skypuppy

I make many decisions differently on my own rather than on a tandem. For instance, my personal rigs don't have aads, but I wouldn;t dream of doing a tandem without one. It comes down to I have a right to make risk assessments in my own case, but not in a student's. 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

No way, man. Nothing against Michel, but he has, what, around 14 or 15,000 jumps? Like several people have stated, there are more than a handful of ti's with over 10,000 tandems. Someone somewhere probably has more tandems than Michel has number of jumps total. Which is why we asked the question, and we just have to find out who it is. Again, this is nothing against Michel, but the point of the post is to find out who has the most tandem jumps, and while he will have a lot, I don't think it's more 12,000. 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

my email Dear Sir I heard on the weekend about the unfortunate incident at the Batavia Boogie. I just wanted to mention that this is the first year in a long time that I have not attended the event. I started going down from Toronto to the Batavia event back in the late 1980's or early '90's, I think. and have been to most of them. Usually I bring my non-jumping wife who spends her time shopping in the area and visiting antique stores. We often go down a couple of days early to explore the area, or stay a couple of days late. I hope that this incident does not cause trouble between the skydivers and the county. It would be a shame for the merchants in the area to lose the business all those skydivers and their families bring. Sincerely, 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

Panama. It was a small rw instruction jump - one guy went low, and as Tom tracked off the guy opened under him. Piras' knees caught the leading edge of his canopy and his head hit the guys knee. Supposedly he regained consciousness and pulled silver before hitting the ground, but too low. 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

He got it out and landed uneventfully but here is the scary part... He was looking for his Tapewells on his chest where they always were. When you wear your rig they are always at your collar bones and they just weren't there. He looked and looked patting his chest to find them. Finally he just gave up and figured he'd go in. You're right - that is the scary part. What's real scary is I had the same sit'n once myself. It was a spinning mal and it wasn't so much just giving up as the effect of the spinning. Maybe someday I'll talk about 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

I think most of us used to do these kinds of jumps regularly in old days (good way to get free beer and impress chicks) but back then we were using slow, relatively low performance chutes. I guess what opened my eyes was an illegal demo done near my home about 10 years ago (I wasn't on it and didn't know about it till it hit the news.) Seems some guys from another dz had decided to have a jump into an AA meeting one of them was hosting. One of the jumpers had about 100 jumps - probably a little less. The problem was he was on a relatively small canopy he'd just gotten not long before. The landing area behind the house party was relatively large and open, but for whatever reason, this guy decided to land between the houses (to be closer to the crowd?). Whatever the reason, he ended up hooking into a mature tree. The tree won. What REALLY pissed me off (like I said, this was all over the media) was his 'buddies' took off to avoid the cops as soon as they realized what had happened, even though this guy was still alive for awhile. As far as I know the wall of silence prevailed and the ministry of transport never found out for sure who flew the plane or even where the jumpers had come from (or who they were), so nothing was ever done. But it made a BIG impression in a lot of people's minds around home. People still remember it from time to time. 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 take it you had a lay-off. Welcome back, brother. 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 said I was and sent him the photo which he was very happy to get. He also told me his twin daughters just this week did their first few AFF levels which is very cool. How old are his daughters? 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

In just over 500 Sigma jumps I've had 3 chops for tension knots and seen at least 2-3 others that I've cleared. I know of at least two others that were chopped for that reason last year at our dz. It does seem to happen a lot. 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 recall in about 1980 to 82 or so seeing a film clip of a guy jumping from a plane and landing on a pylon of one of the bridges in New York, for some reason I'm thinking the George Washington Bridge, but I'm not familiar with new york bridges. I don't remember if he cutaway and jumped the reserve into the harbor or if he repacked on top and jumped jumped the main. That may have been the guy who later died as a passenger in a airplane doing aerobatics at an airshow in california (they weren't in the airshow, just flying around watching or something). I believe his name was on the list under base jumpers who died doing something else. I have a great memory of watching the bridge jump on the news, it was shortly after I started jumping. 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

CARS have always tried to restrict non-NOTAMed jumps into cottages, etc. Non-NOTAMed, "bandit" jumps away from a regular DZs have always been illegal. The new regulation does not change this. The primary goal was to eliminate surprises for IFR - read commercial airliners - traffic. Let's face it, scheduled airliners are the only aviation sector that generates enough profit to fund Transport Canada, Nav Canada and a million federal civil servants. __________________________________________________ Like I said, I never considered a jump into uncontrolled airspace, not over a built-up area (cottages for instance are usually on lakes) into a cottage where there is no large open-air assembly of people, to be a bandit jump. It was just a jump into uncontrolled airspace... That's how many of my water jumps have been done. And usually we don't go high enough to interfere with commercial air traffic - for one thing, if we did we'd end up getting up into controlled airspace again. Most of these jumps would be below 4000. I have no problem requiring clearance in controlled airspace, or for a 'demo', but if it's uncontrolled and not for a huge crowd or built-up area, it's uncontrolled to my mind. 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

It does not make any distinction between jumping from an aircraft and any other type of parachuting. The bit about needing permission to jump in uncontrolled airspace just made ground launching and BASE jumping illegal without a permit. __________________________________________________ I think Transport would be out of their jurisdiction with this. Someone flying down the side of a hill within 50 feet of the slope is certainly not a hazard to other a/c; ditto for someone launching off a 30-story building in downtown. Besides which, I doubt anyone climbing a tower or building planning to jump off without permission really cares if Transport is for or against it. I have to admit, the restrictions on jumps into uncontrolled airspace are more troubling to me than most of the other stuff. There is the possibility of jumping 2-person ultralites or hang-gliders - where you are getting out low and have perfect visibility - they really want you to talk to TC by radio before you jump? Or jumping into cottages, etc. This is restrictive. On the other hand, while we don't need a specific approval for a demo into an airshow, do we still need CSPA ins. That would have to be changed so we don't need the approval first, I think. And if we don't need a specific approval for an airshow, is that why they expanded the wdi requirements which only applied to students and demos before? The requirement for wdi's was always on the approval they sent 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

The meetings you are thinking of were the CSPA Transport Canada committee meetings in the early nineties. Have you been skydiving that long? Ian Flanagan, the individual you have decided to trash without naming, was in fact, on record as being against fighting transport on this issue. If you were around the sport back then you would no doubt remember his statements at the time that he thought it was a lost cause and that we would be better off insuring that Transport kept their noses out of the parachuting side of things. At the Annual meeting in Pitt Meadows BC around that time (I can't remember the exact year) there were two motions on the floor. One was to express support for Transport's efforts to regulate the sport and one to resist their efforts; the one to oppose Transport was motioned by Pacific Skydivers as articulated by Ian Flanagan. So your theory about him changing his spots is in fact wrong. __________________________________________________ on the 90's meetings Sounds like you're contradicting yourself here, on one hand you say Flanagan recognized fighting transport on commercial status of skydiving aircraft was a lost cause and wasn't going to fight it, worrying instead about Transport's forays into parachuting endeavors specifically; and on the other you say he made a motion to oppose Transport on the commercial status of skydiving a/c and all it entails. Where the opposing view, held by a dzo from Ontario was that CSPA should apply for a waiver such as was granted to a/c used for towing gliders at gliding schools/centres. 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

Midwest was still there in the 80's I think. I vaguely recall a road trip down there from Ontario one night -- we got lost on the way back, but fortunately we found a bar that sold cold beer to go. Got back some time after the sun came up. 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

Back in the 90's Jo Stanley got his bootie caught on an exit at Skydive Toronto during a 4-way meet. The pilot closed the door and had descended to about 600 feet before they got a hold of him and told him to start climbing again. Jo got loose at about 800 feet and opened his reserve, landing behind a farm not too far away. He was just relaxing, sitting on the back porch having a glass of water with the farmer when he heard a big noise out front of the house. It turns out another jumper had jumped in thinking Jo was hurt, did a panic turn when he saw hydro wires, and screwed himself into the road. Jo said at least when he rolled him over, he had a first aid kit on the chest strap! When the ambulance arrived they kept asking if this was the guy that hung up on the plane. Jo said "no, That's me. This guy jumped in to save me!" The dzo said he couldn't believe it when, a few minutes after he got back to the dz, Jo had borrowed a rig and was going up for his rejump using the same exit. 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

If you enjoyed the old DB Cooper thread you might enjoy this. It's not actually about skydiving, but in Dec 1977 a plane loaded with dope crashed in the Lower Merced Pass Lake in Yosemite, and remained unclaimed for some months. The story of what ensued is actually pretty interesting, and more than a few climbers got rich. http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=73572 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

Too easy, then I would have to scroll it. Funny, I didn;t even realize the scroll bar was there till you mentioned 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

I'm trying to decide who the jumpmaster is. It might be Ed Matchett or Larry Hrabbits, but they all wore the same uniforms back then. So it could be anyone. Maybe Billy knows. 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

slthough had the highest freefall, it was unofficial. I think the official record is a russian at somewhere around 87000 feet. At the same time they did the freefall record, another jumper got out and opened up to establish the highest parachute ride. His space suit malfunctioned and he landed dead in his harness. These jumps were done with round parachutes. There may be some threads in the history and trivia area. 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

You must have a higher opinion of politicians than I do. 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

What was really interesting was the short amount of film each camera held, so on high jumps (12500) or on a jump like Cole's chuteless jump, he would wear two cameras, reaching up to turn on the second camera 20-30 seconds after exit, to make sure he had film of the whole jump. 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 is way more to the story than one dz. A triple fatality in the early 90's, (tandem and video); another fatality at a dropzone in Ontario which had changed management and dropped cspa membership; a fatality on an illegal demo, also from said dz; a fatality out east that wasn't explained. There were even two student fatalities last summer, one at the same venue as the one you mention, although the dz has changed ownership. If you think that a fatality represents a flaw in training, then the events could justify the approach TC is taking, even though as far as I can see, in most cases industry standards were followed (exception of illegal demo and some equipment things I'm not sure about, for instance not sure if there was an aad on the east coast fatality or if it was on). Another rule that often came up at inquests (and from military doctrine I believe) -- riggers inspect and pack ALL mains. At the cspa agm there was a motion made to make it harder for small groups to change bsr's -- largely to prevent a group of dzo's from imposing mandatory aads for all jumpers -- the motion failed, but what became abundantly clear was that there is no set procedure for how to change bsr's, nothing in the policy and procedures manual, all we got was people's opinions on how the process runs. Is it any wonder that if there is no clear and set procedure for setting or changing the basic safety rules, that TC would seek to impose some? 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 was an interesting discussion in the 'first vidiot' thread about a film shot at Jacques Istel/s place that was nominated for an Oscar in the early 60's. Any other early films out there? Canadian Bill Cole also shot a movie, 'The Silent Sky' which was entered in a Canadian festival. From his email to me.... ________________________________________________ Rob: The Silent Sky was submitted to the Canadian Film Awarda, and placed second to a film done by CBC with their million dollar budget. In 1965 I filmed a cigarette commercial for a production house in Toronto, and pulled all the ligaments in my left ankle on the first jump.. Darryl Hanry D-3, Mari-Lou MacDonald D-13 and I went to Florida, and in order to supply my gun cameras, the production house had to buy 50 cassettes of 50 ft each. I used exactly 9 on the commercial, and managed to get to keep the other 41, which came in handy for the filming freefall for the Silent Sky. Our last jump was from 22,120 ft, with Paul Poppenhager as pilot, and we shared oxygen from a small walkaround bottle. I also had a 16 mm Bolex with a great zoom lense, for hand held shot, in the aircraft, and on the ground. When Darryl and Mari-Lou and I got back to Toronto, we went to see the film that I had shot for the commercial, and I almost swallowed my heart. A can in the camera was not in its right place, and allowed all the free fall to be filmed so when shown, it was speeded up. The funny thing was, the tobacco company and Ad Agency liked it. The exposure was perfect, and the jumpers wearing white suits trimmed with green stood out beautifully against the green fields below. Win some...loose some, I guess_____________________________________ So Bill had a bunch of free film to use. He shot 'The Silednt Sky' between 1962 and 1967, filmed at Burnaby, Baldwin, St. Thomas, Lemon, and Welland Ontario, as well as Parkman Ohio. In the film were at least 3 of the guys who drowned in Lake Erie when that bomber load went astray (Aug. '67). Daryl Henry did some of the voiceover. While the rw in the movie is probably not as good as the California stuff at the time, it is comparable to some of Boenish's early stuff. More aimed at whuffos than experienced jumpers, I think. I do have a copy I made from an old vhs copy, minus the credits. 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

Yes, I guess I gave away too much. It is Daryl Henry. The picture was taken in Clewiston, Fla. Daryl was on the Cdn team that set a world record at the meet in Orange in 1962(? I think that was the year). I have a pic showing the rig from a little higher angle I will post later. 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

No guesses, Howard? 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