dpreguy

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Posts posted by dpreguy

  1. 2) 'people asking for major corrections to the jump run (shorter, change in heading) as the plane approaches or turns in on jump run'

    Well, you are correct on "major" corrections, but I would argue that usually the only time to alter the change in heading, or shortening or lenghtening the exit point IS on the beginning of, or during the jump run. That is the first time the plane is flying straight and level and the target can be viewed by the jumpmaster in relationship to the aircraft's movement. I agree this is no time for major corrections, but; when I see the plane barely making headway and I want the load to get out later (extend the spot); or if the plane is drifting left or right a lot, and I want to have a 10 or 15 degree change in heading to compensate for freefall drift and being over the exit point that is intended, I don't want any backtalk from the pilot. Of course, if the jumpmaser (for want of a better term) sees the canopies of the load before having to crab all of the time or to hold or run just to get to the landing area, before the plane takes off, then he can tell the pilot to make changes prior to takeoff, but, in the normal situation, where the JM is getting his first look at the situation, and the plane is drifting in relationship to the ground or an adjustment is called for on shortening or lengthening the exit; I expect the pilot to execute and be quiet. So, maybe the defintion of "major" is the point here, but, unlesss the pilot has a gps unit that tells him when the plane is drifiting or the ground speed, and when the pilot notices that AND KNOWS WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT when he sees this, then he should defer to the guy looking out the door. I expect the pilot to accept my request to "Lenghten the exit by 1/4 mile" or if there is a GPS to "Extend the exit two clicks" or "10 left". or "Offset the jump run to the left by one click". Yes the pilot is in command - PIC, but his job is to deliver the jumpers to a good exit point

    I guess all know that a GPS's are read as one tenth of a nautical mile of 6000 feet. Therefore, one click means one tenth of a nautical mile which is 600 feet.
    So, if the JM says to "Extend the exit point by two clicks", he means to extend it by 1200 feet roughly /a quarter of a mile. Or "Offset the jump run to the left by one click" it means to fly the jump run in a straight line 600 feet to the left of the previous jump run. I have never (OK maybe never is too strong) had a problem with a pilot doing any of this, but this comment is to avoid the pilot having the mindset that a jump run should never be changed. Sometimes it should be. And if it is changed, the pilot shouldn't have an attitude about it.

    Ideally, if the pilot has a GPS gizmo, and notices the groundspeed being way way slow or fast, or he notices the plane drifitng left or right , and reacts by flying to correct drift or turning on the exit light sooner or later these discussions are unnecesary. But, expecting to fly the same jump run all day, and being irritated when he hears a request, is a bit arrogant. Hence some of the stories and gripes I have heard over many years. I haven't had problems, but others have.

  2. I have the Army Field Manual for paratroop jumpers and it shows a picture (drawing) of a line over and specifically names it a Mae West - for obvious reasons. And, that's what we were taught in Army paratroop school at Fort Benning in 1964. Also Bud Sellick's book of about 1960 or 1961 so names it. Main/reserve entanglement with round canopies named a Mae West? Nope.
    • Like 1

  4. The appearance of this rig in the historical photos , with white webbing, brings up a question: Was there any harness webbing made of hemp fiber?

    I heard that because of no silk from Japan and a lack of other fibers from Malysia or somewhere, and before nylon was invented, that botonist Luther Burbank transformed the doper variety of hemp to a fiber producer, by making the plant taller by 3 or 4 times and a woody stalk.. In the Midwest during the war, the farmers did grow hemp for fiber, and to this day, the railroad right of ways are covered with 10 foot tall , or taller, hemp plants. I know this because they were near my dad's farm and as kids we made sprears out of them.I stinks like the doper variety, but has almost no THC. Later, "80's" the leaves were harvested to "cut" (dilute) the real maijuana yo increase the profit margin for the drug dealers. Hence it was, and is, called 'ditch weed". Question is, did the military actually make parachute harness webbing from the hemp stalks during WW II?

