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Im not actually asking anyone buddy, the info isn't out yet. I did ask airtec (cypres is a product, not a company) months and months ago after learning about the first fatality and they said they were working on something and I'll know more along with everyone else when it's out. The questions were meant to promote discussion (this is a gear forum, yes?). I did not expect anyone to answer them per se, but was expressing my likes and dislikes based on info that's available. I'm terribly sorry to have wasted your time with my talk about gear at a gear forum, thanks for reminding me this place is only for people with all the answers.

What I like about this so far with very limited info: Someone is doing something about the WS/AAD situation. That someone is airtec. What I'd like to know more about: How is the parameter switch triggered? What are the conditions to switch modes? Would it be at all possible in some circumstances to trigger the mode switch without a canopy? At what loading and handling could we bust the WS fallrate parameter under canopy? Is everyone in danger of a misfire if the mode switch doesn't happen or just highly loaded canopies throwing multiple rotations? If the mode switch doesn't happen, how should flight be restricted to avoid a misfire? No fronts? No hard toggle turns? No turns? Can we still fly our canopy safely to the ground on WS mode? It would be highly unlikely to have someone deploy a main, then cut away still zipped up and get no immediate reserve out (no/released rsl + no pull) then spin in with the cypress still in canopy mode. I can think of some canopy collision scenarios that would fit the bill. If we knew how long after slider down the switch happened it might be a good idea to clear traffic and unzip at least partially before that happens. Might be too short though. What I don't like: Audible. I don't like another computer box in my helmet. I don't trust the idea of the wireless communication. I hope it's not full on communication, but something more KISS. That. Sound. WTF. I absolutely cannot imagine every single one of my amazing flight experiences having that god awful sound at the beginning of every canopy flight forever. I can see why airtec would want to have a reliable way to ensure the information is received. I think they should have went with a small led extension mounted on say the mud flap. No access at all, just a LED mode indicator. After deployment part of house keeping would be a glance at the indicator. Not sure how hard that would be on the battery compared with wireless communication. Hell if they like the box so much let's put the indicator on the box and let us choose where we put it, helmet or mounted on rig or even wrist for visual instead of audible.

Thank you all very very much! Especially Totter for the detailed explanation :-)

Hi everybody! I hope someone here can help me answer a question about aircraft capacity. I find many common skydiving aircrafts are used to fly more jumpers then are specified as max passengers by flight manual or FAA, adhering to (I assume) maximum load and CG limits instead. Example beech99s are listed as 15-17 but I've seen 19 jumpers listed on them, Cessna 208 have up to 14 passengers with a waiver, but I know DZs that fly more jumpers then that in them. Are jumpers passengers or cargo? What if anything do you need to legally fly jumpers based on lift capacity? Thank you all!

Okey, my friend can't post here for some reason, but he says he always carries the rig on with him too, and his only issue ever was flying into Israel from Rome, but it was with the Italian equivalent of the TSA and the cypress card fixed it, nothing to do with Israel.

I just feel like traveling light every now and then :-) let me see if I can get someone with experience carrying on in and out of Israel to chime in.

Hi I'm from Israel and would happily help out here or on pm. I have flown in and out of Israel with gear dozens of times over the last 7 years. I have never had any complications related to my gear except one time. I check my gear usually, but also sometimes carry it on. I have never carried my gear on into or out of israel though, not intentionally, just never did. My only issue was one time flying into Israel, checking my gear and flying elal, the national Israeli airline, which has more stringent screening and security. I forgot my hook knife on the rig and they saw it on the xray and wanted me to take it out of my luggage, but also didn't want me to carry it with me. They ended up handing it to the staff and I got it back after landing. I usually carry it on without issue though. That's all I've got on this, no serious problems. Travel with your cypress card on you. Have fun!

Right. Let's only voice our concerns when the solution is clear and change is unavoidable. So your points thus far have been: *nothing is wrong. The TI did great and the student was stupid. *the TI is wrong, should have done a bigger turn. *the mfg's and uspa are wrong, they write impossible to enforce rules and don't enforce them. But also they shouldn't make those rules because they are wrong, and anyway they can't be enforced. And shouldn't be either. *nothing can be done. *nothing should be done. *nothing will be done. *see? Nothing happened. It's been a full week now and nothing changed anywhere for anyone. Definitely.

So you call me out on not knowing what I'm talking about, yet delete your comment I was replying to? Sure, a 270 would negate the blind spot, but in your now deleted comment you were talking about a 180. Oh but you deleted that so you could change the subject and question my experience, classy. Fair enough, lets establish a high performance lz for tandems, good call, nice job. Is your dzo choosing canopies that you feel require you to take unnecessary risks to land safely? And your reaction is to agree to fly them with a student hooked up on your front rather then kindly request or demand he provides you with proper gear? Is the pax you're paired with makes you think a no blind spot safe approach is impossible? And your reaction is to fly them in the general pattern with other canopies around you in a dangerous way that asks for trouble rather then explain to manifest this student is beyond your ability to jump safely? I almost feel like if you can't land a canopy straight in with the worst of it being dirty pants which you will accept as part of your job description you shouldn't be throwing drouges. But what do I know, I have less then 5000 tandem jumps.

