psychoswooper

I had this same issue come up with a rig last year. I was told that RWS/UPT does not permit the use of their freebag-pilot chutes assemblies in any other manufacturer's rig.

I personally as a DZO think the GM membership program should be axed altogether. The only reason I have it is because the other guys do. I would still require membership for the insurance. I know a lot of other DZO's feel the same way I do. I get very little out of being a GM. I'm with you on this one Trey. I am pissed at USPA not so much because they let "THEM" back in as I am that they booted them in the 1st place without first considering the legal ramifications of doing so & in the process wasted members money . I do not plan to renew my group membership after this fiasco.

FLORIDA: School of Human Flight, Quincy: NO Skydive Jacksonville: YES Titusville: YES OHIO: Canton AIr Sports: YES

"My gosh, will ya look at that. They're touchin' each other!"

QuoteJESUS CHRIST ! ! After Danny Cuocco went in down in Miami Booth's team came up with a secondary deployment system for the reserve. We think Danny was incapicitated by his student in some way and couldn't pull either ripcord. I forget if it was pre or post drogue but they added a reserve knob above the left shoulder of the tandem master just like a Steven's system. No. It wasn't Danny Cuocco. It was Danny Batchelor. I was there. And it was post droque. This was before the rigs had secondary droque releases. The 3 ring on the droque release was hooked up wrong & the droque handle could not be pulled even on the ground. The cutaway & reserve handles had been pulled & were never located. This was back when Vectors had the upside down reserve pilot chute that did not launch very far, especially if you were still face-to-Earth. Those of us that were there believe they had a reserve pilot chute caught in their burble, or on their persons, and/or a too low reserve pull. But once again, the handles were not to be found anywhere in the vicinity indicating a "high" pull.

Thanks to all who responded to my questions. I was aware that military surplus parachutes were usually legal...my question had more to do with the fact that the manual mentions that it is permitted to mix & match components approved under TSO C23B &c23C, but makes no reference to (other approved parachutes) being compatible. I may have taken this way too literally. The canopy does not have a diaper or 4-line release which are other things which concerned me, but I didn't mention in my earlier post. I will call the manufacturer as well. Thanks again.

The Quincy DZ 9th Annual Halloween Party will be held the weekend of Oct 27th & 28th. The costume party & contest will be held the evening of the 27th. If you have been; you know. If not, come see what you've been missing. Spending the entire evening is highly recommended as driving in the condition you are likely to achieve is just not a good idea. Oh yeah, and there will be some great skydiving, too.

A pilot friend of mine is considering purchasing this pilot rig: It is an Original Softie. (old but good shape) The canopy is a Pioneer C-9 DOM 1989. A master rigger (seller) removed the originally installed canopy (DOM 1960) & installed the newer canopy but left it unpacked for buyer's inspection. My questions: The enclosed packing manual specifically states that the installed canopy must be TSO'd . Yes, it does have military drawing stamp & contract info. (But as is typical with most military stuff. no actual TSO stamp) Is this sufficient to be legal? Also the manual specifically recommends a long spring type pilot chute such as a Magnum 357 & this one has a 30 year old MA1 attached. (I could just change this out if everything else is good to go) My gut instinct says "No go" But I want to be sure that I'm not being overly critical of "old" gear that I'm not extremely familiar with. Any help from some you "older-than'me-timers" would be greatly appreciated

Well, since those silly Skyride phone operators have been telling people that prospective Tallahassee FL jumpers have to go to JAX because "they don't jump in Tallahassee anymore because their pilot moved over to Jacksonville" (I was told this just yesterday after calling the number on one of their virtual DZ websites.) I wonder if they'll tell people that they'll have to go to the "great beyond" because the pilot has moved once again. My condolences, however to the friends & family of the Jax pilot.

Wrong.

