skypuppy

I don't think so. If memory serves me correctly, one of the dangers Joe encountered was when he "deployed the drogue too soon" and it wrapped around his neck because there wasn't enough air density to inflate it and pull it away from him. Then he started getting into some air with density and almost didn't get it off. I could be wrong, but I could swear I remember that. As for his contribution to skydiving, that jump itself does nothing but set a record. However, Joe was a test jumper and, in my opinion, any parachute R&D activity is good for the sport. The technologies developed on one end of the industry often end up benfitting the other end. I actually agree with others here that Joe probably should be in line behind a lot of skydiving greats. Hell, I haven't even heard anyone mention Tom Piras, Roger Nelson, or Ken Coleman and friends. They all certainly made significant contributions to skydiving, and they all actually jumped more than once in a while. However from a purely historical perspective, the dude with the highest jump kinda needs to be in there, don't ya think? _______________________________________________ The drogue was actually deployed by a timer ( the main parachute was also deployed via an aad, by the way). The drogue came out early because K started to disconnect to jump and one of the connectors on his oxygen lines was frozen, so he took a few extra seconds to disconnect it before actually leaving, after already having started the timer. So on his jump he actually did very little other than fall.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

That would have to go in the Scary stories thread. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Whether it's legal or not is not the question. I agree with the OP, it's too bad they wouldn't honor the price or at least try to work out a solution to the problem. That is what would be ethical and good customer service. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Andy Smith was involved with the Astrodome jump, and maybe Kevin Venell, Randy would know. The Kingdome was a different event. The whispering gallery was a square parachute jump, I believe a pca. Indoor jumps were fairly common in the late 1800's (that's not a typo). Thomas baldwin practiced with his rig indoors in San Francisco before his famous first jump, and the Spencer brothers did jumps indoors at a theatre in London. After Baldwin's British exhibition in about 1888, there was even a 'Baldwin monkey" doing indoor jumps from the top of the Crystal Palace, I believe. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I agree with robin here. I think 3 of the guys on our national 4-way team did their first jumps (tandems)in single digits (younger than 10). By the time the last one turned 16 I believe he had a couple of hundred jumps, and with the tunnel time he had, he moved right into a slot on the 4-way team. Way to go. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Any tips on shooting crw for competition? Lenses, positioning, etc. Would be appreciated. Thinking 4way rots.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

from 'The 1981 Fatality Report: A Painful Lesson' by Jim Correll in the July 1982 Parachutist. Steele was only one of 67 fatalities in *1, a new record (previous record was 53 in '76 and '79). '...took a student out on a harness hold by himself, at 10,000 feet, apparently lost track of altitude in clouds (no altimeters were worn), became preoccupied with saving the student's life and ran out of air.' If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I think what I said was the cover should represent the association -- in a positive way. If that is a flag jump, fine. If it is a record jump, fine. If it is a performance at a local, national or international competition, fine. It could be a demo shot. It could be a raft jump with someone flying the flag. It could be a jump into a remote corner of the country or world, as long as it is association members and is a jump that has some meaning. There are many possibilities. It should showcase and have some concrete tie to the association. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

best possible cover __________________________________________________ Well, that's your subjective opinion. Obviously, not everyone agrees with you.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

but the cover should showcase the association that puts it out -- in this case, USpa. ------------------------------------------------------------ is the brit a member of the uspa? __________________________________________________ Again, the point is, the cover is a SPECIAL page, it should showcase the association, and that means the FLAG jump, not some nondescript anonymous uspa member doing a nondescript jump. Those shots are for inside the magazine.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Actually, you'd have to be pretty dumb not to read a negative connotation into the title of this thread. That is not true about the reply which you gave a snarky remark to. Again, it is unseemly for a moderator to make fun of posters. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Can you believe the USPA put up a poll to ask if they made the right decision to put a Brit on the cover versus the US FLAG on the July cover? Do they know this is the anniversary of the birth of our country? As far as I'm concerned there is no question, it was the wrong thing to do. The cover of the magazine is a special page, and should be used to feature the organization who published it. If that is the USPA, that includes (especially on July 4th) the US flag jumps. There is nothing wrong with including world records, expecially because they were organized by US people and included many Uspa mambers. But an unrelated shot, expecially in the July issue, is dumb. Might not have been so bad if it was over a US dropzone. I have a couple of times criticized the editors of Canpara for putting shots on the front of american teams jumping american planes over american dropzones, even when they were taken by canadians. I would have no problem with including inside the magazine, but the cover should showcase the association that puts it out -- in this case, USpa. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

>Another post that confirms your belief that guns should be banned Well, as much as your post confirms your belief that violent murderers should be given guns, I guess. I don't see anywhere in his post that he said violent murderers should be given guns, and I think it is unseemly that a moderator would make unsubstantiated statements like that.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

