CanuckInUSA

I got to preview the wind blade Dave made for you. It's pretty sharp. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Dude you're one of the Stars!!! It's a Bellas video and you're an OGB. You'll see it soon. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey what did I do? I'm in Colorado not Toronto. As far as the fellow asking about getting into the sport, look up a Toronto area DZ, go do a tandem and then talk to the instructors about some training options their DZ may offer. Also, check out the Safety section here on DZ.COM and don't be afraid to ask questions (but be leary of some of the replies). Also, don't think about doing a base jump until you've made tons and tons of skydives first (some people recommend at least 200 skydives before trying base, but I'm at 340 skydives and 0 base jumps to date, not that I won't try base, I'm just in no rush). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Canada is a great country and I am proud to say "I am Canadian eh". But the skydiving in the USA is much better. So stay down south. I dread the day (from a skydiving point of view) where the INS will tell me to get out. Any nice girls want to marry me? Ah heck, you don't even have to be nice, you just need to put up with my skydiving addiction. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey Cat We're going to miss you (and I really mean that). You rock. But I'll see you at the DZ for your video jump tomorrow morning. I promise to do a good job (just don't float on me) and then as an added bonus to your tape, I made the first song of my up and coming skydiving video the other night and it came out really good. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Well I did it. I got all my hardware issues resolved (I bought a new 120 gig external USB hard drive plus the USB 2.0 adapter as my motherboard was only USB 1.0 compatible). And then I installed the Video Studio version 7 upgrade and proceeded to complete the first song of my skydiving movie. I must say I'm impressed with the result first time out. I did well. But it's a big file (a 4 minute song rendered in the DV format equals 1 gig of diskspace in the AVI file). I still have enough raw footage to make a couple more songs before my project is complete (I will be looking to make a WFFC song as well as there should be plenty of footage to be had during that event). Anyway, I'd like to share, but this file is big. Maybe when my project is done I can send some DVDs and/or VHS tapes to some of you. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

IMHO, this is one of the biggest dangers (especially to people learning) of freeflying. When I do a solo freefly, I always make sure I'm perpendicular to the flight line. But what about the times when we're chasing someone backsliding across jump run? God the longer I'm in this sport (which I love) and the more jumps I do, the more close calls I see and realize how dangerous it can be at times. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

