the actual experience in whatever one is training for. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

We have straddle benches that are essentially plywood covered in carpet. We have a short caravan, so we get 4 people on the bench behind the pilot, 5 behind the copilot, 3 on the floor (2 right by the door and 1 on the other side) and then 2 people on the ledge behind the door. We can put a 15th if someone sits in the co-pilot seat. We used to get 16-17 in our grand caravan, as the benches were longer, but due to CG issues we couldn't put 2 on the ledge behind the door. The benches make it much easier for the TIs to hook up, that's for sure! I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Screw the experts; it's all about the conjecture! I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Just jump it and see what happens is never a safe route to go. Essentially, when your canopy leaves your container, it will be cocked up on one side, as the lines are shorter on one side. This has a very good chance of spinning up your deployment bag while the lines are unstowing, so very likely line twists. This is essentially the problem that people experience when their risers leave their container uneven on opening. When you spin up risers uneven, this could very well cause a spinning canopy while you have line twists, which most the time will be something you'll need to cut away. Moral of the story, just repack it, if only for peace of mind! I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Looks like I forgot a , oh well. I personally agree with Mar about not jumping with sunglasses when jumping with other people, but am getting a pair of gatorz for under canopy and hop'n'pops. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

That's funny, I've seen a number of pictures of one of the golden knights demo teams wearing gatorz in freefall....guess they're a bunch of posers, but I'll let you tell them that. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

The following is an email from John LeBlanc (PD's head canopy designer) to skymedic on here, as has been posted once before on these boards. _____________________________________________________________________________ It is quite common to not understand the problems associated with an inflated pilot chute on big canopies. What people don't understand is that it is not just the amount of drag produced by the pilot chute. The bigger issue is where that drag is applied: to the top of the canopy in a backwards direction. Having the drag applied here causes several things: First, it attempts to rotate the canopy back into a flare, thus reducing the amount of flare power remaining. Second, this "dragging through the air" flight regime makes the canopy bounce around more in light turbulence, making it more difficult to get the canopy to fly a smooth stable approach at a constant airspeed. (A smooth steady state approach is a big help in getting consistent landings. Third, this extra drag tends to make the canopy flare a bit when making quick heading corrections on final approach. Eventually, that canopy noses over slightly and gains speed again, only to repeat this oscillation a bit more mellow. This makes timing the flare a big challenge, as the best flare from each stage of this oscillation is a bit different! This problem is much more pronounced on bigger canopies, especially those that have a larger section of tail pulled down by each control line, such as PD bigger than 190, Sabres bigger than 190, and all tandem canopies. Fourth the pilot chute can distort the canopy as the end cells try to out fly the center cell. You can sometimes see this as a bend in the canopy at the center cell, when looking up at it in flight. This causes a change in angle of attack in specific areas of the canopy. It results in more lift being generated in the center cells, but less lift being generated by the end cells. This causes the end cells to be loaded too lightly, making them more prone to folding under from a side gust or downdraft in turbulence. This situation is aggravated by using quick toggle movements to make small heading changes, especially when there is a left, right left sort of thing going on with the toggles. (I know this sounds sounds silly, but watch people on final approach and you'll see this a lot.) The Collapsible pilot chute will be of benefit to this jumper in a few ways: First, the canopy will be less susceptible to turbulence. Second, the canopy will have a more effective flare, particularly when making less than optimum approaches when small corrections are made during the last 10 to 15 seconds. (Its best to plan approaches so that these corrections aren't necessary.) Third, in the event that the jumper wants to learn about using front risers, the canopy will respond better in this mode, with less riser movement being required, and more potential gained. This is because the adverse affects listed above become more pronounced with added airspeed, so vicious cycle starts to occur: The jumper doesn't get much out of a bit of front risers, so he pulls more riser, which causes more drag on the pilot chute which rotates the canopy back more which gives less effect which causes the jumper to pull more front riser and so on. Collapsing the pilot chute will produce little extra airspeed at normal full glide, but it will change the handling and effectiveness of the flare. Making sure the brake lines aren't pulling down the tail too much is another. On the Sabre 230, a slight amount of tail pulled down is ok. (Check our web site for trim specs.) Collapsible pilot chutes are not only for the small high performance canopies, but also help conservative jumpers using conservative canopies to get more out of them. They are particularly important on older F-111 nine cell canopies, such as the PD series. There isn't much excess energy brought to the flare on these old canopies. My recommendation to get rid of the pilot chute has helped many people get better landings on these canopies. The difference in flare power is a bit less noticeable on the Sabres, but it is there. [Edited for removing specific comments towards specific people] I would like to point out that these effects are real, and removing the pilot chute will produce more consistent canopy piloting performance. Experienced test jumpers on our staff get far better and more accurate results with a collapsible installed. And if you don't have your equipment set up properly, how will you get the experience needed? Once you've worked out the steps to create a state of continuing improvements in technique, there is probably no other thing that has a bigger effect than collapsing the pilot chute, other than making sure the brake lines are set with too much tail pulled down at full glide. _____________________________________________________________________________ I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

