riddler

All of these events have spectators that line the paths of the athletes. You may not see them on every given camera angle, and for long distances (running, biking), they are spread out at check stations. But they are there. You can't have spectators line the path of the freefall. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think the biggest reason is that it just isn't a spectator sport. Unless you can get an entire audience to jump with the altheletes and watch them, the most you can see is little black dots in the sky. Video cameras were tried for the X-games and skysurfing, but that got canceled - without the cheer of the crowd, it's not as exciting. OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised at all if BASE jumping was part of the Olympics in another 50 years. That's something you can really watch from the ground, and it has a lot of associated excitement. 100-meter BASE, 200-meter BASE, and 500-meter BASE, with points for exit-style, distance tracked from object and low openings Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I agree with Brian, with one exception. If kids are under constant and direct supervision, I don't see a problem having them at the DZ. Unfortunately, I usually don't see that - I see them running around in front of the cars and airplanes and tripping over everyone's lines while they are packing. I hope they at least bought you a jump for doing a little babysitting Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Doing this without planning it and getting authorization would be in violation of the FARs, 105.21: Other than that, it sounds like a fun thing to do. The only thing I can think is that you will almost undoubtedly land on private property, which may not be the best way to treat your neighbors. OTOH, they might think it was cool and exciting. Who knows? Hopefully, they won't come out to greet you with a shotgun Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

And for more info on Crumb, check out Crumb, the movie. But whatever you do, don't watch Fritz the Cat while sober . Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

No whining! I have to get up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to get ready for FJC. And it's a Saturday. Let us know how it went! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've always assumed it came from the 70s Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Just as many bad things can happen in 120 days if a jumper doesn't take care of their gear. The number of days is less important than the care an owner takes. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Correction - there is no reason to flat-pack any square canopy. But he was also the DZO, so after flat-packing the round, he would probably say "now go jump it somewhere else" Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Obviously, you don't have enough people at your dropzone flying 60 square-foot canopies Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Yet another good reason for me to get my rigger's ticket Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Was that because of flat packing, or because they weren't being packed by 16 year old kids making $5 a pack job? I think tandems malfunctions probably don't reflect sport jumping on a solo rig. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Pro packing is supposed to give longer life to canopies. I don't know if that's true or not, but I've heard that from riggers and master riggers. You may be interested to know that many reserves today are also pro-packed (kinda). I heard one master rigger state that there is no reason to flat pack any canopy, main or reserve. Obviously a lot of this is hearsay, so I agree with the poster that says read the instructions from the manufacturer.

I'm not sure if I agree that trackers should go after students/tandems. We hope they have control over where they are going, but to me the primary concern seems to be opening altitude. A typical tracker will open at maybe 3,000 feet, whereas a student/tandem will open at 5,000 feet. If the tracker gets enough separation, it's not an issue. But at 38 jumps, did I necessarily have the skills to get away from the tandems, or even know what direction I was going? If the tracker makes a mistake in direction or doesn't have the skills to actually move away, he/she ends up in freefall over students/tandems as they are opening. On the other hand, putting them before the students/tandems has the same problem, if trackers don't track perpendicular to the jump run. It's hard for me to say either way is better. I know that in the conversations and reading I've done about exit order, no one really mentions trackers - or maybe they just lump them in with wingsuits. Wingsuits seem a different animal - for one, the jumpers have hundreds of jumps (at least) and probably know where they are going, and they have a lot more range with a lot less effort. Maybe put low-time trackers before the students, and experienced trackers after? Or make a second pass mandatory for those jumpers? I think a lot of the current theory of exit order is based on people falling straight down, and trackers/wingsuits don't fit very well into that theory. To me it seems that a second pass is the best option. If only one pass is allowed, then you have a choice. 1. Put trackers before the tandems/students. This has the advantage that they go first and will open lower the tandems/students, and therefore have less of a risk of ending up "on top" of anyone at opening. The disadvantage is they have less room for error in direction. They need to go 90 degrees to jump run, or they run into the group in front of or behind them. This seems a better method if the jumper has good heading control, but can't move very far. 2. Put trackers after tandems students. This has the advantage of tracking in more directions. Unless the tracker tracks right up jump run, he/she isn't going to run into anyone. The disadvantage is that if that does happen, the chance of a collision is increased due to different opening altitudes. This seems a better method if the jumper can track far, but not necessarily straight. A lot of other factors come into play, primarily the skill of the tracker. We know that students probably won't get out of the way. We know that tandems can't get out of the way. Is either option better as a rule? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

On vacation Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

If only the "edit" button existed in verbal conversations Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

err - Lucy? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've actually done solo tracking dives where I was told to jump behind the tandems. I was instructed to only fly away from the DZ, and I did. But it's interesting going out after tandems. I had 36 jumps at the time. Knowing what I know now, I don't think it's a good idea to go after tandems, but I don't think it's bad to be last out if there aren't any students or tandems. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Bruce is a cool guy. I worked in the building where the MMU was developed and tested. He was in and out of there a lot. Super nice guy. If you listen to old recordings of the Apollo moon launch, you'll also hear him announcing for some of it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I seem to remember a very cool 4-way, in which Bill, you and Amy dragged me into position for about 9 points , including one double turn that had at least 10 feet of separation and which Amy flew me sideways back into the formation. I never knew what a good skydiver I was until that jump I also vaguely remember a 2-point 8-way that had Bill and Amy on it, where I got a knee to the back of the head. Ahhhh, good times

I get the less crumpled jump ticket, since I knew his "real" name. Still undecided about WFFC, but if I go, I owe YOU a jump ticket for some great 2-ways last year.

Last one is thighman Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Just couldn't keep this one out of the forums Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think hooknswoop is right. If you want to know how you track, then you can use a ProTrack or Neptune to measure your fall-rate. If you know your average belly fall rate, and you measure your slowest descent rate in a track, then using iterative trig, you should be able to see how much verticle speed you traded for horizontal speed. With that, you can determine the glide ratio. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

At extremely high wingloads, it seems that every line attachment point would be taking a huge load and that the deformation of the canopy would start to have an effect on lift (if there is any lift on such a pocket-hanky ). Do they manufacture the lines differently for really tiny canopies? I might be tempted to add more lines to give each line attachment point less of a bearing load and also maybe keep the canopy flatter. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD