obelixtim

I used to train big groups of school kids (16yr olds), as part of their schools PE programme, and I had an open invitation to any parent who wanted to to sit through the training. Plenty of them did so, and you could see them visibly relax a little when they saw with their own eyes how a parachute opened (SL), and how it was constructed, and how the reserve and AAD worked. I'm sure that it didn't prevent all the anxiety they felt, but I never had a parent pull their son/daughter out of the course. A side benefit was having quite a number of parents decide to do a course as well, difference was I was able to charge them full price. I had 9 schools out of the 15 in the area in the programme, and trained around 800 schoolkids to do a one jump course over a 5 year period.... Later on a lot of them brought new jumpers along when they went to university, and later still work colleagues when they were part of the workforce. Your dad is prolly suffering from an active imagination borne out of horror stories and ignorance. I bet he has no problem with you driving a car, or any other risks we take in normal life.... Remember, life is a terminal disease. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Pilot and skydiver. Engine failure in a crop duster, almost put it down safely, but at the end of the crash landing went down a gully where the plane caught fire, and he was severely burned. Somehow he got out and survived..... Most of his face and head is scar tissue....but he retained his sense of humour... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I wasn't aware the OP was referring to anything other than standard skydiving canopies. Of course other things will apply if the parameters are changed radically as they would be if you are talking about 1200 sq foot canopies. Base should not be such a problem, because base canopies are not a big step from normal skydiving canopies, I can't see much more than small "tweaks" being made to existing technology... . We learnt a lot about how to control the headings on opening with CRW. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

It was just a guess...because I just don't think the stats are out there......Well there are some stats, but they are far from comprehensive, especially with regard to the maimings. I suspect if there were, they wouldn't make pretty reading. Perhaps if there was an accurate figure to go on, something positive may have been in the pipeline a long time ago.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I`m with you on that. It seems that most of the people pay more attention when paying for something, than when it`s free. NOT when you make them jump their own pack job!!!!. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

In fact it did not take a lot of extra time and effort. When packing its easy to explain it as I do each bit. I think it actually saved me a lot of time, as in packing during the day, and in time not spent dealing with incidents that might of resulted from a lack of understanding normal safe practices.... As they say: "an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure".... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

WE know that, but others cannot differentiate between parachutes/canopies. If they conclude "pilot error" then they'll question training/appropriateness of jumpers and canopies. Their simple conclusion will be "small canopies bad, ergo, big canopies good. If a whuffo administrator/regulator gets involved, and sees a trend in the size/type of canopies relative to accidents, thats what he'll look at. His view will be reinforced if the pilots are highly experienced. His conclusion will be HP canopies = dangerous. Kind of similar to the conclusion a lot of jumpers and ex jumpers like Marisan have already reached. I doubt if any outside regulators are going to get involved, but it could happen. And them not doing so, is not a reason for the jumping community to carry on regardless. Which you and I know it is not doing...but it could do better. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

If you want to be pedantic about it, yes that could be said to be true. Generally. But some are definitely way more lethal than others, and a lot less forgiving, when mistakes are made..... Variations in size give variations in consequences when an error is made. Indisputable. He is simply saying, that once a canopy has opened correctly, and saved your life by stopping your FF into the ground, there is no real excuse to then die, especially as a result of a small error on landing. "Parachute" literally translates into "safe fall", so in the case of death on landing a good one, the exact opposite has happened, with increasing frequency. What was once sort of logical, about "parachute", has changed, and that old logic has gone out the window, for no apparent good reason. Its easy to see how people reach that conclusion. Its not that unreasonable, Nor should it be surprising. Nor can it be ignored.... HP death/injury stats provide the stick with which that drum is being beaten. And that is all he is doing, and warning that others may see it the same way, with even less understanding than a retired jumper who is fully cognisant with the risks we normally accept, and take for granted. Its not rocket science, but you already know that..... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Back when sliders replaced ropes and rings, it was prolly tried out. I saw a lot of experimental sliders back in the day, even on some roundies..... And a mate had a Delta 2 wing which he tried out with rings and various spider sliders to replace the 6 foot piece of conveyer belt webbing used as an OSI (opening shock inhibitor) that the wing had. I did a few test jumps on it, and it was definitely not a pleasant experiece.... I stayed with the OSI on mine and it worked fine. I'm sure nearly everything would have been tried out back then, and what has evolved over time has proven to be the best....Reliable openings on squares didn't really come about till the slider came along.... If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I've trained all my students from jump number 1 to pack, if they hung around. Since I was Instructor, JM and main student canopy packer, it made sense to show them how to do things one step at a time...first laying out the canopy, then the line check, then setting brakes, then flaking the canopy. etc etc. Small, easy steps that took no extra time.... It really helped speed up my packing for the next load... Once I was happy that they knew how to pack, they were allowed to jump only their own, (or my) pack job. I always had a couple of old U/S canopies and harnesses lying around that they could practise on. For their A licence I would tangle the old canopy up real good and they had to untangle and pack it all on their own, with unlimited time to do so. It was hated, but everybody loved it when they passed, and everyone could untangle and pack anything with complete confidence..... I also taught them how to disconnect and reconnect the main, and also how to do a prejump inspection of a rig, and a proper pincheck before loading the aircraft. also stressed the importance of routines and what to particularly watch out for, both during packing. and kitting up. They also had to learn to spot. It was all just part of the job of teaching skydivers how to look after themselves and others. I wanted a bunch of self reliant people around me ASAP, because I was too busy to nursemaid everyone, and wanted my main focus to be on the noobs.... To me, proper packing skills is something that should be a standard requirement for anyone who obtains an A licence, anywhere. When we had paid packers for the tandems, the TM's insisted that all packers had to pass that packing test if they hadn't already come through my training course... And once they'd passed, they LOVED watching the next A licence candidate swearing, cursing and scratching their heads. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

D'uhhhh!!!. (as in Moose, from the Archie comics). But seriously, where is this crap coming from??. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Not so sure about that, we'd sorted out the gear issues pretty much before downplanes became common (at least in NZ anyway because there was a lot of interaction amongst jumpers). If you want top go back a bit further till the time people began experimenting with CRW (late 70's, then we really didn't have clue.... No cross porting, V bridles, hot dog pilot chutes, fully cascaded lines, incompatible canopies, top docking, no hook knives, motorbike helmets, snag points all over the gear, docking below hard decks,..... Looking back now its a miracle we almost got away without major injuries or fatalities, saw some pretty scary wraps though.... CRW was invented on the run. Ignorance really was bliss....trial and (lots of) error. But no one knew how to do a downplane way back then.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Are those US fatalities alone?. If not, I'm sure the world wide figures would paint a slightly different picture.... And the figure for "maimed" would I'm sure would show the inexperienced dominating. Its a pity the statistics are so unreliable... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

We did a demo into a nudist colony one time, while loading at the airport we all wore cabbage leaves.... The prop blast soon took care of them..... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Are you in the UK by any chance???. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

They were always taken low....that was part of the buzz....and they used to be done lots....but then CRW was pretty popular back then and lots of people did it. NZ had some pretty hot CRW workers back then...cleaned up quite a few medals at world meets, and invented a lot of the techniques and gear innovations.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

It was at a NZ nationals once, in Masterton, during practice and fun jumps...prolly about 1987 - 88 - 89, I can't remember exactly when....hence there was quite a large group of people who witnessed it... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Yeah, everyone watching had the same sort of thoughts..... the instant the canopy came off, there was quite a loud sound of F***!!! from the 50 or 60 of us watching..... No one could believe how luck came right side up for once.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Seen the same thing happen, but too low for a reserve deployment. The main disappeared at about 200 feet, and luckily they held on and landed together under one canopy in a shower of grass and dust, but got up, dusted themselves off, and headed for a bar for a couple of stiff whisky's. Luckily it was all over pretty quickly, they had good grips, and were instantly on to what was happening....also lucky they had specialised CRW gear, and had done a lot of CRW jumps together.... A RSL or skyhook might have caused major problems.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Good stuff. Now you can really learn how to skydive. Go for it... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I hope you took it home and cooked it...fresh road kill shouldn't be wasted. If you kill it you gotta eat it...thats what earth day is all about isn't it?. You could even make a hat out of the skin...Dan'l Boone style.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Hey...us oldies have more mad skillz than Mad Jack McMad, My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Every one in NZ knows what a mincer is. The foreigners soon catch on..... For the uninitiated, a mincer is what you use to make mince = ground beef = hamburger meat.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Nuh.... When they tell you that, the best reply is "Yeah, but who lays the foundation". Just before you duck...... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Deathplane was the name we gave it, and stuck to. A normal downplane has both jumpers, and both canopies, facing the ground, In a deathplane, one jumper, and his canopy are facing the opposite way, so he is looking at the sky. His canopy partially collapses, and it looks pretty ugly. for the guy who is on his back it is pretty scary, because you can't see whats going on. Its quite easy to imagine you are soon gonna be dead.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....