SStewart

I was thinking the same thing. Last winter I dislocated my left shoulder during a skiing mishap and I just instinctively grabbed it right below the elbow and pulled up which caused it to pop right back in. I had never had a shoulder injury before so it just happened automatically without thinking. It was only out for a few seconds max. I was in some pain but I was able to ski the rest of the way down in discomfort, I have no doubt I could have pulled a toggle with it if I had been in the air. I had another injury to the same shoulder a few months after reconstructive surgery during an AFF practice jump but it did not come all the way out. I only found out after an MRI the following week the extent of the damage. It was painful to lift my arm over my head but I managed to land no problem. I even made a few more jumps that same day but it was really uncomfortable. The next morning I was in such pain I had to drop out of the course before I could finish the eval dives. Anyway, after another round of arthoscopy I am back jumping again but I am very careful as to what kind of jumps I do (no launching big chunks with someone holding on to my left arm, etc.) Not sure at this point when or if I will finish the AFF course. If it were to come out again in freefall I think I would first try to pop it back in (altitude permitting) If not I would dump the main and then try to work it out. If I could not get it back in under canopy I would still have the option to chop the main and fire the reserve with my right arm and land the reserve at half brakes with a PLF Rather than try to flare a high performance ZP with one arm I would rather take my chances with a docile seven cell f-111 reserve with the brakes stowed. I have enough round jumps that I would feel comfortable with a well executed PLF. Steer to the landing area with my good arm and a riser. If it were to happen with a right arm I would just go straight to the reserve and do the same thing. Onward and Upward!

Old guys are tough, they don't complain if they break their leg. They just limp back to the hangar, have a beer and have it looked at on Monday. This new femur thing is a generation X problem. Before cell phones we didn't break our femurs. Onward and Upward!

Bill Hanrahan is doing one at Chambersburg PA soon but I don't have the dates, Check with the DZ. Onward and Upward!

I rarely carry a cell phone when I am not skydiving. I have one but I forget to keep it charged. It comes in handy when I travel and I do check it for messages but other than that I think it's annoying. Onward and Upward!

1st timers only I think, that certainly does not include experienced jumpers. 48 students a week back in the '80s at a cessna DZ was considered busy. VERY busy! Remember all static line, no AFF, and tandem was still a new idea that was considered a bit weird at the time. Also, there was no such thing as Skydive Arizona. Onward and Upward!

Some things change and some things don't. Maybe the DB Cooper nuts should take a closer look Illegal flight lands pilot in trouble once again By Karen McCowan The Register-Guard Appeared in print: Wednesday, Jan 20, 2010 ________________________________________ A 74-year-old Sheridan man with a decades-long history of defying federal aviation rules just can’t seem to stay out of the cockpit. Teddy Ernest Mayfield was sentenced Tuesday for flying a single-engine plane from Eugene Airport to the Independence airport in June 2008 — 26 years after the Federal Aviation Administration last revoked his pilot’s license. U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan ordered Mayfield to pay a $2,000 fine, placed him on three years’ probation and forbade him to “operate, construct or repair aviation equipment” without his probation officer’s permission. Mayfield was sentenced in 1994 to 41/2 months in federal prison for repeatedly flying without a license, court records show. He also was sentenced in 1995 to five months in state prison for criminally negligent homicide in the deaths of two customers of his former skydiving school. FAA investigators blamed his faulty packing of parachutes in those deaths. Mayfield fell off the agency’s radar screen for more than a decade after the latter conviction, becoming a Sheridan city councilor and Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year. But he again captured FAA attention by taking off from the Eugene Airport on June 13, 2008, without communicating with — or getting clearance from — air traffic controllers. He initially suggested to investigators that another pilot with him was flying the plane, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney William “Bud” Fitzgerald. But the FAA determined that the other pilot was at work in Corvallis at the time of the illegal take-off, according to a sentencing memo by Fitzgerald. And in a letter to Hogan this month, Mayfield said he took “full responsibility for my irresponsible act of flying the airplane from Eugene to Independence. I knew better and I should not have done it.” Mayfield also wrote that airplanes “have always been my life and only source of income. Since I closed my skydiving business in 1994, I turned to restoring and brokering small airplanes. Doing this does not require me to fly the airplanes.” In a defense sentencing memo, attorney Steven Myers told Hogan that his client attempted to contact the Eugene control tower for permission to take off using “light signals” because his plane’s battery could not power its radio. He said Mayfield “erroneously assumed” he’d been given permission to take off. Fitzgerald noted that Mayfield first had his license to fly revoked while still a student pilot in 1967, for illegally carrying a passenger during a flight. He went on to obtain a commercial pilot’s license in 1972 and to open Pacific Parachute Center in Sheridan. But the FAA again revoked Mayfield’s license in 1982 for violations that included failing to disclose his criminal history on a prerequisite medical certificate application. Though his license was never reinstated, Mayfield continued to fly planes and flout court orders not to do so, leading to his May 1994 federal prison sentence. That same year, the FAA revoked Mayfield’s parachute rigger certificate after the agency faulted his failure to properly pack and maintain two parachutes involved in skydiving fatalities. In 1995, he pleaded guilty in Yamhill County Circuit Court to two counts of criminally negligent homicide in the 1993 death of veteran skydiver Charles Schaefer, 33, and the 1994 death of novice jumper Lee Perry Sr., 85. Both died when their chutes failed to open. They were among 13 people who died in Pacific Parachute Center jumps. An FAA spokeswoman said in 1994 that most of the deaths occurred after parachutes malfunctioned. The U.S. Parachute Association suspended Mayfield as an affiliate instructor in 1994 as a result of the FAA investigation. In an interview then, Mayfield blamed his suspension on FAA harassment over what he called his 20-year battle over the agency’s medical certification requirement. He said the 13 deaths bothered him, but noted that his skydiving operation trained 2,500 people a year. He was sentenced to five months in jail and three years of probation for the homicides, Fitzgerald said, but violated that probation by building an ultralight aircraft without the court’s permission. But the prosecutor joined Myers in recommending probation rather than prison for the Eugene offense, saying FAA officials agreed it was an appropriate penalty for the latest offense. Myers noted that the Eugene incident came 15 years after Mayfield’s previous aviation-related conviction. He noted that his client had strictly complied with terms of his pretrial release, and has a 35-year history of community service in Sheridan. Onward and Upward!

