SStewart

I'll go there. It's easy to forget ( I've done it) that a part 13 informal complaint is, well informal and more or less like a mediation process, more or less it's showing the courts the party tired to get compliance via talks mediated through the FAA and when all that fails, you move onto a part 16 formal complaint As a side note, (also east to forget) a part 13 case, the FAA (as I understand it) will not issue a ruling, but they will make a determination as to an airport sponsors compliance or not. The most important thing that is sometime forgotten about a PT 13, is it's open ended and there is no time limit for the FAA to make a determination on an informal complaint. Maybe this is why they filed to the next level??? Regardless of all that, Scott, your post is pretty much right on and sums it up. I do know one thing, all this bullshit will make your head spin trying to keep track of all the rules and subsections in the guidance, more so if your knee deep in the pile. http://www.faa.gov/airports/airport_compliance/complaints/ Let me take this a step further.... Skydivers have always been their worst enemy. We have the law on our side but we don't know how to apply it. In most cases we just can't afford it. In the last week we have lost another advocate and now the number of dropzones is shrinking. Wake the fuck up people, our sport is under attack and we have to fight back and keep the small dropzones alive. Onward and Upward!

Cricket The big ravens are nice but the small ones stall to easily But you are used to jumping Lightnings, they land shitty but at least they open hard. Onward and Upward!

Seriously folks, we are considering this man to be president and speaking french is an issue? Read the book of Mormon and then get back to me when you want to talk about reality. Onward and Upward!

Jesus loves Tim Tebow. But you know who loves Tom Brady? SATAN! Onward and Upward!

Well, I guess Romnet is toast now. I just saw the Gingrich attack add on Mitt and it turns out that not only is he a Moderate but just like John Kerry he also speaks French! OMG! Well that pretty much does it. Conservatives can forgive a lot but speaking french draws the line. Dumb move Mitt, how dare you learn a foreign language! Not conservative! Go back to Paris you french frog! Onward and Upward!

Yeah Jerry, I just talked to Ralph and he said there will be a private service for just family members only this spring but later in the summer he will have a memorial at the dropzone and we will do some sort of jump to honor Cindy. He said he will keep the dz open and keep plugging along because that is what she wanted. Pretty sad, she was only 67. Mesothelioma takes 40 to 50 years to show up after exposure and folks who have it don't find out until it is too late. Onward and Upward!

I got a call from a friend today with the sad news that Cindy passed away after a long battle with cancer. Cindy was one of my jumpmasters when I was a student and we later became good friends. We made hundreds of jumps together in the 80's and early 90's. Cindy was also a very skilled pilot and flew many, many loads of skydivers. One of the best 182 pilots I have ever jumped with. Cindy and Ralph Hatley have been running their dropzone together in Eagle Creek Oregon since 1977 and operated dropzones in several other locations before that dating back to the 60's. Thousands of students learned to jump with them and many are still in the sport today including myself. Cindy was a national champion in style and accuracy and one of the best skydivers I have ever jumped with. I wish I could have jumped with her one more time and I am very sorry to see her leave us too soon. Onward and Upward!

You are correct sir. This has nothing to do about safety it is yet another example of a low form of government (in this case a city council) trying to over-ride a higher form of government, the FAA. Why the FAA has not stepped up and enforced the law I can not even speculate. I grew up in Oregon and at one point we had 7 active dropzones. At this point we are down to one active turbine dropzone and a few small dwindling 182 operations that are on the way out. If the trend continues there will be no place to jump in Oregon. This is not just unique to Oregon, this trend has been happening nation wide. The small skydiving clubs and schools are dying and no one seems to care. It will get to the point where you will have to travel long distances or live close to a large city with a commercial dropzone nearby if you want to jump. The small dropzones fuel the large ones, jumpers from the small DZ's go to boogies, travel when the weather is bad. What happens when they stop coming because there is no place to jump back home? What happens when there is no upward mobility and only the very wealthy or people who live near highly populated areas have access to a dropzone? It is happening my friends and people better wake up or someday you may find your dropzone closed and the only option is to go to another state to jump. Onward and Upward!

1. Correct 2. Incorrect 3. 2004 The older ZP fabric made by Gelvenor known as "south african zp" is thicker and more durable than the newer slick, harder to pack fabric. The new stuff has a smaller pack volume. Some of the older fabric is still available but they don't make it anymore. I have a Hi-Per main that is only 2 years old made of the old SA ZP. Some stocks of it are still around even though it is out of production. I love the older stuff and think it is the best. It packs up a bit bigger but it is easy to pack and will last forever. I was told that it was too expensive to manufacture so they stopped production, maybe because of environmental concerns? I don't know, I have not heard that one before. Both fabrics used by PD and Aerodyne are nearly identical now but Aerodyne has the octagonal weave ZPX available as an option. The ZPX is very, very strong and was supposed to be easier to pack but so far that has not been my experience. Onward and Upward!

