hukturn

Slightly off subject, but if you wanted a repack in a non-US territory, would it have to be an FAA rigger? I mean, is the certified rigger need tied to the rig, the jumper, the licensure or the geography? I would prefer an FAA rigger, but FAA is not present in many countries where there are skydiving ops. Thoughts?

Plan the dive, dive the plan.

Yeah...well, I got a free pull up cord once and last weekend I got a free closing loop!

"Yup", Kally geekin' the camera. Oh yeah, I remember the Star Wars Dive. One that will always stick out until I die. That was an amazing skydive. It was a Roger Ponce design that we were the first to complete, if I recall correctly. Too bad we can't upload video to DZ.com. Of course, it would take like an hour to download a typical skydiving video. Shoot me a note with your address (unless it is the same) and I can send you a copy of the Flockway videos that I have. BTW - Babs is preggy and due in January with #2. #1 is a hoot and decided to have another.

Dude...was there for the boogie. Geez, guess that was in May, though. Too hot but cooling off, will be out. Been DZ hopping. I still love the accordian photo...definately one of my favorites. I guess I like it so much because we completed it on the first attempt. I will admit that I was concerned at the dirt dive but should have known better. E-mail me. We miss you guys and I am sure Barbara would love to say hello. Still wreck diving? Here is the zipper. And another of the 40 ways we did in Chester with Chris Wagner. I think Dave Osbon took this photo.

Here are my two favs. Neither are team related but one is the 21 open accordian we built in the first year of the Carolina Flock. It followed a 20 way zipper/stinger. The quality is a little off but still two my favoriets photos.

What feedback has your jumpmaster and/or instructor given you in this area?

I agree. Tandems are high liability and difficult to maneuver and therefore should be given trhe "right of way". However, the original post also states that the tandem spiraled down into HP traffic. That should be a seperate issue in need of address.

While these statements are accurate, they are not absolute. Historically, more canopy collisions occur outside of swooping. In most instances, swooping is not the cause for canopy collisions. It is simply the "flavor of the week". A couple of our friends died tragically and now many people believe that swooping causes canopy collisions. And swooping has been identified inaccurately as the primary cause for canopy collisions while non-swoop collisions have generally gone without address. Back to canopy collisions during swooping; higher closing speeds, slower canopies, different patterns can occur in the main traffic or in a segregated swooping area. Thus, you are still faced with similar problems. Who is swooping, how are they performing it, how do we stack the pattern? I am sure that we don't want to believe that all swooping will be consistent even in a swoop area, right?!? Not everyone in the swoop area will be performing a 270deg, not everyone is 21cell cross-braced, and not everyone is 2:1. So, the same inherent difficulties are present in the swooping area as would be in the main drag. So, we are still faced with raising awareness and educating our peers and ourselves. Without evolution in our application of safe trafficking techniques, we would continue to have the same problems so many people are discussing. Even faced with regulations, policies and all of the related, one violation can hurt someone. And, it can occur anywhere…in the swoop lane, over the pit, on the beach, anywhere. Though I am sure I take his statement out of context, like wrightskyguy said “Yeah, it's not the swoopers problem, it's everyone else”. And to some degree he is right. This is not a swoopers problem…this is everyone’s problem. Some of the authors here like Ray, Ian and Brian have offered some really heavy insight. And the most common thing brought to the table is awareness and education. Awareness and education is what helped all other disciplines in this sport evolve. Awareness and education are also what evolved us into much safer skydivers.

Wait a minute...please explain the collision with Roger. Because I believe there are substantial questions on where the cu;pability lies in that collision. I WAS NOT there but I have discussed it with several people who were. I realize that this is not the thread for it, so feel free to PM me.

Not if he is trying to sink it in for accuracy. Demo it and see what you think. Talk to someone before you jump it. F-111 performs differently that ZP. Just like 7 cells perform different from 9.

Gotcha! Of course, I am the one who has cut away 100% of the ellipticals I have jumped. Not on the first time, but at some point or another they have all been cut away. Sabre1 has been kind on openings and swoops better than most. I even considered landing without two left end cells after low level CReW took tham out. It was flying really well with minimal corrections. Bottom line...I am not the authority on ellipticals. And, I think that the spinner problem at hand is more due to ellipticals than zero-p.

I do miss the old C-Note boogies.

Jump 110, 1st round of accuranc in Barnwell, SC in a Carolina Sport Parachute Council (pre-club to the Carolina Skydiving League). Did not stand it up, but did PLF under a 28' Phantom. "Thanks" to Mark Lancaster (MEL) for 1)selling me that rig and 2) packing that reserve! Danny Page sent me right back up under a Monarch 195 and a pud. I had never jumped zero-P or a pud. My accuracy meet was blown to hell!

"To make things clear, I am in favor of seperated landing areas. " To make things clear on my behalf. I am in support of seperatied landing areas if the individual DZ can accomodate it and it believes this is the best means of addressing their individual needs. While I may not like what a DZ decides, I understand that I have the option of skydiving elsewhere.

"Yes", it can. This is why many Interstates post minimum speed limits. More people are involved in rear-end accidents than any other on the highways. So, you could be equally culpable by not maintaining adequate speed. Just to clarify, though...this is not a discussion about how to drive a car. They share very few similarities.

"In my limited experience, It has been the "instructors" that are the most likely to be doing hook turns in traffic anyway" Then you have an integrity problem at your DZ. Rules apply to everyone on the DZ, regardless of status or position. So, the problem here is not one of decisions on behalf of the jumper. It is the lack of backbone of your S&TA to stand up and enforce the rules.

If line twists are equal, you should remain in stable flight. But, if one set is drawn tighter then you introduce pressure on that side. Thus, creating a spin. The line twists themselves should not cause a spin. Okay, pulled it out of my ass, but it seems logical. Of course, wing load would play a huge factor in this, also.

Dawn with dew on the ground. I have always wanted to jump at one of the poles, though.

Oops! Did I type that out loud?!?

With about 200 jumps, we pulled a 4 way off of a King Air. Not too bad until you consider that there was something wrong withe the flaps which meant he couldn't slow down the jump runs. Not bad enough... there was a solid cloud layer at about 3K, we were using Lorraine (mis-spelled) spotting at a C-Note Boogie. We landed about 5 miles out.

I have always disliked smoke around my rig. Even when I used to smoke. It's funny though...when in the Army, all I wanted was a cigarette while I was in gear waiting to board the planes.

Okay...you are a freak! I never wore my rig around the house. I did have sex in the canopy once. Bonus; it was partner assisted sex! Seriously, have fun with it. Whe this wears off you will probably be phasing into the social aspects of the sport. Just kinda works that way.

I don't even like wearing a helmet.

It's hard to look like you are having fun when the whole time you are thinking "I'm gonna die". I'm glad he jumped it. So few people have any interest these days. And, moreover, I am glad he jumped it at Raeford. If anyone knows MEL, I believe he still loans out his US Team Para Commander. Same thing just in the US Team Red, White and Blue.