tombuch

There has been an interesting development in keyword advertising that may have an affect how Skyride and other companies can use keyword advertising through search engines such as Google. It's a long way from settled law, but it sounds like the courts are beginning to recognize that a company name is a trademark that might trigger infringement case if that keyword is sold to competitors as a search term on engines such as Google. Skyride has used this technique (among many others) to confuse the public. http://fastcase.blogspot.com/2009/04/keyword-advertising-takes-hit.html Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

If your goal is to become an instructor, I’d suggest focusing on RW for a while to develop a really strong flat flying base. Team RW is ideal because it instills discipline and focused performance, and it’s fun. Then after a couple of hundred jumps branch out into just a bit of freefly to add versatility. Find an instructor or two who will mentor you. That guidance will help you get integrated into the teaching mindset, and will help guide you as you build skills and experience. Many instructors will be happy to support you even if you have just a few dozen jumps, as long as you are willing to help them out with grunt work around the school (ie: packing, greeting students, paperwork, manifesting at small DZ’s). When you feel you are ready, add a Coach rating to get your feet wet in the instructional environment. Part of that is assisting established instructors so you get a solid handle on real-world modeling, and part of it is actual hands on teaching with a focus on event management. Along the way you could try to get your riggers ticket. Although that isn’t strictly speaking an instructional necessity, it does help to understand the equipment, and the rating will help you move along the DZ ladder even before you qualify as an instructor. You don’t need any jumps to be a rigger, but in the sport world I’d suggest 50 as a minimum, plus you will want to have a close learning relationship with an established rigger. Getting that rating is a good way to stay focused on skydiving through the winter. For the most part stick close to home and really focus on your home DZ, but do some traveling too. It really helps to know how your DZ and local instructors stack up to the competition, and how the whole industry fits together. Plus, traveling to other DZ’s is fun. Someplace between 400 and 600 jumps you should be ready for the AFF rating, and at some point around 500 jumps (and three years in the sport if you live in the U.S.) the tandem rating. Be cautious of the tandem rating because it can really suck you into the “hauling meat” mindset, even if you swear it never will. AFF doesn’t pay real well, but it is a kick-ass good time. So that’s my suggested progression. Build yourself a checklist and a two year plan, and enjoy the ride. I’ll quickly add that you should avoid getting too serious. Skydiving is supposed to be fun, so along the way make sure you are having a blast! Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I have been watching the thread, and it’s interesting. The spreadsheet looks a bit over my head, and I’m not sure I buy into all the assumptions, but I’m going to address the issue from another direction. I have been in many close calls, but only two very, very, very close calls that really could have gone either way. Fortunately in both cases luck was on my side. The first was an RW jump that exited directly over the flight path of a commuter airplane. As I recall, the plane went under us at about 7,000 doing a hard avoidance bank. The vertical distance between the formation (about 10 jumpers) and the airplane was cut in half in the time it took the airplane to cross under the formation. We were probably within 100 feet of impact and could feel the turbulence from the plane under our formation. The second was a near collision with a brown Cessna 172 with two occupants. It too did a significant avoidance turn to miss me just as my canopy opened, easily within 50 feet of the aircraft. I’ve told that story here before, and I will take a good deal of responsibility for what almost happened. Crap, I was an idiot. I’ve watched dozens of close calls, but just two that I would describe as very, very, very close, either one of which could just as easily have resulted in multiple fatalities. The first was a C-130 that spooled up its engines, initialed a climb, and then banked super hard to avoid a tandem pair and cameraman under canopy. It missed by less than 100 feet. I doubt the avoidance maneuvers had anything to do with survival. The second was a passenger 737 inbound for landing at an airport about 12 miles away. It too did an aggressive maneuver to avoid a tandem and missed by less than 100 feet, due entirely to luck and not the avoidance effort. In each of these cases the aggressive avoidance maneuver itself was a threat to aircraft control and safety. From a pilots standpoint a near collision can be as serious of a threat as an actual collision. I’m guessing that according to the spreadsheet those would qualify as non-events, but they absolutely put pilots and passengers at risk. The second point I always like to make about this issue is that when an aircraft/jumper collision happens it threatens our access to the airspace, and that’s especially true if it is a passenger airplane. We can argue probability and responsibility and fault and regulation, but the reality of aviation politics, at least in this country, is that a single collision with a commercial (or military) aircraft could dramatically change our status within the airspace. The best designed and peer reviewed spreadsheet in the world won't change that. I also always note that in the United States it is incumbent upon the skydivers not to create “a hazard to air traffic or to persons or property on the surface” (105.5), and we can’t reasonably comply with that regulation if we can’t see other aircraft. So given the way we manage our airspace and the politics of aviation in this country, I think jumping through clouds is foolish unless it occurs in class “B” airspace to the surface. I’ve done it, and I’ll almost certainly get myself caught in that situation again, but it’s not a good idea to rely on probability alone to stay safe. As for why collisions are a bigger threat under canopy than in freefall, and ways to avoid them, please Articles 1 and 19 which I wrote quite a while ago for The Ranch web site at: http://theblueskyranch.com/STA.php Thanks for pulling me in off the sidelines... Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Do you still have the closing loop and the seal? It seems odd that the loop would be large enough to accommodate the seal, not to mention the mechanics of pulling the seal into the loop while the whole thing is under pressure. If you could, please try to re-insert the seal into the loop and take a photo for us, it's fine if the canopy is out of the container, it's the loop and seal I'm interested in. If I have time later I may play around with some loops and seals and see what it takes to allow that to happen. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

From time to time we discuss liability waivers and current legal decisions that may affect the way skydiving waivers are interpreted. There was a recent ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court in a case involving an experienced motorcycle rider who was injured at a race track, and who then sued the track, in spite of having signed a release with language very similar to that used in skydiving waivers. The Vermont Supreme Court upheld the waiver. See the decision at http://170.222.4.25/supct/current/op2008-168.html. It is important to understand that this recent decision applies only in Vermont, but it does give a good sense of how a court views a waiver, and it is interesting reading on a rainy Saturday morning. A newspaper article that overviews the case is available at http://caledonianrecord.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=145&ArticleID=44726 and is copied below. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

But at least he gives modest props to BASE jumping! Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I don't like the idea of an audible for students because it does create a dependency on technology, rather than the eyes and a conventional altimeter coupled with ground based visuals. When I teach beginners, altitude awareness is very much front and center. We use the standard Circle of Awareness with a cycle of heading, altitude, look left/right. I teach the heading part as a visual check on the ground to both determine heading and altitude. The idea is to look at the ground then the visual altimeter and begin to build an "encyclopedia" of what the ground looks like at various altitudes, a bit of knowledge that will be especially helpful in the event of an altimeter failure (visual or audible). Using an audible would detract from this important learning process. If somebody really needs/wants an audible for logging of jumps, they are always welcome to carry it in a pocket. As for the second part of your question, if a low time jumper is consistently opening low it should be brought to the attention of the S&TA or DZO. That's not tattling, it is safety related and essential. The S&TA or DZO will then be able to explore the issue with the jumper, and if necessary provide remedial training or perhaps even ground the person for a short spell. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