Yes, it is legal to punch clouds in Australia and the Australian model was discussed at the BOD meeting. However, Australia has the population of California and the air traffic there is a tiny fraction of the US. I have jumped there and never saw any other aircraft in the sky near the DZ. Not really the same thing. I would love to see the same rules here in the US but I don't think the FAA would ever approve it. Onward and Upward!

Utah, our state is run by the Mormon church. Onward and Upward!

Rich, we talked about this at length during the 2008 summer bod meeting in Alexandria and as I remember it never made it out of the safety and training committee. We may have mentioned it to the full board but only that it was discussed and decided to be a bad idea. Randy Ottinger made it pretty clear that we should not ask the FAA a question if we don't want to hear the answer. (Can we do this? no, why do you want to do that?) Essentially we don't want them to take a closer look at what we are doing. If we approach the FAA and tell them these rules are hard to adhere to and we want an exemption they may very well come back and say "really?" Why is that? Are you violating the FARs? Do we need stricter enforcement? Etc. I think we should leave this one alone. For the most part it is fairly easy to follow the cloud clearance rules. Onward and Upward!

There is no such thing as the "tea party" They are just republicans Onward and Upward!

I don't see how that even comes close to "The Lie Of The Year" Since it is essentially true that the GOP teabaggers want to end SS and medicare. How about we start a better list? I will go first.... "I have never done anything inappropriate in my life" -Herman Cain Onward and Upward!

Remember McCain talked about staying there for a 100 years if necessary. And didn't we have plans to kill Bin Laden for a long time too? McCain was on TV this very morning talking about how surrender was a big mistake and that it was just a campaign stunt by Obama. He also went on and on about WMD and the other same ridiculous bullshit that was proven to be a big lie years ago. What a fool, that stupid war is finally over and he still won't let it go. Onward and Upward!

Essentially he "pulled a Palin" He quit but he won't go away and now he can make a lot more money. Onward and Upward!

Actually it does work that way. If you get a Sport Pilot license you are restricted to "daytime only" flying, along with a few other restrictions. If you have a normal unrestricted pilots license but don't have a current medical you can fly a Light Sport aircraft but must fly in the "daytime only", along with a few other restrictions. Ok, in our sport that would be called a C license Onward and Upward!

Back to the OP, there is absolutely no reason to jump at night. Unless you want a D license. We never should have eliminated the water jump requirement. That was a mistake. The current water jump training is a joke. For a D license you should have to make 10 night jumps and 10 intentional water jumps. The coach rating was a mistake, we should have kept the Jumpmaster rating. We should not have made things easier, we should have made them tougher, harder, and more challenging. A D license means you are an expert skydiver. It does not mean you have to do CRW, Wingsuit, skysurf, base, Mr. Bill, or what ever. You only need a C to be an AFF instructor. If you want to be a tandem instructor or you want to do pro rated demos or you want to be an S&TA then you must have a D license which means you have to be able to jump at night. Period. How can you teach something if you can not do it yourself? If you want to fly an airplane you can not get a "daytime only" pilots license, It does not work that way. Why should we be any different? Personally I don't much care for jumping at night, my eyesight is fading as I age and flaring HP canopies at night is a bit tricky. It is a choice, I don't have to do it. Keep this in mind, you are the captain of your own boat. Onward and Upward!

Him? I know, failing of the English language, God is neither male or female. Ok, I always wondered why god would need a penis. And how come there is no Mrs. god? You know, like Mrs. Santa claus? I bet she would be pissed about him knocking up that virgin. Onward and Upward!

Him? Onward and Upward!

I knew before I started jumping. I wanted to jump when I was 16 but my folks would nod sign the waiver. So I had to wait until 18 Onward and Upward!

I have had 10 reserve rides, the first 8 were from 1982 to 1991. The first 3 were with capewells (1 shot and a half, 2 on r-3's) I did not have a cutaway on 3 rings until number 4. My first 7 reserve rides were on round reserves. After my first reserve ride on a square I got rid of the rounds and have not jumped one since. Then I went nearly 20 years and almost 2000 jumps until I had a cutaway. It was a baglock and I saddled out at about 1000 feet. Certainly the lowest I have ever opened a reserve. I have never looked at an altimeter during a malfunction, but then I don't usually look at an altimeter until after the canopy is open. Just to keep myself honest and to check my mental clock. I have an audible but last summer the battery went dead and I kept jumping without it. I decided that beeping noise was annoying so I never got new batteries. Since my eyesight seems to be fading I might get new batteries next summer. When I started jumping they would not let you have an altimeter until you could prove you did not need one. But for some strange reason they let me have a stop watch. Onward and Upward!

Hot air balloons can be kinda tricky too Seriously, don't blame the aircraft, blame the arch Onward and Upward!

No, not the same. There are still a few non-profit clubs with a 182 spread out across the country where you can get a ride to altitude for 10-15 bucks. If you pay your dues, pitch in and help out. Sadly, those places are harder to find these days. Onward and Upward!

Never, but I always checked it after the reserve was open. Pretty much the same procedure I use when I open my main. Onward and Upward!