riggerrob

17 hours ago, JoeWeber said:

What a crap piece of advice. Please tell the kid you were joking.

How much is Lodi charging for hop-and-pops?

How much is Lodi charging for jumps from full altitude (14,000 feet)?

On 3/18/2023 at 8:43 AM, randhawa922 said:

Hi. I got some new Aerodyne Triathlons. While attaching toggles, there is no loop at the end of the control lines. How that has to be done? Any guiding document? Is it to be done like this PD video ? 
 

 

Yes. That PD video shows you the best - most professional - way to tie on steering toggles.

Further, I like to wiggle the knots until they are hidden inside the grommet. This prevents them from snagging on the steering guide ring.

Perhaps you are looking for the New Zealand model for training drop zone staff. They take on near neophytes - like you - and train them how to drive the shuttle van, how to pack, how to edit videos, how to do manifest paperwork, handle money and credit cards, how to dress students, how to refuel the airplane, how to take out the trash, how to mow the lawn, how to swab the decks, how to do outside camera and eventually how to do tandems.

Pre-levels to become a TI include 3 years in the sport, 500 jumps, another skydiving coach or instructor rating, class 3 medical, etc.

Before you do any of that, chat with your local TIs and ideally a Tandem Instructor Examiner to learn if you are tall enough and strong enough and have the right personality to become a TI. A good TI keeps the student in the limelight while he/she plays a quiet supporting role.

Also determine if you are willing to work long hours for small pay. Pay is slowly improving as drop zones struggle to hire from the small pool of full-time, professional TIs.

Then get the Class 3 medical (private pilot). Related to the aviation medical exam is your recreational frug habits. Some countries (e.g. USA) have rigid standards severely limiting the types and quantities of recreational drugs that you can ingest AND work as an aviation professional. Alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, hashish, heroin, extacsy, amphetamines, etc. may all be popular recreational drugs on your DZ. Recreational drugs are a quick "in" socially, but can hamper your career in the long run.

I was a full-time professional skydiver for 18 years. It helped that I had been a part-time TI, IAD, static-line and freefall instructor before I went full-time. It also helped that I had a couple of rigger ratings so I could hide behind a sewing machine while the rest of the full-time staff were grumbling about the rain. I had to learn the finer points of driving the fuel truck. All those skills made be fully employable, meaning a lot of 60 and 70 hour weeks.

On 2/5/2021 at 10:32 PM, Binary93 said:

Is UPT aware of all instructors? Not sure if examiners report the new ones to them.

Examiners are required to report all new TIs to the manufacturer.

Strong even puts a limit on the number of days between completion of Phase 1 training and paperwork being sent to the factory.

4 hours ago, Bluhdow said:

Compare the measurements of the Apex slider to the other sliders available to you. You might find one that is very close.

My experience is there's a fair bit of wiggle room in slider sizes, but as Tom said above, always best to test somewhere safe before earning a red card at Brento.

Sliders are traditionally measured at the middle. Span is measured at mid-chord and chord is measured at mid-span. Apply 5 pounds of tension to remove any wrinkles. You can install a slider made by ABC Corporation on a canopy made by XYZ Corp. as long as dimensions are similar.

Consult your friendly, local rigger about the finer points of grommet size, aspect-ratio, etc.

UBI is a good concept, but easy to exploit. Vancouver bus drivers hate "welfare Wednesdays" because residents of the nastier neighborhoods become "welfare millionaires" who spend Wednesday and Thursday drunk, stoned, high, etc. but are broke by Friday.

May I suggest that one way to reduce exploitation is to issue debit cards, but hard-wire limits on those debit cards? For example, those debit cards would be useless in liquor stores or fancy restaurants.

Mind you addicts can be crafty people always trying to invent a new scam. We have addicts in Vancouver who will sell their prescription drugs - for pennies on the dollar - in order to buy tainted recreational street drugs (crack crystal meth, extasy, fentanol, etc.).

Minimum wage should stay significantly above UBI to provide incentives to work. Consider that many welfare programs include free prescription drugs, eyeglasses, etc. that are not counted in the ... say ... $1000 per month. If those poor people work too much or earn too much, they lose a few hundred dollars per month in benefits.

13 hours ago, iranianjumper said:

is there any recent change on minimum jump number required for taking part in Sigma Tandem IRC  ? 

Last week I sat in at USPA Examiner Standardization Meeting immediately after the Parachute Industry Symposium in Reno, Nevada. The room was pretty "heavy" with UPT Sigma Examiners, but I seemed to be the only Strong Tandem Instructor Examiner in the room.

Civilians still need a minimum of 500 jumps, 3 years in the sport, USPA Coach rating, etc. before they can attend a Sigma Instructor Certification Course.