My home DZ requires 500 jumps before I'm allowed to lurk tandems and video them. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It was hot (in the 90s). But I've been jumping in hot, no-wind, 5000 foot MSL conditions all summer now. This jump was 1400 feet higher than what I am used to with a 15 mph head wind. So my canopy dove towards the ground much faster than what I expected (higher density altitude plus a strong head wind) and I found myself digging out of the corner (not a good place to be). It was a wake up call and with Rantoul (and other boogies) just around the corner, I thought I'd plant the seed for those of us jumping at DZs we're not familiar with to dial it down a little when we skydiving. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The only thing I seem to watch regulary any more is my skydiving videos and DVDs (either commercial products I have bought or footage from my own skydives). Regular TV sucks (IMHO). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If you guys need an extra set of eyes (camera), I would love to lurk the formation as flying a camera slot on formation dives is something I'd like to gain more experience at despite the fact that my first freefall love is freeflying. I've got about 200 camera jumps, most are from freeflying but some are lurking formation skydives. But I haven't done any sort of actual formation skydiving since the Eloy x-mas boogie and am likely not one of the more qualified formation skydivers for a DZ.COM big way. So I'd be better off lurking the formation with my camera. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey welcome to our world and good luck with your training. I hope you stick around as we need more people like you. Don't be afraid to ask questions here, but be leary of some of the answers (in other words trust your instructors and coaches more than us here on dropzone.com). Also, look up Sunnydee123 (Denise) as she's a Sebastian skydiver and fellow DZ.comer. She's still pretty new to the sport. She started in February if I remember correctly, but she's made about 150 jumps in that time, and I'm sure she can help you out getting to know some of the Sebastian people once you're ready to jump with others. But I think Sunnydee is still in CrossKeys jumping with an important person in her life right now. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I just thought I'd start up a "Be careful of jumping at a dropzone which you may not be 100% familiar with" thread. I was down in Calhan CO this weekend for their "High Plains" boogie (the highest DZ in North America at approx. 6400 feet MSL) and came close to messing myself up on my last jump there yesterday. All weekend long we were jumping one of Eloy's Twin Otters (meaning that there is more canopies in the air than most of us were used to) and for the most part I was being pretty conservative with my swoops. Heck the winds were so squirelly all weekend, swooping was an added bonus as the only real agenda for each landing was being able to land safely with all that traffic and the squirelly winds (their landing area isn't the worst place I've jumped at, but it's not one of the better places) Anyway to make a long story short, on my last jump of the day, I was making a nice conservative right hand pattern approach and there was a minor traffic issue to avoid. I proceeded to make about a 135 degree front riser carve/hook to land into the wind and avoid the traffic and I would like to add that I initiated this turn at what I thought was a nice safe altitude based on the altitudes I am used to. But before you know it, I'm in the corner digging myself out and this could have been a messy situation to be in had things been delayed a split second or two, or if I been flying a higher perfomance canopy. So what happened? My firm belief is that I was jumping at a DZ 1400 feet higher than what I am used to (keep in mind that I already jump at altitude) and my canopy needed even more altitude to recover from that turn than what it needs at my home DZ. Now this is a good example of surviving because I wasn't jumping a super highly loaded high performance canopy (even though some people might argue that I am loading my Sabre2 high at 1.35:1). But I also wonder would I have been in the same position if I was flying a different canopy. I think the answer is no, as I wouldn't have initiated the turn at the lower altitude. But I digress. I think the moral that I need to take away from this experience is to be even more conservative while jumping at a DZ I may not be familiar with (despite the fact that I thought I was being fairly conservative all weekend). And any high performance canopy pilots who come to visit CO (or any other high altitude DZ) be aware that your canopy will not perform the same way you're used to having it perform. Now I'm real curious as to what to expect when I visit Rantoul in two weeks. One thing is for sure, I will need to exercise good judgement while trying to swoop. I know my canopy won't be flying as fast as I'm used to and I won't swoop as far as I do here in CO. But I likely could still get myself into just as much trouble jumping at a DZ I'm not familiar with. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Unfortunately I wasn't home last night to check it out (I was at the DZ late last night drinking beer after the sunset load). Do you know if there is any sort of downloadable URL link on this story? Not only would I like to see it, I'd like to show it to others. Good job on making your jump. Any plans for more? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm sorry to hear about your friend and this is my worst nightmare. To die of a heart attack because I was caught chasing the Jones's, something I was guilty of doing a few years back before I became an addicted skydiver (and I'm the same age of your friend so why couldn't a heart attack happen to me). This is a dangerous sport we partake in. We risk death and injury everytime we get on the airplane. But for me, it allows me to live my life to it's fullest right now. If I live to 60-80 years, great (assuming I'm healthy). If not, well you knew I was going to die anyway. Not that I've been around this sport very long (heck I'm still a newbie with only 12 months in the sport) but the more I'm around, the more close calls I see happen to myself as well as my friends. I try to minimize my risks to my tolerance levels, but shit still happens and I've come to realize that on any given jump, I could make no mistake yet still pay the ultimate price. But I want everyone to know (I've already told my family as well as friends) that if something bad was to happen to me, I was having fun. Live life ... skydive ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Bummer ... will you be better for Rantoul? It's two weeks away. 0:10:1 No humps ... 10 jumps ...

