indyz

Mark corrected me on an issue that I thought was resolved with the last update to the FAR. Unfortunately there is still ambiguity. It all comes down to how the FSDO chooses to interpret it. This happens a lot with the FARs. Some riggers choose the conservative interpretation, some choose the liberal interpretation. Most, I think, go with the interpretation that lets them do they things they want to do. Better to ask forgiveness than permission and all of that.

Correct. The old wording under FAR 105.43 either allowed it or was ambiguous (I can't remember which right now). The current wording is: No ambiguity there. If they wanted to allow packing reserves under supervision, they would have worded it similarly to section (a).

Yes. I got my Neptune when they first came out and the battery indicator was pretty unreliable, especially in the cold. I had it shut down in freefall on several occasions. I also had several freezes/reboots in the air. Haven't had any issues in a long time, though.

I love my 217N-06. The number after the dash is the maximum width of the stitch in millimeters, -06, -08, or -12. All 217s can sew a 304 stitch. A 308 requires a cam reader that is bolted on to the back of the head and the correct cam. Cams are tough to find and expensive when you do find them, but they are available. This thread has some useful information.

There are at least three riggers in the Milwaukee area. If you email [email protected] (that's Sky Knights that wolfriverjoe mentioned), they will put you in touch.

I agree, I really don't like the idea of two carabiners. We have a small American flag that we use for demos. The top end connects to a rear riser with a cheap key-ring "carabiner", which is orders of magnitude weaker than a real carabiner or snap link. The bottom end is a bungee loop that slips loosely over the jumper's shoe. It is easy to kick off, and in the worst case you can kick the entire shoe off.

A friend of mine had a horseshoe and tried to cut the bridle with his hook knife. He died with the knife in his hand and nothing out. Nothing is certain, but if he had just dumped his reserve he would probably still be around to tell the story. In this sort of high-speed situation, it is critical to get a parachute open. Sort out the mess once everything is slowed down. FWIW, the best trackers in the world can throw out in a full track and not have anything hit their feet. My guess is that you were either in a steep dive instead of a good flat track, or you put your feet way up on your butt as you came out of your track and threw, or some combination of both. Try to get a more experienced jumper to video your track.

A 220lb link is either a hardware store link or the relatively rare #3.5 rapide link. If the bridle allows it, skip the link and just use a larks head knot. Otherwise use a #5 rapide link or bigger, or a slink.

You might also want to check out http://www.vrbo.com/ for house rentals. At Nationals we got a really nice house 10 minutes from the DZ. Split 4 ways we paid about $200 each for 9 days.

There are a lot of ways to do an intentional cutaway. UPT has Skyhook demo rigs that are basically normal Vectors with a belly mount tertiary canopy. Pros: It comes the closest to real emergency procedures. The rigging is fairly simple. Cons: You have to find the main, freebag, any handles you dropped, and you have to pack the reserve after every use. There are some rigs out there that have three canopies on the back. Two "mains" and a normal reserve. Pros: You don't have to pack a reserve. Cons: The procedures are more complicated and the rigs can be tough to find. I believe Strong does or did make them available to rating candidates. There are belly mount mains. Pros: Once you chop, you are basically back to a normal sport rig. Cons: Deployment can be tricky. The containers are usually built in the field and quality and safety varies. You can wear a second harness and static-line the primary. Pros: Same as a belly mount main. Cons: You can hurt yourself if you screw up the rigging or the static lining. These systems are almost always homemade and often aren't well thought out. There are other options. If your profile correct you have at least 200 jumps to go before you are eligible for the rating. My advice would be to don't sweat it for now. When you get closer to taking the course, contact your local course director or the manufacturer and see what they recommend.

Even if you don't have a blade in your cutter, you aren't any worse off than jumping with no AAD at all. You can also do the rough math: Odds of having a defective cutter despite not being on the list + odds of needing your AAD this repack cycle = very small but real. Or for the cost of a repack you can be sure.

At the risk of starting yet another FAR/TSO/AC-105 fight: Don't worry about what Airtec says. If Vigil says Cypres loops and discs are ok, then use them if you want.

I would bet a nice steak dinner that it's a Wings. Every one I've ever assembled has come with a loop like that. The reserve ripcord and/or housing is coated with some sort of oil. I think it wicks into the loop. I wipe down the ripcord with a rag, make a new loop, and get on with the assembly.

Proper harness adjustment really helps. The further forward you can position the hip joints the easier it will be for the student. Once the lowers are loosened you can help the student scoot the leg straps forward a few inches so that they are in more of a sitting position. When briefing and practicing the landing, I have the student first lift their knees like they are sitting in a chair, which seems to be fairly easy for most people, then lift their feet up. I am lucky in that I am fairly tall and long legged, so just the sitting position works well enough about 75% of the time. When landing I keep my legs close together, so that they are under the student's butt instead of off to the side. In light winds I land on my feet and start to slide. If I decide not to stand up, I lean back, letting my feet get farther in front as I transition to sitting down. This also helps bring the students feet up. It ends with the student sitting in my lap and not touching the ground at all until we have completely stopped and I let them down.

That is quite far from the truth. A removable slider can be beneficial for non-competitive swoopers as well as for non-swoopers in some cases. Not at 300 jumps, but, of course, the original poster will only hear what he wants to hear. I agree, and not necessarily for swooping. I'm not going to see any noticeable improvement in my swoops, but if I went back jumping my full camera setup on a regular basis I would consider a removable slider. One less thing to snag. And I believe that some models can be ordered with kill lines, so I wouldn't have to remove it if I wasn't jumping the camera.

My bad. I was trying to describe something like echelon without saying echelon and I wasn't clear enough. When I'm docking late on a stack, or even not so late on a stack that I know is going to be fast, I park down, ahead, and to the side (45 degrees, 45 degrees, and 45 degrees) and the let formation come to me.

JoAnn Fabrics carries a few different weights of clear plastic that would probably work. It's on the same rack as the heavy-duty fabrics and ripstop.

There needs to be room for common sense. It's hilarious watching a coach with 210 jumps and a year in the sport take somebody with 6000 jumps on a recurrency jump, just because he hasn't jumped in 7 months.

You've noticed that the stack has increased forward speed and descent rate. Use this to your advantage. Position yourself ahead of and below the base and let it come to you after it builds. You will still probably have to do some risering to complete the dock, but with some practice you won't get stuck chasing. You can also ask the pilot of the stack to pull a little bit of brakes to help slow things down.

I made my request on the 3rd of this month and received the file on the 6th, so I'm assuming it is reasonably up-to-date. The person I can't find had his ticket issued in the 60s and hasn't been active for a decade.

Got the attached file from the FAA. A couple of things: - It appears to be somewhat incomplete. I was able to locate one person who appears in the FAA's online database but not in this file. - The file originally included addresses, which I removed because I am uncomfortable releasing that information wholesale. If you need an address, you can use the name to look it up in the online database.

Just saw this after getting home from a week in Moab. I didn't have skydiving gear anyway, but I would have come out to say hi. Maybe next time.

PEC is Parachute Equipment Corp. Their web page used to be paraequip.com, but it doesn't seem to work anymore.

The raw data that the FAA makes available does not include seal symbol or any limits information, for some reason. I went ahead and made the FOIA request. I put a pretty low spending cap on the request, so I'm not sure if I'll get anything.

An enterprising person could build a workable system. The FAA Airmen database (without seal symbols) is available for free. A list of seal symbols in electronic form should be just an FOIA request away. Merging the two should be straight forward, although I'm sure the government would find a way to make things difficult. Or you could just call the local FSDO or DPRE and ask if they can help.