  5. I shouldn't hsve said there weren't any ideas. there were:

    Although iit isn't an "idea" ,there is now and always has been a line item for every renewing or new member to donate to the US Team (and also the Legal Access Fund). At present, this approach isn't suffiecient to fund our competition teams

    Ideas summarized: (If I have mischaracterized an idea I apologize)

    . Dues increase and license fee increase, both with the choice to "opt out" - my idea
    . get a corporate sponsor
    . sell sponsor patches to sew onto jumpsuits & clothing
    . DZO's treat major donors better
    . USPA website to give props to competitors
    . boogie organizers give the teams better exposure
    . DZ owners donate $1 per jump and $2 per tandem on Safety Day
    . USPA to sell US Team gear
    . Standardize Nationals scores to generate advertising money
    . At international competitions, drop all individual team names and have all teams be ID'd only as US Team members
    . videos on facebook and youtube
    . USPA to charge more for ads in Parachutist magazine
    . charge teams an extra $10 to $20 at the competitions

    I may have missed some, and incorrectly summarized some, but it is a start. Hopefully there are more positive funding ideas to come on this thread. Funding ideas that provide reliable and continuing money, year after year, would obviously be the best.

  6. I proposed a dues increase. Not by any sneaky method. By vetting the issue for discuussion in the Parachutist magazine, then, if most members think it is a good idea, the BOD considers it and passes it (or doesn't pass) Open, transparent etc..

    The opt out is just that.

    This dues increase is just one idea. So far, I haven't heard of any others. (The dream of sponsorship is a good dream, but in my opinion not likely, Even if it were to happen for a year or two, it is not likely to go on as a reliable source.)

    Other ideas for funding the US Team? So far, I'm not seeing any.

    I do see opinions that basically say the US Team shouldn't be supported by USPA members. I respect those opinions, but if I read it right, this isn't a thread for that discussion. It is a thread for ideas to fund the team. When I access this thread, I'd like to see if there are any good and positive ideas out there for a reliable and reasonable way to help support the team.

  8. Here is a blog copy I posted on the USPA. The natl organization is chartered to field a team, and even if it wasn't, (in my opinion) we members should at least provide partial funding support for our team members. For every one who is sponsored, there are a dozen more who are driving beat up cars, doing tandems to pay the rent and living a drop zone existence. The funding may be the difference in going to a competitin, or not going. Once again, my opinion is that, until a sponsor is found - which might be never, we should help our international teams compete.

    The blog:

    December 1, 2011 at 12:06 am | Reply
    I too commend this decsion. Now, let’s consider interim funding for the US Team, of which I am so proud! I, like many members did not realize that the US Team was in need of reliable funding above and beyond the contributions of members at time of renewal. When I renew this month, I will be sure to contribute to the US Team.

    I would request the idea of a modest dues increase, earmarked for the US Team, be vetted to the general membership in the next Parachutist magazine. An invitaion to discuss the idea, and encourage comments from members to consider this increase,

    Then, after this comment period, the acceptability of this could be assessed. If it is substantially favorable, then a (example $2.00) increase in membership dues, and a ($1.00) increase in rating remewals. Both would be presented in the membership renewal forms as items that the member could opt out of, and the wording could read that” I do not wish to contribute the $2.00 to the US Team”, and same wording for the rating renewal $1.00.

    I believe most members, and rating holders would pay, and not opt out; but those who feel strongly negative, could. If even half of our members paid this dues increase, it could go along way to provide interim team funding until the sponsorship we seek is found, and would only be done after a comment period. Of course, If the comments are sustantially negative, then the BOD would table the idea, and look for other solutions.

    H Walter Green
    #18426

    Jeremy Olexa Says:
    December 1, 2011 at 12:52 pm | Reply
    “I would request the idea of a modest dues increase” <- I would vehemently oppose a dues increase. I already pay enough for dues and rating renewals.

    H Walter Green Says:
    December 1, 2011 at 7:06 pm | Reply
    There’s an opt out if a member feels they don’t want to fund the US Team. No need to be vehement. If it’s not for you-so be it. I think the USPA dues and our organization are reasonable, considering (for one example of a benefit) what it does for us in the governmental area. But, this is my opinion.






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  9. Blue skies JT
    Opinion:
    You have 30 jumps. You trained with assemblies with RSL's. the Racer you are looking at: Does it have an RSL? Bet not. Ask your AFF jumpmaster if you would have been allowed to jump with your RSL disconnected. Nope. Bet neither your AFF jumpmaster or your coaches on jumps 10 through 30 would have allowed you to jump with your RSL disconnected. Why should you do without one now? Question answered.
    My opinion: This old dog rig, harness and container included, is not a rig for a 30 jump "still learning" jumper, as I assume it is not RSL equipped. (Actually I guess we are all still learning.)

