AFFI

Why? Did your first skydive scare you? Then not as scary 20 skydives later right? You have a couple of parachutes? You know how to use them? Relax, and get comfortable making clear and pulls from a low altitude because on day you might be the person sitting next to the door and there is an aircraft emergency at 2500 feet and everyone on the plane is commanded by the pilot to get out quickly and lets say that you are scared to get out that low, and you hesitate thus holding up the people behind you and your hesitation costs someone their life. Hop and Pops from a low altitude is a skill we must acquire in the event we are ever in such a situation and need to get out quickly with little warning and safely. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I for one am proud of our efforts so far, no direct presonal attacks.. Cept maybe the Tony Danza remark - dems is fighting words! Perhaps we should vote UntamedDog as president of the USPA and let him fix everything - the needs of every individual skydiver, whirled peas, hungry children in Springfield, the traffic problems in NYC and of course in is infinite wisdom he can surely put an end to terrorism...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Tony Danza is a dog? 9-11? Yeah we got shut down but did the USPA do nothing about it or were they representing us to get us back into the air ASAP? Eearlier in the postings someone mentioned that ya can't please everyone all the time. Perhaps if we spent less time bickering and more time training there would be less fatalities?

Aparently the person (for lack of a better word) who started this mode of discourse.

I think it's much cooler to use this thread. It's kind of like reverse trolling. Like trolling for salmon? And there is no room for debate - he won, remember?

Me too - DITTO. I remember when I was early in my skydiving I would always ask this particular instructor for a gear check and he was the same way, it was very comforting for me and he always used te same line after the check - "you'll live"... It helped me a lot as I was still struggling with jumping at the time, my brain had not adjusted to what I was doing yet... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I think it's much cooler to use this thread. Cooler? Why is that? Be safe Ed My guess is it no longer empowers the big boss..

Well lets keep it goiing then! Anyone got positive things to say about the USPA?

Why are you indigenous earth mammals still posting? Did you not understand when the big boss proclaimed "This thread is done"?

I win? Sounds like something a child might say after a game of battleship... Not a personal attack, just an obversation... From the grave, Don is inviting you to voice your opinion at the next BOD - Copy Pasted from the following post. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2008633#2008633 (Concerning your complaints about the leadership in skydiving) Re: USPA- perhaps there’s an echo in here. Now that you’ve vented, I’ll send along a bill for ‘Misc. Consultation”- we all have our figurative crosses to bear. I’ll deal with mine, you deal with yours. There was a BOD Meeting last week- didn’t see your name on the agenda. Perhaps next time, assuming that you’re RD can’t convey your concerns directly to USPA. I’m still here, as always, willing to listen, intolerant of error. S’long for now, Don

I call em da "Hop & Hook"

My understanding is the way to make a small fortune running a DZ is to simply begin with a large fortune and have enough sense to quit when you only have a small fortune left. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger, Jr. jumped from 102,800 feet (31,334 meters) from the Excelsior III balloon gondola in 1960 test, freefalling toward Earth for over 4 minutes. Here is an article.. http://www.dropzone.com/news/SpaceParachutingSkydivin.shtml

When I had around 1000 jumps I was still getting visual gear checks on the plane before each exit because that is how I was taught and it seemed sensible. Believe it or not it was a very "experienced" TI/AFFI with 10,000+ jumps who told me that I did not need one because the brand new container I was jumping was "bullet proof" that all I needed to do was reach back and check my own pin. So I made many self check exits - then I really started looking at the safety aspects of skydiving as I was in pursuit of the AFFI rating. I went back to getting gear checks because I felt the need to lead by example and I don’t care how inept it makes me appear - there are dead skydivers whose deaths may have been prevented by getting a gear check, still looking for an incident report where a fatality was caused by getting a gear check. I believe gear checks have been discussed ad nauseam before but here they are popping up again when discussing what others have chosen as a predetermined course of action if they notice in freefall that their chest strap was not secure. Guess it all goes back to prevention in the first place but if you screw the pooch then what? Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Some would argue that they do in fact gear check but they gear check themselves - do you mean that you do not understand why a skydiver, irregardless of skill level or jump numbers not get a gear check from a fellow skydiver as opposed to relying only on themselves? Personally I believe in gear checks on the gear I am about to jump by a fellow skydiver someone other than myself. Back in 03 I emailed Don Y. concerning this very same issue he replied: Hi, Mykel, Just because ‘everybody does it’ doesn’t mean that they are correct. Lots of dead guys should have had a pin check. Remember Murphy’s Laws #whatever- ‘You are not Superman’, and neither am I. Clear Skies, Don

That a skydiver could possibly fall out of their harness during freefall or opening shock. It has happened before as a result of a mis/non-routed chest strap. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I simply went to Google and entered "prescription skydiving goggles" Check these out... http://www.sportrx.com/search_results.asp?type=sport&sport=skydiving

