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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/16/2021 in all areas

  1. 3 points
    Myself and my good friend Brent Findlay set a new national New Zealand record this past Saturday for the most number of jumps completed in a single day by a single person. Dubbed 'The Hundred Jump Project' our goal was to get at least 101 jumps in a single day each simultaneously to beat the current NZ record of 100 which has stood unbeaten since 1999. We managed to achieve an average of one jump each every 5.5 minutes for just under 12 hours non-stop (aside from fuelling obviously), eventually ending the day on 120 jumps each so we now co-own the new record. We jumped from 2,500ft (the lowest legal altitude under our governing rules) from a Fletcher aircraft. We had just the one plane but had 3 pilots who worked on a 10-jump rotation. We had an incredible ground crew of around 50 people including packers, pilots, safety, rig-swappers, catchers, food and hydration runners etc who all also worked on a roster rotation, our first jump was at sunrise 6:35am and our last jump was around 6:15pm. We are not night rated so we were restricted to daylight hours only. We used a total of 20 rigs with quite a large range of canopies. It was really fun to land a Crossfire 3 109, then 5 minutes later land a Saffire 3 150, then 5 minutes later land a 7 cell Krakken wingsuit canopy etc, it was a real test and we had 240 great landings. I know some of you will be referencing people like Jay Stokes and thinking that 120 isnt really a big deal, but it was a big deal for NZ and certainly a big deal for us personally. We used the challenge to raise funds for our local Mental Health Foundation, so far we have raised around $10,000NZD but we expect that number to climb as the NZ media continues to show a lot of interest. We both had one cutaway each which is pretty unlucky really. Both spinning linetwists which put us on our backs, pretty obvious you arent going to fix that from that altitude. Mine was at jump 55 and Brents was at jump 93. Both cutaways were textbook, kept both handles, landed exactly on target, swapped rigs and kept going. One of the coolest stats is that I got to do my 800th and 900th jump on the same day, which not many people can say. Anyway I just thought some of you might be interested in some of those stats. It was a super fun day and Im really proud of what we achieved. Heres a quick story from one of the news channels here in NZ, one of many to report on the event. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124237213/friends-push-through-parachute-fails-and-fatigue-to-set-new-skydive-record
  2. 2 points
    I am sitting within 5 metres of a banana tree which is growing outside my window. And I wouldn't consider my observation as an insult. Most banana republics have one corrupt politician calling the shots. The US have a bunch of self serving senators allowing their ex president off the hook for something he quite clearly instigated. And seeing the sheer numbers of people who still believe his bullshit makes the rest of the planet despair for American democracy. The ignorance on display is breath taking. Thus the US has lost the trust and respect it once enjoyed from most of the free world. Even if the US manages to expunge the corruption in full view of the rest of the world, it is doubtful that trust will ever be earned back. Making 45 pay for his crimes would just be the start, and seeing some of his bootlicking enablers like Graham, Cruz et al thrown out would also help. The US is definitely on the banana republic list.
  3. 2 points
    Nope. Not at all. Not even a little bit. A friend of mine either started or 'started around here' Freedom Freefall. She lost her fiance to PTSD Veteran Suicide. She found peace and solace in jumping and felt (correctly) that it would help struggling veterans. She either put it together or found someone who was doing it and got it going around here (not sure which). It's taken on a life of it's own, and has been going on every year since. They've taken a lot of vets on tandems. Some are not suffering or struggling, some are. All of them are grateful for the opportunity and clearly express how great of a thing it is. I personally find a lot of 'therapy' in jumping. Last fall, my mom was having some health issues and ended up first in the hospital and then into a rehab center. Between the issues she was facing and the threat of Covid, it was very stressful. I got up to the DZ a couple times during that period. I really needed it. As I said at the time: "When I went out the door, I left everything else back in the plane. All the crap, all the worries, everything running around in my head was left behind." It was still there when I got back to the ground, but it was a big help to let it go for a bit. Note: I'm thinking your question was something of a joke. But my answer is totally serious.
  4. 1 point
  5. 1 point
    blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
  6. 1 point
    I don't know whether Cuoma was saying something someone told him to say, but it reminds me of statistics 101. "95% of drivers have accidents within five miles of their house."
  7. 1 point
    I think you already know the answer to that question. It's not smart. Can some people get lucky and not get hurt? Sure. But I have also seen A license guys break bones under a WL of 0.8. It's a sliding scale. How much risk do you want to take? In the case of an A license holder flying 1.3, I'd say the needle on the risk scale is in the red. It also depends on the canopy itself. Is this a canopy with a super flat glide that has a low decent rate, or a Katana that just falls out of the sky? Does the canopy have massive flare power and you could shut it down on a downwinder, or is it a mushy 7-cell that flares like a semi-truck on ice? Those all play a role as well.
  8. 1 point
    But we didn't make the doses. Blame Trump or whoever but that's where we are. Now we have a bigger problem: how to get money to those who need it while our very uncertain future plays out. This will go over like a turd in the Christmas Punch Bowl but maybe we should be less focused on pre-pandemic great ideas and more focused on providing cheap energy to the economy. In the words of Keynes: “When the facts change, I change my mind - what do you do, sir?”
  9. 1 point
    It’s also a good candidate for cutaway practice. Or a very uncomfortable backpack. Wendy P.
  10. 1 point
    + = ----------------------- I can see your joke, but seriously, many military veterans with PTSD find therapeutic value in skydiving. Many of my earliest instructors were Vietnam veterans, and one of them once told me, "Skydiving is the closest thing I can find to being shot at".
  11. 1 point
    What is the cost of recycling coal combustion products into coal?
  12. 1 point
    Hi Keith, Re: We as a nation have zero fucking patience to get through anything anymore. ^^^^^^ THIS!!! Jerry Baumchen PS) What do you mean Starbucks is closed today. Oh, what will I ever do?
  13. 1 point
  14. 1 point
    His reading comprehension is fine. He's not posting things that he believes, that are honest or that reflect anything at all; he is posting things intended solely to piss you off. From his own post: "I posted the quote from a “denier” knowing that you would be triggered" That's his only goal here - to anger people. He has said as much several times. You keep falling for it.
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