uspa.org
The USPA Board of Directors met July 13-15 in San Francisco for the summer meeting.
Highlights include:

• Scott Stewart was elected to serve as Eastern Regional Director and Jay Stokes as Vice President for the remainder of the 2007-2008 term.
• An amendment was made to the group member pledge that requires GM DZs to establish and disseminate landing procedures that will include separation of high speed and normal landings.

14R1400. Sound like something out of a Swartzenegger movie? Its not exactly extraterrestrial, but as Simulators go, this one comes pretty close. Montreal businessman and investor, Alain Guerin, has embarked on a groundbreaking wind tunnel simulation project in Canada, involving a 1400-horsepower, energy efficient recirculing tunnel. 14R1400 is 14 ft in diameter, the first cylindrical flight chamber with four 350-horsepower fans.

A large sector of the skydiving population is currently in danger of extinction. This is because of the widespread proliferation of new DZ rules that prohibit 270 turns for landing or ban high speed approaches entirely. Consequently, many jumpers now find themselves homeless and considering alternate sports - not a good thing for skydiving.
 
These new restrictions come in the name of safety. We have lost many friends this year due to canopy collisions, and management at several dropzones have responded by adding new rules in an effort to prevent such accidents from happening in the future. There are several aspects within this direction of policy that concern me.

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uspa.org
After years of joint effort by USPA and the Parachute Industry Association, the FAA has issued a proposal to lengthen the repack cycle for reserve parachutes from 120 days to 180 days. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking provides for a public comment period that closes August 20. All skydivers are encouraged to submit comments in support of the rule change. Since 2000, USPA and PIA have worked jointly on this initiative, first by requesting an exemption from the 120-day requirement. Ironically, support garnered from other aviation groups that use emergency parachutes (glider, aerobatic and warbird pilots) convinced the FAA that it simply needed to enact a change to the regulation rather than issue an exemption—this NPRM is the result. You can e-mail comments by going to http://dms.dot.gov and following the instructions or fax your comments to the DOT at (202) 493-2251. Be sure to identify your comments by Docket Number FAA-2005-21829.

The Summer 2007 Board of Director’s meeting will be held July 13-15, 2007, at the Doubletree Hotel San Francisco Airport.  Call USPA Headquarters at (540) 604-9740 for more information. Click here for hotel information.