The tradition of our King Air leaving for the month of August began when the whole DZ would close to go to the WFFC. Not fair to Keep it parked for 2 weeks... not worth the ferrying for just 2 weeks somewhere else. It's damed hot in Tally in August, the pilot gets to visit family; the DZO gets to run around the country being a regular skydiving customer at other people's DZs & we have just one more excuse for a party when it returns. (like we need an excuse)

Ha ha ha.....just do like Stew & I & go up to Ohio & jump it THERE !!! We had an awesome time & the people were great! Kinda hard to sleep in a tent with the DZ Blazin 'til 2 AM but Daaaaamm that was some of the best music to keep me awake in a long time.

Just noticed on the photo that the reserve pin also is not "tucked into" the protector tape at the bottom of the flap.

How about some Tandem CRW?? I know of a Tandem 4-stack being done back in the good old bad old days. It was built with all TMs.

Kinda dealing with this same issue this weekend. Former staff TM & coach intentionally swooped directly at a group of spectators who were well outside of the landing area. The group included 4 toddlers 2-4 yrs old & a baby in a carriage. He came within arms length of them. I told him to go home & think about what he had just done & walked away. Another staff member told me he looked at them, hunched his shoulders & gave him that kind of "what's that all about" look. The same guy does all kinds of similar things although this was the most dangerous to date. Mostly, it seems to many of the jumpers at the DZ that his constant need for attention overrides any sense of judgement or common sense. He's the guy that "just doesn't get it" or even understand what "It' is, no matter how many people try to tell him. He always has an excuse.

QuoteThe solution I used to get my neighbor to stop letting their Great Danes from shitting in my yard was each and every night (or day), I would take my dog in to their yard and let her do her dirty deed. Dang it. I don't have a dog, so I quess I'll have to do it myself.

I taught a blind man how to pack. No kidding. He came to our DZ & did about 15 Tandems over a period of time. He translated the Vector Tandem Waiver into braille & gave us a bunch of copies for the day he brought a large group of blind friends to do Tandems. I noticed he was always feeling everything. He went all around the airplane & could name every part. He wsa very curious about everything including parachutes. I had packed blindfolded quite a few times to win bets, so I started thinking....he's been blind all his life, he will probably catch on fast, and be better than me. I thought about what I was feeling for when I packed blindfolded & used that info to teach him. The first parachute he packed start to finish unassisted (but very supervised) was jumped by an AFF student.

I'll take at least 20

I visit Sac twice a year & always jump Lodi. It is great. Friendly people, cheap jumps, awesome hangar set up. Bill & Kathy (DZO's) are super cool. Not a lot of rules, so be prepared to be responsible for yourself.

USPA lists minimum landing area requirements/ distance to target /accuracy stuff in meters...but altitudes in feet.

Jumping was shutdown the rest of the day after the accident, so no, that didn't happen. I meant the next day, Very day AFTER the accident. I should have worded it better. I know that jumping shut down the day OF. I know at our DZ, even the hard core swoopers flew traditional patterns out of respect. I'm glad to hear that what I heard was wrong & that Sundays swooping was NOT through traffic. Maybe the increased level of awareness because of this high profile accident will keep us all safer in the future. And maybe the peer pressure of that "just not being cool anymore" & people catching hell & having real consequences when/if they do it will bring it to an end.

After hearing about some jumpers at Dublin doing swoops through the landing area traffic on the very day after the accident, I just started thinking, would anybody actually be asinine enough to do this in Deland today? I sure hope not. But if so, what would/should the consequences be? Do you think they'd get "beat up?"

QuoteAFFI's are the most qualified, most experienced and most capable instructors out there, so they should get paid the most. That is never the case, but that's how it should be. Never say never....Aff I's are the highest (per jump) paid people on our DZ. $40 per jump. Very experienced tandem packers $12 & $13/per.

Words are insufficient. As are these photos, but I thought I'd share them.

Thanks to everybody who came to this party. You are all wonderful. I had a very enjoyable time with my old friends & met some really cool new ones. We definately plan to do this again next year if not sooner. Sky Frog has a great collection of photos. It will be a few weeks before I'll have time to get any posted on the website, but I'll let you know when I do. Special thanks to John Bruffey & Bad Bobby for helping to make this happen & to the leaders of the Tree People particularly Fortson & Jack for all their work putting the competition together & the funniest & most original trophys I've ever seen. I love you guys