Vertifly

Those are all great!!!! However, this one I find hard to believe. Apes and monkeys even masturbate. I've seen it in a zoo. This must be evidence of pleasure during sex as well. hmmmmmmmmm...curious.

It's a Harrier. But I'm bias. I used to work on them in the Marines. Damn fun aircraft to stare at and it's got some interesting lines to it.

My sentiments exactly!

I went through a phase of about 300 jumps while, in FreeFall, I wondered if my container was still on my back. Some videos actual show me feeling for my harness. This is a bizarre question to have in your head when you are no longer inside of the plane. This is especially true considering that I always check my gear before leaving the aircraft. I haven't met anyone with similar thoughts. ..so, scary or just plain weird, give us some thing(s) that you've thought about in freefall (repetitively or not).

I'm not meaning to sound strict or on-edge. Just giving my opinion on the subject. My home DZ happens to be a place with some of the best/safest canopy pilots in the world. There are commonalities amongst people who are successful in the sport. It is a good idea for the majority of us to find out what they are and practice these philosophies on a regular basis. And this has simply been my interpretation of this commonality. I just hope some of this info helps you out. -David Blue Sky's

1) Nope, I doubt it. They just get better at it. Experienced skydivers may seem complacent at times. It seems to me that after this many jumps, the learning curve slows down. The same level of concern is there, but it becomes part of us and I (for one) am comfortable with that. It doesn't cause me to be self-satisfied or unconcerned with my skill-level. Yes, I believe the reason why we may seem this way is because of "confidence". Although, who ever said that confidence breeds complacency? It probably is just the opposite. 2) Yes 3) Now you are getting it. This is what I mean by "FUNNELING" bad energy the correct way.

Honestly, I've never been in a car accident either. Since when are cars designed "not to fuck up"? In my opinion, vehicles are design to withstand the fuck-ups that the drivers/owners impose. True, I don't think that skydiving gear is designed to not fuck up. If it were, we wouldn't have cut-away or reserve handles. But if you run out of gas on the highway, you pull over to the side of the road and call AAA. This is a pretty forgiving philosophy. And I would argue that most people are aware that there is little danger on the ground. In this sense, modern day outlook doesn't promote the self discipline of knowing your equipment. Last I checked, there weren't any rigging lofts at 3000 feet and Mark Kruze doesn't provide canopy-side assistance (although, he is good enough at crew to get close to you up there. LOL). Most good pilots are aware of this. Are canopy pilots designed to fuck up? This probably depends on their background...don't you think? And you also just said that, "a canopy is a mechanical object and as such, will be open to a malfunction regardless of the planning." Honestly, your approach on this is disconcerting. Dude, if you have this kind of outlook, you may be in for the reserve ride of your life - And sooner than you think. I doubt that people with thousands of jumps go into it with an attitude like this. On EVERY skydive I have at least one malfunction in my head. Re-funnel that negative energy into thinking about your gear, flying safety, a nine-point check before getting on (or out of) the plane, rehearsing the skydive all the way to deplyment and canopy check, etc., etc. What are you thinking about during the process of getting to the DZ, manifesting, organizing, and jumping?

If you are rated to open at the following altitudes... The next time you do a skydive, try this if you haven't already. (1) Plan on settling out to pull at about 4000 feet. (2) Put your altimeter up so that you can see it while falling flat (but just off to the side). (3) Look at the HORIZON and not the ground. (4) Keep stairing at the horizon without looking down and suck it down to about 3000 feet. (5) Check air, wave off, pull, etc., etc. It is kindof a bizarre sensation - you'll see. If you are brave, take it down to 2500 because it's even better. Report back if you try it. BE SAFE ABOUT IT TOO!

Wave, throw, and look everytime. Now I sound like a goody-two-shoes. LOL I can only manage to keep my eye on the pilot-chute until full line stretch and then wind up grabbing rear riser and stearing with my butt and hips while opening. Seems like fast canopies make you pay more attention to the issues at hand. I can't ever remember doing this on a SPECTRE.

Personally, I don't think that it is such a bad thing to have it in your head at 1000+ jumps. I would argue that the reason people last a long time without having a mal is awareness in the sport. Let's face it... Whoever said that 'personal failure provides a person with experience' was not a SKYDIVER. (That sounds like a funny T-shirt. LOL) Try to learn from other peoples failure and be safe.

1500 without any chops here I don't know, perhaps it's luck, but perhaps not. There are people at my DZ (and others in Jersey) with 4000+ jumps without any reserve rides. The person who taught me packing was one of them. Coincidence?...doubtful, I guess. It's important to have an outlook on your gear much like a pilot would his/her aircraft. The ground is where you prevent mechanical issues and the air is where you reap the reward of this attention-to-detail. In the service, I worked in a harrier training-squadron which gave me the opportunity to work with some of the best fighter pilot instructors in the world. An intense portion of safety-education for student-pilots was to find a pattern that worked well. They were expected to practice everything the EXACT way every time. This included briefing, aircraft pre-flight inspection, their mission, all the way to the debriefing room. It's likely that these 4000+ jump-wonders practice a method similar to this (and practice it well). Of course, much of the "attention-to-detail" is sacrificed when paying for others to pack your gear (which, this year, is usually the case for me). But, using packers, there are ways to prevent everything but a "slow-moving-malfunction". However, I find that there are ways to improve the probability of mal's with packers as well.... For instance, who is packing for you? do they look at the details of the gear when assembled? how well is the rig inspected after a packer does his/her job? Perhaps great pilots are anal-retentive when it comes to responsibility of gear. Truthfully, I can't even stand being near the dropzone without my cypress turned on. That may sound weird but it's an attitude which, I believe, keeps me freeflying on planet earth. -the thing that I enjoy most in life. Good luck -David

Yeah, it's like a thread of threads.

I am not sure that I like this game: 78

Ahhhhh! Brings me back to my first jump. She did a good job on the story. Cool!

Wow, 40 views and not one vote. Guess that not a lot of people are flying this camera.

Guess they'll have to come out with a 50-sqr-ft. production model of the Velocity.

How about something with "VRW" in it? Like VRW Patriot License, the VRWL, or the Universal VRW license. This way, we avoid using "Freefly" also.

Boobs are cool, but more guys will flock to you if you skydive with them. Did I just say that?

I'm doing research on these cameras. So far, I've found - from searching on dropzone.com, that the DCR-TRV900 & 950 have fluttering issues. In previous posts, many people complained about the fact that the camera 3CCD system could not interperet or co-ordinate the red, blue, green input during image stabilization. I'm looking into a VX2000 that I could get for like $1350. However, I understand that this camera is quite large in comparison. What are your thoughts if you've had ANY experience with these cameras in freefall or during the editing process? Thanks ahead.

Nice! And it looks like a night jump too.

I can't say that I disagree with this. Perhaps we can come up with an improved name here...

So what's the problem? They seem like a attainable goals to me; JUST GIVE IT TIME and stick with it.

1) Because flying your body rocks! 2) I like to think that I'm ok at it. 3) If I could freefly and skip the canopy flight, I probably would. 4) The people in skydiving are more real to themselves than anywhere else that I've seen. 5) The sport is: a. limitless in potential b. young enough to improve itself dramatically c. fun from Sunset to sunset (even afterhours) d. competative in a fun way etc. etc. etc........

Lawrocket, send me an email. . . . .

sweet