dpreguy

Yup
remwa, djl and wendy are correct. Whatever it is going to be, it should be predictable.
Yes, find a safe place a long ways off if you are caught up in a tricky situation.

For the "First man down" idea to work, that first man down has to fly a long-enough pattern that allows those above to see which direction he has chosen to land. Frequently, the first man down has a small canopy and knows he is not accompanied by other jumpers under canopy - so he goes "this way-that way- whatever way" until about 300 feet off the ground. Then more or less swoops, usually a 90 degree turn to final and then lands. Only when the jumpers above see that final decision can they set up for the load landing direction. Sometimes they are not that far above. Then by the time the hotshot decides to turn on final, (He is of course at 90 degrees to the wind line -which allows him to choose - right or left) (?will it be a 90 degree turn to the left or the right? No one knows- everyone above is guessing) Result? The jumpers above are in difficulty trying to set up to the to the direction, some so low they are 180 degrees off, seemingly decided at the last few seconds by the hotshot 'first man down."

My point here, is that the first man down has to fly a reasonably long approach to make the "first man down rule" work. Jerking right or left on a 90 degree final approach swoop leaves those above guessing and adjusting at pretty low altitudes. "Which way is he going to go?" doesn't cut it. Yes, this happens. A lot.

I have wondered the same thing - as in the original poster's question. It is obvious that this question does not present itself above the arming altitude of your AAD device 1000 feet....1200 feet uh...1400 feet....what ever the device arms at.

But, his question is still lurking. BELOW the arming altitude how fast must the airplane descend for your AAD to fire?

So, distilling the math (in my head) and seeing that most (OK not all) of the devices are arming at 78 miles per hour descent rate...wow!- the airplane would have to almost be "standing on it's head" to achieve a 78 mph descent rate. At that point, and at that altitude (below 1200 feet for example) the pilot better pull off some miracle to recover from a 78 mph descent rate. A rate I would compare to being in a helluva dive.

Tell me if I'm wrong here, but it is my conclusion that below the 1200 foot or 1000 foot AGL altitude an airplane would be in a "ready to crash" mode to have a 78 mph descent rate.

So, I am not inclined to worry about an AAD fire below 1000 feet; even if the pilot is descending so fast as to float me to the ceiling! At 1000 feet and below, that would (as Wendy more or less said) be an airplane in big trouble.

I have two, but they are modified as "9 TU" s. Interested?

I think that honor goes to Jeff Jonston

I have "flown" one at PIA for two and maybe three meetings. Multiple times. It just gets better. They keep improving it.

Oblelixm is correct, The sport evolves and training evolves and get's better. It is such an improvement (80's 90's) holding 11x 14 photos over the student's head while in a hanging harness. then USPA came out with videos-better... VR is just a modern evolution. It is the best way. Give it a chance. See if it can be done economically in some form.

Replying to my own post. I looked it up. They do make one.

Racer makes a pilot emergency parachute?

The affidavits in support of the issuance and the return itself are public information after the search warrant is executed...unless ......(yes, the "unless" part) the agency, state or federal asks the judge to withhold releasing the return and the supporting affidavits on the basis of "ongoing investigation", affiant's safety, etc. There has to be a reason that will fly with the judge. Eventually they are all released.

One flight some fucker stuffed his guitar in a big hard case in the overhead (sideways, of course, that's the only way it would fit) and then put his fucking suitcase in the bin on the other side of the aisle. No room in the spaces occupied by the big fucking guitar, so naturally he then poaches the space across the aisle for his suitcase. So basically he fucked 4 of the six seated in the row. I was hoping he would choke on the peanuts.

After the execution of a search warrant, and it is returned, the affidavit(s) in support of it are available to the public. They always tell the tale.

I think it was early 90's. Just before sunset. Jack (last name unimportant) was observed by many of us on the ground to have an open canopy. We all wondered why he was just going and going and going downwind. Unconscious for sure. Knocked out on opening? (He was a marathoner and did 100 mile races with running and bicycling) Even so, there was talk of a failed heart due to a hard opening? No one knows for sure. There were a 15 or 20 of us skydivers watching the whole thing. We never knew why, but he just kept going into the Western sun and landed without any toggle input. Not ever. He was so far away we just saw his canopy disappear on the horizon. That was it. Emergency crew found him dead. He had impacted a dirt embankment. All of us were watching him go about maybe a mile or more downwind without any corrections. Pretty sure it was a PD Stilletto. All of us saying, "What is going on ? Why doesn't he turn? All of us with increasing anxiety and dread as he got closer to the ground.

Was he dead at opening time? Did he die because of the impact? Even after medical exam no one ever knew. Very sad day. We lost a good friend.

OK I need to confess that I didn't know there was an S-Fire.
Who makes it? I will go google it and find out
Obviously my comments are about the Safire, and misplaced. Sorry.

Jumped a Safire from the factory guys at a boogie. It was a good canopy, but...since you asked.. The main difference between the PD products I also test jumped at the boogie was the length of the flare stroke. With the Safire (can't remember if it was a 2 or 3) I found I had to push the toggles almost down to my knees to get the same flare I got from a PD product by pushing the toggles to my waist. I jump a Stilleto 170.

I guess you'd get used to the longer flare stroke, but going from what I would call a "standard" flare stroke to the much longer Safire stroke was a surprise to me. Jumped the Sabre 2 there too and found the flare stroke to be of "normal" length, and quite nice. Ok, one jump. I get it. But I rejected the Safire because of the unusually long flare stroke. That's just me. Have jumped the Aerodyne Pilot and found the stroke to be also "normal" (to the waist) too.