Well last night I took the first step in a series of very long steps towards making my first skydiving movie. And despite spending many many many hours in front of the computer capturing skydiving footage, I realized a few things: 1) This is not going to be easy. 2) This is not going to be quick. 3) Hard disk space gets eaten up quick. 4) I may need a better authoring tool than VideoStudio (version 6.x) But I have great expectations (at least music wise) towards making my first skydiving movie. Question: When people are setting out on this sort of project, do they break their movies up into separate sub-projects based around a song? You see I was planning on using a very short but up beat song for my intro. Then one, maybe two upbeat songs (depending on how much footage I can capture) of some bad ass amateur freeflying. Followed by a short bloppers song and ending with a nice mellow song for my credits. So each sub-project would be centered around a song. Does this make sense? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

330 : 0 No reserve rides yet (knock on wood) Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Historically I'll do a barrel roll on a jump when I've lost track of the other people I may have been jumping with (or when I'm on a dedicated tracking dive). But after a close call last week where a guy who exiting after my group opened up feet away from me while I was under canopy, I was contemplating the thought of barrel rolling on every jump. And this was helped recently after I started to experiment with opening in a track. But I need to experiment more with some sort of procedure (break off, track a bit, barrel roll and either pull or track more and pull depending on the circumstances). Of course if I end up going low due to someone being above me, I better remember to go for my reserve as I don't want a Cypres snivel and a two out scenario. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Congratulations!!! It just goes to show that hurdles can be over come when our minds are set on doing it. Keep us posted as to what you and Michelle maybe working on and post any pictures or videos that you may have. It would be nice to use you as an inspiration for others. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Of course the same smooth landing can not be said for my last attempt on Sunday's sunset load. I just came off of an awesome 3-way headdown freefly and attempted to swoop the high performance landing area. But I was more concerned about entering the course than I was about safely negotiating the course and I flared a tad late, popped up due to my speed and control inputs and was forced to PLF. But hopefully I learned a lesson or two. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Don't send them the malfunction footage, but instead send them footage of a good freefly jump or a good RW jump with lots of points. Then maybe the whuffos will get a better idea as to what happens in our skies on most jumps. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Oh ... I see ... we're playing a game here. Who can post before this thread (and other threads like it) are locked and/or deleted. I'm in ... but posting in the Incidents thread was not cool. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I recognize the problem and am all in favor of canopy wing loading recommendations and for sure in favor (if it's possible) of trying to setup some sort of universal canopy control course curriculum. But one has to wonder what the true root cause of the problem is. Is the problem really wing loading or is the problem more of an attitude problem. When we fly our canopies, do we really know what we are doing? When someone hooks in (or comes close to doing it), many people immediately respond by saying that their wing loading was too much for the canopy pilot to handle (which may or may not be the case). But maybe the problem wasn't 100% wing loading and maybe the canopy pilot was just executing a maneuver that they weren't ready for on that canopy. Here's two personal examples that may help explain where I'm coming from: 1) Last weekend I swooped my home DZs high performance landing area (4 attempts) for the first time. On my 2nd attempt, I over flew the course (my approach wasn't right and errored on the side of safety) but my other three attempts I entered the gates at the starting point and didn't have the momentum to swoop the entire 220+ foot course. But it was on my last attempt where I carried the most speed where I almost messed up and I was forced to PLF after I popped up during my swoop (too much lift caused by the added speed and my inexperience on the course). Now the biggest lesson I'm taking away from that last landing was that I need to dial back the intensity meter for my approaches in this course. As long as I don't hurt myself, I think I will be a better canopy pilot running this course, but my attitude towards running it could have gotten myself hurt, not my wing loading. 2) In the not too distant future (likely around September) I will start flying a new canopy (with yes a higher wing loading). Now will I be able to start right off the bat jumping this canopy in the high performance landing area? Hell no. I'm going to have to start all over from scratch learning the ins and outs doing straight in full flight approaches. Then straight in double front approaches. Followed by subtle 90 degree front riser carves in the main landing area before I think about ever landing in the high performance landing area. So if I do all of this and not rush myself, I stand a chance of surviving with my new canopy. But if I don't approach this new canopy responsibly, I stand a chance of messing myself up and whats to blame? My wing loading or my attitude? I think it's my attitude. The more experience canopy pilots need to talk to the lesser experienced people about their attitudes towards the sport and not just what sort of equipment they choose to fly. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The great part about what happened to you (as well as the rest of us who have survived close calls) is that we're given a 2nd chance to learn from the mistake and hopefully never repeat it. I've been on bonus days since the early 80s when I came close to being killed in a car accident, but I'm sure I have one (if not more) skydiving bonus days as well. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over