I haven't had anyone ask in years but I would not turn one down. Onward and Upward!

Wow! So now you are a rigger too? Awesome! Good for you! Onward and Upward!

Looks kinda like a Piglet. Onward and Upward!

Great canopy and made from the easy to pack South African ZP like the older Aerodyne canopies. Almost identical to the Pilot. I put about 400 jumps on one and I would recommend the large domed slider for softer openings. I used mine for camera jumps and only had one slammer but after that I went to a bigger slider and that seemed to cure it. Onward and Upward!

Come on Jimmy, like nothing weird and different ever happens in NY? Utah is pretty tame compared to your neck of the woods. Onward and Upward!

Yes, same gear and the details can be found in the stolen gear section (except for the camera stuff) Onward and Upward!

Recently listed; a buddy of mine had his car hit in Salt Lake at the Radisson Hotel. In a secure Parking lot no less. Sport rigs, base rigs, camera gear etc. Keep an eye out! Onward and Upward!

I just take pictures, I don't adjust goggles. Not my job. Onward and Upward!

From 2009 Onward and Upward!

This notion that tandems are the only solution is a bit off. This sport survived for decades without them. The proverbial genie is out of the bottle now so there is no going back. But, loud slow airplanes sure did cut down on the number of dorks in the air at one time. Onward and Upward!

$100 Inspect everything. Assemble and pack the reserve, assemble and pack the main. Install the AAD if there is one. I charge extra for anything else, repairs, shipping, etc. Onward and Upward!

Look again, same day, different pics. In the last one you can see the airport. Onward and Upward!

From the beach boogie in ORYGUN Onward and Upward!

To be honest certain people should not talk to students at all. Some of them even have instructor ratings. Onward and Upward!

I was there in 2005 for only two weeks so my experience is somewhat limited. I made my first stop in Mercer and made a few fun jumps. The scenery and DZ were nice but the crowd was not too friendly. They seemed a bit snobbish and did not want to jump with an American. Next stop was Taupo which is a mega tandem factory. They were cool but you will jump by yourself, Abel Tazman was the best! Beautiful scenery and fun jump friendly. I did several loads there and had a great time. Christchurch was my last stop before going to Australia but did not jump due to weather so I can't really say. Motueka (Abel Tasman) was the most positive experience I had. Onward and Upward!

I am from Oregon, what does she want to talk about? Onward and Upward!

I was referring to the Leica cameras. Onward and Upward!

Personally I dont know much about the differences between the G10 and G11. What phree said could be true.. My point was that a compact such as the g10 is the best choice. Not necessarily exactly that model. If you truly want some High IQ with low weight, you need to look at some other things like the leica X1 (286grams) or the Leica m9 (585grams) But these cameras go far beyond what is reasonable for shooting tandems.. I can't tell, can you plug a remote shutter switch into these? Onward and Upward!

Interesting....I have over 600 jumps on Diablos and never had that happen. In my experience they open pretty much like a Triathlon, the most I have ever had was maybe a 180 but that is pretty rare. Generally speaking they open soft and on heading. I would guess I have about an equal amount of jumps on Triathlons. I did have a cutaway last year but that was a baglock, the canopy never came out. The only other chop on a Diablo was after blown toggle which resulted in a knotted up steering line. Kinda hard to describe but the steering line ended up tied in a knot around the riser. I had the opposite side buried to counter the turn but did not feel comfortable landing on rears so I chopped it. It was never really "spun -up" I frequently jump with two cameras and the reason I like the Diablo is because of the openings, opens like a seven cell but flies more like a nine cell. I think you are much more likely to get spun up on an elliptical nine cell or cross braced. The leading edge on the Diablo is square as a box. I have only made a few jumps on Stillettos but they seemed much more "twitchy" to me. Definetly a longer flare and flatter glide but didn't seem as stable as a Diablo especially in turbulence. I have heard the Diablo described as a "seven cell Stiletto" but they are really two different animals. More like a Triathlon on steroids. The only real difference between the Tri and the Diablo is the Diablo has an eliptical tail and a steeper glide angle. Onward and Upward!