As others have said, picture two isn't really a problem. It looks like an issue with bulk distribution changing over time that the original rigger could easily fix. Picture three is obviously unacceptable for jumping, and I wouldn't shove that much material back in place in the field. Most riggers take great pride in their workmanship. The rig should look terrific when it leaves the shop, but over time some compression will take place and it might become a bit sloppy. That's especially true now that U.S. repack standards have extended to 180 days. My suggestion: If you have a rig with material starting to poke out, take it back to the rigger and ask to have it cleaned up. It usually just takes a couple of minutes to reseat the pilot chute and make it all pretty. Many riggers will appreciate the chance to bring the pack job up to their own standards after the settling that occurs over several months. Most riggers won't charge extra to adjust the pilot chute...it's part of good customer service. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Humm, gosh, it's been a whole week. Umm what should you do, umm, gee, ah, well I guess maybe you could sit in front of your computer contemplating the uncertainly of the future, or alternatively you could use some of those free cellular minutes I keep hearing about to call the company directly. Actually, come to think of it, calling the company might be the better idea. Sorry. I know that was a rude sort of answer and not really consistent with my normal approach to thread responses, but golly, we should have some respect for the companies we do business with. Sure there are some sleazy vendors out there, but most are simply small companies trying to serve a specialized industry. That's especially true of parachute vendors. The web is such an amazing and powerful tool because it allows us to easily connect with each other in this disruptively flat world. The immediate access to phone and email communications can really enhance our lives, or it can drive us nuts. I recommend using the information available on-line to connect with the vendor, while remembering the whole planet doesn't move at the speed bits and bytes. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I think a PLF is necessary. I too started back in the day when we used T-10's, and preparing for PLF's was essential on every single jump. These days most of our landings have some forward or lateral speed, and PLF's aren't as critical. However, most jumps isn't all jumps, and there are still times when a PLF will save your butt. Literally. To expand on the question posed by the original poster, perhaps it is appropriate to rethink how and when we teach PLF's. Perhaps we should introduce them in the Comprehensive Ground School, but then provide focused attention on a later level. Many of our first time AFF jumpers have already made a tandem and have that crazy "lift your legs" thing in their heads. Perhaps we could spend more time drilling that out of their skulls on the first solo jump, with just a touch of the PLF. We could then add our intense PLF training as an advanced element later in the process when our students are not as overloaded. Oh, and I jump a Sabre 120 'cause I'm too scared to jump a Stiletto and I kind like the Sabre, aside from the back crunching openings. I'll also point out that I'm always impressed when somebody who has been in the sport for 20+ years steps back and questions traditional training methods. The sport has changed over the past few decades, and sometimes we need to ask "why" rather than simply carry the same training process forward without reasoned thought. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Cool. Glad to have you aboard. Keep in mind that while AFF is practiced all around the planet, the USPA SIM is really designed for US standards and regulations. Some of the material may be different in your country, so go with the local knowledge when there is a conflict. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I wrote a book that covers that very topic, and it even includes the questions you should ask. It is called JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy , but was recently taken out of print by McGraw-Hill. It may still be available from The Skydiving Book Service, and is available from Amazon and several other outlets as an e-book. I'll be happy to send you the chapter that has the questions, but it won't fit as an upload here. Send me an IM or email (check my profile) and I'll get that to you. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I like a student who is engaged and interested, but lazy instructors might disagree. I am always impressed when a student knows what is covered on the jump, and is prepared with good questions that are related to the material we plan to cover. Hopefully your DZ has some kind of syllabus or manual that will help you know what your next level involves. In addition to that I'd recommend reading the USPA Skydivers Information Manual (SIM) available free as a download or on-line document, or as a spiral bound book at a small charge. The Integrated Student Program is covered in section 4, with the flow of each jump and important information broken out by levels/categories. Each level concludes with a short quiz. The SIM is available at http://uspa.org/tabid/161/Default.aspx. Read up on the jump, understand everything you can, and ask questions about the material you don't understand. Keep in mind that many instructors are busy during the jump day, but they are often available early or after jumping, and weather holds are a great time to pick their brains. So, good jump related questions are ideal while in the training session, and then follow-up with more questions and friendly socializing when the time-pressure is off. Oh yeah, don't forget to smile and have fun! Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

The most dangerous thing we can do in skydiving, is to forget that skydiving is dangerous. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Jump number eight was my first solo pack job with supervision. I was packing with lots of help beginning on number three. I did seven static line jumps with T-10's over a span of three years, then did jump number eight as my first clear and pull, and also my first jump on a Para-Commander. That's the first one I packed myself. One jump, three firsts. My first square jump was at about jump number 25, and was also the first time I packed a square. Back in the day packing was part of the jump and was expected. In fact, folks who were off the rope had earned their place in the DZ hierarchy, and often helped pack the student T-10's. We didn't have "professional" packers for our mains, and heck, many DZ's didn't even have a legal rigger for the reserves. There have been lots of changes in the sport since I made my first jump in 1979. Most of those changes have been super good, but the reluctance of students to pack for themselves and the willingness of instructors to let the packing lessons slide, counts as a big negative in my book. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Sorry to hear the economy has reached out to our little piece of cyberspace. Thanks for holding on to keeping the site going. Jay did a terrific job, and I hope he lands softly on his feet. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Right on! When I was the S&TA at The Ranch we had some serious problems with the local rescue squad, and that forced us to work out arrangements and scene management protocols with them. As part of that, I wrote a feature on our web site to help regular jumpers understand what they could do. The feature, listed as "Article 10-In an Emergency" is available at http://theblueskyranch.com/STA.php. It's pretty old, and there may have been changes, but it should give interested folks an idea of how a drop zone can structure a response. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