This is how it's an added risk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYvfh90P1hQ Get their pants dirty, shake their hand, tell them they're a skydiver now, and watch them walk away safe and happy.

Looking at: * the heading of the top right canopy, another tandem, looks to be holding into the wind at a spot that would allow a safe pattern in either direction. Seems to be facing into the wind to me. * the normal upwind low wind flare and collapse behavior of the canopy landing right to left at the very start of the vid. * the flat flat flight path the black canopy (low guy) has on final before being hit. * the much less flat flight path the tandem has on landing after strike, as compared with both its own flight path before the turn and the black canopy's flight path before the strike. * the fact the TI executes a 180 into a heading, and the fact a TI chooses a landing direction, unless other info is avaliable I will most always assume a TI is landing into the wind regardless of local practice for sport canopies. It seems to me that low guy landed down wind, and possibly the wrong way depending on local practice. Either way a lesson there. I really want to say something else but first id like to ask. Is everyone clearly avoiding the 180 debate because this thread could be viewed by lawyers or because this is a hot button issue between pro and con 180s for landing a tandem and people don't want to star a flame war over this?

Probably so they could swoop. Swooping is currently considered a legitimate discipline and so this discussion should include them too. What you think about group freefall with dedicated swooping mains, and what the cutoff should be before it's a bad idea to risk freefall collision with a canopy is relevant to the discussion in a way. But even if all you did was dedicated swooping hop and pops, you still could find yourself coming to in freefall. You may or may not use an aad. And you bring up a good point, that your procedure for this eventuality should definitely take what kind of main you have into account. And of course there's the already learned in blood lesson that it doesn't make sense to spend good money on an aad when your reserve is loaded at 3 to 1. But it should be noted people have died landing very docile reserves without input with bad luck on wind direction and speed and obstacles. But I'm also looking for a broader discussion on the subject.

Recently I was exposed to several incidents where jumpers were knocked partially out in freefall, or blacked out and only half "came to" still in freefall. In all cases jumpers pulled their main out of habit as soon as they realized they were in freefall. One case came close to a two out by aad, and two had injuries from landing mains under partial control and awareness. This got me thinking about what I want to try and plan for. Of course it's hard to control your actions when you're not "all there". But im thinking maybe the right thing to train for if you can't verify altitude immediately and don't know what's going on, tunnel vision or limbs not fully reacting, is to go for your reserve. Better for no flare landing, less likely to need to use your hands and body to fix a malfunction etc. Eliminate the possibility of a 2 out low to the ground when you're already physically or mentally out of it, and get a canopy out faster in case you're already low. But only one chance to get a good canopy. One jumper had her right hand completely paralyzed and left hand partially paralyzed. She spent 8500 ft pulling her metal d ring style reserve handle, just working to get her thumb in. Really made me think about my soft handle again. What are some of your thoughts about gear and procedure for being in freefall with partial consciousness and/or partial control or use of your limbs?

Dat face...

http://youtu.be/0Hv6iqxLKpQ Now can this stop being a thing please? Thank you :-)

I would also like to fly a paragliding wing while wearing a wingsuit. Or at least have his mustache.

Skydiving, and base jumping even more so, are not activities that one should get into casually without putting a lot of thought into why when and how he wants and plans to do it. Some thoughts: Base is cool, sure. Forget about it for now. Do a tandem skydive. If you get hooked on skydiving, get licensed and buy gear. Find a skydiving discipline that interests you and get good in it. Buy the beer and listen to your elders, find some high experience old school instructors that think base jumping is absolutely stupid and really listen to why they feel that way. Find some passion for skydiving, if you can. Do not revisit the notion of base jumping until you have significant skydiving experience and feel you are a pro. If skydiving does not appeal to you on it's own either treat it like medicine or forget about the whole thing. 100 skydives are not enough. It should be a personal decision, and to be honest I don't think you can properly make it before you had a near miss yourself or been around long enough to see someone you care about get hurt badly. I hope neither happens to you, but it's almost impossible to understand the price our risk/reward driven obsession can charge us if our number comes up. I would not think any less then 500 skydives could possibly be enough, recommend over a 1000 when friends ask me about it, and personally went with 2000 skydives as my own minimum. I can tell you now, you cannot be over prepared, but I have seen many who are clearly under prepared, even with 100s of jumps. I'm not saying my way is the only way. Just understand that numbers are just numbers, and minimum jump numbers in these sports are a bad trap. Never ever do anything as soon as you are ready for it. Always be over prepared and over qulified, be ready not for the jump according to plan, be ready for all the things that can go wrong going wrong together. Whenever someone tells you you need x jumps to do something, immediately follow up with the question "what are the skills I need to do it safely?" and work on those skills, and don't attempt the jump until you are a good 10-20% over the jump numbers (if not much more) and very comfortable with all the skills. Ask multiple experienced instructors and if one or two tell you you can be ready much sooner then the rest, ask yourself why that is, especially if they make any amount of money directly or indirectly from teaching you a skill they think you are ready for before others around you think it, much more so if they actually make a living teaching it. Then ask them and compare your thoughts with theirs. Be critical with yourself, your instructors, and even with common practice. Think learn think learn think. In short, enjoy drooling over base jumping in youtube for now and forget about it. If you get tempted, read the list. All of it. As for the how, financially. The simple fact is that skydiving, and base jumping even more so, are not hobbies, after hour activities or something like tourist style snowboarding or skiing you can do once a year for a week. They are a way of life. They will consume you, or they will not. Only the very rich or very very well paid jumpers (well paid in a non skydiving work) can afford a good safe jumpng career that doesn't involve a great deal of personal sacrifice to your quality of life, financial future and none jumping life, say relationship and family and so on. The rest either give up almost everything else and work skydiving jobs that don't pay well, are weather dependant, and are harsh on the body, or give up jumping at some point. That's just how it is. Think about it. This is a passion, an obsession. Respect that and yourself and you stand a better chance of making it.

Disagree. When making minimum jump number type recommendations one must always remember most people will think they are ready as soon as they hit that minimum regardless of skill. I agree that the rider should know how to handle the riding part, but can he land out safely? Or will he/she make a low turn into the burning alligator pit? The wingsuiter should be competent as well, but can he guarantee a good spot regardless of results? When taking a rider we assume some limited responsibility for the end result. I therefore teach and require 200 skydives for the rider and 200 wingsuit jumps for the pilot, as well as a skill set checklist for both, resembling what was already discussed plus some serious experience landing off or at least an involved briefing for both. It can be done safely much sooner, in the sense that a pre license jumper can safely do a 20 way with 19 certified instructors. But that's not the case out in the field. Set a minimum with the mad skillz crowd in mind. Standardize the briefing for pilot and rider. No need for actual BSRs, just get the info out.

Well since we're going down this road here is my contribution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYws8biwOYc Nah, its fine, let's just keep this up till it's statistically safer to jump walls then it is to skydive... then we can all go base jump cuase why the hell not and really be cool and junk, and all the really crazy dudes would be the guys getting out at 12k getting redbull contracts for doing the edge of sketch. "dude I nearly died! - I know, that was so awesome let's totally do that again exactly the same way and change nothing! no wait, let's add two more gopros somewhere, I still have some room on my elbows!" wow im enjoying this too much, something definitely wrong with me. Guess im an asshole then. learn something everyday.

A bit more 80s then it originally felt, but yes, that :-)

But no one wants to be reminded of the possible outcome of said fun, even less to be reminded that the power to prevent such outcome is in their hands, and least of all to be reminded that they owe it to themselves, their families, their friends, their DZ and their sport to do everything they possibly can to prevent it. And I'll admit it is often a problem with the when and how of my phrasing, but I'll add that those are only a problem because annoying little bitches like myself are a buzz kill. Funny how I used the word kill there. /rant Thank you for listening if you did, needed to vent a bit. Oh well, off to figure out even safer ways to do the unsafe things we all do everyday. Be safe(-er) out there my friends :-)

So that was kinda fun. The bit where almost all my friends were there with me. The amazing night times I couldn't attend (hopefully next time :-). Watching Borris being bested by a sushi boat. Did not see that coming. Lurch's amazing night landing recovery. I have Purple Mike's rodeo seminar forever burned into my soul now. I'm a changed man. Still need to learn how to do a rodeo though O:-) Long discussions with James on appropriate configurations for multiple penis body modifications, as well as the finer points of oral pleasure. The birth of a new super hero. Born out of personal sacrifice, forged in flame, rising like the Phoenix on vicodin. That sweet feeling of watching my guys (and gal!) go from 'how do I get there?' to 'hell yes! now what?' Oh and the occasional wingsuit jump I guess :-) Thank you everyone for a weekend I will never forget. You all truly do rock and I love you, in exactly that way. Lets all cuddle by the fire and make hatchlings.

This was probably discussed already, can someone point out a thread? If not, any opinions/knowledge as to what happened here? http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiving-wingsuit-double-malfunction/ Thank you!

Thanks for your input Spot! I don't think that was me on that thread, I don't recall talking about this before. I agree it should be aircraft dependent.

Agreed on zipped up. I still think a fast emergency exit should be also be part of the ground school. I'd hate to have a student (or whatever you want to call them, I think students) unprepared in that situation.