riddler

That's what I meant when I said: Kind of interesting situations they never tell you about in AFF - nor should they, I guess. Situations like this are the reason that FF coaching is a good idea. To learn how to be safe, if nothing else. It brings up lots of possibilities. We were still pretty high when it started (~10,000 feet AGL), and at the time at this DZ, there was no rule about tracking in a particular direction. That has since been changed to tracking only perpendicular to the runway. But at the time, it would be possible for me to screw someone in the *following* group by tracking into their column of air. In the case of this jump, there were three head-down and four sit-flyers, so you potentially have four people tracking in all different directions. I go back to planning the jump and jumping your plan as the biggest issue. No one talked before about free-flying if things went bad, and the head-downers had no idea the rest of us could only sit. Even then, not everyone caught on right away, so the head-down were all trying to catch up to each other, and the sit-flyers were at many different levels. Bad Ju-ju.

It's interesting to me that we lump computer problems in with issues like pets dying, being sick, etc. Man, these things are taking over our lives! I've spent the last three days trying to debug some databases for a major shipping/warehouse vendor. Anyone else want to go back to the days of Atari game systems? Seriously, we just all need to jump! I don't know about you, but as I fall, suspended by nothing, facing potential death, it puts all of life's little problems into perspective. Hope you all get back to feeling good. I expect to see all your smiling faces at the DZ soon!

I think mine are dry-roasted and unsalted. Can't comment on the water sports, although, like many skydivers, I like to SCUBA as well. Seems I recall an issue of Parachutist a few months back that said the risk of death is the same for 17 skydives as driving 10,000 miles in a car. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Glad to hear it. No worrying about your appendix now. I'm here to tell ta', if you ever need it taken out, you will know! It hurts. A lot. Like, I can't describe how much it hurts. One a scale of 1-10, it hurts about at a 12. I lost a lot of good hair that night, 'cause I pulled it out myself Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I work for myself. No one bothers me. Just me and the computer systems. and the little people. But they don't care if I jump. They only want bits of cheeeeeessse. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Most of the time, it's flop over on my back, then flop over on my belly. My barrel rolls aren't so good. I once did a raft jump that went awry and everyone just started free-flying. Lesson 1 - don't change the jump, even when things go wrong. About half of us were sitting and the other half head-down, so they went pretty far below us. Another lesson - when free-flying in groups, try to keep the same altitude. Anyway, the track away happened and I tracked over one of the head-down people. I moved, he moved. I moved again he moved again. Bad luck, but he managed to stay beneath me on the entire track. He waved off. I crapped my pants. Then he barrel-rolled - saw me - tracked at 90 degrees, and I tracked the other direction at 90 degrees. He was wrong to go head-down while others were sitting. I was wrong to not immediately get away from that situation, and also wrong to not pull when I saw him wave. But the fact that he was heads-up enough to look before pulling may have saved us both. I now "check my back" (i.e. roll over) before pulling on all dives. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's face gets distorted like Gumby in a hurricane. I would've never recognized you. Are you still rated for tandems? I've never seen you do one. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I like the first one better - has more character. The Lotus will probably be my next canopy - it's the nicest one I've flown so far.

I think this is a good attitude for altitude - err on the side of caution and believe whichever input says you are the lowest. With regards to the free-flying, do FFers use the horizon as an altitude indicator? I know that new jumpers are told to do this when landing, but can a FF effectively use it to determine altitude +/- 500 feet? If so, that would make more sense, but it might be a problem when you jump close to a large mountain range, like I do. In that case, the horizon may easily slope upwards or downwards with the changing ground elevation.

Not a soldier - sorry. But I am also curious if they would get into trouble for saying that they don't agree with it? Freedom of speech may be a constitutional right, but that don't mean you can't get into trouble for it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Along these lines, my thinking is that we have different means of determining altitude, which change over the course of our skydiving career, depending on your experience level, sensual accuity, etc. When a new jumper starts, altitude awareness is/should be determined in this order: 1. Equipment (Altimeter, Audible if available) 2. Eyes (looking at the ground) At some point, with enough jumps (I'm not there yet), the shift should be to: 1. Eyes 2. Equipment (Altimeter, Audible) Can anyone comment on this? Is this correct or incorrect? It's hard to say all skydivers should do this or that, but it might be a good guidleline. Also, two things about altitude awareness bother me. The first is the tendency to begin relying on some sense of internal "timing". I don't think this is a good idea. You might be able to get a sense of how much time it takes, but what happens when you change your fall-rate? What happens when the pilot kicks you out at only 9,000 AGL because of clouds? If you are in the habit of relying on your internal clock, you might easily forget about these new factors. I think it's a good idea to practice *not* relying on the internal clock. The second thing that bothers me is the tendency in free-flying to rely on audibles first, altimeter second (it is hard to turn your head and look when free-flying) and eyes last (you normally look at the horizon, not the ground). It seems of these three, the audible is the most likely to fail, even though I see some freeflyers using it as the first source of information. Are either of these two concerns unjustified? Hope I'm not getting too far off topic here. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Nope - DISCO (the name has since changed) was a pretty efficient organization, even thought they could be jerks about stuff. Plus my applications were in a bad defense economy, so there weren't a lot of applicants

No worries - I'm sure if you are a nympho with huge boobs, you will be forgiven Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Hey - I take offense to that The container DOM is 1988 (the year I graduated high school) and it _is_ an old container. Some FYI - I *do* free-fly this container. It does have mods for free-flying. It doesn't have all the mods I would like, but it's not worth investing the amount of money into it for tuck-tab riser covers, etc - better to just buy a newer container. I have been told that the pin cover will be open a lot, but I do have about 10 video jumps of myself and I've never seen it open - not in belly, sit or head-down. Neither have I seen the (velcro) riser covers open. Considering it's age, it has held together very well - I've been impressed with the Vector 2. Edit to add that part of the problem may be tied to the fact that the main D-bag is a split bag. Velcro. From your posts, this might be a lot of the issue. I would love to replace the bag anyway - I liked the split bag when I was learning to pack, but don't like it anymore. Thanks for the feedback all - you have given me some ideas to discuss with my rigger.

"I pray for a nympho with huge boobs who owns a dropzone and liquor store. " Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'm blue, I fly on weekends and I'm not illegal. I'm also a good temporary cure for boredom http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=5744; Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

FYI - update. Called USPA and found out they were closed today, so I went up to the DZ to see if they could access the USPA database. They did and found my new C-license number (yea!). So the culprit was the Post Office? Not. I got home and right there in the mailbox was my license card. Letter 2-10-03, postmark 2-14-03, delivered 2-18-03. Originally faxed to USPA 12-22-02. Who says the USPA doesn't give good customer service? Just under two months. A little outside of the 2-3 week window that they claim, but at least I got it. Thanks to whoever at the USPA got on this. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Snow! I meant snow

Breaking news! 47% of skydivers say they are smart enough to live somewhere warm and where they can jump year-round. God, I feel stupid. And cold.

Due to "extreme weather". Just called. They say they should be open again tomorrow. You guys in DC must be getting hammered.

I think a pic of the belly ring in order here. Let's see that tummy! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I want all of you to realize how dangerous these types of situations can be the next time you are tempted to fart on the plane. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This news item was posted on another thread. Do you have any more information about him - what are his motivations? Is he the local farmer McNasty or does he feel he's been damaged by the dropzone or by the sport?

Great link, Hook. Thanks.

For you pilots/FAA type experts: How long, on average, does it typically take to get the official accident report, and is that report publicly available and easy to access? I hate the initial reports that infer that such-n-such was probably the cause, without stipulating that it is not official. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD