jcbfly

It's the same. An average of one out of every 1000 participants in skydiving or hang gliding gets killed very year. BTW: The FAI considers paragliding to a form of hang gliding and both are governed here in the USA by the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Assoc. (USHPA) These days there are about 6000 members in the USHPA and there are an average of 6 fatal accidents each year. There are about 30,000 members in the USPA and an average of 30 die in fatal crashes every year. Some years it's more and some it's less, but if you look at the stats going back for the last 30 years or so, I think you'll find 1 fatality per 1000 members per year to be realistic for both sports.

I called Sun Path and talked with one of their riggers a few days ago. I was told that Sun Path is currently investigating this situation and that there are no product improvements or AD's for Skyhook equipped Javelins at this time. So for now at least, Skyhook equipped Javelins are good to go.

Mike, do I have this right? The 2" differential is measured before you thread the stretched Cypres loop thru it's washer, and that yields the required 1" diff once the loops fitted with their respective washers and installed.

Thanks for the invitation to visit Z-Hills and try out some suits. Fly B4 U buy makes a lot of sense. It'll be after Christmas B4 I can make the trip, so meanwhile I'll keep rocking the Intro and asking questions about what to look for. Based on your observations I think the Raptor is more what I'm looking for. So far I like flying for speed and distance more than aerobatics, and since I'm the only WS at my DZ I don't do much flocking Is the S-Fly Expert kinda in the same class as the Raptor and Ghost? Any others I should be checking out?

I'm a self taught bird from a very small DZ where I'm the only WS pilot. I've got about 70 flights on a Tony Intro, and I'm starting to dream about a higher performance, but still easy to fly suit. The Phantom 2 and Raptor seem like two good options. Would anyone with experience in both suits help me out by sharing their experience? What are the differences? Which one is better in terms of ease of use? Which is better from a performance standpoint? What other suits should I be looking at?

