3mpire

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Posts posted by 3mpire

  1. Quote

    Are all of the NFL teams going to disregard a righteous trademark? This isn't TAMU's fault.



    Seattle got to experience their legal department's wrath when they got uptight about us having retired the number 12 in dedication to the fans, and to raising a 12th man flag before every game.

    it's really just a money grab. the seahawks cut them a fat check for the "right" to use the 12th man every year. by calling the lawyers all TAMU is saying to the broncos is "gimmie your lunch money".

    being in an entirely different league means that the use of the 12th man by an NFL team or teams doesn't cost the university a dime. It's not like someone is going to mistake a seahawks 12th man flag for an aggies 12th man flag and somehow the university is going to lose merchandise royalties.

    if it was truly about the "righteous" nature of the thing, they would be principled and say "this is our trademark because we are 100% committed to our team" and never under any circumstances let another team use their trademark. but they're total sellouts, anyone can use it if they pay up.

    legally it's their right to defend their trademark, and if you have a trademark you have to aggressively defend it if you want a court to respect it, but it's kind of like in software where some company tries to say they patented the idea of a button or something, and now ANYONE who uses a button somehow owes them something.

    So no, it isn't TAMU's "fault" that the law let's them be dicks about it, because it's all about getting a pay day.

  2. Quote

    The DZ I used to jump at had a policy that when you dropped off your rig for a repack, you pulled the reserve yourself. Or, you could offer 'the pull' to another jumper that has never had a cutaway. It was great fun- we'd grab the main risers and sling them all over the packing area screaming 'you're gonna die! AAAAAAAAA! Do something!.'



    fucking awesome ;)

    so short of storing your rig like an idiot and not doing routine maintenance and visual inspections on your own, there are limited risks to the repack cycle. The far greater risk is the jumper not taking the time to regularly maintain their 3 rings or to store their rig appropriately. If I saw my reserve looked lop sided or I could see pilot chute poking out, I at the VERY least would ask my rigger to look at it before jumping.

    Being on top of your shit may not prevent every problem, but a hard pull shouldn't be one of them because you can do so much to prevent it.

  3. Quote

    Although the reserve parachute repack cycle here in the USA has changed from 120 to 180 days, the recommended maintenance interval for 3 ring release systems has not changed. According to the inventor, the 3 ring release should be inspected, and the lolon cables on your main parachute release handle should be maintained (cleaned and lubed) every 30 days.

    I don't see a correlation between the extension of the reserve repack cycle and hard cutaways. What I do see is an ongoing problem with skydivers being lazy about maintaining their gear.



    this. my understanding is a hard cut-away would be due to poorly maintained 3-ring and cut-away cable. Meaning grime/dirt in the hard housing causing a hard pull or risers "curled" around the third ring maintaining their memory on cut away causing an out of sequence deployment or a hesitation if one was waiting for the RSL.

    neither of these maintenance tasks would require a repack.

    So I'm curious, what aspect of the repack could affect a deployment other than maintenance that can be done by the jumper?

    Is the issue the longer repack cycle, or poor maintenance on the part of the jumper that previously was compensated for by a shorter repack cycle?

  4. Quote

    Any course that gets into splints and traction's will be a long course, not a basic one.

    As a basic first aider, you should learn the ABC's with CPR, treating shock, bleeding, and that's about it. The Red Cross is a good bet.

    Now, if you want to get into a more in dept class go for it. I took, years ago, the Canadian Ski Patrol course. That was very in depth, but it was about 5 hours every week for a few months.



    The research I've been doing seems to fall into that same split. Either you get a basic first aid course or you really gotta just jump into it and devote some time and money.

    For a few years I've been kicking around the idea of getting a certification through the WMI (wilderness medical institute--part of NOLS). I'm in the mountains enough that it seemed like a good idea.

    Either way I'm going to take a basic course to get started and then probably move into something more substantial. I appreciate the feedback. This kind of knowledge is important. I don't think I could live with myself if I was in a situation where I was the only one who could help and I didn't know what to do.

  6. Quote

    The other thing I urge ALL jumpers to do is take a basic first aid course.



    Any you might recommend? I was looking at the american red cross for basic CPR and whatnot, but it would probably be good to focus on things like broken bones, etc.?

    Where could/should I start looking if I wanted to get that kind of training (I have no medical background/certifications).

  8. Quote

    First and foremost it is not a violation to fly over the dropzone regardless of any NOTAM's, Radio calls, sectional map markers or even GPS markers.... A pilot can fly through class E or G airspace freely without any radio use, GPS, sectionals, or even calling in for NOTAM's that are filed in the area they are flying.



    i 100% agree with this, when I was saying "supposed to" I wasn't implying they are in violation of FAA regulations. I'm saying supposed to in the sense that all these things (NOTAMs, radio calls, map markers) are saying to pilots "hey dummy shit is falling through the sky you probably don't want to be there while it's happening" and yet the commonly just blunder through.

