Ron

How long have you been jumping???? Did you know that back in the day "Saftey Meeting" ment lets go smoke a joint? The first time I was invited to a "Saftey Meeting" I looked at the guys that asked me and thought...Funny they don't look like the saftey type. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Don't sugar coat it... Tell the truth. Don't lie to them or yourself. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The thing is not the speed of the exit...It is that it is delaying throwing the drouge...If it is a hard pull, or you can't set the drouge. You are then doing Tandem terminal..which last I checked is around 180. Then if you throw the drouge you are putting excessive wear on the system (Still better than bouncing). Worse if you have to pull the reserve. I was taught to throw the drouge within 10 seconds, or pull the reserve. If you do a fliping exit...you eat into the 10 second window. Its safer to play it safe, and its not just your life anymore. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well, thats cool...I had a FF suit I was using for tandems. But I would dig the shit out of a knee, and I would get nothing. I then had to extend my legs more, and use my arms more. I got this advice, and tried it....And had no problem at all. Do what works for you. Don't get complacent....Do your handle checks on EVERY jump, even if it does not look cool. I personally don't like to flip out of the door. You are just speeding up. What happens if then you can't get the drouge, and have to pull the reserve at terminal? Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yep, I was wearing a baggy suit till the TM (who is also an examiner for both RWS and Strong) told me to wear my RW comp suit. I personally have found it so much easier to fly this way. I fly with my knees, and my arms are free to do as I need. I went through the RWS Sigma program with Paul Raferty...We both wore RW suits....Its what I am used to flying. I have had no problem with stability..Booties produce a lot of drag, and an Arch always works wonders. Just giving you the same advice that I was given, and found very useful. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The best piece of advie I can give is don't "hot dog". There are plenty of stories of guys doing sit and headdown tandems. These are not very wise to do. Ask any equipment maker. As for flying...The best piece of advice I was ever given was to jump my bootie suit. I have most of my jumps with a bootie suit, and fly with my knees a lot. I wore a normal suit at first until a TM I respect looked at me and told me to use my regular suit. Much easier for me. Ron Oh yeah, don't die. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Ask an instructor on your DZ for what dive to do... It is very hard to coach over the internet. Its what the instructors and coaches are there for. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Ya know.... This is not good sportsmanship Kip. And with a hired gun, I would be much more quiet. If they are so good, don't take Niklas with you to the meet. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

1 Radio controled airplane built:0:0 Weather sucked ass...Built an RC airplane. Have not flown one in 10 years or so. Only got one flight in Sunday, then on the second flight it started to rain. I did coach in the tunnel for 30 min Friday night, flew an hour with my team Sunday night, and will fly anothet hr tonight. So 2.5 hrs of tunnel, not bad. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Started as a life style, now I have balance with the real world. I still live on the DZ however, but I can spend a weekend on the DZ and not miss it. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Nope it was created by a very well known canopy pilot, and bought into by several more. The problem is clear. People without the correct knowledge, or experence getting high performance equipment. The solution is much harder. Education would be the best answer...However the scope of creating a good conclusive program, and the difficulties of putting it inplace nationwide. Is so large that I am not sure it can be done. Other countries are doing regulation...It can work, and would be easy to implement. It can have an "opt out" for those that show the needed skill sets. With added training, both in the FJC, and after...In a few years with the added training programs. The regulation might need to be altered, or even done away with (Think about not allowing students on squares, or students must jump spring loaded pilot chutes. Both BSR's that are gone.) And what is the cost of doing nothing? Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

expand on this... What "unintended consequences" do you see? John, look at last years incident reports. Tell me what you see. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

well sure, but with out video all we could do is guess why you could not hold the grip. So you would do much better talking to someone that has seen the video. Post the video, or you can mail it to me if you wish. You could try to give more detail on what you are doing for exit, but it is almost impossible to coach over the internet. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Simple, because it would be unfair to tell someone that they can't jump the canopy that they just bought, and that they have to buy another. I could not have bought another new canopy back when I started to skydive. So while it does not make them safer, it is only fair to grandfather them in. And the equipment is great. The problem is the jumpers don't have the correct skills to match the equipment. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You forgot: don't like it, but know they can't stop me...So it never comes up. They are proud of me for my results at nationals, and they read the articals I write...They have seen me jump only once, but my dad has come to the DZ to watch me coach. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Not a bad idea....I doubt it has a chance in hell of working. If it is not a rule...people will ignore it. I am not an S&TA, so I have no juice at the DZ. The DZM will not implement it if there is even one chance of a guy going to another DZ. Central FL, has enough big DZ's that they can just drive an hour and be at another big DZ. A mth is not long enough for this type of study to be done. with 12 fatalities a year from this group, for this reason...And an unknown # of injuries. The chances of 3 DZ's having enough info in one mth is not likley..The whole nation, it is possible in a mth, but still not likley. You would not be able to...they would go somewhere else...Besides if this went into effect, they would be granfathered in anyway. This would start with the current batch of students. In the trial phase you really could not do much...just not let them jump that canopy...But thats why it would go into effect on the current student group. They don't know what they will miss. The current overloaded crowd with either survive, or die...Some it seems would rather die than be regulated. there is almost no way to track this...They are not going to tell you. Notice I am doing something? A study is not a bda idea, but it would have to be more DZ's, and longer. Besides we are only discussing the fix...We know the problem. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well we need a 4th, we lost a guy. We did a 16.6 with 20 jumps, and a15.4 with an alternate... There was that one gilr who asked me "Who is the cutie" last time you were here. So ,I would say yes to both...Good jumps and a girl...Man your lucky day huh? Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