One observer, one jump, one opinion here. Best to jump loaners and see if you agree and are happy with the product you will eventually buy.

Councilman, (and other commentators) is absolutely correct that the tube type bumper, what ever it is made of MUST not be allowed the possibility to slide up the suspension lines. They have to be tacked down in some manner.

Using rubber surgical tubing, vinyl, or plastic are short cut solutions and are not the way to go. They are reminiscent of the 70's. I wouldn't use them; unless they are so tight they are like shrink tube, and even then should be tacked down.

In my opinion, the best bumpers, (if you are going to use Rapides) are the folded piece of webbing sewn up both sides and the lines go thru, and the Rapide link is "threaded" thru the folded part. Like the "pilgrims hats" supplied with soft links. But...I don't understand why anyone in the sport world, on ram air canopies with sliders still use Rapides? Soft links (more than one manufacturer) are faster and easier to put on and take off, and no bumper is necessary for a few jumps. Besides, soft links are stronger. Yes for many many jumps, as in a skydiver sport main canopy, even soft links need a bumper, and as all know, are supplied with the soft link = Pilgrim's hats. But for the few jumps put on a base rig, not necessary. Just be observant and replace at the sign of the slightest wear. Doubled 1500 Spectra has a huge margin of strength/safety. Rapides require bumper inventions. Why go there in the first place?

(In pilot emergency rigs with round canopies Rapides are just fine, as there is no slider. Just have to make sure they are tight. And.. a couple of turns around the suspension line loops are nice to keep the lines from migrating around the link.)

If the DZ said "no refunds ever" and never got any refund at all, I am with you. If that was the final outcome then that is crap. I was just pointing out that "outing" a DZ on this forum ought to be 100% accurate.

DB Cooper. "Guy went to an SOS event, ...weather went bad- guy refused a refund" Most readers would agree that is a bad practice/policy. However, not enough facts there to indict the DZ for bad policy and name them as a bad actor..

If he paid in cash, then he should be outraged and go to this forum to complain about it and name the DZ. Fair enough.

But, if he paid with a credit card, he has to deal with the consequences and all of the stuff outlined in the T dog response.

Any jumper who goes to an event and uses a credit card will have to deal with the consequences, once again, outlined by Tdog.
Discounts for admin fees, refund procedures from the provider, etc etc. /Delay in the processing, etc. Live with it. That's the penalty for using a credit card. There are no details of how this was eventually handled, whether the expected refund was made (ever) and what hassles the DZ operator had and whether it began as a credit card deposit. In short, before naming a DZ as "bad", there should be more info of how this started and more importantly, how it ended.

Anyone who goes to an event and pays cash (I'll wager) will instantly get any refund, that he asks for if the event is cancelled by weather. If not, then using the forum to complain is legit. Bad actor for sure.

Use a credit card? Want a refund? Deal with the problems and consequences of using a credit card and don't complain too early and don't complain about charges for the hassle and can of worms problems caused by it. It was your choice to use it. The eventual outcome should be reasonable for the jumper and the DZ; but expecting it be done on the spot/instantly depends on how sophisticated the DZ's system is set up. Instant refunds may be unreasonable to a small business operating as a Drop Zone.

It is not a bushing, as a bushing is internal and is a bearing surface. A bushing is typically installed to reduce the diameter of the hole a shaft goes into. It is not an axle, as an axle is the shaft that a wheel or pully turns around. It is not a shaft. It is a device that slips over a shaft.

I think that part of the drawing is best described as a sleeve with threaded set screw holes. (As a sleeve "slips over somethng".)

Didn't Bruce Brown also narrate/make 'On Any Sunday' ?

Another example of a "packer with a rigger's license".
A rigger ALWAYS CHECKS HIS WORK. A packer just does the job and throws it over the fence - so to speak.

So, 1. Get your 20 back reserves packed 2. Buy the Dauntless written exam cheat sheet. Use it as your only study guide when you are packing the 20 3. Go to a well-known rigger examiner "mill" and presto. You are a legal rigger - known to all as "Rigger Lite".

No need to actually acquire actual skills, no need to acquire the rigger practices such as, "A rigger always checks his work" etc.
This picture indicates an attitude problem more than anything. Not a lack of skills problem. Being an actual rigger means you have inculcated the habits, the well-known rigger practices and you actually care.

Have I ever made a rigging mistake? Sure. But, do I (and other well-trained riggers) always check my work? Yes 100% of the time. Attitude attitude attitude.

Dan G I agree with you. A few man hugs are Ok as you describe. Just not liking it to be an expected practice every time a man meets a man. Way too (as you say) touchy -feely for me. If a man hugged me because we just met I would consider it an invasion of my space, not a homosexual thing. Offensive on a 'my space' basis.

Metcalf's reaction was just being a dick. No need for that.

When men guests leave or I meet a man I don't do that California huggy shit. If pressed I shake their hand. This man huggy crap started a while ago. I don't like it. I am not a dick about it though. I just shove my had out for a handshake if I feel like it. Most of the time I don't do anything. I say, "see you soon" or something like that.

I don't know when the "man huggy shit " greeting fad started, but for me, the sooner it ends, the better.

Women, on the other hand...if they want one - they get a hug. If they don't then I don't.

Squirrel makes canopies?

Oh yeah...and make it look like an accident.

Peanut butter sandwich bear defense tactic;

This 'slower co worker' strategy works even better with a peanut butter sandwich. When the bear appears, take the sandwich apart and stick the slices to your co worker's back. Then run.