markbaur

It's better to fold than roll. Try this experiment: fold-pack your chute, then unpack it by holding the deployment bag as you walk away from the rocket attachment point. Then do the same thing with a roll-pack. I think you'll find the roll-pack results in a twisted canopy. Mark

Start by ensuring that all the gores (triangles of fabric whose base is the skirt of the canopy and sides are radial seams) are flaked to the outside. Many folks suggest stretching the canopy out flat so there are an equal number of gores to each side, then making long folds (parallel to the radial seams) as needed to get the canopy the width you want before sleeving or bagging it, but even if all the gores are on one side, you should get a decent opening with occasional line twists. You'll get a more reliable opening if the lines are fully extended before the canopy starts to inflate. Is this what you're doing with your 12' chute? How does your deployment bag work? BTW, you may be able to save some bulk and weight by removing the lines that run inside the radial seams, as well as half the apex lines. Mark

In the same direction as the spin. Otherwise it's like kicking into line twists instead of kicking out of them. You can put a square in the main container. Strato-Stars and Strato-Clouds were common. I don't recall any squares being approved for chest reserves. I can imagine hand-deploying a chest-mounted square, when I do the imagining, I also imagine needing video. Also, a round parachute might deploy adequately if one snap was undone, but I don't think a square would do as well. Mark

There's less of a snag issue if the cables run behind the chest strap. To get a needle through heavy webbing, you can use pliers to first push, then pull the needle. Do a little bit at a time, and be sure the push or pull is straight, or you'll break the needle. Para-Gear sells a sewing palm (sailmaker's palm), catalog item S7190, which can help with heavy hand sewing. Mark

This info is not in the owner's manual, but is in the retro-fit hard-housing installation instructions. The left-side cable housing should be routed over the reserve ripcord housing where they cross in the yoke. The housing should exit the ring cover on the outboard side if the bartacking permits (can be a very tight fit), then should be routed under the main left web to the inboard side, then back up to the riser. riser. Mark

IAD is a standard, USPA-recognized training method. Students are equipped with BOC throw-out rigs, just like the ones you use at SDC. Before the student climbs out, his or her instructor takes the pilot chute out of the BOC, being careful not to pull the pin as the student gets into position. As the student leaves, the instructor tosses the pilot chute. So: -- the student is never attached to the airplane with a static line -- but the student does get almost immediate deployment, similar in speed to static line -- using a system identical to the one experienced jumpers use. Mark

It's a 1979 Strong 26' lopo with a 4-line release? I didn't know they came in that configuration. That time period is also about when Strong tried an anti-snag coating on the lines, which under heat and pressure glued the lines together. Washing the lines was a simple fix. Mark

There are worse ways to prepare for an AFF IRC than the old ground-prep video, such as training with out-of-date instructors, but I can't think of many others. The single worst thing about that video is that it leads you to believe that you can do an adequate ground prep without leaving a windowless classroom. Here are some other problematic things: -- It shows a two-instructor ground prep. All ground preps now are single-instructor preps, just like the real world. -- It shows a kind of Level 3 ground prep that is nearly as detailed as a First Jump Course. Ground preps now follow the ISP as nearly as possible. Base your preps on Cat C and Cat D and you're 99% of the way there. Where and with whom will you be trying your AFF IRC? Mark

A few manufacturers -- Rigging Innovations comes to mind -- attach the freebag bridle via a triangular "flare" on the freebag, similar to what your diagram suggests. This may reduce bag wobble, but doesn't do much for bag spin. Mark

Poynter's has a Pioneer Volplane cross-section diagram exactly as you describe: ram-air front, single-surface rear, and valves much like modern air-locks at the rear of the cells (at the chord mid-point, more or less). The airlock prevented air from escaping the rear of the cell once the cell was pressurized. Mark

I don't think there's a problem with licensing. There's a problem with engineering. All harnesses are basically the same, so 3-ring releases are universal. Reserve container design is not standard. It is up to the other manufacturers to decide if they want to change their designs to accomodate the Skyhook. When they're ready, I'm sure Bill will be happy to license his device, especially since his 3-ring patent has expired and is no longer generating royalties. Mark

Most Radio Shack outlets don't carry them as a stock item, but they will order them for you. I ordered mine at the local store and got them in the mail several days later. Mark

PM sent. Mark

I stand corrected on the number of RW jumps required for an A license. I'm sorry to learn that my jumps on B4s and belly-warts didn't teach me anything about skydiving. Mark

Uh, no. The A license proficiency card RW requirements can be completed in 2 jumps. The number of jumps is not important, though. What is important is demonstrated skill -- this is a performance-oriented sport. After that, jump numbers and freefall time are more about FAI compatibility and bragging rights. Have equipment and procedures changed so much since I was an airborne trooper? The act of leaving an airplane in flight is unnatural for soldier and civilian, but my first sport jump was easier since I'd jumped from an airplane before. I learned in airborne school to protect my handles. I learned the importance of a gear check before leaving the airplane -- a gear check by my buddy, not the jumpmaster. I learned to check my canopy immediately after it opened, and I drilled emergency procedures. Are you saying because I didn't use sport equipment, I didn't learn anything applicable to sport parachuting? That jumps I made with a chest-mounted reserve shouldn't count because that's not sport equipment? That jumps made on round parachutes are not really skydives? That the attitudes I learned -- the value of safety, training, drill and repetition, attention to detail -- are not applicable to skydiving? Proverbs 4:7. Mark

