BillLockwood

There is another more significant importance that everyone including the lawyer types seams to be missing here. If Bill buys only the assets and not the liabilities of the other companies and forms this new company which is what I bet he did, then he just shed all future liability of about 45,000 containers. I give Bill credit as it is a smart business move. What is better than being "uninsured"... being non-existent and having no assets! Can anyone say check mate?

I just found out that Mike collapsed at home Wednesday afternoon. He is in the CDU (critical decision unit) at the local medical center waiting to be moved to another hospital down south.

I was talking about the free stow part of your post. I think that the Icon uses flutes to stow the lines instead of free stowing. I looked at the manual that you posted but it does not show putting the canopy in the bag or stowing the lines.

Using that analogy you could say the same thing about the skyhook. Also, by definition and the fact that it is a production item that is made in different sizes for both sport and tandem it is not a one off design. Does the Icon use free stow or another design?

That is nice, so again, what are your qualifications and what testing have you done to dispute the manufacturer? Yes, I am aware of it and have seen it many times, but what does that have to do with what I said since I never referenced it? If “there was no altitude to spare on those deployments” as you claim then how come it was eight seconds between opening and landing? Challenging me for the known videos that clearly show sub 100ft. openings has nothing to do with the fact that you have failed to show a single piece of evidence in the form of test, data etc. to dispute it. Like I asked before, your “knowledge” is based on what? Show us the videos of the test that you have done to dispute the factory results. You would be correct if I had not personally heard you say it at the drop zone!!! BTW, that would therefore not be libel and that is according to case law and not your all knowing dictionary. "perceived greatness of the Skyhook"? Clearly you have now shown your prejudice about the Skyhook. Just because you have not seen it does not in any way make it less credible, it just weakens your case for not having reviewed all of the data prior to making unfounded assumptions. I would recommend that you go over to RWS and let them show you the videos before you comment further. So that you understand, I do not condone ever deviating from emergency procedures including altitude. The discussion that I am having here is only what the equipment is capable of.

You really need to think before you hit the enter key! What evidence do you have to contradict the manufacture? The manufacturer has hundreds of videoed skyhook deployments that the estimates came from, how many do you have? The manufacturer has been designing equipment for over 30 years and has engineers, designers, master riggers and test jumpers with hundreds of years of combined experience in addition to multiple patients. What do you have? You might think twice about making slanders statements.

If all of the stuff you listed above is "free" then why does it cost $69.00 to get to the "free" stuff? And as I remember, the entry fee went from $59.00 to $69.00 to pay for the new bathrooms/showers, clearly those are paid for, so is the fee going to drop back to the $59.00? What is being done to attract the vendors back? The WFFC has the highest entry prices with the highest jump prices, how is it that other large boogies like the Eloy holiday boogie can pull it off with cheaper entry fees, free vendor space and lower jump tickets? It is time for Don to step up to the plate and tell everybody what will or will not be done and end the speculation.

Four years difference? I don't think so. But then this has always been a problem with Jump Shack, they make a good product then loose credibility with exaggerations. And as far as "testing it" you might want to check with the FAA as they do not show any record of a change submission to allow the speedbag as part of the TSO.

You might want to check your facts since your own web site says that it has been less than three years HERE.

Wow, something to be proud of and aspire to.What about the innocent people that did not do you wrong, did you take the same conviction to publicly apologize on here for that?

I agree, you don’t. I think that all of the people that have been hurt or killed with the present bags would disagree. Based on that we should never design or test anything new because it has not been tested as much as what is already in use. “Regularly” I would agree with, but if it reduces the irregular times that people are getting hurt then it is a good thing. You don’t have to. I’m sure that you have much more wisdom than PD and all of the major manufactures out there. So then the worst case scenario that you can come up with is that the rubber bands will break on deployment and your reserve will work? And this is a bad thing? It is a funny thing about prejudice, it never shows much reason. Do you say the same thing about all of the hundreds of thousands of pilot emergency rigs out there? Just because you could not pack it does not make it a bad thing. And since you took the time to go online here to slam it did you take the same time to go online to get the packing instructions? Now this is really confusing as virtually all pilot emergency rigs and the latest most advanced military high speed deployment system uses rubber bands instead of stow bands or flutes and for good reason. Well, since the latest designs that are coming out are already eliminating grommets I guess that theory is blown and it didn’t even take 10-15 years! Now let’s take an objective look at the pros and cons of the speed bag. Pros: In addition to by design preventing line strip and bag dump the speed bag also has innovative balanced line stows. This has proven to provide a more consistent even deployment of the lines with less bag wobble or movement. Since the bag is made for both main and reserve there have been thousands of deployments, so to say that it is unproven is untrue. It was designed to address the high speed deployments since skydivers routinely do something other than belly to earth that the present designs were made for. Also the reason that rubber bands were chosen is specifically because they will break where shock cord won’t. Cons: Those damn rubber bands! Any competent rigger will and should replace the rubber bands on every repack. And with any new design there is the learning curve and the speed bag is no exception. It does take about five minutes longer to pack because of the individual line stows. In conclusion, I have four rigs and I wish the three that are not racers had the speed bag. I did use the main speed bag for a while but stopped because of the repack time. As Rob said for tandems, it makes the most sense and is probably the safest bag out there. I also took one of the free factory riggers classes as I have done for several different systems and learned how to pack it, so for me it is no more or less difficult to pack than any other rig. Innovation is a good thing, maybe the speed bag will catch, maybe it won’t, but I’m glad that there are people thinking outside of the box so that I don’t have to drive a Model T Ford to work.

I apologize as I need to learn how to read. I was thinking that this was a BOD meeting not a general membership. Now I understand why no business was conducted as there was not a quorum. As to the issue of the repack cycle, the petition was filled by the PIA on behalf of all parties including the USPA and can be found here with the FAA response here Thank you for taking the lead to make people aware of the meeting and trying to get them there. You clearly did your part as a member.

So are the owners and businesses behind Skyride members or not? What happened with their appeal? And I am not talking about the litigation side. Since the PIA is really the group taking the lead on the repack issue what did the BOD do? Based on what you reported and given the above it seams that it was a typical meeting with a lot of "discussion" and little action. The BOD should come to the meeting prepared to take "action". This would be the proactive approach to progressing the USPA. As far as addressing issues with the BOD, I have had several discussions with disappointing responses. 100% of the issues to date that I have brought up for discussion has immediately been dismissed without consideration of the suggestions offered. Just my 2 cents.

Your statements have no merit of law. The patent is valid and has standing in the courts. Until you can cite a ruling otherwise, anything further that you have to say about this issue is irrelevant.

According to whom, you? So given your statement above, all of the information that you post on here is subject to validation as you may knowingly give wrong information because of what you may believe is in the best interest of someone? The bottom line is that the Skyhook most certainly could save your life at a lower altitude regardless of the reason as to how you got there. I do however agree with the last part of your last sentance.