MOST of the civilised world no longer believes in killing its citizens no matter how despicable they may be. _________________________________________________ I don't think I believe that. I know in Canada the majority of citizens still believed in capital punishment, it was just the politicians that passed the laws condemning it. Since then they have steadfastly refused to include it on the ballot. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Exactly. To those who don't like others touching your gear, I challenge you to find ONE documented example where a skydiver was injured/killed because he let another skydiver touch his rig on the plane. ________________________________________________ It's none of your business who I want or don't want touching my gear in the plane, so don't tell me to look for examples. I've possibly been doing this longer than you've been alive, I'm a rigger and a senior instructor. I don't have to justify my beliefs to you. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Night jumps are few and far between in this neck of the woods any more, but in the past I've been on quite a few. They're a lot of fun. One of the most memorable was a night 9-stack during the nationals at ganonoque in 1986, but it was more common to be doing back-to-back 4-ways or 4-stacks out of 182's. On a night with a good moon it is often as if it's daylight-the only difference being everything is shades of gray, no color. If you get the chance, go for it. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Things sure have changed. Used to be we didn't even consider someone to be a jumper unless he'd been grounded at least once.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Well, there goes any claim you have to being a "law abiding gun owner". Ah, well, I don't think I ever claimed I was a law-abiding gun owner. I did say a bad law can make criminals of good people, through no fault of their own. And I don't see how a municipality can ban something that the constitution guarantees citizens have the right to own. So I don't think a law can be considered to be effective until it has been found to be legal according to the supreme court of the land. And therefore someone convicted by the municipality would still be considered innocent until said law is upheld at a higher court. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

There's nothing more dangerous to a democracy than a gun nut who thinks he's above the law. __________________________________________________ You think the same thing about the millions of americans who made homebrew or frequented speakeasies during the days of Prohibition, simply because manufacture, sale or transportation of alcohol was illegal? Including, incidently, most of the politicians who passed the legislation originally..... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

The Supreme Court is about to slap Mayor Daley's gun ban down, and turn all those citizens that you currently consider criminals because they own guns for self defense, into law abiding citizens once again. Not because those citizens are doing anything different than what they've been doing all along, but only because an ass of a law will be replaced with a good law. _________________________________________________ And I am hoping that anyone who lost their firearms or was convicted of having firearms under this misguided statute will be suitably redressed after the law is found to be unconstitutional.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Correct, so the concept of a "law abiding citizen" having an unregistered gun in a jurisdiction where registration is required is an oxymoron. Hence your original statement is irrelevant. _________________________________________________ Well, if that's the way you want to look at it, fine. Personally, if it's a bad law, I have absolutely no problem breaking it, just millions of Americans with Prohibition in the 1920's, or hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have so far refused to register their long guns in the decade or so since the misguided legislation has been on the books. And for what it's worth, I don't consider someone a felon until they've been convicted. If no one knows they have unregistered long guns, I consider them a law-abiding good citizen. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

perhaps the best analogy is the failure of prohibition in the states in the 1920's. A bad law which was ignored by over half the population (making criminals of them), which resulted only in the creation of millionaire rum-runners and beer-barons. You are saying that the majority of these law-breakers who enjoyed a beer or two deserved to made criminals? At least prohibition did create one thing worthwhile. Cocktails were created to when something was needed to mask the chemical taste of homemade hooch.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

The police should approach every felon as if they might be armed, regardless of whether or not their name is in some gun registry. Agreed. It would also be nice to know that said FELON had any (previously legal) guns hidden away. It makes no difference - they should still approach him as if he does. Of course it makes a difference. He may be out of prison in 6 months and just goes to pick up his stash of guns. Which, if they were illegally obtained and not registered, would not show up on the cop's screens anyway, so, as he said, it makes no difference if there are guns registered, they must treat them as if they do have guns. Even if some are registered and they confiscate them, that doesn't mean they don't have more. So again, the registry is useless. FAIL! The premise is that he starts out as a law abiding citizen. Law abiding citizens don't have illegal guns. If you have a registry and the gun is not registered, it is an illegal weapon. That is how a registry makes criminals out of law-abiding citizens. That is why the long-gun registry in Canada has been an abject and costly failure, and hopefully will soon be over-turned. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

The police should approach every felon as if they might be armed, regardless of whether or not their name is in some gun registry. Agreed. It would also be nice to know that said FELON had any (previously legal) guns hidden away. It makes no difference - they should still approach him as if he does. Of course it makes a difference. He may be out of prison in 6 months and just goes to pick up his stash of guns. Which, if they were illegally obtained and not registered, would not show up on the cop's screens anyway, so, as he said, it makes no difference if there are guns registered, they must treat them as if they do have guns. Even if some are registered and they confiscate them, that doesn't mean they don't have more. So again, the registry is useless. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

advantageous to decide that we're suddenly in freefall and activate so quickly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What about the non-typical situation where a cutaway occurs stupid low and the AAD needs to get the reserve out ASAP? 3 seconds = death. __________________________________________________ then you need a sky-hook, or at very least an rsl.... ps if you're gonna be stupid, you gotta be tough.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone