obelixtim

*1 Last drowning I saw was a guy who left his lifejacket in the plane. He couldn't swim, strong upper winds towards the lake, he got out over the water then flew further out and didn't make it back to shore. High summer, 25 degrees C, at surface level the lake was like glass. Landed 200 metres out from shore, panicked and vanished. Spent the night sleeping with the fishes till he was found the next day. A totally needless loss of life. Always wear a (serviceable) lifejacket. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

You may be right......which is why I qualified it with the words "quite possibly". But: Batteries (electricity), pressure changes, water....... Murphy + Reaper lurking........ Interested to know how many units Airtec and the others dunked in the drink to test this....and I bet they haven't assessed the bouyancy value of the ops manual. Whatever, its a factor I'd rather not discount out of hand. When the shit hits the fan if often does so in big, hard lumps. The rafting/canoeing mob grade water according to its challenge/difficulty.....as Twardo pointed out, a calm, still lake in mid summer isn't quite the same challenge as the Mississippi in full flood. Most peoples experience with water is limited to the stuff that comes in a plastic bottle, or their annual shower!!! Ya pays ya money ya takes ya chances... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

In still water, like a lake, chopping the main with a second or two difference in time is neither here nor there, The main isn't going to immediately grab you and drag you to the depths. If you land into the wind it should land behind you anyway. In surf or flowing water like a river, the main does become a big problem when caught in the current, which will drag you with it quickly. Having anticipated this before you touch down you need to be quick on the trigger and chop the main when you feet touch. The big problem really isn't your main parachute, its your reserve, especially if you have an AAD. The pressure change when you go into the water is much higher than when you are in air, and this differential could quite possibly fire the AAD and release your reserve. In that case you need to be ready to get out of your harness, hence loosening things in the air is important. In swift flowing water you could be in trouble pretty quickly. When jumping near water (still or flowing) you need to anticipate your drills for that particular hazard, before you get in the plane.....like all other potential emergencies. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

The Duck has prolly found a Drake...... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Mr Hamilton invented the jetboat with just this situation in mind. He was the smart Kiwi I was referring to. Was that an Aussie accent in the background next to the guy that took the video?. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esxpEoDENsk My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

If it impinges on the swoop area, can you not argue that the fence will present a hazard to life and limb. That argument worked for me one time, back in the day when we changed our student rigs to squares and the airport wanted to build a fence which ran close to our landing area. Fortunately the decision makers were all involved in aviation at the time, and saw my point. But that was back in the day when common sense was a lot more common........ My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

LHR had 70 flights cancelled this morning due to fog. You would have got bumped because if they had a backlog there would be no slots. Even with no backlog you can spend a long time waiting to land. From Madrid one time we arrived over London and spent an hour orbiting before getting a landing slot. Airports are too small, with too many aircraft.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Dave and his bro Marty were quite the wild childs back in the day, I remember them both having a reputation for low dumping, it seems funny I once gave them both a rev up for dumping high, during a RW jump that fell to bits.....they both dumped high to do a bit of CRW.... Dave got serious when it was other lives at stake, once he became a TM and got his riggers rating. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

RIP Dave Hall. DZO of Skydive Wanaka. A good friend who I knew from the time he started jumping back in the mid 70's. In extremely tragic circumstances. Over 10000 skydives under his belt, top bloke and top skydiver. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Still waiting for you to tell everyone how many tandem instructor jumps you have. If you want to make it safer, let the student put concentration on arching, not getting good video. The go pro is MUCH taller than an altimeter, your argument is pathetic. BTW, how many TI jumps do you have? (4th or 5th time I have asked you to provide some background for your *expert* opinion). He has an opinion, but I'd question the "expert" bit. I suspect he's never heard of Murphy...... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