It probably depends on the state. Here in Vermont we have a solid Good Samaritan Act that compels a person to render assistance to the extent possible as long as it doesn't conflict with duties owed to others, and won't put that person in danger. See: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/fullsection.cfm?Title=12&Chapter=023&Section=00519. That law applies to anybody, not just trained responders, but it is a state law in Vermont, and should not be relied upon in other states. Keep in mind that an EMT who is not responding with authority, that is he has not been dispatched and is not covered by medical control, can not practice under his own license because he isn't sponsored under a physicians license. He is limited to basic first aid as a Good Samaritan. It doesn't seem to me that you can be compelled to act as an EMT, if you are prohibited to act without medical control. I think the case being discussed here involves a visiting EMT-I or -P, so his license to practice is not valid at that location because he doesn't have medical control and isn't part of a local Quality Improvement program. In such a case the responding EMT is really just a regular person with no special duty to act. We ran into this issue at a DZ in New York State where the local volunteer rescue squad was hyper-territorial, and wouldn't allow anybody not affiliated with their squad to do anything. They flipped out when professional full time paramedics from NY City stabilized a patient, and insisted that their own responding CFR's were to be the caregivers with no assist by the EMT-P's. It was insane, but the New York Department of Health backed them up. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I wrote a book in 2003 specifically for people like you who wonder what the training is all about, and how to get started. It is called "JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy", and was published by McGraw-Hill. Unfortunately it is now out of print, but there are some used copies floating around, and I think the Skydiving Book Service still has it in stock. Check out the sales page for SBS at http://www.skydivingmagazine.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SBS&Product_Code=JSMFE&Category_Code=1B, or see the reviews on Amazon.com. (for that simply click on the link in my signature). The book has a solid chapter about the psychology of jumping as a student, and another chapter with statistics (in date as of the publication). I think it is just what you are looking for. Skydiving is a ton of fun, but as others have mentioned, it isn't for everybody. You can be injured or killed. Tandem is probably the safest learning program, but ankle injuries are not unheard of. Also as others have said, make sure you are doing it because you want to, and not because of peer pressure. You note that going with your friends may be just the thing you need to get over the hump, and that's fine. Just be sure you really want to do it. For some people having friends along makes the whole experience better, while for others it's better to go alone. Whatever. Make an informed decision and then do what's right for you. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

I'll ditto the Unit comments. I bought my original GQ Security Unit second hand from a women who had about 17 jumps on it, and two cut-a-ways. I was just off student status and didn't know any better, plus the price was right. I learned about malfunctions pretty quickly after that. Once I cut up the slider, took the cascades off the steering lines, and moved the steering lines as directed by GQ Security, it became a terrific parachute with fine openings. So much so that I used it for quite a few early BASE jumps, but without the slider. It's a shame the reputation of that canopy did so much harm to GQ Security. My least favorite canopy was probably a Para Plane Cloud. It was used by my drop zone as a first student square with a belly mounted reserve back in the day. The thing opened so hard no experienced jumper would even consider jumping it. The ratty old yellow container had a skull and crossbones stitched onto it to warn unsuspecting fools like me what they were in store for. Crap that parachute sucked. Somebody else had great things to say about a Pegasus. I'll echo that. Great canopy. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Skydiving airplanes ARE commercial traffic. In the United States all users of the airspace are technically equals. Big commercial jets do not have any greater rights to the airspace than a small aircraft. Nor does a skydiving plane over a drop zone have priority over a private pilot flying a tiny Cessna. In reality some preference may be given to larger traffic simply because of the time and space needed to make course changes, but that's not automatic, and ATC should not be managing traffic to favor one class of users. In many cases ATC will work to smoothen out the flow, and sometimes that means we hold jump operations for big jets, and sometimes larger traffic gets vectored around us. If ATC has adequate notice about what's happening a good controller can fit it all together and make all the users happy. Just as good controllers manage to fit everybody together, so do good pilots, and so do responsible drop zones. In some places there is a letter of agreement that gives priority to some form of traffic, and in others there are special procedures in place to mix differing traffic or approaches with skydiving. But these LOA's are arranged between ATC and the drop zone, and are not automatic. It is important to understand that in our ATC system all users have rights. The airspace belongs to the public (that's us) and does not belong to the big commercial carriers. It's a shared resource that is not to be managed for the benefit of the big corporations flying expensive aluminum. We should be very protective of that shared resource and not allow it to be taken away, as has happened in some other countries, as evidenced by this thread. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