On Friday August 29th we flew a "missing man" formation for Elijah. 2 Cessna 182s took to the sunset skies over our student DZ. At 4k AGL Elijah's father Danny opened the door of the lead plane and poured some of Elijah's ashes into the slipstream and then Danny exited followed by Lee Norris and Elijah's AFF partner Ken Mascarenas. Next, Krishan, Kyle, me, and Steven Stoffan exited from the follow plane. After we landed we held a memorial service complete with remembrances of Elijah, a slideshow. a moving memorial video by FR#2, a bonfire, some fireworks, and plenty of beer. Later, there was even some naked fire jumping... Here's the eulogy. Let us pray. First, is the east, the air, and second is south, which is fire. Next is west, to the Pacific, and to water. The last is north, earth, the earth to which our bodies will return. Lord God, ruler of these elements, be with us tonight as we remember our brother, son, and grandson Elijah. Amen. Tonight we have come together as a community of family and friends to share our love and remembrances of Elijah. This is a night for sadness, but it’s also a night for celebration. A celebration of Elijah, and a celebration of life itself. I’m going to talk for a few minutes about Elijah’s life, and then I’d like to invite anyone that has thoughts, stories, and tall tales to tell about Elijah, to come up and share them with the group. Born on November 30th, 1981, Elijah was only 26 years old when he died, but in the short time he was here with us, he lived more passionately, more fully, more completely than most of the rest of us could if we lived to be 100. Elijah grew up in California, and spent many childhood afternoons running around the dropzone in Perris, California with his younger brother Isaiah, while their father Danny was up skydiving. At 18 Elijah joined the Navy and served his country for 2 years. After completing his military service he returned to New Mexico to be near his family. It was at this point in his life that he followed his father’s footsteps right out the open door of an airplane and started skydiving. From his first jump he was naturally talented and almost completely fearless. Elijah quickly evolved into an advanced expert jumper. By the end of his life he had made over 1000 skydives and he held most of the sport’s highest ratings, including Freefall and Tandem Instructor. Elijah wasn’t just a great instructor, he embraced all types of skydiving; he learned new things quickly and was good at everything he tried. To say that Elijah loved to fly is a gross understatement. He didn’t just love to fly, he lived to fly. In the fast and unforgiving world of skydiving Elijah found focus and calm. He was truly at home in the sky. At the end of every skydiving day, when everyone else was too tired to pack their parachutes for one more jump, Elijah would somehow use his charisma and enthusiasm to persuade us to make one more jump anyway. If he couldn’t get enough us together to fill a bigger plane, he’d get one of his good friends Lee or Patrick to take him up in their smaller planes, and he’d jump by himself. Many of us here have shared the air with Elijah, some of us are Elijah’s former students, others in this group are his fellow Instructors. Anyone that ever jumped with Elijah will never forget his huge grin in freefall. Even when his beard was flying up in his face at 120 mph, you could still catch an occasional glimpse of that great big smile. Elijah was truly blessed with his love of flying. It gave his life tremendous meaning and focus. It also gave him a strong sense of continuity and family since his father is a skydiver and he spent all his skydiving days with his “Pops” and best friend Danny, right here at Skydive New Mexico. As much as he was a flying man, Elijah was also a family man. In family, Elijah was again extremely blessed. The Combests are a both a small, tight knit group and a huge extended family. This family looks out for each other, and they are also incredibly warm, generous and welcoming. Elijah was a very lucky man to be so close to his father Danny, his brother Isaiah, and his grandmother Fances. He is also survived by his mother Lori and grandmother Joy on the other side of his family. Our hearts go out to Lori, because no mother should ever have to lose a son, especially a son whose life had barely begun. Elijah left us with two more grieving mothers; Hailey’s mother, Sasha, and Kendal’s mom, Yadira. Our prayers go out to these young mothers who now face the challenge of raising their girls without a father. Any description of Elijah’s family has got to include his loving girlfriend Marissa. Marissa, Elijah was a lucky man to have you in his life. Finally, and most importantly Elijah the family man also left us with two beautiful daughters; Hailey and Kendal. Hailey and Kendal, your father was an exceptional man. It is our job, as members of this community to not let Elijah’s memory die. We are responsible for telling these girls about their father as they grow older and are more able to understand and learn from the example he set in his life. It’s senseless to distill a man’s life down to some words on paper and a few minutes of talk. What I’ve given here is just the simplest outline of a life that was, in every way, so much larger than life. I hope that some of you will come up when I’m done and add some detail to this bare outline of Elijah’s life. Life is a test. A test of love, of loyalty, a test of wisdom, a test of bravery and strength. A test of our generosity and patience, and a test of our faith. Elijah passed life’s tests. He just worked through the program faster than the rest of us; just like he always did. In the end, the measure of one’s life isn’t how a man sees himself, or what a man possessed, or even what a man accomplished in his life. In the end, it’s not so much about your own life, but the lives you touched. All of us are here because Elijah touched us in so many ways. As I look around this gathering of people that loved Elijah as a brother, I know that Elijah’s life was a life very well lived. It’s OK to be sad that he’s gone, but we should also celebrate tonight and be grateful and joyful for the time that we had with our departed brother, son, and grandson. Life is full of meaning and very, very short. Let us pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. [For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Skydive New Mexico has lost our strongest, most talented jumper. Elijah passed quietly in his sleep last Thursday night/Friday morning. In his short 26 years he lived more than most. Elijah held all the Instructor ratings and was the workhorse of of SDNM's instructional staff. He loved every kind of skydiving, and was always trying to get one more load up so that he could fly his wing suit, swoop his Katana, or turn a few points. Elijah was a second generation skydiver. His father Danny learned to jump in the Marine Corps way back in the day, and has been an active skydiver ever since. Elijah and his brother Isaiah spent many childhood afternoons roaming the Perris DZ while Danny jumped. There will be a memorial service held at our student LZ this Friday at 7:00 PM. Please send me a PM for details. BSBD

I had great openings on the Storm. Soft and on heading, just like a Spectre, just marginally quicker than a Spectre. Same snatch force, but the Storm snivels a little less.

