Ron

Just ask. It never hurts. It kinda pisses me off when I ask and I get an answer like, "Enough, Plenty, More than you, Jump numbers don't matter....Ect." No one should be offended if asked, or ashamed of telling someone how many jumps you have, or what qualifications you have. You should not feel stupid about that. He didn't offer, and you didn't ask about his experience. There are a few types of people who give advice: 1. Those that are qualified. Say an AFF I talking about emergency procedures, or a PRO rated jumper talking about spotting. 2. Those that know. Maybe these folks don't have "Qualifications", but they have experince. Think about some fun jumper with freefall skills above any AFF "I". 3. Those that are just plain wrong...These people can be qualified and experienced, or not...But they can still be wrong as hell. Think an old time AFF "I" that teaches 45 degrees for exit seperation. 4. The one I hate most. Those that read something about it somewhere, but have not real idea about WHAT, or WHY. They just parrot advice they heard or read with no idea about why. Most times these folks are just trying to inflate themselves. You will not know who they are or where they fit until later. But always ask. And then verify the info from someone you trust as a subject matter expert. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Aw dude. Why do I not find myself surprized by your answer? The South left, the North said , "Ah, no." After a bunch of crap, the South surendered. I think that most that call the Civil War "The war of N Aggression"...Just need to get out more. To quote Ballard (kinda) when he was told that the Titanic broke apart in a different way..."It sank You lost, get over it". "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

No. No. I'll give you an example from my life. I have this cool RC helicopter. It is Electric and uses these really cool Lithium Ion Polymer (Lipos) batteries. These things have a reputation as being dangerous (Think small canopies). And people warn that they can be bad if not handled with care. (Think canopies). Anyway, when I got my first Lipo pack I treated it with kid gloves...Watched it like I should, had a fire extinguisher handy, charged it outside...blah,blah. But 6 mths later I have not had a problem and let my guard down. Long story short, I dropped my guard and one of them blew up in my face. I think the same thing happens with canopies and just about anything else. You start really careful....Then nothing goes bad. So you drop your guard, stop paying as much attention to the little things. Then all hell breaks lose and maybe you survive and maybe you don't. Things that will "wake" you up. 1. All hell breaks lose and you survive. 2. All hell breaks lose and someone dies. You might realize that it could have been you....Or maybe you just assume you are better than they were and keep on trucking....But at some point you wake up. I don't know too many old times that think they are bullet proof like some folks with a few hundered jumps do. In my case with the Lipos was it blew up and I didn't burn my house down.....But the same thing has happend to me in skydiving. After watching a few bodies hit, and having a few close calls, I realized that not one dead skydiver thought they were going to die from their actions...But they did anyway and I am no different than them. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Really? All I have to say is 4 out of 6. Even when a coach told you to stop doing that. Once you guys work through that little bit...You will smoke a good number of teams. No one at Waller would have been able to keep up. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I screwed up the exit. We just switched tail and point last camp...Last I remember tails job was to blast down on exit...Seems I did that great, but the getting back up kinda sucked Our score was not a good representation of what that dive could have been. We fiqured about a 22 minimum for us. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Would it have been cool if: 1. He hit your nephew killing him? It has happend. Ironicly a low flyby at a wedding killed on of the wedding party a bunch of years ago. 2. The FAA took the pilots license for not maintaining seperation? § 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General. Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes: (a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface. (b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft. (c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. While I like a good buzz job...Not over people. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Don't forget that it is either a mirror or a slot switcher depending on how the team makes it. The current records had no slot switchers or mirrors: Fire 2006, 47: F M P O E. Straight French 2004, 42: B F L A N. Straight Airspeed 1999, 39 : M O H B P. Straight At the 2005 World Cup there was a potential record, but it had block 5 in it. Airspeed did a 34. It was a burner as well M J O 5. A mirror or SS will seriously hurt the speed of a jump. BTW we did a 20 on it I think....I had a bad exit. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Stop pulling on the left stick if it starts to do some cool acro spinning at the ground BTW all those stories about Lipolys exploding.....Well I about poo'ed my huggies today when I had a 2250 pack explode about 2 feet in front of my face. 60 dollar pack, about a bottle of cleaner later, and a change of underware, my kitchen is almost OK..... FOLKS...Take these fucking things seriously. I knew they could be bad...But never like this. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Very wise choice. Smoke can be a cool thing. But it adds so much more work to a jump, and its not the best thing to do on a short notice. Have fun, be safe and you can learn about smoke later. Just stay safe, have a good jump and kiss the girl. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Better. I would not do it. It is a REALLY bad idea to jump something you have never jumped before into a DEMO. The desire to perform is great, and often over rides common sense. Its great you have people watching your back, but I have seen people be afraid to CXL a DEMO...And since this is SUCH an important event, most will not step up. I'll do it. DON'T JUMP THE SMOKE. If you had a chance to rig something and put some test jumps on it. One with just the rig, one firing it, and maybe another full dress practice...I would be standing behind you. But as it stands right now it is a BAD idea. Hell, if you had given me some time I would have loaned you my bracket. Look, its your wedding. It is a big day in your life...A jump into it is MORE than enough extra stuff. Please don't jump the smoke. It is just going to add tons more potential problems and its not going to bring much more "Bling"....Hell you are skydiving into your wedding. A thin line of smoke is not going to make much difference. On low profile demos I had a steamer bag. It was a velcro bag that had red/white/blue streamers in it about 15-20 feet long. It was more than enough extra bling without the risk of burning anyone and and the risk of dropping a burning canister, or slagging the crowd. Really, you don't have enough time to set this up correctly and exicute it with enough margin of error to be safe. Please forget about the smoke. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