1. I learned on a Throw out. 2. I have almost 3,000 jumps on a throw out, and I have not had any problem with it...If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 3. I can't see any real benefit of a pullout over a throw out. 4. I have seen more reserve rides due to floating puds than horseshoes. 5. I don't know how to pack one..yes I could learn, but I have a packing routine... Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well my min pull altitude example is very relevent... You see many years ago there were a bunch of jumpers that used to hum the hell out of it...They all claimed that it was their right to do it, and that they knew the risks. To make them pull high was to limit their freedom...It's their right to pull low if they wish...they knew what they were doing...Bla,Bla,Bla. Problem was they were bouncing...And they were bouncing at an alarming rate. Someone said "Hey! people are getting killed because they are pulling low. Something should be done!". So, people tried to educate them...But the low pullers said THEY were smarter, better packers, faster with the emergency procedures than the ones that bounced. People still bounced from pulling low. Finally the PCA (I think, it might have been the USPA) said enough was enough. And the minumum pull altitudes were put in....Different hights for different skill level...Which oddly enough were based on jump numbers. The freedom of low pull crowd..fought like hell. Claimed it was against the personal fredom of the sport..ect. Now people like you are saying that they are to low.... Funny thing is 20 years ago you would be one of the ones pulling low. I don't know, I bet I could get a Raven and pack it to open quick. I bet I could pull at 1200 all day, and I bet I could handle MOST of the mals I would get. See, I said MOST...I am not perfect..No one is including those that load pocket sized canopies. Now do you see how it is the same? Same argument, different times, and over something else. But the same argument. The argument is over a problem that did back then/is now killing people at an alarming rate. The ones that see the problem and are doing things about it, and the ones that don't see the problem, or don't agree with the proposed solution. Reasons are limit of personal freedom. Not letting people do what they want Vs guiding people to make smart choices through education, regulation, or both. I bet guys like me, and you argued like this over a beer 20 years ago. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

David....What are you up to anyway? Care to come to FL and play some? Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

They should be told to get more training. But if they are face planting, and not getting carried away to the hospital...It is not my concern. S&TA's, or I's and DZO's. Yep just like what happens now with out of date reserves. We have been trying it for a couple of years..Its not working. People are still getting killed. You could ask why do we have min pull altitudes? Wind limits? Need to have a PRO to do types of demos? Night jumps rules? Rules for CRW...Why do we make students have AAD's and RSL's? All of these are just rules and toys to make the sport safer. By haveing them you take some personal freedom away, but you add saftey for all. You see the issue is most 300 jump wonders are 10 feet tall and bullet proof. At least they think they are. They make bad choices because they don't know...But they also don't listen, because they think they know it all. So as you see...Leaving to the individual jumper is not working, and regulation, like it or not is all around you, and this sport. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

This is the same reason I quit Tae Kwon Do. 6 years BB. It seemed that it was mostly about a high speed game of "tag". So I started Akido, and did that for about 3 years. Then I went through a few styles....and then started skydiving. Well...Thats all she wrote. I have not done any other MA except for the ground fighting that the Army tought us....Some of it was very good...Hoice Graci (How do you spell his name?) Gave several classes to us.. I have been thinking of taking Wing Chung again, this time with more effort than last time...But MA was a large part of my life for 8-9 years...And to be honest..I think am over it. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Problem is that the pilot, and the lines do not scale with the canopy. Plus higher wingloaded canopies of the same type have a higher stall speed. I have found that once you go too small the distance of the swoop stays close to the same..however the speed is faster. But I don't have any cool math stuff to back it up. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

What if it takes one to get the other.. And another thing..I see you reply to me, and only say negative things ever...Over several posts on several topics. Did I piss in your corn flakes or something? You seem to have an issue with me. Ron "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Answer...Cool penis points. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334