Uh, no. Some of the Category F, G, and H air skills cannot be learned in a tunnel: diving and floater exits, swoop to dock, track. The canopy skills cannot be learned on T-10s or MC-1s. Category F, G, and H canopy work includes braked turns and approaches, reverse turns, front riser dives and spirals, and the accuracy required for an A license: 5 jumps within 20 meters of a target, without assistance. Students have to spot on their check dives; they get to practice in Categories F, G, and H. Packing without assistance is a Category G requirement; replacing a closing loop and doing owner maintenance on a 3-ring are Category H requirements. So if a student can do all that, why would it matter that he was wearing camouflage part of the time he was earning his license? By the way, we count tandem jumps toward license requirements. A bus passenger could learn something about driving by observing the driver and helping with the navigation. "Passenger" is not the same as "passive." A military jumper learns about equipment and equipment inspections, the earth as seen from above, and about canopy motion in the air vs motion through the air. And the average airborne trooper does a very good PLF. A comparison to passengers on a bus is unfair and inapt. Mark

That's true for tandem instructors. For other instructors, there are no FAA or USPA medical requirements beyond those required for skydivers in general. I used to carry my reading glasses in a jumpsuit pocket when doing tandems, because my medical said I had to have them in my possession while exercising the privileges of my certificate. Mark

Uh, no. Level 7 (Category E, more or less) plus jumps is not enough for a license for any student these days. A person with military jump experience and Category E air and canopy skills still needs to complete all the ground requirements of Categories A through E, plus all the requirements (air, canopy, and ground) of Categories F, G, and H. Then said jumper would have completed all the requirements of an A license, have the required number of jumps, and earned his license. Mark

To count toward a license, a jump must comply with BSRs. A military static line jump at 800' can be counted, under the provisions of the BSRs (SIM Section 2-1, para A.1). Exit altitude doesn't matter. Mark

Yes, he is. The same SIM section you cited says "License qualifications made during military training jumps may be properly recorded on the application for that USPA license and verified by the appropriate USPA official." So military jumps count. Your student needs to show evidence of his jumps -- his military training record if he can produce it, or whatever other evidence you choose to accept. His jumps at 800 or 1200 feet were made under military orders, so not in violation of any BSR. His proficiency card verifies his other A License skills. Is he available to teach PLFs? Mark

The service ceiling (altitude at which an immaculate airplane with Bob Hoover at the controls climbs at less than 100 fpm) is less than 16K MSL for a standard 206, but 27K MSL for the turbo. If you need to get to 10K AGL in Moab in the summer, you need the turbo. The folks at the airport might not be thinking of how the airplane is used when skydiving. They might be recommending the standard model because the standard has 100 pounds more useful load, and the recommended TBO is longer. Since you're going to be an airplane operator, I'd recommend joining the Cessna Pilots Association. Mark

A Cypres-1 due 8/04 + 3 months can have scheduled service done as early as May or as late as November. Turn-around time for must units I've sent in lately has been about two weeks. If your unit is one of the unusual one that needs to go back to Airtec in Germany, it may be longer. SSK charges about $170 for the 4/8 year service, plus about $80 if it needs batteries. Your rigger should get something for removing, shipping/handling/insurance, and reinstalling it -- figure $20 to $30 for that. Most riggers will not close someone else's pack job if all you want is the rig opened, Cypres re-installed, and rig closed. Expect to pay the original rigger about half the cost of a standard pack job if you can get him to re-install without a full repack -- or just plan on being without gear for the couple weeks your Cypres is in for service. Mark

That is a very exhaustive checklist. I would expect Coach candidates to be able to teach all the items on the list, either as part of a Category A FJC, or as part of a Cat G or H ground prep. The ISP requirements for a Cat G or Cat H ground prep are not as exhaustive, though, and are somewhat different. For example, equipment inspection is introduced (instructor explanation and demonstration) as part of the Cat C ground prep, and is practiced by the student beginning with the Cat D ground prep. In both cases, the emphasis is on how to do a pre-flight check. The student has already pulled a practice or actual ripcord a number of times, and has pulled a practice (or actual!) reserve ripcord a number of times as well, so presumably is familiar with where they are and what they do. As another example, the ISP Cat G emergency procedure review covers only canopy collision avoidance and what to do if avoidance doesn't work, plus tree landing avoidance and what to do if avoidance doesn't work. Other emergency procedure items in your checklist are not in a standard ISP Cat G ground prop. Container open in the aircraft is introduced in the Cat A FJC, reviewed in Cat C. Canopy malfunctions are introduced in Cat A FJC, reviewed in Cat B, and reviewed again in Cat D. Two-out is introduced in Cat A, reviewed in Cat E, and so on. The idea is for our students to reinforce their learning in digestible pieces throughout their progress toward a license. The IRM says that the Coach consults with an Instructor to verify that canopy training and emergency procedure review are complete, but does not require a Coach to conduct the actual training. We can agree that a Coach is qualified to do the training as well, but when I evaluate a Coach candidate, I have to use USPA standards, as published in the SIM/ISP and IRM. Coaching is piece-rate, not hourly. Coaches make barely enough to cover the depreciation on their gear, so the closer they are to an ISP jump, the better they will have balanced their time and the value they give to their customers. Mark

You're describing the Sentinel (Mk 2000) made by SSE. Firing altitude of 1000' and disarmed by physically unplugging the battery/processor box from the firing charge. There are still a few in use in the US. SSE is no longer in the civilian market, and its civilian altimeter line has been taken over by Alti-2 -- and they don't do Sentinels. Mark

After you lay your canopy down and squash the air out of it, is there much difference between your canopy and the guy's next to you who didn't stick the nose way back? Mark