AndyMan

First, cookies seem to expire frequently, causing me to re-log in every few days. Secondly, a suggestion. How about a link from within the forums, to a users profile. Not the forum profile, but the one that lists canopy, ratings, etc. Thirdly, publish the connection info for the Pub, so that we don't have to use your IRC client. Fourth, UPGRADE THE CONTENT ON THE HOME PAGE! :) _Am

So I supose you don't drive on public roads? Complete socialism has never been tried, and never will be tried. Just like complete capitalism has never existed, and never will. Pure capitalism has never existed because there's always been market regulation, tax laws, etc. Pure capitalism only exists in a society lacking government. Pure socialism only exists in a society dominated by government. Public roads are a great example of a socialist policy. The public pays for something that establishes a greater good. Public education is the same - but that's pretty fucked up in the states right now. In pretty much every other country in the word, there's also public health. In every country the list of programs that are work well is different. In Canada, public health can be said to be in the same state as public education in the states - kinda fubar. Canadian public education is in excellent shape, by US standards. Americans often have a polar reaction to the word socialist, but most Americans are confusing socialism with communism. If you insist that socialism is UnAmerican, well - I hope you want private roads. _Am

If you find yourself very low under a semi-useful main, you can do what's called a "canopy transfer". This worked best with a round reserve, but in a nutshell, you deploy your reserve BEFORE you chop the main. Not recomended for any but the most experienced pilots, it used to be done a whole lot more commonly then now. Secondly, under highly loaded elipticals, there is a debate whether RSL's are a good thing. All of the arguments against RSL's apply to SOS systems. If highly loaded elipticals are in a spin, the jumper will be spinning when they cuttawa, they will end up in what could be severe line twists under the reserve. There is an argument that in this situation, the jumper should delay dumping the reserve to get stable, if altitude allows for it. So that rules out not having SOS for people under highly loaded elipticals, people who want to do canopy transfers, and as you mentioned, people doing CReW. Commonality of gear is important. It's a good thing that every sport rig has the same emergency procedures. We don't want to create an environment where you have to get trained for the brand or type of rig that you're jumping. We currently do this with tandem rigs. Each brand of Tandem rigs have different systems. _Am

The specifics of NAFTA is that there's a gradual reduction in tarrifs. Electronic goods, cars, anda few other happened immediately. Other things are changing slowly. http://www.nafta-customs.org/docs/us/fr_may12.html is a really neat read, worth a cursury glance. It details, among other things, when Charcoal Briquettes will be tarrif free. _Am

Agreements like NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreemnt supersede NTR. There is no duty or imports on goods from Canada or Mexico. It is expected that this will be extended to all legitimately governed nations in Central and South America as well. The purpose of this is to create a trading block to rival the European Union. China was admitted into the WTO in 2000, which grants permanent NTR status. China no longer needs the presidential waiver. Lastly, Larsen and Brusegard recently shipped me a new Pro-Track. They mailled it, and there was no duty or customs charges. I wonder if this is because a: it was a free replacement, or b: the retail cost is under a certain bar. _Am

Brian Germain tought me a method that practically eliminates the risk of horshoes. In addition to folding outside the PC, I also extract the webbing from the pilot chute. I start by foldin the pilot chute in half. I then invert the webbing by pulling on the bridal, until the webbing becomes tight. This method ensures that should the bridle pull out of the pilot chute pouch, the pilot chute will not bunch up on the webbing, since it's fully extracted already. If anybody managed to understand what I just wrote, congratulations. _Am

I agree with your argument that all reserves passing the same TSO is a pretty weak argument. That said, for years the "smart choice" was a Raven Reserve. Nobody could go wrong with a Raven Reserve. Then the recall came around... I agree, I'll probably buy PD on my next one... But I think we should be careful about buying into the hype that one Product is so much better then others. I haven't seen any numbers that say the Tempo is more failure prone then any other Reserve. _Am

I found this on the website of Peformance Textiles. Performance Textiles take Dupont fabric and adds the zero-p coating before selling it to canopy manufacturers. Performance Textiles is the supplier to PD, Precision, and others. Anyways, I found this web page talking about canopy maintenance. Included topics are how to clean your canopy, preventing mildue, etc. A lot of the tips seem obvious, but it's still an interesting read all round. Interesting fact, 9000 meters (about 5.5 miles) of canopy thread weights 30 grams (about 1 ounce). http://www.perftex.com/CanopyCare.htm _Am

Tracking is pretty tough to do on your own, since you have no relative point to judge your tracking. Practive tracking when you get into two-ways. _Am

Aparently, she's got quite the ass. _Am

Chuck - please define "fire the reserve" _Am

Call me an asshole if you want, but is it wrong that I'm proud *NOT* to be in the top 50? _Am

I think it's cost. Pro-tec's cost $50. Z-1's cost $225. Z-1's also really aren't that durable. You can't beat the durability of the Pro-tec. If there wasn't a BSR for helmets, I suspect half the DZ's out there wouldn't use them once the student's off radio. Not that they aren't good things, I just think a whole lot of DZ's are too cheap. Call me a cynic, but look at how many DZ's don't evevn use frap-hats for tandems. _Am

What about Point Break? Patrick Swayze jumps out, Keanu fumbles in the plane for a goot 45 seconds, manages to swop Swayze. Once they get to the two way, they have conversations in freefall. This conversation lasts a good 5 minutes. In another scene, a 5 way dumps without tracking. Priceless! _Am

Skydive University has comprehensive canopy control programs. While you might not be able to take the classes, you can order the course material and videos from their website, http://www.skydiveu.com/ _Am

We say this so frequently, someone should spray paint it on the homepage. DON'T BUY NEW EQUIPMENT. Buy a used main at least. Expect to keep it for about a hundred jumps. Expect to land it in mud, Expect to land it in a tree. It's suck if you just put your new $1500 canopy in a tree, wouldn't it? As for packing, LEARN TO PRO PACK. Flat packing tapered and eliptical canopies sucks as the cells don't line up when you lay it down. Don't worry about all the problems people complain about with ZP. Your Hornet uses Gelvenor (sp?) fabric which is very easy to pack. People who have trouble packing have PD canoies, which uses a much more slipery fabric. _Am

Nah... I pretty much leave them up to their own thing. There is a pretty good contingent from wreck.skydiving going. If you end up going, report back on if they're as frickin nuts in person as they are online. _Am

Have you learne how to psycho pack it yet? I had that recomendation when I made the same post last week. It was real easy to get it in the bag. Mind you, I haven't actually jumped it yet... _Am

There are no license requirements beyond an 'a'. Students need to wear helmets under the BSR's. That's the only requirement I can think of. _Am

Mike, the last time you saw me land a canopy I had 20 jumps, so - yeah, I hope I'm a hell of a lot better! And I still insist that wing loading has a hell of a lot more to do with it then planform. Have you ever jumped an eliptical loaded below 1:1? Give it a try. _Am

Let's hold off on the tarring and feathering of this dropzone. The fact that you learned on ancient equipment does not mean the rest of the world needs to. This is hardly the first dropzone to put young jumpers under "high performance" canopies. People used to say Roger Nelson was nuts when he put first jump students under Squares. Then they said he was nuts when he put first jump students under Sabres. Then they said he was nuts when he put first jump students under Safires. Now they say he's nuts when he puts students under Sabre 2's. Note Roger Nelson also puts recent grads under Stiletto's - AT A RESEAONABLE WING LOADING. Being progresive in this sport is a good thing - if done properly. Whether or not this student was trained for this progressive canopy is an evaluation I'll leave up to people who know what they're talking about. I'm pretty sure that nobody here knows what they're talking about in this specific case. What I will comment on is that the appropriateness of a canopy for students has much more to do with the wingloading then the planform. I know I'm not alone in thinking this, either. Go over to the Gear and Rigging Forum, and ask Bill Von. I'm pretty sure he jus answered this, actually. What pisses me off about this debate is that it comes up so often, yet people never admit that it's a debate. You get postings like the one that I'm following up to, that DEMAND that technology never changes, that students today must use the outdated gear that students used 20 years ago. The fact that DZ's are still throwing out students with 20 year old gear is the problem, not DZ's who actually keep their gear current. US Canopy Manufacturers only make this worse, because of the threat of lawsuits. US Canopy manufacturers are paranoid of being sued. I'm surprised they'll recomend anything at all. I think a much smarter question for Icarus would be to ask when was the last time they actually sold an "Icarus Student ZP" to a Dropzone. _Am

Yeah, I'd forgotten how ugly that interface was... _Am

There's stories floating around a dz of skydivers grabbing the key to the 182 before leaving. I was suprised to hear there WAS a key in the 182. _Am

Sorry, That's been in common Usenet usage since the mid 90's, and used in dial-up BBS's into the 80's at the very least. _Am

How should the short season up North affect these numbers? Is it fair to take the numbers, divide in half for 6 monthes? _Am