When large, student friendly canopies came out, I switched from PC's to squares back in 1987. To go with the switch in canopies, I had to come up with a completely new set of canopy control protocols and training, which I gave a lot of thought to. At the time I was most concerned about the extra distance a student could get under canopy, and had to allow longer spots. This often put the students out of range of the old ground based "follow the arrow" canopy control method. There were very few suitable radio systems around at the time, so I went with an intense course of canopy flight training, giving students altimeters and waypoints over the ground.(incidentally this canopy flight phase of training I have never had to modify, so I got it right) First load of first jumpers I put out, all landed safely, although scattered over a wide area. Right then, I realised that radios were essential, and went about procuring a set for students. The difference was amazing. I was able to get the students right back where I wanted them, proving that the radio was part of the minimum equipment to be given to students. Especially on a busy airfield with sometimes 20 or 30 first jumpers per day. I continued to train the students to fly themselves, and only told them about the radio immediately before the jump. Then they were only given commands when they headed off the wrong way. Most students were off the radio within 3 or 4 jumps max. I was prolly one of the first in the world to switch to square student mains, certainly I had to design my own programme for them, as there were no precedents to go on, as far as I knew. Radios were as essential as any other vital piece of equipment, once the roundies were retired. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Captain Hook..... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Prolly average, although all us newbies were at that stage, once off the dope rope everyone was pretty much left on their own to figure it all out. No one really talked to students in those days so learning was just trial and error, lots of trials and lots of errors. The drop out rate was pretty high. I guess we got away with some pretty scary shit, looking back on it now. I guess the advantage was in the fact that we learnt quickly to look after ourselves, and our survival skills were pretty sharp. I guess I was reasonable, because I didn't break myself. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

"I'm blonde, I'm blonde, I'm b l o"........????. "I'm blonde, I'm blonde, I'm b l o".......?????. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Ok, fair enough. But even if you do that you will still get variations due to the techniques/body positions everyone else uses. But you learn a lot from jumping with others whose fall rate does not fit with yours, and so your skill level gets better. Of course you can use other methods to try to standardise fall rates. Weights, jumpsuits, slots etc can all be used to keep everyone in the same piece of sky. At least these days the cannonball isn't automatically the base for everyone else to chase....you don't learn much just being the base man every jump.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

its a better idea to be keeping your eyes on the jumpers you are attacking, rather than trying to read a gadget and then deciphering what it says, then translating that to some action. The dive will be over before you figure it out, because you need to be anticipating and adjusting your body position as the jump happens. After you get a few dives up your sleeve this will become automatic. On a RW dive you need to be watching your base and adjusting your fall rate accordingly, using your eyes and brain to co ordinate your body position. You will get used to jumping with different groups and working out where you should be and what should be happening. The best gadgets are the ones you already have, your eyes and brain. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Hey you can't prove any of that.... 'Fess up!!. Her name was Baaabara wasn't it?.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

.....and don't wear a mock rig....... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I wonder how many thousand jumpers in the world have made it past 20 jumps?. I wonder who helped them get there?. No doubt some of the arrogant old farts who post on here have done their share. Hell I've only taken a thousand or so past that point. I'm gonna have to get my act together and improve my delivery.......no doubt I could do better..... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

It's not our fault; it's the mutated D4Dr gene. I think society would want to keep us at a dropzone on weekend, perhaps even contribute some government funding to lower the cost of jump tickets, maintain the planes so the DZO's are more profitable and assign Department of Labor job classification codes for the packers, instructors, and other DZ support staff. That way, if their wages fall below poverty they would qualify for food stamps. No More Ramen Noodles!!! I like the cut of your jib....... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Skydivers are innocent!!!!. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

The police chief has prolly studied a bit of psychology, which clearly puts skydivers into the psychopathic personality type, along with other risk takers. Jails are full of this type..... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Anyone could do it with a parachute. That's it! Who's up for it?! Space jump into cardboard boxes! The line starts to the right... Pfffttt....cardboard boxes. Old hat. Anyone who's really tough, would do it into a pile of broken glass..... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Another 20 seconds would have seen him open at 1000ft AGL, if he dumped at 5500.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....