downwardspiral

While reading in the April'03 issue of the Parachutist the article titled Heads Up! a 2002 fatality summary by Paul Sitter I found something curios... There was no mention of the experience level or jump numbers of the 13 who died during landing. Why is that? Is that not important? Maybe Paul Sitter can enlighten us. www.FourWheelerHB.com

Just some observations: I ride my crotch rocket to and from work for a total of 20-25 minutes each way. Since I started riding(last November) I have noticed that the folks driving SUVs and large lifted 4x4 trucks tend to drive faster then folks in compact cars. Quite often I see a SUV mom with all her kids in her car passing me when I'm doing 80 mph. Is this not ridiculous? Also they tend not to look over their shoulder when changing lanes...making them more likely to hit me if I'm not paying attention. On the other hand... when I get in front of an SUV or large truck they will give me a wider birth by backing off then most compact cars. Perhaps this has to do with the size proportions of our vehicles and perception of the amount of risk involved. As a new rider I realize how vulnerable I am. This makes me a better "driver" cause I'm much more focused and unwilling to get in an accident. Many of my friends have been bugging me to get leathers. IF the theory of risk homeostasis is true then that means I will be less safe and more likely to get in an accident if I buy leathers(if I understand the theory correctly). BTW leathers are to protect you from the road not other drivers. Should I buy leathers? Jason www.FourWheelerHB.com

I jump a Saber 190 loaded at 1.2 (was 1.1, I'm working on that). I have 270 jumps. 240 freefly jumps. I bounced this one back and forth in my head for a while. Decided on education without regulation. Reason is... I just recently learned about the British Parachute Association requiring freefly coaching before you can freefly with anybody else. I don't personally like that idea however I do realize the BPA is just trying to make the sport safer. When do we cross the line from regulation to over-regulation? Lets take a different point of view. Imagine checking in at a hypothetical DZ for the first time for that ever popular boogie. Manifest says,"Can I please see your license, membership, logbook, reserve repack card, reserve pin seal, AAD(cause AADs are required at this DZ), blood type, and I'm going to need you to blow in to this breathalizer. Oh and lets not forget I'm going to need to see what kind of main you jump and since we can not trust you we are going to need you to pull it out of the container so we can see the tag. Thank you for your patience Mr. Skydiver. I understand that this is quite a nuisance but it is for your own good and safety. Oh btw here is your rig ID stickers. Please stick one on your container and the other to your forehead. Paul the pilot will need to see these before he allows you to board to make sure you didn't borrow somebody elses rig. Also if you are caught jumping the wrong size canopy without authorization from S&TA Sally you will be forced to buy a case of expensive, imported, bottled beer. I apologize for the sarcasm but I don't see regulation as a realistic solution. Especially for large DZs where they can not hold everybody's hand during a skydive. Next thing you know we will have to get permission from our local S&TA before Performance Design will sell us a canopy. www.FourWheelerHB.com

I load my wing at 1.2 When I bought it I loaded it at 1.1 ...too many pies ;) At 270 jumps I can say I've landed crosswind and downwind in calm, high and turbulent winds. I've landed on uphill and downhill slopes. Not to mention very small landing areas. I am pretty confident in my ability to fly my wing... but no other wing regardless of wing loading. 50 jumps ago I jumped a Diablo twice loading it at 1.3 Let me tell you that it wasn't interested in making friends right away. After getting it flying straight, which was a bitch, I was too scared to try anything more than fly directly back to the landing area with an occasional turn to test out its performance. Lets not forget about the flare. Set up on a long final and was very afraid to do anything more then fly it straight being that low. I jumped it a 2nd time having better knowledge of how bad my body position was during opening the first jump. I enjoyed its performance a hell of a lot but I would never want to jump it in less then favorable conditions because I knew if I didn't treat this wing right it would show me who was boss. Had I gotten in a spot...I woulda been screwed. I know I can handle the Diablo in under good conditions but.... A)What if I ended up low over town with no good choice for a landing area? B)What if the wind direction changed? C)What if someone cut me off? What if the powers that be chose D) All the above? There are a lot of "what ifs" and that scares the $#!% outta me. Jason www.FourWheelerHB.com

Just out of curiosity...Why have a wingloading higher than 1.1? www.FourWheelerHB.com