However, the US military is training military tandem instructors with as few as 200 solo jumps. I first heard of the practice with Alaska Air National Guard search and rescue jumpers jumping with tandem bundles 20 years ago.

Mind you, the military has a mentoring program to get their skills up to speed before the Tandem Instructor Certification Course. IOW prospective military tandem instructors must complete a series of exercises before ... I suspect that "200 jump wonders" are restricted to jumping with 500 pound bundles for "X" number of jumps before they are allowed to jump with humans strapped to their chest.

The USPA meeting also emphasized the importance of mentoring junior tandem instructors during the first 150 jumps after they earn their ratings because it can take up to 150 jumps before they develop their own "flow" and get comfortable in the tandem instructor's harness. It looks like the good-old-days of simply assigning a TI rating, then sending them off to work alone are falling out of fashion. One advantage these days is the proliferation of video which makes monitoring TIs in Fiji much easier. The disadvantage is that examiners don't have to travel to Fiji for a week.

Hah!

Hah!

May I suggest that you contact my old friend: Niklas Gummeson in California (Gummeson Consulting, [email protected], telephone 386-848-8547)? I have known Niklas for 30 years and our paths have crossed many times. Niklas is a Sigma Examiner often trains military tandem instructors in both the wind tunnel and freefall?

UPT can probably recommend another half-dozen Sigma Examiners who also train soldiers how to jump with tandem bundles. 

Does that answer your question?

1 hour ago, gowlerk said:

Excellent

This get us to Hanlon's Razor: never attribute to malice that which can equally be attributed to stupidity.

If the student does not "know" at the start of the lesson ...

1 minute ago, JoeWeber said:

Then don't get married.

My ex-wife is still baffled as to why I left her.

Something about "death by a thousand cuts." ... of was it ... "May you be cursed by a wife with a sharp tongue."?????

On 3/4/2023 at 4:02 PM, wolfriverjoe said:

Kinda depends on how one defines 'success'.

In and around Vuhledar, Russia waged a pretty fierce tank battle.
They lost.
Depending on who you believe, somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 tanks. Almost certainly over 100. Plus the various other vehicles, armored and not, that accompany that sort of thing. And a whole lot of troops too.

Reports are saying that Russia sent the tanks into battle in column. Which virtually guaranteed their destruction. Reports are also saying that the Russian army is restructuring their armor troops into a 'new' configuration. Because they have to. Because they don't have the capability or the equipment to properly deploy them. 

Also in the 'success' file, the G20 held talks in Delhi. 

At that meeting, Foreign Minister Lavrov claimed that Ukraine attacked Russia.
The audience laughed.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2023/mar/04/g20-russia-foreign-minister-sergei-lavrov-ukraine-video

One rumor has it that Russian tanks were forced to advance in columns, along roads, because fields were strewn with Ukrainian land mines. The narrow advance just made it easier for Ukrainian anti-tank crews to know where to wait in ambush.

Fear works 100 times faster than love.

The disadvantage is that fear soon burns-out the vessel.

That is why I refer to "fire and brimstone" sermons as lazy preacher's methods. I could never worship a god that I feared.

If you buy from out-of-state, ask you local rigger or DZO to recommend a rigger near the seller. Riggers often act as escrow for parachute sales.

Typically, the rigger does a full inspection on the harness/container, reserve canopy, AAD and main canopy and charges you the usual rate for his/her work ($100 to $150). He/she delivers a written inspection report to both parties. If the rigger recommends minor repairs, just pay them. Once the money has arrived, he/she delivers the rig to the new owner. The new owner gets an airworthy rig with a fresh repack.

I have been involved in dozens of these transactions and inspected hundreds of bits of second-hand gear when I worked at Square One, etc.

On 3/5/2023 at 11:19 AM, wolfriverjoe said:

To a large degree because the very wealthy have decided they don't want to support the rest of the country.

Oversimplified, but accurate.
It's the old 'oligarchs & wealthy land owners are not willing to pay their fair share because the poor and minorities benefit from it' story.

So the far right has bought politicians with 'dark money' (thanks to Citizens United), Murdoch's media conglomerate has spread vitriolic, divisive propaganda, and the 'useful idiots' have embraced the ideology, ignoring the fact that it hurts them almost as much as it does 'those people'.

Heather Cox Richardson writes a daily (more or less) article, tying historical issues with todays headlines. 
One thing she has beaten well past death (the cliched 'horse smoothie') is how similar we are now to the period just before the Civil War. When the wealthy Southern slave holders did everything in their power to hold on to their wealth & power. Including co-opting poor whites into fighting and dying for them. Without ever realizing they'd been conned.
Not unlike the MAGA fools. 

Really scary how many poor whites who fought for the Confederation ended up worse off economically after the American Civil War when they had to compete with recently-freed blacks who became share-croppers. Some blacks were better-off after the war, but some were worse-off. Poor blacks ended up competing directly with poor whites. Share-cropping was a miserable way to make a living. Both poor black and poor white laborers suffered under the new economy of the Southern States.

Scary how much American politics have polarized over the last decade.

Why?

Yes, Jay Stokes reminded us of his IAD pilot-chute folding technique during a USPA IAD and S/L standardization meeting immediately following the 2023 PIA Symposium in Reno.

We also watched a bunch of videos of good, bad and ugly IAD dispatch methods. One thing most of us agreed on was the importance of a minimum of exposed bridle. My preferred method is to wrap 2 fingers around the pilot-chute and 2 more fingers around the horizontal strap on the student's harness. That allows me to control student movement while checking the spot, chatting with the pilot, etc. Then I use that harness grip to assist the student in climbing out.

Other IAD J/Ms use a variation by grabbing both the student's pilot-chute and shoulder yoke with the same hand. This works well as long as the J/M remembers to "place" the pilot-chute low, Preferably at door sill level to prevent an entanglement with the airplane tail.

Finally, we discussed various methods of minimizing the number of loose pilot-chutes - in the airplane cabin - before the door opens. A few mentioned stuffing the pilot-chute down the front of the student's shirt. I have mixed emotions about this method.

A better method is to wrap a rubber-band around the chest-strap buckle and use that to control the pilot-chute while the instructor is busy with other duties.

The best method - that I have used - is to sew an extra Spandex pouch (like a BOC) onto the left side of the container. Teach IAD school packers to pack all of the pilot-chutes into the side pouch. Then we teach freefall students how to repack the pilot-chute into the BOC.

"Where have all the tandem instructors gone?" was a seminar hosted by USPA Tandem Examiner Angie Aragon. She asked why the industry - as a whole - are suffering shortages of tandem instructors.

The first batch do not renew their tandem ratings after the first year or the first 3 years after they learn how much hard work is involved in doing tandems.

Part of the problem is lack of opportunities for progression beyond merely "hauling meat."

At the worst DZs, TIs are looked down upon as "less than" full-fledged skydivers because they lack the skills to be anything more than "meat haulers." Mind you these "haters" are like schoolyard bullies in that they don't understand the big picture. These "haters" forget that it is tandem students who pay for all the fast, turbine airplanes. 

Angie addressed 3 phases of TI maturation: first 25 jumps, ..... up to 150 jumps. It still takes many TIs 150 jumps to feel truly comfortable and professional by 150 jumps. It definitely took me more than 100 jumps to "find my groove."

Even refining their personal "work flow" has always been a bit of a gray area that new TIs are supposed to "some how magically" acquire on their own. Over the first 25 jumps, they are just magically expected to perfect their own personal work flow: greeting students, ground school, dressing, aircraft procedures, freefall, canopy flight, landings and un-dressing/debriefing.

Leon - from Skydive Wasatch, Utah - presented some of his ideas about how to continue challenging TIs to compete amongst themselves on freefall/droguefall skills and accuracy.

Another major challenge is how to get young TIs up to speed to do handy-cam videos. We all agree that the original Australian requirement to make 500 tandems before strapping on a handy-cam is more than necessarry. I think USPA and the American manufacturers dropped that to a minimum of 200 jumps before strapping on a handy-cam.

Mr. Fullerton from Vancouver Island, Canada suggested a mentorship program to establish the basics and ease young TIs into the handy-cam side with less than 200 tandems. Maybe the first step is senior TIs sharing their personal work flow with junior TIs.

Should that work flow be nailed to the wall in the staff locker room?

My personal work flow starts when I inform manifest that I have arrived at the DZ. Then I do a pre-flight inspection on my first tandem rig and hang my helmet (containing goggles, gloves, camera and altimeter) on the 3D ring. Then I pre-flight my camera. Then I go for a pee and don my pants, shoes, etc. I confirm that my jumpsuit pocket contains breath mints, spare camera memory card and maybe a spare camera battery. Greet student, teach ground school and send them to the toilet before dressing. Walk to plane, another gear check before boarding. Assist them with seat-belts. 4,000 feet hook-up and another round of gear checks. Shortly before jump-run, I do one more round of "hooks and handles" checks then turn on my camera. Exit, toss drogue, more handles checks, interact with student, etc.

We would like to listen to opinions and suggestions from other TIs and DZOs.

Dear MODERATORS, please move this thread to the tandem forum.

On 2/22/2023 at 5:23 PM, mark said:

In the US, unless a TSO approval states otherwise, a shelf life/service life limitation does not apply to formerly military equipment in civilian use.  See AC 105-2E para 13.b.(2).