From whats been posted so far...It seems on the up and up. If it was requested and granted, and BOTH teams knew, and one decided to protest by not jumping...Then it is quite fair. Do I have any of this wrong? Is there something else to be considered? If you leave before the meet (and a WX day is still a meet), then you get zeros. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

My most useful piece of advice....Don't without training. I would not attempt to go on my own unless you are very skilled about pyro and skydiving. I don't know your pyro background, but with 175 jumps I bet you do not have the experience to make your own jumpable design that does not endanger you or anyone on the ground. The canister will get hot enough to burn through most "cord". Metal cable is the MINUMUM. Holding the canister in your Jump suit is a *BAD* idea. If it fires it will burn you quite badly. I'll look to see if I can find some of my old Demo stuff and post some pics of the brackets.....Even then I would not try to build one on your own and jump it without supervision. PLEASE don't try this on your own. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

In Vietnam the US Navy created a SPEC group to provide the US Navy with the special warfare capabilty they had lacked before. They were unofficially christened the Brown Water Navy. The Brown Water guys patrolled the rivers, inserted and exfilled folks...ect. Black is "darker" than brown and the name might just be an addition to that history. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You would be surprised. While I kinda agree with your thoughts. A good number of dead people thought they could control everything as well. Hell I HATE AAD dependance. But chances are they do more good than harm....And at your level even more so. I applaud your desire to take every precaution to avoid the need for an AAD....but wear one. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I have time in Orlando May 12-13-14 "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yeah, I am sure everyone that saw that thought it was Thomas that screwed up "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Thats the norm. Random "B's" are the things that get you. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well except that I am coaching in the tunnel both days...so that makes skydiving in a meet kinda hard. Also, I have a class to teach in FLL Monday, so I will be going from the tunnel on Sunday to FLL. I will be in CO Friday night and Sat night only. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

My longest was an hour and a half in the cone. They started the tunnel and most of the folks went to lunch. By the time they got back I was flying with my arms behind my back....I was too tired to use my arms, but too greedy to get out. I have flown several 30 min sessons straight. The worst day was in Bragg. We were training the SOCOM demo team and playing some 4way. I stayed in the chamber flying 2 in 2 out for 3 hours straight, one hour out, then back in. Neal Houston was with us....He was SMOKED by the end of the day Several times I have been coaching for an hour and not gotten out of the tunnel. I have the dives pre drawn on boards and I just stay in the tunnel. Secret is when I get tired I cheat. If I can, I stand, or half fly on the wall. Anyway, I will be in CO May 5-6th...Hope to meet some of you. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

That is the question I have. However, you wrote it SO much better than I could....Thanks. I think there is a major difference between a single fan and multiple fans. I have always thought it had to do with the airflow and how it changes with several fans. I can tell from exp that at Bragg (The biggest single fan tunnel I have been in, I don't count the old outside open fans of the early 90's) that I don't feel the washing around I feel in a multi fan tunnel. The only reason I can only guess that the reason is one fan loses lift and the others pick up the slack. The loss of lift on that one side is seen in how a 4way team just sitting there then all of a sudden on guy goes low. I have actually found that the effect makes a team work even better in freefall IMO. Now that I am flying RC helicopters I have seen how hard it is to change both speed and pitch on a single fan to keep the blades from over speeding, or lugging....I can't imagine the grief of getting more than one to work together while all have only a certain flow rate to work with. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Ohhhhhh. Didnt get that. But thats OK Im kind dense. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

] I actually like Banngers and Mash with brown sauce. There is a cool little Pup/Resturant near the Orlando Tunnel that Derrick Thomas (A britt) took us to a few times. It totally changed my thoughts on English food..... Your weather still sucks "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Now that posts makes great sense! I never thought about the power needed to go around the blockage...Nice angle. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well I am no judge anyway, and this is not a court. I just didn't understand how a venturi could make any difference....Being the type of guy that is actually interested in this kind of stuff....Check my teams name at the last US Nationals...Phugoid. I did't understand how a venturi could have a "feel" To be honest....I still don't. But I'll keep looking into it since I like this kinda stuff. Yes, I have a GF. So while I may be a geek I can't be THAT big of one I think the major difference between the Bedford an SV tunnels would be the one big fan VS a bunch of fans. I found the Bragg tunnel to be very much different than an SV tunnel. But thats just a guess. One day I may go to Bedford...But I just can't see me making a trip just for a tunnel. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Nope. The US has done it twice 2001 (Airspeed/Syncronicity) 2004 (Majik/Syncronicity) "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334