  10. To all:
    Reserves:
    W/o checking, I guess the Precision version is only approved by Precision for it's own Reserves, PD's Slinks for PD reserves, Aerodyne's for theirs, etc yadda.? Am I right on this?

    Mains: I'm not sure if mfg's care, as there are many main parachute mfg's that don't make their own soft links. The installer, rigger, (Am I correct?; new FAA reg now says the jumper can't do this install by himself if he's not a rigger?) installs a soft link on a main canopy, relying on it's TSO as part of general TSO C23C category B or C?? Then, if an accident occurs, and the post-accident equipment inspection shows that, for example: A PD soft link -Slink- was on a, oh ...say an Icarus main Crossfire canopy(example only). Even if that soft link had nothing to do with that accident?

    Thoughts?

  11. OK I know this has nthing to do with falling vegetables, but: For whatever reason (escapes me now) a friend, Stan Welniak and I took a full sized Christmas tree out of Cesssna 182. It stood both of us up and we just let go of it after a while, then pulled. Of course the tree whistled by. We were not all that concerrned at the time, but looking back - we sure should have been. Round parachutes. 60's. It is a logged jump, for whatever that is worth. Taking wierd things out the door was all the rage for a while back then. I guess we just had to top the last stunt. Why we chose a Chrisatms tree escapes me.

  13. I teach some rigging students and would like to show them a Precision soft link. I have PD's and Aerodyne's in the loft to show, but have never seen a Precision soft link. Do they have one? If so, Could someone post a picture of one?

  14. Apex covered with fabric. Not unusual. Apex was designed to be huge to prevent the high pressure area (the upper 1/4 of the canopy) from blowing out in a "hundreds of miles per hour bail out" Yes, military prop planes can go 300 to 400 mph, and the jets were coming then too. For us sport jumpers, it unfortunately meant that the canopy would have a high descent rate. So, our rigger would close over the vent at the top, add a "single T" mod for forward speed and we were good to go. The vented apex on all round parachutes is necessary to prevent oscillation. But, with an aggressive "T" mod there is enough air escaping to prevent oscillation. Many of us back then had this done.

    In our area you could dye your reserve if you wanted to, but for some reason if you did, you considered to be a "pussy".

    We also considered the warning that dyeing nylon would weaken it. Even so, I dyed the top 1/4 of my main cnaopy (28 foot white flat circular, with a "Hustler" mod) with dark red dye, following the jagged appeareance of the panels as they progressed around at the 45 degree bias construction patterm. It was quite sexy - or so I thought. I put over 200 jumps on that canopy and the dyed portion never failed in any way.

  17. In a galxy far away a long time ago...there were a few "Wally Goes Skydiving" videos. Very humorous and poor color quality. A series of humorous skydiving shots, some scantily clad females, etc.. Interspersed with these humorous skydiving vignettes were fake ads. One such ad was advertising Security Unit III's or maybe just Units in general. "Openings by Security" The fake ad was to the effect that if you wanted a parchute that would actually open, the Unit was not for you, and showed a typical streamer. I had a Unit III for a while and the damn thing never opened very good. I remeber being streamered on one jump to the exrent that my open pant legs inflated up into my crotch, as I was still essentially in freefall, but standing up. The Units were pieces of crap. Base jump? Hah! maybe from 2000 feet up, and hope it opens before impact.

  18. Remster:"it is not membership money. It's money coming from the competition fund that members donated to fund the US team. "
    That is not what the Ed Scott editorial stated: Oct Issue. The editorial stated, "Because there are restrictions on how tax-deductible donations to the US Parachute Team Trust Fund may be used, USPA loaned $10,000 to the effort...". If USPA loaned $10,000 it is not from any source other than USPA dues money. Donated money cannot be loaned. Not from the competition fund or any other fund which exists because of donations or gifts. As stated in the editorial, it is from the USPA General fund. That's dues money.