    Remember, my comments were in the context of VFR cloud clearance, where seeing what is in your airspace is very important. We all have to share the sky, which is why you really do need to see what's going on.

    One last thing: we haven't even touched on needing to see other skydivers. punching a cloud on a zoo dive is just asking for a jumper-to-jumper collision.

  9. Quote

    Well, hopefully that pilot ( and all pilots ) have a working radio. To hear the call out from the jump plane pilot......."Jumpers out over ........( fill in the blank )" I've seen rouge aircraft fly right across drop zones during jump runs, on non-cloud days. I watched one jumper in freefall ( from the ground ), and a plane under the jumper's altitude, coming in at a 90 deg. angle. All I could do was watch as the two lines came to a perfect intersection ( they did not hit each other ). Cloud clearance is less of an issue than pilots crossing thru "known jump run areas", in my opinion.



    I don't trust pilots to have any idea that we are there. drop zones are on their charts, there are NOTAMs posted, and there are radio calls, and yet I've seen traffic fly right over our drop zone several times.

    One time it was a T-6 Texan directly below us in free fall. A whole tracking dive deployed about 1k above him as he flew diagonally through jump run. honestly I don't think he ever saw us (he never changed course or altitude).

    It was a perfectly cloud-free day. If I had been punching a cloud I wouldn't have known he was there. If I had not been on a tracking dive (and thus pulling higher) he would have been at deployment altitude. You become a believer in these kinds of rules (cloud clearance) when you realize that you have to assume a pilot will be exactly where he shouldn't be, because sometimes, they are.

  10. I learned on static line. So I can only speak to that experience. And I will also say that you can't really go wrong with either, so don't believe that you will be a shitty skydiver if you do one or the other simply because of the method. It's up to you to do the work and learn the material either way.

    That said, I am happy that I learned on static line, and here are the reasons why:

    * learning in skydiving is incremental.

    The idea is that you only add one new ingredient to your skydive at a time so that you can focus on learning the new skill that will make you a safe jumper. Static line starts literally from the last part of the skydive and builds its way up to full altitude.

    Your first jumps aren't skydives. You're basically just a canopy pilot, and your only job is to make sure your canopy deployed correctly and that you fly a good pattern and land. Once you have done that, they add one new thing, practice touches, to get you started on learning how to reach for your pilot chute. Etc. Etc.

    By the time you get to your first freefall, you already know how to do everything else, so you are only focused on one new thing.

    * static line reinforces self reliance

    another thing I appreciate about static line is that from the very start you are 100% responsible for your own safety. it is up to you to identify a malfunction, it is up to you to pull, it is up to you to execute your EPs. This is not to say that you don't also have responsibility for these things in AFF, however with the analogy above about being in the deep end of the pool with life guards, you know that when push comes to shove they'll do everything in their power to save your life if you forget or lock up.

    I can't speak for what that knowledge does in an AFF student's head, but just like some people in an emergency lock up and just wait for the AAD to fire, I wouldn't be surprised if some people let their instructor pull for them (or in their mind think that that is an option--something like "i'm going to do this jump and pass but if i screw up they'll save me").

    SL has zero room for that mind set, so I like that you are very aware that YOU are responsible for yourself from jump 1. This is the way it will be for the rest of your skydiving career, so it doesn't hurt that this mentality starts in your FJC before you even touch a rig.

    * static line teaches the vritue of skill based reward (progression)

    I never did a tandem before I did my first SL jump. So I did 13 "skydives" before I got to go to 13k. And let me tell you, I was SO HAPPY to experience free fall for that long, because I felt like I had earned it. You don't just pays your monies and gets the reward. You had to prove over several jumps that you were properly trained enough to conduct the dive safely.

    A big problem in our sport today is people progressing too quickly. We're like rats that were trained from the very beginning that if you press the lever, you get a reward. SL instills a different mind set, that yes you can do whatever you want, but you have to show that you know wtf you're doing.

    With each jump you get more and more independence to exercise your own judgement, especially once you're on solo status and you can do an "unsupervised" solo jump. But with each progressive step forward you make, you're aware that it's up to you to know what to do and how to do it.

    Once you are licensed you can basically do whatever you want most of the time. People might give you shit for it, but short of an S&TA grounding you, it's your call. Having the mentality from the start that you build up to things, and experiencing the gratification you feel for "earning" the right to do something is like training a rat to go through an obstacle course before they push the lever. You come out of your training not "hard wired" to just go for immediate gratification.