I just spent a couple of weekends with a demo Storm 135 and my impression is that it's a perfect first canopy, if it's loaded appropriately. I have a couple hundred jumps on Spectres and overall I'd say that the Storm is a refined Spectre with slightly quicker openings and a stronger flare.

I made my first 5 flights on my new Intro suit last weekend. What a fantastic toy! The Intro felt instantly stable and intuitive to fly. To me, it feels even easier to fly than my tracking suit. Anyway, I'm so stoked I just had to share...

The nice folks at Aerodyne answered me directly with the same basic info riggerrob gave me: >>>>>The Solo is a completely new design. The Solo is in smaller sizes and has a slightly tapered trailing edge. The Skymaster was larger and rectangular in shape.

Our skydiving club is considering the purchase of Aerodyne Solo student main canopies to replace our PISA Skymasters. I've been told that most of the PISA design and testing staff is now working at Aerodyne's factory in South Africa. Is the Solo simply a "rebranded" Skymaster, a modified version of the Skymaster, or is it a completely new design?

"dorris" replied to my ad too, but it was obviously a scam from the getgo...

Sometime next season, our 2 Cessna skydiving club wants to bring a larger aircraft to our small DZ for a weekend boogie. As the club's newbie "event organizer" I'm trying to learn how to accomplish this. I'm looking for something bigger than a 182, but smaller than a Twin Otter. Maybe a PAC 750, Caravan, Porter...?

The folks at Super Fly in Salt Lake City teach PG and speed gliding, and they are also the North American distributors of Gin paragliders and speed gliders. Jeff and Chris, the main instructors, are also way into skiing and skydiving as a recreational activities. http://www.superflyinc.com/

Will there be a first flight course available?

Thanks to everyone who shared their experience with me. I'm gonna put my seam ripper away for now. I ordered a new pilot chute with a "Birdman" bridle and a PVC handle from Jim Cazer.

After searching the web, calling UPT, and talking to a rigger or two at my DZ, here's what I've found out about making my V348M more wingsuit friendly. I'd like to hear from anyone with actual experience with these Vector 3 mods B4 I get out the seam ripper... 1. Open up the bottom corner seams of the container all the way to the floor of the packtray. 2. Move the non locking line stows from the outside edges of the d-bag more towards the middle, such that none of the bights of stowed line extend past the edges of the d-bag. This could be accomplished by moving the loops that capture the stow bands, or adding a line stow pouch to the d-bag and eliminating the non-locking stow bands. 3. Lengthen the bridle, making it 100 inches from the closing pin to the base of the PC. Anyone have any other/better ideas?

My 2 Cessna club DZ will give you a pass at 5000 on any load for $18 - full alti is 10.5 k AGL and costs $23.

Davey Prentice is the only guy I know of here in the USA that builds PG D-Bags and also teaches PG D-Bag FJC's. Prentice on the web: www.earthcog.com

First, great book. It helped me to succeed on my second attempt at AFF. As a jumper I prefer #1, but if you are trying to reach wuffos, I think #2 is better . Why? Because I think the average ground-clinging wuff is more familiar/comfortable with the idea of "battling" than "flowing".

Thanks for the help! I tried the "sticky pad", but no joy! I wrote Alti-2 and they asked me to send it back, which I did. I thought that their customer service was excellent.

Anyone know any secrets for removing the face from a Galaxy. The manual says to apply gentle pressure and turn it counterclockwise, but the friking thing won't budge, even when I apply substantailly greater than "gentle" pressure.

You rock Raj!

Here's some more info including wing specs and a cool movie - maybe some kind soul will make a clicky : http://www.gingliders.com/products/nano.php A combo of skiing, swooping and paragliding. The risers attach at your hips like a paragliding rig. I've only done one ground launch off a 300 foot hill on a Nano, but it was FUN! The Nano has been d-bagged out of an airplane at sub terminal speeds, but it's built like a PG - not suitable for terminal deployments.