AOPA offered a mention of a recent Air Safety Foundation (ASF) report with a newsbrief this morning in their e-news pilot newsletter. The brief ASF report entitled When Airplanes and Skydivers Collide is available at http://www.aopa.org/asf/epilot_acc/mia05la096.html?WT.mc_id=090306epilot&WT.mc_sect=sap Unfortunately the report misses the mark, and fails to mention the lack of drop zone depiction in digital flight planners and on GPS screens. This is an issue that I have been addressing with USPA for more than five years. Sadly, it has been bogged down in administrative inaction at the federal level. USPA is doing all they can on our behalf and there is some hope that a marginal solution will emerge this year, but full implementation is still many years away. In the meantime, jumpers should exercise extreme caution while spotting, and should be hyper-alert to transient aircraft. I have responded to the ASF and AOPA about the problem, and have listed my response below. For more information about the issue, see a couple of resources listed here: When I was S&TA I wrote two articles of special interest that appear on The Ranch web site as “Article 1-Checking for Traffic” and “Article 8-Airspace” both are available at http://theblueskyranch.com/STA.php I have provided a few updates to the status of depiction here on Dropzone.com. You can find a discussion thread from 2005 at http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1882590;#1882590 Email from Tom Buchanan to ASF and AOPA Thanks for releasing the ASF Accident Analysis entitled “Terminal Velocity: When Airplanes and Skydivers Collide,” mentioned in the AOPA e-news letter this morning. You are correct that encounters between airplanes and jumpers are rare, but they are increasing. Unfortunately pilots have very few tools that will help them identify active drop zones. The NOTAM process works well for occasional drop zones as long as pilots check for NOTAM’s, but a NOTAM is not distributed in a standard weather briefing if the drop zone location has already been published. While longstanding drop zones are depicted on sections and in the AFD, very few pilots use these resources for routine flights. Many pilots have migrated to digital flight planning software and now use GPS units to navigate while in flight. Drop zones are not depicted by any of these digital products (including the AOPA on-line flight planner). Nor are drop zones depicted on enroute charts, and they are rarely mentioned on approach plates. Pilots flying without the active assistance of air traffic control may not even know they are near an active drop zone, and ATC doesn’t always provide timely advisories. ASF and AOPA would do well to work aggressively with the FAA and manufacturers of digital products to include drop zones in digital databases, and to provide depiction of drop zones on all digital displays and flight planners. The lack of depiction has been known to the FAA, ATC, AOPA, ASF, USPA, manufacturers of digital products, and numerous other entities since at least 2003, and corrective action has been bogged down. Near-collisions have been increasing at an alarming rate as more pilots migrate to digital products, and this issue needs to be appropriately addressed as a priority. Inaction or failed action on this safety-of-flight matter is simply no longer an option. I hope ASF and AOPA will take a leading role in correcting the lack of drop zone depiction in digital products. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

That's a scary prospect, and a very good reason for American skydivers to join or otherwise support the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). That group is especially effective in fighting for general aviation, and especially so with regard to airspace access. See their web site at http://www.aopa.org/. AOPA has been working well with USPA, and that's a super good thing because so many of our concerns as skydivers are shared by general aviation pilots, as the Dutch case above points out. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

For international data, try contacting Federation Aeronautique International or see their web site at: http://www.fai.org/. Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

Hugh? Why on earth would you repack the main? I'd say "Thanks dude, it was really cool that you inspected my main, and I sure appreciate the main pack job as some outstanding customer service." Tom Buchanan Instructor Emeritus Comm Pilot MSEL,G Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy