Ron

the other one I love is when new JR teams want to do vertical moves on blocks that don't need them....People were doing 18 avgs before the vertical photons....They can wait. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Are you falling? Then I say log it. You are making a skydive that will require you to open a parachute to save your life....Both with a wingsuit and under drougefall. When people start landing wingsuits for fun...Then that may change..Until then log it. Desides I have only been asked once ever. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The problem with dumping an intact body is that when it starts to decompose it will bloat and want to rise to the surface....Also the body WILL fall apart in time. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I have one. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I kind of agree....I would jump the helmet and VIDEO camera...(Not a STILL camera till video is natural) and just not think about it as much. In other words don't try sitting under the formation or flying on level with it till later. Just do simple boring above and off to the side video till it is natural to fly with the entaglement waiting to happen on your head. Also I would practice ditching the helmet till it is natural. Just like a normal cutaway and reserve pull. See this Check 1, 3, 4, 7, 13 (A friend of mine), 23, 24, 31. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

OMG..... Look. I have more BAD skydives than you have total jumps. You may think you have all this experience...But you have less than 200 jumps. Chasingbluesky has done everything you have done in this sport at least TWICE. And I have done everything you have done at least 16.5 times. I have jumps on 69 sf canopies, been in 16 way CRW diamonds, have a PRO rating with 100 live demos (Over half your total jumps into tight landing areas) Been on formations with over 100 people, jumped SL from 800 feet with 50+ pounds strapped to me, and been teaching this sport for 8 years.....Hell, I am comming up on 100 TANDEM jumps....I have done 160 training jumps in one mth. The problem is you think you are experienced, and in the big picture you are not. The scarry thing? I'm not either. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

That is noramally how it works. Every dead and broken skydiver thought the same exact way. And the problem is you may only THINK you are above average...just like everyone else...Hell I THOUGHT I was above average at you experience level also....It took me almost bouncing to get my wake up call....I hope you don't have one, and if you do, I hope you live through it...Many don't. And I don't mean to be a dick (Really I don't) But I have been listening to the "I'ts OK, I'm better than average, I have mad skills." From guys that really don't know what they are doing. I find it funny that the experienced guys all seem to be taking one stand, and the sub 300 jumpers seem to be taking another.... Gee, I wonder which side has a better grasp of the situation? You comments are just like those of some kid that wants a Corvette for his 16th Bday...He MIGHT be able to handle it...But history has shown it is a bad move...Of course he will not admit that. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Great group of coaches...Plus they do tunnel coaching. There is a large group of Dot commers here as well. Most times you can find a place to crash at someones house. PM me for more info or if you have questions....If you were doing RW I'd help you out, but I am not qualified to coach FF. But I can point you in the correct direction. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Zhills has the total body pilot freefly school. Check it out at www.skydivecity.com "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Can't beat Zhills "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

An opposed stairstep is hard to beat. Front is diving OC and rear are floating. IC is inside. Front hops up toward the wing (Not out to the tip, more like right next to the wing and fuse) OC has to kick his hips up so that his spine is level with the ground. Rear falls off and tries to have his spine level with the ground as well, while jumping out enough to counter fronts hop out. Also the rear has to pull tension on the formation by going down a bit. IC has to sneak his hips out of the plane while trying to have his spine level with the ground... Now this thing will rotate about 30-40 degrees counter clockwise. It should rotate less than a meker...And if it does rotate the fastest way to stop the rotation is to key that thing. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

(I did the bold to press the point home.) This may be the best written reply ever about this subject.....I have nothing to add, but I agree. Oh, and I have some sticky notes "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Why such a small bike? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I have never been on a team that matched....Yet I have done 16+ averages. Matching suits is a non issue. Get a black suit with some color grips and move out. Black is the BEST color for RW competition. NOT white, green or any other color BLACK with dark grips so it does not bleed on video. Out of the TOP 13 teams at the nationals....Only two didn't wear black. One wore purple and the other dark blue. My current suit is ALL black. Some teams wear white or light color suits for tunnel...(It looks better to have bright colors in the tunnel) or due to the fact that they LIVE in that suit at the DZ and Black is hotter. But when it comes to the big meets...They wear black. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I have always loved this idea..... That way people can have thier own color. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Bill that has to be the BEST explanation I have ever read. Just cause you have driven home drunk before, and others have done it does NOT mean its safe or OK. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yeah, people steal my food also. The biggest thing stolen is when I bring left over pizza in. I have been thinking of bringing in a pizza with some ExLax toppings. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

No, you are not falling in a tunnel unless the fan breaks. So tunnel time would not be FREEFALL time then would it? Log it in your log book if you wish, but don't include it in total freefall time. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Its somewhere on here.... I'll recap it. It is the story of a cocky 250 jump know it all. A 21 year old kid that thought he could do anything, and who thought that his skill level was above his jump numbers. Boy was he wrong....He got a wake up call in the from of a very close, very fast moving planet. My buddy was doing his 300th jump and he wanted someone to video it. He was videoing a Tandem, and I was going to video him videoing the tandem. They threw together a video system for me. It was late in the day, and the cessna was climing SLOW. It was getting dark....Cars were driving with lights on. We decided we had better jump now from about 5 grand than take it higher. The tandem pulled and my buddy flipped on his back to video the tandem...I thought it was cool so when my buddy flew over to me and deployed I flipped on my back. Cool of me huh? Doing something for friend. Well the problem was the tandem pulled about 3 grand, he pulled about 2 grand....which leaves me pulling about???? Anyone? Anyone? Yes thats the right answer is LOW is where I pulled. I only knew I was low when I saw the dark horizon pass by my feet. When I flipped over on to my belly I was reaching for the reserve handle. My main then opened. It seems as soon as I knew I was low...I threw my main when I started to roll over... I got a great view of the ground running at 120 MPH from the place on the ground where my head was going to hit. Its all on video (POV). The altimeter comes into frame as I reach for the toggles. Its not much above 500 feet. I videoed my buddy landing, and the tandem landing. Then turned off the camera. On jump #270 I got my first Stiletto....If I had had that instead of my Raven II on this jump, I would be dead. Lessons: 1. Don't be fucking stupid. Even if your friends think its a good idea...does not mean it is a good idea. Just because Bob managed to pull it off does not mean you will survive the experience. 2. Don't do more than one new thing at a time. and when you do new things don't push it so hard. 3. Have a damn plan and follow it. When we got out low, the tandem should not have pulled lower, I should not have done any artistic shit. 4. I'm not special, and you are not either...No one is. The ground does not care if you meant to do something else...It only cares what happened. This was the first time it almost got me. It seems to try and get me every 1,000 jumps...More if I do something stupid, and think I'm good enough to handle it. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I had almost 300 jumps before I did my first video...And I almost bounced. You should be VERY comfertable on they type of dive you are doing before you add the complications of video...And wait till you are VERY comfertable with video before you even think about adding a still camera. some people didn't wait...Like Norman Kent. It can be done sooner, but they are not the norm. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Late start to my day due to watching the Stanley Cup. Then I went and flew my R/C plane. The weather went bad, and then went to a late Lunch early dinner... "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Log it, but not as freefall time. I have little sub sections of my log book, (when I logged) Tandems, Demos, 4way jumps, tunnel time all were logged as seperate parts...So it could have been jump # 2000 but Tandem # 100 or 4way #1,400. Simulated skydiving time is NOT skydiving, so it should not count towards SKYDIVING ratings....So log it, but its not Freefall time. I know some people have a "Tunnel book". "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I was going to reply to this guy....But you said it perfectly. Perfect. Ill take that as a complement...even if it was not intended that way. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Just get the higher licenses...They are easy to get, don't cost much and have privleges once you get them. Plus they allow longer periods of layoff. Allow you to get ratings. Perform at nationals. Demos.. Ect. Like I said they are easy...get them. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Am I THAT predictable? Lets try this one then...It's legal, fun and the FAA loves to see people involved with the sport. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334