I know someone who handled this situation like this and survived but he did not specify sitting back during opening shock. When I was experimenting with how much or far back to sit up during deployment I learned that if I go too far with it the opening shock will be harder. Still, this sounds like a better plan of action than freefall gear corrections or rigging – guess it depends on the altitude and maintaining altitude awareness while trying to fix the problem. Like the PC in Tow there are different ways to handle that high speed situation but the USPA recommends that the jumper have a preplanned course of action. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Often times a very good subject is raised in these forums that stimulate thought provoking discourse that allow for an environment were learning from one another can take place and all too often the communication gets side tracked by bickering over political correctness or semantics. Let’s not collectively forget what this string of postings is about and that is finding out how individuals have coped with a misrouted cheststrap in freefall. It is interesting so far to hear how others have survived this error and I am beginning to wonder if it more common than I initially suspected, some perhaps even having jumped this way without even realizing it. Lisamarie raises a very good point that no matter how “experienced”, people can still make mistakes and we are all here to watch each others backs. So did the 2300 jumper at least buy the 51 jumper a beer? Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Totally correct... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Odd? Maybe - but me too. I love the added intensity a bit of time off gives that first exit back Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Throughout the course so far, I have made many grievous errors in life from skydiving to racing high performance motorcycles to military service, little league baseball and everything in between. Have I ever gotten on the airplane missing something? You bet (goggles altimeter stuff like that) but not anything overlooked with gear, at least not yet (I am only human, we make mistakes) – and whenever I have to use the “dumb ass” goggles did I hear about it the rest of the day from my friends? Hell yes. Was I ever a 100 jump wonder? Hell yes! Getting to the 100 jump mark was a big accomplishment for me as it may be for many others out there. Something that happened to me very recently was my chest strap was routed through my goggles (they ware hanging from my chest strap but I was in a hurry). I have never disconnected my chest strap on the airplane for any reason – did I arrogantly take care of it myself since I have an abundance of experience? Nope.. I asked the person sitting in the best position in the plane to watch me and double check me and make sure I did not make a mistake, I figured 4 eyes were better than 2 and then I went back into my normal routine by asking for a gear check before exit because I am not in the habit of relying solely on self checks on the airplane If you will take notice of one important fact about my reporting of this occurrence I did not mention this person’s gender, race, nationality or religion. No need for personal attacks. A few posts down efex pointed out the nature of the problem which was this person’s attitude, being arrogant and not teachable having an answer or excuse for everything. So that is what I was pointing out, not a personal attack at all. A 100 jump wonder is still a 100 jump wonder, a maggot is still a maggot and a skydiver that has it all figured out and is not teachable has the greater possibility of stuffing a pine box than one who is prepared, trains for situations and remains humbly teachable. This might stem from apathy or arrogance but irregardless of the nature an individuals character defects the fact of the matter is that skydiving teaches us a lot about life and affords us the opportunity to better ourselves in manners that will manifest into other areas of our lives. Hopefully this person will become more teachable. Hope this helps to clear thing up and clarify the absence of self righteous indignation. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Fear can be a good thing and it feels so good to overcome! Don’t abandon the foundation of safe skydiving skills and knowledge that I know you received. Keep it simple and have confidence in yourself, you are an outstanding individual and were a great student – there is no reason to not have confidence in your abilities. Practice EP's canopy piloting and remember to clear your air space and watch out for the other canopies in the air. If you make alterations to the foundation of skills and knowledge you acquired make certain the change is a good idea. It is life and death up there so make certain that the source of the advice you get concerning safety and gear is sound… Texas is a better place with such a wonderful person like you back! Andrea says hi.. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Recently a jumper in the 1 year 100 jump range was observed on the airplane with a misrouted chest strap. It was pointed out by an instructor quietly because he did not want to embarrass this skydiver, then the 100 jump wonder looked at it and (in sort) did not see a problem with it which necessitated a little more attention given and some retraining. The jumper with the misrouted cheststrap then arrogantly commented something like - “I would have noticed it in freefall, rolled onto my back and fixed it then”. Is it possible that this person has been jumping often with a misrouted chest strap? First off I wonder is it just arrogance or a lack or appreciation for the potential ramifications for making mistakes or merely apathy drawn on by the fact that skydiving accidents are few and far between? A gear check in freefall just doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. Secondly I wonder how people that have noticed their chest strap misrouted in freefall have dealt with the situation. Even if it was noticed at a high altitude it seems to me like it would be difficult to route. So if there is anyone out there willing to admit they screwed the pooch publicly and survived by managing to remain in the harness during opening shock – how did you do it? Reminder: everyone look and others gear on the airplane during ascent and look for problems. Everyone makes mistakes... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Try using a word processor like Word that automatically gives spelling and grammer errors then copy/paste. Huked un punix rully wurkd fer me..