    Do SL trained jumpers say "fuck that shit" and go straight into rapid downsizing and all that? Sure. But that's on them, and their training was trying to teach them a different path

    SO WHICH IS BETTER?

    Neither is better. Like I said,I've never done AFF, i'm not an AFF instructor, and I honestly don't know all the details of how AFF deals with these same issues. I'm sure an AFFI could fisk my posts above and say how AFF deals with those same issues. So don't take this as saying that AFF *doesn't* teach you these things. but for me, the points above seem to be relatively unique to SL or were at least apparent enough to me to make an impression.

    Long story short, you can do either, and here is why I think SL is good, and don't let anyone tell you that SL is not applicable or somehow inferior. Thousands of skydivers learned on SL, including many of the icons of the sport.

    But make your own decision for your own reasons. Don't take my word for it, and don't take anyone else on this board's word for it. That's the first rule really of skydiving. Talk to real live instructors and ask good questions, then make up your own mind for yourself.

    blue skies

  11. Quote

    100-200 jumps on an early canopy is typical and in-line with Brian Germain's 1.0 + .1/100 jumps Wingloading Never Exceed formula.



    I agree, however Germain's chart also says that his formula is the *earliest* one should downsize, not that one has to. So Pop's statement about having a few hundred jumps to get a mastery is still true. The trick with newer skydivers (of which I am one) is to learn that these jump number recommendations (whether it is wing loading, cameras, wingsuiting, etc.) are the bare minimum. Hitting that milestone doesn't mean you make your transition within a jump or two, it means you can start to really think about it in a serious way and figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are so you can work on them and THEN pick up the new hotness. It's hard to resist that temptation, but many don't even realize that waiting is even an option in the first place.

    Commonly new jumpers eager to get into the cool shit think of the jump number recommendations as their deadline, like waiting for the bell at recess.

    (edited for clarity)

  14. Quote

    I have hot fueled our otter more times than I can count, and while being "comfortable" doing it, I am highly vigilant and terrified of that prop. From the moment I come around the wheel, my right shoulder is against the fuselage and NEVER leaves.

    I have held my arm out though while the engine is off, and as long as my shoulder is on the body, I can't get hit, so there IS plenty of room there. I am not saying that it is a good idea, but you can do it.



    respect, dude. I suppose like with anything when you do it often enough you can be safe and get the job done. if it were me I'd take the long walk around the wing for the first few thousand times before I changed it up, lol :S

  15. Quote

    The ones that scare me are big, high-wing planes (e.g. twin otter) where you can walk under the wing while the prop is spinning.



    I once saw a fuelie walk between the fuselage and the prop of a twin otter... while it was running. fuck. that.

  16. Quote

    At what jump did you decide to keep this hobby of jumping?



    I was camping at a lake next to a big mountain in the cascade mountains with friends. The lake is at the bottom of a pretty imposing 3000 foot cliff.

    We were drinking beer, fuckin around when we heard what sounded like a rock slide. We looked up and saw someone under canopy directly above us, maybe a few hundred feet up.

    That's when I saw a black spec racing away from the cliff across the sky. For a good 15-20 seconds we watched them cover a pretty good distance before they deployed and landed on the other side of the lake.

    We didn't know it at the time but obviously it is an object the local BASE community frequents. I decided then and there that I needed to try skydiving.

    After finances allowed, I did a static line jump and decided after I landed that this was for me.

    So I knew before jump 1 ;)

  18. Quote

    Not bad but you misconstrued a couple of major key points.
    a) There is little to no contention about night jumps being useful and having value. It' nearly unanimous that that they are for those who want to do night jumps.



    That is only true if you believe that a night jump is a literal thing that bears no resemblance to any other kind of dive that you do. That somehow being cognizant of risk factors in a sky dive has absolutely NO benefit in anything other than a night dive.

    What is it about a night skydive that makes any lessons you learn not work in the daytime? Does sunlight make the brain work differently?

    The real discussion seems to be a disagreement of whether a night jump is a unique flower that has absolutely no meaning outside of a night jump, or whether it is an implementation of a collection of skills that have applicability to any skydive, regardless of the context.

  24. Quote

    What would you do if someone meets all other requirements but they cutaway?



    Quote

    Or make them jump a rig with a malfunction?



    I've sat in the back of a 182 and watched a guy with a second harness under his rig go out the door with a third canopy literally in a garbage bag so he could cut it away to meet a requirement for getting his tandem rating.

    It "deployed" just fine and he flew it around for a bit before chopping and deploying his main. Looked like a fun time to me, really.

  25. Quote

    or demonstrate much skill other than being able to stick duct tape & glowsticks to oneself and not die before sending in one's paperwork.



    That I can totally get behind. It would be cool to make the skills demonstration part harder. Maybe make a "perform three of the five actions" thing where night jumps is just one of them.