drewcarp

If they can track down my passage being shipped some time in the next week from somewhere in the US to somewhere in AUS from half my name then they deserve whatever money they can squeeze out of the deal But yeah that would suck.

Not sure what you are jumping now but you could ask your instructors about upsizing you canopy until you get a little more confident. If it was easy everyone would be doing it

Thaks for the tip. So you are saying it's not reasonable to believe that my Australian friend came to the US with his rig and left it with me to clean and send back to him in Aus? What if I got it repacked and my rigger mailed it back? Lets hear your horror story!

Hey thanks! $100 with a bit more than half of the value insured.

Does anyone know the cheapest way to ship a rig to Australia? I checkd UPS and got a quote of $1200. And USPS said $190 not insured. I know to delare it as "goods returned to owner after service" to skip some import tax for the buyer but was hoping to get it over there for less. Anyone done this before? Thanks in advance! DC

Unfortunantly the deal didn't work out. But thanks for the reply! I hear great things about your DZ, happy jumping this season! DC

And bring back BELLAS relocated to one of the hangers, that place was the shit!

I started there in 09 so I can't speak for 2004 but I really really like the new landing rule. Prior to it in just 70 or so jumps I had 2 close calls with people under very fact parachutes and stopped going as much because of the anything goes pattern. I'll be jumping there more because of the "Nothing Bigger than a 90 North of the Pond" rule. Haven't really be out enough this season to see if it is really being enforced but I hope it sticks. I miss a few staff members that have moved on but there's turnover everywhere. I'm mostly a summer jumper but I can tell since last season they have been trying hard to make it more fun jumper friendly with the canopy classes, night jumps, water training etc. What they really need is a fire pit and BBQ area to chill after a day of jumping and a place to camp. That would make it really a top notch DZ. Oh and they should be open on Tues and Weds and have a bar or on site, a balloon, better weather and/or an Orange Julius... just saying.

Thank you very much! Maybe the topic for a search or new thread but does anyone have any advice on the best way to ship it? Declare the value and insure it? Would I be required to pay an import/export tax if it is only going across the border for an inspection and not (yet) a sale? Any experiences/stories about selling (or getting an inspection) on a rig across the border would be much apprectiated. Thanks DC

Seriously the pilot walking back and closing it. It seems like a little turbulance could sink the whole ship and the W/B change would throw off the trim enough to start a climb. With an auto pilot sure but trusting just the trim? It seems like a pretty bold move IMO but to each his own. So next time I'm last out can I get the pilot to come back and help me spot?

I have done this on an Otter my old DZ used to bring in a few weekends each year. When the plane would leave on Sunday night to return to it's home base, the pilot would take one last load up to 5k or 6k, let us out, and then continue on to fly the 200 miles home. I would climb out to the camera step, and lower the door before I left. While I felt like I was doing the pilot the biggest favor of all time, I was later told that if I didn't shut the door, the pilot would have trimmed the plane for cruise, left the cockpit and walked back to shut the door himself. Seriously?

Does anyone know Mario Blanchard at Voltige 2001 in Montreal? I'm selling my rig and the buyer wants me to ship it there for inspection and I was hoping someone could vouch for them? (No offense Franck or Mario if you read this). Shipping a $5K item across a border based on an email and a phone call makes me a little nervous so I was hoping someone could confirm they are the real deal? I don't have any reason at all to doubt that they are, I'm just trying to be smart about it and make sure. Thanks in advance, DC

The pilot? Pilots aren't always skydivers despite knowing a bit about skydiving and are plenty busy with their duties. Yes, a designated staff member (who is a skydiver) or experienced up jumper was what I had in mind as well. The point is someone taking some responsibility, which most DZOs and some skydivers seem to ahorr as much as regulation.

That seems pretty important to me. I'd rather focus on clearing my airspace and doing some canopy drills than staring at the ground trying to figure out which way guy flying the velo landed. Why can't the pilot inform the load just prior to exit of the wind direction and have everyone use that. He likely has the frequency pulled up. The time from exit to under canopy is much shorter than the time between when the FMD lands and the guy on the 280 starts his pattern so the window for a wind change is only 1 minute longer and then no one has to trust the guy swooping downwind nor look for him. Or I for one would pay an extra dollar a load to have someone on the ground manning the Tetrahedron (big red arrow). We have one that sometimes gets stuck and is pointing opposite the wind sock and that fucks shit up terribly, as half the people watch one and not the other and then its a total shit show, kinda like FMD

Is it common practice to send the rig to the potential buyer to jump before they make an offer? Is that common?

Popsjumper and RiggerPaul you are both very valuable contributors to this forum and I have learned a lot reading your posts. I want you to understand that my reply is meant to challenge my understanding and not yours, I know you got me beat in the department of skydiving knowledge hands down. I am just trying to broaden my understanding by participating in the discussion, I hope you don't think I am treating it as an argument, I'm not asserting that I'm right, just asking why I'm wrong

I agree but it's much easier to raise the firing altitude 300-500 feet on your AAD than it is to redesign your container. However, I do really like the design of the Basik Seven with no side flaps, maybe things are going that way? In the mean time though the mist practical solution IMO is to raise the firing height a few hundred feet and adjust you pull altitude accordingly. I'm more asking than stating all this, obviously, I only have 3 seasons in the sport but I'm not all that new to aviation and risk analysis in general. I just don't see why people are so opposed to adding a few hundred feet of buffer to allow your fancy 8 flap bulletproof freefly container to let you reserve PC out. How hard could it be to set your AAD. It only has 1 button D

Has anyone ever jumped or flown one of these? It's a Quicksilver Sport. My dad just bought one and I was thinking it would be a damn affordable and fun way to get to altitude. From first glance it looks pretty easy, just do a very good pin check and be very careful not to snag anything and roll off the side? Probably a good idea for the pilot to have a rig on as well? and I have 200 hours in 172s and he is a retired commercial pilot so we aren't totally green Any good common practices when it comes to jumping something like that? Also, could I just jump it onto the public GA airport my DZ uses or would that piss people off? I see powered parachutes out there some times.. Any tales of jumping or flying small odd aircraft would be appreciated as well, winner gets a free ride, haha D

I'm sure it's possible to fuck it up but we all have to trust each other with main and reserve handles and we trust each other to do pin checks and maintain their closing loops so they don't break in the door and kill everyone. I don't see how customizing an AAD to your jumping behavior is more difficult or dangerous than many other decisions we have to make every time we go to the DZ. Spotting, setting breakoff and pull altitudes and a host of other things need specific consideration and most people can do all those without killing themselves, why is setting an AAD so much different? You can't dumb down something as dynamic and unpredictable as skydiving to the lowest common denominator. Gear decisions are sometimes life and death. While listening to the procedures and principals that have been written in blood is smart so is recognizing when something isn't working the way it should and trying to make it better or suit it to your needs. Considering there have been numerous fatalities contributed to AAD's not giving the reserve enough time to deploy means it probably isn't firing high enough. Yes, I know the AAD only cuts the loop and does not "cause" a fatality by firing too low but it likely would have prevented a few fatalities if it fired a few hundred feet higher. How likely is it for a 2 out to kill you? Not too likely for me, I fly large square canopies and pull pretty high so why can't I balance the risk and set my AAD to an altitude more likely to work? The most important thing to do is plan your skydive around the limitations of your gear, not the other way around. The fatalities don't lie, sometimes it takes more than 750 feet to get a reserve over head, not always but enough to consider a change. It's fact that you have a better chance of your system (AAD and container) working if it fires a little higher, so adjust your procedures and pull a little higher. That's an advantage I would like to have so I'm open to RTFM and adding a few hundred feet so I have the best chance of it working if I need it. If I didn't trust myself to do that I shouldn't trust myself to pack, gear check, pull or a host of other things I must do to skydive another day. I fit the gear to my skydive not the statistically average skydive. I usually pull at 4K not 2K so it's more likely I'll need the AAD to work, if I haven't pulled by 2 it's likely I won't by 1K. I'd rather have 2 out than 0 if I fuck up that bad. If you average skydiver cant be trusted to RTFM and program it what if it was a rigger duty? That would prevent most idiots from setting it so wrong that it kills them, yeah? Would that be better? Because the current setting is considered too low by many who have the experience to know so why not change it so it works all the time and then adapt the procedures?