  19. Since one person's retelling of another person's words is one step removed, I'd very much like to see Mr Hayhurst's response to each of the statements posted by 'Ron'. If no response, then one may assume his statemets were not exaggerated or mischaracterized. If all quotes are true in that post, then we can proceed from there.

  21. Buying it, would mean the buyer is enriching the fence (the middleman)-and/or the actual thief. Having an altruistic reason for buying it is not a defense at all. Enriching the thief, directly or thru a middleman is the actual wrong sought to be punished. For good reason. If you enrich the thief, you encourage and reward that thief to continue his stealing. For that, the "good hearted" buyer would be prosecuted and punished.
    There is no "good hearted purchaser exception" (defense) It doesn't exist.

    Let's cool off and think of this thing as thing like the old movie, "The Blob". No way you can touch it without it covering you, and you getting consumed by it. This is a matter for the police. Not well-meaning skydiver buddies. I am one of those buddies too, and would do whatever I could to help another skydiver. This purchase idea isn't the way, unless done with the police.

    I think this story will have a happy ending, as parachute assemblies are only of value to parachutists, we are a small community, and all of the components of this rig are serial numbered.
    This seller who "got it from his brother or whatever" is motivated to move it to get money, and probably hasn't a clue of the above. Because he is not aware of all of this he will screw up. If all of us are diligent and report to every part of this to the police, the story will unfold and probably the true owner of this parachute will ultimately get it back.

    Bad guys who make their life by stealing consider this whole thing as a business. The professional thieves deal in volume. They burglarize regularly, and move the stuff thru their fences, fast. The actual burglar may never get caught because of the unwritten 'snitch code' existing between him and his fences. Fences sell stuff for almost nothing, as they deal in volume too, and have to move fast. The person who buys the stolen stuff doesn't care if it is stolen and could care less about the original victim and is therefore considered to be just as evil as the burglar and his fence, because he is the one who makes it all work. If no one bought anything they "knew" (ridiculous price) to be stolen, the professional burglars would pretty much be out of business. That is how the enterprise is viewed, and why all of this plays out badly for anyone involved, and explains why the criminal justice system vigorously prosecutes and punishes the purcahaser. Even one with good motives.

  22. You go down to a bar and some guy says he has a new flat screen TV in the manufacturer's box for $50, and "it's OK because his brother got it somewhere." You buy it; it turns out to be stolen. You are going to be prosecuted along with the thief or the thief's fence. End of story.

    Yes of course this is prosecuted, and should be. Otherwise the fences could simply set up shop in every dive bar and the general public could regularly stop by for the latest "deal". The end result would be to encourage theft and burglary, as the above scenario makes it easy for the thief/burglar to move his ill gotten gains by directly selling stolen goods or by doing it through a fence.

    Criminal laws are created to punish behavior destructive to an ordered society. Encouraging theft and burglary and making a cottage industry facilitating the sale and distribution of stolen goods (this guy is probably a fence) is not a good thing.

    This thread starts with "Mirage is probaly stolen..." and the chief indicator of it's being stolen is that a 3000 rig is being offered for $250.00. Yes, a police detective may have a great interest in investigating this case, as it may expose a fence, who, when facing time, and in order to get a lighter sentence, will 'turn' on the actual burglar. You might be underestimating the power and tenacity of a good police department.

    Bottom line, if a person buys this rig for $250 and it is clearly worth 10 times that much, he better be looking over his shoulder, as he has just bought an item a reasonable person should believe was stolen.
    A 'wink and a nod' way of life is not an honorable exsistence.

  23. Butler. Part number and all. I have a pair in my loft.

    4 line release is still an option on brand NEW pilot emergency parachutes. New c-9 canopies. This is a parachute for the warbird pilots market. I saw one at a mfg booth at Osh Kosh this year.

  24. As a former Dist Atty. I am sure the law in northern Calif is the same as everywhere: (appx) Any person who knowiingly purchases stolen goods, or purchases goods that he should have a reasonable belief are stolen, is guilty of theft.

    So, don't buy a $2000 rig for $250, as you would be in the second category. You would be "complicit" as they say. You'd be in deep yogurt - fast.

    Turn this guy over to the nearest police detective to investigate. Meanwhile, hope the true owner sees this post and is able to ID his stolen gear. Only an undercover cop can make a decoy buy. You can't