SStewart

None of these changes happened in the last 7 years and most occured decades ago. Dacron is still common on many canopies especially for CRW and the two canopies I jump now have spectra suspension lines and dacron steering lines. When they are due for reline I will go back to dacron. (doesn't shrink, softer openings for camera, etc.) Nothing wrong with new improvements but a seven year arbitrary time limit is absurd. I have a rig that is ten years old but was never jumped until just a few years ago and still looks brand new. My Infinity is six and a half but the design is essentialy the same as one made today. When it turns seven should I get rid of it and buy another one that is basically the same rig? Older rigs can also be retrofitted and upgraded to newer, modern standards. Newer is not always better. I personally don't like the newer models of certain rigs and actually preferred the older design better. I would not even buy a new design until it has been around for awhile to make sure they have worked all the bugs out. You know, for safety It all comes down to proper care and maintenance. I have seen containers just a few years old and completely trashed and rigs builtin the 90's that still looked brand new. Just like with canopies if it is airworthy it's airworthy, if it is not it's not. Onward and Upward!

Yes, it is OK for you Although I have know women in this sport that could pee standing up. Anyway, one of my containers is 10 years old and the other turns 7 this summer so I guess it's time to hang it up. I certainly can't afford to buy new ones. Onward and Upward!

That really sums it up. The pussification of this sport is in full bloom. My gawd, what has become of us? Onward and Upward!

I would love to come Jen but the drive is just a bit too far. I was thinking about flying out for the Maytown fun meet (the best boogie in the world) but life gets in the way.... Have fun and tell everyone the former regional director says HI! Onward and Upward!

If you mean Monday June 8th 2009.... There is an AFF ratings course at Skydive Utah all week long from the 8th through the 14th so there will be jumping during the weekdays. Not sure how many fun jumpers will be around but there will be loads going up. Skydive Ogden is open Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun. Onward and Upward!

Yep, looks just like the pin on my '85 Corsair, nothing new here. Onward and Upward!

The ones I have jumped with; Dave DeWolf Don Kelner Darlene Kelner Phil Onis Carol Clay Roch Charmet Edit all but Roch are still jumping. Charmet was the first to reach 10K Onward and Upward!

I used to jump a SR-71 (AKA Conquest.) I loved that canopy and in retrospect I wish I would have kept it. Very cool canopy but it did have some quirks. My SR-71 was a small one, about 120ish and it flew like a sabre1. These canopies had baffles on the leading edge so they would open softy. This was an attempt to prevent those slammers that the early sabres were known for. I wish I had a picture but in effect it was a leading edge air-lock. Once the canopy was open it would "breathe" just fine in full flight but if you pulled down the fronts it would lose air and collapse. If you pulled down both front risers the canopy would lose air and collapse because you would effectively starve the air out of the canopy. But if you only used rears and toggles it flew great and was a really fun canopy. It had a super flare but certainly not a novice canopy. I doubt the people talking smack about it ever jumped one. Onward and Upward!

Let's see, 24' flat, pretty rough 26' navy conical with inverted T, nice. Stood up all those. 26' Security Lo-Po, sweet! Raven III loaded at about 1:1.04, kinda slugish (it's a reserve, that's OK) Raven I loaded about 1:1.15, not bad. Would have been better if I'd had both arms working There ya go, my first 7 reserve rides were on rounds. # 8 was a square (rascal 202) I have not jumped a round since that day. 22' Sac =very rough! good thing I was young, 2 rides 26' Nav Con= very nice! 2 rides 24' Phantom= 3 rides, no problem Rascal 202= stand up in the peas, I have only jumped square reserves since then. Two weeks ago I had my first reserve ride in 18 years and over 2000 jumps on a PD 143. It was terminal deployment (baglock) and it was fast but not hard. I didn't think the flare was all that great but I almost stood it up in a no wind condition. I flared a little late and I have not jumped a non-zp canopy in a long time. I have a smart and a tempo in my other rigs, I would not expect the performance to be radically different. I think older ravens are strong enough as long as you don't overload them. Ravens were TSO'd as both main and reserves and before ZP they were a very popular main canopy. They were jumped at terminal speeds all the time and I don't remember every hearing about catastrophic failures. Our gear was heavier back then and on a hot day with shorts and T shirts we were smokin right along. We didn't call it "freeflying" but we did fast stuff, horny gorillas and what not with ravens as mains and we were not blowing up canopies. The one raven reserve failure that I remember was caused by fingertrapped lines that were not bartacked. As I recall there was a lawsuit involved with that one. It had nothing to do with the canopy not holding up, the lines let go. The newer precision reserves are every bit as strong as anything else available today. Onward and Upward!

My first altimeter was an Altimaster. It was the first piece of equipment I bought and I still use it today. I got it 28 years ago when I was 18. i have gone through a lot of equipment over the years but still use the same altimeter. Big face, easy to read, no batteries required, and if you take care of it they will last forever. You can find them used for under $50 on Ebay and on the dz.com classifieds. Brand new ones are only $115. I added an audible a few years ago for camera flying but my first altimeter is the only altimeter I have ever needed. edit: The altimaster II is the one I am talking about, not the III or V The II has a larger face but is very light weight and you can replace the lens if it gets scratched up. Onward and Upward!