Yes.

The military shelf life or service life only applies while that parachute is in military service,

Once it is surplused-off, it reverts to civlian regulations.

A civilian rigger can assemble, inspect, repair and repack that parachute as long as he/she has the military manual.

Poynter's Manual Volume 1 just condenses dozens of US military manuals into a single volume of "must know" information.

53 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

You are already pretty heavily loaded for the number of jumps you have. There is still a lot you can and should learn and experience you should gain before downsizing. Other people will tell you other things, but that is my strongly held opinion for the set of facts that you have stated. I also think that you should get the opinion of an experienced rigger about the condition of your current canopy. It may very well have a lot more life left than you think. 

Good points.

May I recommend working your way through BillVon's list of canopy tasks on your old canopy before you down-size.

Also consider that down-sizing is often more of a fashion choice than a "must have." If you are considering later doing BASE jumps or wingsuits or precision landing competitions or exhibition jumps into stadiums, down-sizing might be a disadvantage.

On 2/21/2023 at 5:07 AM, skybytch said:

A few years prior to this mess,, another jumper from Lodi was caught signing off multiple students without any ratings. He was "disciplined" by USPA by being allowed to get an AFF rating.

Consistency and transparency are top of the list when one thinks of USPA. /s

Perhaps earning an AFF rating was USPA's way of "bringing him back into the fold." If he conformed to USPA standards during an AFF rating course, hopefully he will continue to follow USPA standards after he is no longer under close scrutiny.

If you want a portable zig-zag sewing machine, I have plenty of experience with a Pfaff 230 and a Sailrite.

I sewed two kit canopies on my Pfaff 230 and have been using my Sailrite for almost a decade.

If you read the original document (as linked in the first post on this thread) it is Mr. G.'s "motion for contempt."

It is not a judge's decision.

So it is still the two parties (Mr. G. versus USPA) debating.

A huge part of this debate is whether Mr. G. knew that someone lese was forging his signature on T.I. certification documents.

1 hour ago, wmw999 said:

I had a reserve ride on a first generation Racer because I couldn’t get the pud out of the rubber band (borrowed gear…). My arms were too short to have good leverage, so it was just like doing a bicep curl with your arm behind your back. Not a strong move.

No issues with the SST i had for awhile as a backup rig

Wendy P. 

That "struggle ... " was often caused by sloppy packers who were too lazy to learn the finer points of packing pull-out pilot-chutes.

I watched one woman have two reserve rides - during the same day - because she did not understand how to pack a pull-out.

Canadian DZs affiliated with USPA enjoy two benefits: first, they get free advertising in PARACHUTIST Magazine. This advertisement encourages travelling sport jumpers to visit USPA-affiliated DZs.

The second benefit is avoiding scrutiny by CSPA officials. A few of those CSPA officials can be arrogant jerks.  I know because I briefly served on CSPA's Technical Committee. After Tom McCarthy (Gananoque, Ontario) got tired of CSPA officials telling to teach via static-line methods, Tom revived Instructor Assisted Deployment (circa 1979). A few years later, most CSPA DZs adopted IAD and most USPA DZs adopted IAD another couple of decades later.

CSPA's original mandate was to lend an air of respectability to Canadian skydivers jumping in Canadian air space. IOW CSPA's original role was to keep the Canadian Ministry of Transport (now Transport Canada) at arm's length. CSPA's secondary roles include training instructors, riggers, judges and competitors.

A number of years back (perhaps 30) those renegade Canadian DZs founded Canadian Association of Parachutists (or variations on that name) to distance themselves from CSPA. I have worked for a few CAPS DZs, but the only CAPs DZO that I respected was Tom McCarthy because he was one of the few DZOs who truly knew more than CSPA.

A disadvantage of USPA membership is a lack of USPA oversight. IOW USPA group membership is little more than a cash-grab by USPA as they never seem to inspect USPA-affiliated DZs in Canada. The last time I got into a "disagreement" with a USPA-affiliated DZO in Canada, I called Chuck Aikins and dropped the problem in his lap. I told Chuck that USPA's credibility was at stake.

4 hours ago, jakebaustin said:

So the french invented the tandem skydive. Nice. 

The French invented EVERYTHING in skydiving. A Frenchman even invented ram-air parachutes. Well Domina Jalbert was sort of a Frenchman in that he was born in Quebec into a French-speaking family,  but his family moved to New England and that is where he learned engineering and learned how to build balloons and kites and parachutes and how to apply for US patents.

If you refuse to repack a rig (return to service) remember the write why on your invoice. That way you have handed a written record to the customer. Keep a photo-copy of that invoice for your loft records ... in case any lawyer tries to sue you a few years down the road.