When: Sunday January 27, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.  If it looks like a flyable day, plan to come early to deploy, then go fly with a freshly-packed reserve.

Where: Same location as last year: International District Community Center, 719 8th Ave. S, Seattle 98104 (corner of Dearborn and 8th)
Why: Because it’s been a while since you’ve hucked and checked your reserve, and chances are that your reflexes are rusty and your rubber bands are rotten.
Who: Anyone who flies higher than they’d like to fall – club membership not required for participation. If you have a new reserve or a new harness and have never tried to deploy, PLEASE come! Every year somebody discovers a major malfunction with their chute or their harness that could easily have had disastrous results in a real emergency.
How much: $40 if you’re a NWPC/CBCC/NCSC member, $45 for non-members. Part goes to pay the packing assistants, part to pay for the facility ($400), part to cover miscellaneous event-related expenses, and the rest will go to cover our annual land-use agreement at Saddle Mt. (If you’re a biwingual or a tandem pilot with more than one parachute, you get to huck and pack the second one for $20.)

One more thing: Memberships for NWPC and CBCC expire 3/31 and 4/1, respectively; pilots can join  (and save the $5 non-member surcharge) or  renew memberships at the clinic.

The fine print:None of us who repack our own reserves and help others repack theirs are experts in the field, and cannot be held responsible for being such. The packing assistants are comfortable in repacking their own chutes, and they will help you do yours. Our parachute deployment clinics are designed to provide you the opportunity to work out the best way to get your reserve out and inflated – before you actually find yourself in need of it. Packing assistants do not provide “legitimate” instruction in repacking your reserve; if you want instruction and/or a repack by qualified experts, this is not the place to be. If you feel reasonably comfortable repacking your own chute, but you need a hand interpreting your owner’s manual or would appreciate a reminder or some encouragement, this event can offer all of that. If you want to toss your reserve and then take it to a “legitimate” packer to be repacked, you’re welcome to show up at the party and do a practice deployment in the simulator (and toss $20 into the pot for use of the facility and to support our sites…).

Everyone is welcome, club member or not, high-altitude soaring pilot or brand-new student. Even if you have no reserve to deploy, you can learn a lot by watching and assisting with simulators and packing. See you there!

Please pass this email on to anyone who might be interested but is not on the CBCC, NWPC or NCSC email list.

If you have questions, call me at home, 425-888-3856, or on my cell phone, 425-922-6493.C.J. Sturtevant