I used to think the same way as you...I have a smart 150 reserve in a G3 M2, which is listed as snug, just like your reserve is. I trusted my rigger, and assumed since he couldn't make it look good, then it just wasn't possible. I ended having another rigger give me a repack, since I couldn't get my rig to my normal one for a while, and it came back looking excellent; not a single complaint. Some people just have more experience in a particular rig or have better little tweaks they do. Which one will have the better pack job when it becomes necessary to use may be up for debate, but there is no doubt that some people can make the container look better than others. If this is important for you, or becomes a safety issue like yours, then by all means find yourself a new rigger, making excuses for your current one isn't going to help anything. If you send it to mirage and they indicate that it's a lost cause, then you can continue making excuses for your rigger. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Not exactly, the pilot is supposed to use oxygen at any point above 14K ASL, but the passengers don't need it until 15K. In response to the question, I feel comfortable going to 17K without oxygen, as I have done physiological training in an altitude chamber, but I become extra cautious looking for signs in other people, as few people know what their specific symptoms will be. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Capitalization is no more important than using complete sentences. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Listening more than talking. Two examples of this from my DZ are we recently had a visiting jumper come to our dropzone with probably 1000 or so jumps. As the DZO and a number of other jumpers showed the jumper around, said jumper constantly told of all the things that he/she 'could do/has done/knows.' And no one was impressed in the slightest. Whereas when one of our current pilots/tandem masters came by the DZ for the first time, he told the load organizer that he had about 100 jumps. He went out on a random RW dive, and it was quite aparent that he had far more than 100 jumps. Only after coming down did he inform us that he was a T-I/AFF-I/Pilot who grew up on a Cali DZ! Now if only I could learn to listen more than I talk! I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

What is their reasoning for that? Just curious.

The only main freebags I've heard of are incorrectly hooked up direct bag static line rigs. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Without knowing anything about your skills, something like a sabre2 190 will definitely be aggressive and not a boat. This isn't a recommendation persay, just letting you know that you don't need something small for it to be aggressive; a modern canopy loaded at 1:1 will have plenty to it. Speak to your instructors about the details of size/make/shape/color/etc. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Much like Hookncrater, I'll give my experience rather than a recommendation. I got used gear at a 1:1 WL starting jump number 26 off student status. This was partly because student gear was required at my home DZ during student status. My rig didn't fit me perfectly, but I was very happy to have used gear for my first 150-200 jumps, as it saved me considerable money when I downsized around jump 200 and got my custom rig. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

Just tense your feet....like one would hang upside down from a bar or something. If you keep your feet tense, then that's more than enough to hold up your weight. From reading your method.....you need to get your feet up above the leading edge, they shouldn't be on the bottom if you want to hang. This isn't exactly an easy manuever; need a bit of strength to back you up. I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

I think Gary's just complaining because he still owes beer for landing on the pavement earlier this year! I was there....I saw it! I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF