Ron

If they drop the insurance...and DZ's start to drop the need to have a USPA card... I'll drop my USPA membership like a hot rock..... They are mostly worthless anyway. I'll get a 3 year subscription to "Skydiving" and not miss "Parashitist" at all. I'll send my dues money to the AOPA, they did the lions share of getting us back into the air after 9-11. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Chris, how hard could it be? 1. Start the big spiny thingy. 2. Make it sound really loud till you start to move fast. 3. Pull back on the wheel thingy before you hit the trees (Not to far or the world will start spinning and you will hit them anyway). 4. Open the door....you can tell if you need to keep climbing if the people look really scared when you tell them to get out. Really, thanks for all you do.....But I really could not resist this. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

why didn't you like it? Did it feel sluggish? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Read what I wrote.....Duh!..I said I DIDN'T have a Pilllow handle....No one does.. I don't have a pillow reserve either BTW or even a PILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOW handle. Jeeze. And speell chque is 4 loosrs. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Some have said theat we need to have a bunch of pictures to show people that are in danger of getting killed/hurt the results of blown hook turns and landing problems..... Dr. Kallend says we need more data on landing accidents. So here we go. If you have really screwed up and been broken. Please post your story. We will not yell at you, we will not point and say told ya so. But if we are going to do anything we need info...If you know people that have been hurt ask them to post. If it resulted in a fatality, we already have that info.... Don't let this become a debate. Just a place where people can put there stories....If you want to start a debate on it....Start a new thread please. Include: 1. What happend 2. Canopy 3. Wingload 4. Experience (canopys) 5. Number of jumps 6. Damage done 7. Cost 8. Down time Any other info you think applies. Like I said Don't let this become a debate thread...If you want to comment on it...Start a new thread...Let this just be stories..Only thing here should be "There I was stories"....No peanut gallery coments If people start debating here I will ask a greenie to delete the whole damn thing. And the stories will be gone, and Dr Kallends data will go as well. Thanks, Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Jeeze chuck its not like you have anything else to do! "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The answer is simple...people want to be cool. Elliptical and now Xbraced is seen as cool. I wanna be cool I have to have to cool toys. Then the manufactorers say things like "It flies bigger" "You need to really load it to really fly it." All BS. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Nope, but you have no idea what this canopy is like..... This canopy at that WL could very easily kill you. The reserve is a much safer bet. I would put my money on the reserve working....And have. This canopy will SPIRAL with just a lean in the harness. It will slam you if your flare is not even. I know people that have DIED by just missing the flair on canopies like this. No offense, but you have no idea how radical this canopy is. People need to understand that while the reseve is not perfect it is there for just this kind of thing.... The ONE question I have students ask themselves is not is it square, is it steerable, is it pretty?....It is "Can I safely land this?" If the answer is no....And I strongly feel that to attempt to land this is a mistake. Get rid of it. I base this off of jumping both a 1.7 loaded reserve 6 times, 370 jumps on a Raven II as a main, and several hundered jumps on Xbraced canopies from 69-96. I would suggest that you land the reserve..... "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

An Alti 2 can die? I have seen them survive bounces. I have an Alti III on my left leg for RW And Alti III on my wrist I use for students. A Pro Dyter in my helmets. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yep and thats a good thing? The highway saftey board has said that radios attribute to alot of accidents. Several accidents could be avoided by a guy hearing "look out!" So why take one of your five senses out of the game to keep yourself alive? And if he is not he could kill you or me. And they are deaf 100% of the time and are used to compensating for the lack of hearing....I don't want some guy getting his grove on flying around me. In the plane is cool, but I don't want a guy around me jamming to tunes under canopy. And you have 3,000 jumps...He has 250. Big difference. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Oh yeah..... RSL's can be good or bad, but the pillow handles are straight from the devil himself!!!!!! I don't have an RSL or Pilllow reserve...I have had a hard time finding my Cutaway once, and that fixed me to never want a Reserve pillow. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yep, and I wish people would get over it already.... A small main does not make you a better, cooler skydiver. (Or it might, and I'm just bad, and uncool?) Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well, you know is tiny and reacts very fast. Put a jump on a Reserve and then tell me this same answer. Have you ever jumped a 7 cell? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Bad idea. Why make skydiving more dangerous by distracting yourself, and making it so you can't hear others under canopy? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Man I can get to Zhills from my house in like 3.5 seconds. And I will be there...of course I live there, so thats not news. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

its great, get a mountain bike "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

John, have you jumped a reserve? It is much less sensitive to input...Much easier to control safely than a 2 to 1 loaded Velocity....Even with out knowing what size the reserve was....I would suggest that you cutaway and use it...Yes, it could be a 106...Which is still larger than the 96 Velocity, but it could also be a 126, or even a 143. And ALL reserves would be safer in this situation to land than a 2 to 1 loaded Xbraced. And if it was a round, even better. I have 34 round jumps...It is hard to screw up a landing on a round. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yes, but there are not many smaller than the PD106R...And with the design of the Reserve being low aspect ratio, and 7 cells. I would feel better with a newbie under a 106 reserve insted of a 103 Velocity. The small mistake on the PD106R is gonna hurt or not even matter...The small mistke on the Velocity,is gonna hurt or maybe kill you. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

A team is the sum of its parts....So the better the team members , the better the team. But there comes a time when team jumps count. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The Mantis is rather flat body position. You are cuping air with your upper body, and your legs are flat in relation to the horizon. Most people when they start flying the mantis need to add a little lead. It can be slower, or faster depending on your arm position, and the amount of arch. In the mantis you can rotate your arms so that they spill all the air they had...In effect taking all that lift away..In the box man you can only really arch hard. So the mantis can be faster or slower depending on what you do. However, you don't need to learn it...You can skydive your whole life without it.... If you want to learn it the best way is a tunnel camp. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yes, but you have a much better chance of landing the PD113. Trust me on that. And if you screw up you will have a much greater chance of less injury with the PD113R. I have jumped both, and I know which is safer to land. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well, Im not saying that you did anything wrong..You are 100% responsable for your saftey... So I would not yell at you for taking more time, but I would sit and try to show you why you took to long (If you did). It is my opinion that most people don't know shit about spotting, and most students now don't learn it.. So it could be that all concerned didn't have a clue. But in this case I would have to side with the guys with a few thousand jumps... Next time if you don't want to go...slide away, and offer them your exit slot....But they should not have pushed you out. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yeah, but how many miles have you driven....I bet more than most 20 year olds. We don't record the miles we drive...unlike flying or skydiving. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

So if the group with less experience should have more...Dont you think we should do something to help limit that? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And I bet that there are more jumps made by the over 500 than by the under 500 each year. Since the USPA counts the AFF students that joined, but never finnished the program in the counts. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334