Cartoons don't need eye protection. Onward and Upward!

Incorrect, the US Forest Service (USFS) jump round canopies. The Bureau of Land management (BLM)jump squares. It does not matter where they are landing, they do not get to "choose" which canopy they want to jump. During a busy fire season it is not uncommon to have mixed loads of rounds and squares with employees of the different agencies on the same load. The gear you jump depends entirely on which agency you work for. The BLM jumpers exit at around 3500 feet and the FS jumpers between 1200-1800 feet. Of course it is pretty difficult to determine exact altitude over mountainous terrain. Sometimes it is in tall timber, sometimes it is in open range land. They do not get to choose where the fire is. The BLM has been sucsessfully jumping ram-airs for many years and are happy with their program. The Forest Service experimented with ram airs but after a jumper was killed on a practice jump back in the 90's they banned the use of ram airs. That ban is still in effect although many USFS jumpers would like to see that changed. Btw, I was a firefighter with the USFS for 23 years, 3 seasons as a Forest Service contractor. My wife is currently the assitant director of Fire and Aviation in the Great Basin which includes the McCall Idaho Smokejumper base. The base in Boise is managed by the BLM. Onward and Upward!

The Pledge is a "feel good" measure and nothing more. The entire group membership program is a total joke and does nothing for the individual member of USPA. You ask "what is the point?" There is none. Onward and Upward!

For extra safety you could mount it on the students wrist, then the student would really be "part of the action!" Onward and Upward!

Okay, but when do you propose to teach this to them? During the FJC? imho, not a good idea to add yet another thing to remember to the already overwhelming amount of information that we throw at them ("crap, I flared too high/too low, am I supposed to PLF or slide? I don't remember!" Crash...). Most first jump students are going to land at a fairly slow speed; the PLF is far more likely to keep them from breaking if the flare is less than perfect. I can see teaching a slide technique prior to clearing them for self-supervision though, since that's when they're going to start flying smaller, faster canopies. Exactly! We are talking about students here and the assumption is they will be jumping large docile student canopies. The PLF is still the best method available to avoid injury. Onward and Upward!

Absolutely nothing wrong with modifying the technique as equipment and skills evolve. But to abdandon the concept altogether? If anything PLF's should be more important now than ever before, canopy landing injuries and fatalities today make the old gear seem safer. To even suggest that we won't come straight down on a modern canopy is absurd. It happens all the time and a good PLF can be the difference between a hard landing and a serious or even fatal injury. These are survival skills that should be more important than how many points we can turn. Feet and knees together! Onward and Upward!

I can't believe we are even discussing this.... What is next? Why not just focus on good openings so we don't need to worry about emergency procedures? After all what could possibly go wrong? Onward and Upward!

If you look at the dropzone listings on this site there are 265 dropzones in the US listed. Out of those 164 offer static line training or almost 62% In some states all of the DZ's have a SL (or IAD)program in others states most of them do. It seems that SL/IAD training is less common in the warmer and drier states that have larger turbine DZ's. I think it is still the most cost effective way at small cessna DZ's and just the opposite at the large commercial centers. Two AFF instructors and one student out of a 182 at 10,000 feet or one instructor and 3 students from 3000? Do the math. Onward and Upward!

So I have a camera helmet project going on and I have the same problem I have always had with carbon fiber. I can't get the velcro to stick to the inside of the helmet to hold the new liners in place. Whatever BH uses doesn't last very long. I had a new Gunner that shed the velcro within a month. I have tried dozens of adhesives and some stick to the velcro but not the helmet and some stick to the helmet but not the velcro. Any suggestions? Onward and Upward!

Dumbos magic feather. I have always thought they were a pain in the ass and more trouble than they are worth. But some folks think they make you "fly better" Onward and Upward!

I didn't pack my 1st jump. When I said I wanted to make a second jump they said something like.... Well, you better start packing then. The first ones on us but if you want to keep jumping you have to learn to pack cuz ain't no one going to do it for you. Seriously. Paid packers were unheard of. The instructors and jumpmasters packed for the first jump students but they wouldn't do it for you after the first jump. They were perfectly willing to show you how and supervise. Different times for sure. Onward and Upward!

I have been psycho packing for over 5 years now and I don't quite get what you are asking. It sounds like you are not rolling it far enough. The slider grommets should be inside the bag under the tail and out of the way. Sorry, I just can't make sense of what you are saying without seeing it in person. Onward and Upward!

All of them, those people are weirdos. Onward and Upward!

Mike is right, if the 4 year was missed and the eight year is due they only charge for the eight year. Onward and Upward!

There was about 50 people at Ogden. 9 loads in the Caravan. I made my first jump since the shoulder surgery. Just a hop n pop but it was good to get back in the air. Two AFF grads and 18 tandems. Winds were up in the AM but calmed down in the afternoon. Not bad for March. Onward and Upward!