Hi Jerry, I was presented with this info via PM from an experienced jumper. I don't claim to know how it works all, my apologies if I made it seem that way. I am only testing my understanding of what they were implying and throwing it out there for the community to confirm or deny. I chose a Vector partially because of the skyhook and just paid 4 grand for one that is on the way to my house when I was PM'd the skyhook info relating to another post. I would prefer any claims about the skyhook delaying a reserve deployment were wrong, which it seems like they are. With you and Wendy and Likestojump saying that the issue is not true I am very relieved and frankly feel bad for wrongly bagging on the device. I wish there was a way to delete the thread as to not waste anyones else's time with the misinformation. My apologies and thanks for chiming in with a technical explanation. D

The standard tried and true reserve system has been proven to work fine above 1K so you don't need a skyhook for high cutaways. If you have it you are in a way forced into relying on it low because if you don't rely on it and follow the recommend procedure which is straight to reserve... Your skyhook DOES effect reserve deployment when NOT cutting away in a slow speed reserve activation. The skyhook is inhibiting extraction of the freebag until your PC creates enough drag to break the TY-2A cord, which according to Bill Booth is roughly 25 mph, which is not likely survivable and that is when you reserve PC STARTS to pull your freebag out, you are still accelerating. "...above 25 mph, the reserve pilot chute will release the Skyhook and start to deploy the reserve normally. " -Bill Booth, Post 41 in this thread... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=3346918;page=2;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25; if I am reading it wrong let me know. The skyhook will slow down your freebag extraction when not cutting away from a partial canopy, which happens to be the recommended EP when below 1k, skyhook or not. You didn't address this in your post. Do you agree it can slow your reserve extraction? If not please explain what's wrong with my argument and if you agree answer this... If you ended up with a partial canopy at 500 feet would you cut away and bank on the skyhook working or go straight to silver and settle for a slower reserve extraction than you would have w/o the skyhook? I am concerned with using it under 1k because I won't ever need it up high, under 1k is all it is good for. A standard RSL or manual reserve activation is a simpler solution without the drawback (above in bold) and added complexity/unknown failure modes/increased possibility of rigging error. I don't have a shoulder problem, you have me confused with someone else. Let me know where I am wrong.. All in good fun, D

Edited to remove incorrect info so it doesn't confuse anyone else.

I have a Vector 3 with a skyhook in stalled on the way to my house (first rig) I have been going back and forth about leaving the skyhook hooked up. Initially the skyhook seems like a great idea but what it boils down to is two things.. Everyone who's anyone says they wouldn't rely on it so, I'm not going to change my EP's to where I would cut away at 500 feet if I need a new canopy based on having a skyhook. I have an audible to tell me when I hit 1k feet and every time I hear it I tell myself if anything happens I go straight to silver for more fabric. Adding a reserve to a collapsed/re-deploying main is pretty much just like a 2 out right? 9/10 times they deploy re/deploy together just fine so what good is the skyhook if you aren't going to cut away low? What scenario provides a good reason to use the skyhook? I can't think of any, you will always be better off adding the reserve, right? And the skyhook could cause a problem when I don't need it, which happens to be my most likely cutaway scenario, cutting away high. Which brings me to my next point.. The simpler your reserve system is the better. I understand a standard reserve, pull pin, spring fires, pc pulls canopy...I need to understand how the skyhook operates better before I'm comfortable with it. It hooks up too much shit to my last chance and there are lots of new failure modes that probably haven't even been discovered yet as it's still relatively new. So.. Unless I am thinking about changing my do not cut away below altitude to count on the skyhook why add failure modes and complexity? Granted I plan on getting some hands on explination from my rigger so hopefully I understand it enough to be comfortable with it but for now I'm skeptical, if it had been out longer and could be relied upon maybe not so much. Fair assessment? What am I missing?

Thanks for the replies! I get it Weds

No I don't want any advice on what to buy! I just bought it! 2003 V3 w/ skyhook Spectre 190 PDR 193 Cypress 2. If anyone has any nice things to say about 2003 vectors I would love to hear it!! Are there major differences from 2003 compared to the newer vectors? I called UPT and red off my measurements and they said my twin must have had it built because it was all right on! Damn lucky! I'm not sure if it has mag riser covers, hoping so becase now that I paid for it I hear the V3 tuck tabs can be difficult. Also not sure what I think about a retro fitted skyhook, not sure if I'll leave it hooked up or not. But other than that I have never been so happy and broke at the same time. Cant wait until it gets here! Anyhoo I just had to tell someone as my GF does not understand my enthusiam, I know you all will!! Hope you all have a great day!!! Drew