mikeat10500

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Everything posted by mikeat10500

  1. We usually ware our shorts or track pants over our gear until jump run...take them off and through them at the pilot(your pilot may not think this funny). Then we land a bi-plane on the edge of the packing area....drives the DZO nuts. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  2. I done naked CRW in microlines and have pics to prove it! And I live in Canada....it's got to be warmer in Fla. Oh in freefall guys...watch out for rudder effect...you don't want to get in a turn...you can't stop. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  3. My DZ uses IAD's to prepare students for a free fall program. It would be like doing 3-6 static line jumps followed by AFF. The student must be capable of handling a manta without radio before moving into free fall. We have see some of the better students go old progression (hop n' pop ,delays) but most will enter the free fall program.The total program is extremely flexible. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  4. I will only attempt main deployment 2 times! I do this to avoid bouncing. Anyone with and AAD should think about it to aviod main reserve entanglements. P.S. I always pull the pin, by hand ,on my own gear anyway. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  5. I was holding Trevors foot locked in the crotch of my right arm away from my reserve handle. This left his hands free to steer the down plane.The grip was not as strong as it could be and the canopies (big 9 cells) have huge tension. We could hold it longer (better grip and front risers)but will just start lower next time. I found a cool way to get down from the top position in the bi-plane(read it in a book). Just squat and grab his risers with your hands....remove your feet from the risers...and in one motion lower yourself down in front...very fast. CRW Nice to see some still dig it. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  6. Peter Maybe thats why I felt so strong about it. I do a little CRW sometimes and always think both canopys will open ok(and I will need them both). If it goes to shit it is not usually a packing problem. I know totals, and entanglements happen. But she had 3 parachutes! P.S Was not aware of a second fatality on that DZ...but it's a long way from here. Still a good record for no AAD's or RSL's. Edited to add...ya want to see crazy...this guy is crazy! tard ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  7. Bill I know you have been around for a thousand years more than me and have ten thousand times the experience I have ...and yet I strongly disagree. For a guy that has been around so long ,you seem to have forgot how the west was won. There was a DZ in canada that still used round mains and manual deployed belly warts up till a couple of years ago and did not teach students how to cutaway the main at all. In 30 years of operation close to the largest city in the country they had one fatality(power line strike). Years ago this DZ lost it national affiliation due to its choice of equipment. When the DZ was sold a year or two ago they started with modern gear and techniques only to have their first fatality within a couple weeks of opening. Attitudes have changed...but physics has not. Not being able to cutaway...also means not being able to cutaway to low. Was G. "Tiny" Broadwick crazy and just lucky? You would not condone her actions today but it does not mean it would not work! For the new to the sport( in the USA at least) ,listen to Bill...he has forgotten more than I will ever know. Quotebut what you did was very dangerous...If you want to practice cutaways, do it on the ground. and putting one together that does not permit you to breakaway from your second main canopy is crazy. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you made it. It's just that I don't want a whole lot of people copying you, because you faced a greater danger of dying than you might face from an actual main malfunction. Quote ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  8. Yoshi My buddy (posts on here as "Bags")wanted to do CRW for his 700th jump ,and I had just read this thread ,so decided we would do a down plane using the methods ChuckBrown described and held it from aprox 7000' to 4000'. First CRW jump in a whole year! We also turned it 360 right and 180 left in this time. We have not done a lot of down planes and mostly stuck to pinwheels. Down planes are very cool! ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  9. Best of luck...keep your head up and you'll have a good time! P.S. We are all crazy. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  10. I doubt it's much older than mine...the container is 21 years old and reserve is 24yrs. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  11. The photo found directly below "Mirror Image" on the same page of this book is of a U.S. 4-way team "Tesseract" including our very own DZ.comer ....Darkwing. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  12. Dragon2 I think you did it the best way...for real. The reserve(belly mount) had no pilot chute right! P.S. I think all cutaways are intentional...unless someone kicks your handle loose! ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  13. Steve Cool story of B.J. Here is a photo I dug up of Mirror Image 1979. I not saying these guys are stoned....but! Mirror Image ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  14. www.iit.edu/~kallend/skydive/fatalities.gif for a graph that illustrates your point. Cypres is so good, that the no-pulls dropped drastically 2 years before it became popular? Am I reading the graph wrong or where there a large # of jumpers using Cypres by 1990? ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  15. I know you rigger types don't like to test your work with real peoples lives.....but I have not had a reserve ride in over 300 jumps and if something don't go bad soon, I may have to cut a good one away. Can you say ghost plane! ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  16. I think they both suck and prefer this. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  17. I voted no. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  18. I was brought up in the sport to believe the main is my problem. When I would drop off my rig for repack I was told to keep my cuttaway handle and main. If I had a concern my rigger would inspect or test anything I was concerned about. That being said it would seem some people in the sport today don't even know how to pack their main let alone inspect it for wear or defects. If a rigger was to inspect and repack my main while doing a reserve repack(air), I would be thrilled that he/she would do it for an extra 5 bucks. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  19. It had crossed my mind too! It would be nice to find all the tandem info in one place. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  20. Livendive Yea! If you are on the bottom....don't look up. ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  21. 41:31 ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  22. I've done very aggressive brake turns(not flat turns) with a Stiletto 150(@1.2:1) very close to the ground and think it can be a useful tool for avoiding obstacles. The canopy's forward speed slows and so does rate of decent. I'm not sure how to safely learn/ teach this skill as not all canopys perform the same. ...mike ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  23. * Please upload a couple of pictures of your rig. I'm sure everyone will enjoy comparing each other's weird/cool designs, options, etc. * What are the major pro's and con's of your rig? * Let's say your rig is stolen. Which one would you buy next? Same? Another, but from same manufacturer? Or something else? ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  24. Oh yea...big time. I remember an a few years back when a C182 passed through a DZ in the states(I think) with the pilot unaware of the NOTAM. The C182 was carrying a doctor,his son,a friend, and the sons girl friend when a solo skydiver struck the horizontal stabilizer breaking his leg. He managed to pull and watch the A/C spin in. ...mike I have done some reading after posting this and believe this is the same accident that Chris more accurately reported. Wow that was ten years ago! ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.
  25. ............... I do too.. brother... but this scenario constitutes an emergency.. ,,, so i will agressively pursue.... I will not approach from directly above,,, yet i will approach.... In this particular case,, ( i am actually a friend of skyvixen and she's important to me...) I would not fail..... yet the seriousness of such a situation is what prompts me to encourage the USE of the cypress..to her,, and to most all other jumpers.. .. skydive softly skydive often skydive with friends. Well....she is a cute skyvixen. So I would chase her around the packing area, around the camp fire, around the mulberry bush... But never would I chase her below 2000'. Below 2000' and above 100mph...I have no friends! I think it would be a lot safer and easier to help her remember to turn her CYPRES on. If she does not want it turned on....she's on her own. I have been in this situation....me and my friend of 10 years are doing a 2-way from 4000' after I tossed out some IAD students. We have done this dive from as low as 2500'( yes a 2-way). Neither of us has an AAD. We left the A/C in a compressed accordion...I brought my feet up on my ass as I was diving...I hit my friend square in the nose(I was not aware of this at the time) with my left sneaker. We come of ok...then, major tension and fast turning. I let go..and turn to see "What's up!" He is holding his face in his hands and sliding very fast away from me. We now have a lot of horizontal separation and are passing through 3000'. I guess I can get to him buy 2000' at best( we are on the same level so I can't really dive hard). I decided to let it play out...don't want to get their just as he opens. So he comes around and figures out he is in freefall and deploys his main(I was very happy to see nylon). ...mike ----------------------------------- Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1 Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.