Liemberg

I stand corrected... (who would have tought that after 25 years...) "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

O well - I celebrated my 25th birthday as a skydiver. august 6 1979: "Shit, there I was - thought I was going to die!" 3th tandem of the day today (in 25 degree Celcius...) I 'almost' felt the same... (Not really of course - you live and learn...) Let 's just say that the opening was "interesting", but for the techniques to avoid the-slammer-at-the-end-of-a-five-second-snivel on our trusted 'Performance Variable 390' it is "Back to the drawing board..." Yes - we had pastry.

I dont know how you load that Sabre of yours but I can asure you that when it is loaded 1 or higher, you'll notice the difference. You can feel the pilot dancing up and down if it is non collapsable. There is no reason other than plain stupidity to forget to cock a PC. It is fairly simple to build in a procedure to asure that it is cocked (takes one extra second to check when you fold your PC - much smarter than making a dumbass of yourself 'looking for a green light' on jumprun...) Anyone who skips that deserves what is coming... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Contrary to popular believe the answer is ... well...um... NO, I'm afraid... (Don't know what you have been told, what movie you saw, what you heard - but tandemmasters are not in the habit of chasing detached passengers in freefal and the probability of succesfully catching one is slightly lower than that of winning the national lottery...) But the vote of confidence is heartwarming.

And whenever these freakish things run through your mind you check and doublecheck. Sounds healthy to me - I try to keep it in the equasion (for me and those 'under my wings'...)

1. Don't turn the canopy to see where you are going

Requiring no, allowing yes. You might have missed it but there was a safety bulletin on Strong tandem rigs a couple of years ago. Riser broke at RSL side, RSL opened reserve, main and reserve entangled. Strong TM's are given the option to disconnect the RSL when they have a working AAD since then. You can be taken to court anytime but I wouldn't worry to much about that if you went in...

This is mostly about what you do with 'the big kite attached to your shoulders' after you have landed, isn't it? We DO teach our students the techniques that work best and we teach them from day one. (??? Short sharp flare close to the ground, let go one toggle AFTER touchdown AND turn around in the direction of the toggle you are stil holding. Let go of the other toggle - "nosedive" the canopy into the ground / run towards the canopy & around it - stop on the other side of the canopy. Gather your canopy.) Up until now we saw ONE student apply this method as early as jump nr 2. I guess he doesn't count since he has been at the DZ since birth, has made 8 tandem jumps prior to his first solo and makes his pocket money as video-editor. On screen and in reality he must have seen a lot more landings than the average student and seeing other people being laughed at is a strong motivating force...

But if bad judgement leads to experience that is not survived *), for the person having the experience there's no good judgement gained either... *) doesn't have to mean you kill yourself - crippling yourself in such a way that you can't jump anymore is sufficient because whatever great insight about landing parachutes you gained, for yourself it is of no use anymore... Slowly?

I totally recommend gaining more personal, first hand experience. What bugs me with the canopy control course as a cure for every disease is that I find it not hard to imagine how 'the kid with an over inflated ego' comes around to tell me that he is perfectly safe under his way too small canopy since he took a course. You probably get a certificate too at the end?

?????? First reconnect the RSL, then chop? Besides, chances are you are not jumping a Strong Dual Hawk then. The valid safety bulletin in my obscure little country that allows me to disconnect the RSL if I have a switched-on-and-well-maintained AAD only goes for THAT particular rig. Now purists among the crowd here probably would argue that I should get a different brand in order to give my poor students the best possible safety. For me that would mean buying four (4) new tandem rigs. I'll consult my sponsors.

If I may be so bold... You are dangerous. But do I care that you are?

No. Morons are morons without realising that they are morons. Big difference. "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

I remember the DZ where it happened, the rig I was wearing, the plane I was walking up to, at least one other person that was in that same load and the chief instructor who stopped me saying 'hey, you forgot something!' Then he reached behind my back and showed me my pull up cord. I distinctly remember how stupid I felt. That was more than twenty years ago... I think the odds are pretty good...

I don't NEED an RSL I don't NEED an AAD Then again, either one may save me some day. They work differently and have different pro's and cons. I do NEED a properly deployed parachute when I jump out of flying airplanes... if that comes with a fail-safe system which works always my job could become boring - but there are lots of people with boring jobs... For the time being, there is no fail safe system and I should be doing the best I can. RSL will not save me if I can't get the drogue out and get too pre-occupied with the task at hand; AAD might come in handy, there... AAD and / or PSL will not save me if I end up with a spinning mal that doesn't descend fast enough to trigger the device. AAD will not save met if I cut away to close to the ground to regain enough speed for it to work before returning to terra firma. RSL might save me there. All things considered, I might as well try to save myself. "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Me too, me too - that's why I always pull the reserve right after cutting away the malfunction. The issue here, however, is if an RSL can CAUSE a problem that otherwise would not occur. When the RSL side riser (or even the loop) breaks on an otherwise uneventfull opening, it can. There have been instances where just THAT happened. It shouldn't - but it did... I wouldn't bet the farm that this can only happen with certain brands and is downright impossible with other brands (although Strong has built up 'a reputation' for sure...) This is "Murphy's law" (or the trade off - if you will) for RSL's. BTW: I voted to keep it connected on tandems...*) BTW2: None of my personal rigs has an RSL. BTW3: Years and years ago I was looking up to my five cell "Strato Star" and saw the right side riser right up there with the slider. Everybody else was under a parachute and I kept falling down. Guess what I did? *) edited to clarify: When for some obscure reason my left arm is incapacitated after/during the cutaway, without an RSL and with a student in front I'm running out of options... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Re the manufacturer you are allowed to disconnect the RSL on Strong tandems as long as you have a properly maintained and calibrated AAD turned on. (This is AFAIK and from the top of my head; the way I read the dutch regulations it is allowed if the manufacturer allows it. Moreover, there was a safetybulletin about this issue with Strong tandems when the main-reserve-entanglement fatality happened that started with a broken riser.) One other thing: When a riser breaks because it is 'misrouted' during packing (i.e. forgotten to push the large riser ring back in place) there will be signs on the ring. We sent a riser back to Strong last year that had none such signs, yet had been broken on an opening. On that particular jump weight was well within limmits and the opening was described as pretty normal - except for the (right side) riser breaking. Other than that, I have had at least one reserve-ride on a tandem where on the ground I found the RSL still in place Apparently I didn't need it then. Neither did I have to buy new cutters "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

No you don't. But if they were, no reason to let the fringe benefits go to waste, don't you think?

It is called dreadlocks, I believe. I think it is an improvement. Two years ago he looked like a cherokee warrior. "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Depends on where it got stuck. Once I saw one entangled with the steering lines. Flew fine untill it collapsed on landing as the jumper flared the canopy. The jumper busted his ankle (didn't break it though...) If you can steer it and flare it, stick with it. If it happens to low (or you find out to low) ditto. "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

At my kid Steven who had his 16th birthday last saturday and has made 5 jumps since! ( first 3 at his birthday...) My bet is that he is the youngest skydiver with a dutch static-line licence right now! (you get that after five static-line jumps) Hasn't been unstable once. Has pulled his first dummy ripcord. Jump nr 2: stand up landing within 15 meters of target, without any assistance (like radio, bats, etc.) He jumps as if he has been doing this all his life! OK, so he's the DZO's son, made 8 tandemjumps since he was eight but nevertheless: I'm proud!

[rant] Now what I find silly is why people who couldn't get back into formations even if their life depended on it once they let go the initial grips, would want to wear something that might fog and restrict their vision anytime during the skydive. The full-face came 'en vogue' when the top teams found out they were turning points so fast and so close they needed facial protection against their teammates knees and feet. Next thing you know everyone is wearing them even when a protec (or a simple yet toroughly tested ski-helmet) does the same job much better at a fraction of the cost. Only recently I saw someone after a funneled exit wrestle his way back into the formation for the entire rest of the skydive. Didn't make it, despite booties and a full face helmet. (& yes, he missed the count, thus causing the funnel himself...) AND, if you NEED your full face helmet on landing, your canopy-skills stink, IMHO... You all can do the math on the amount of skydives you can buy for the price-difference, thus improving your skills... I bet that some of you could be convinced to jump with an LCD screen + tongue controlled menu structure or a head up display against the inside of your full face...

"If this goes well, next time I'm allowed to jump on my own..."

I have the feeling that I use my legs more than my arms, to control things. It may be that when the student spreads HIS legs, he disturbes 'my controls'. That is why, nowadays, I teach them to keep their knees together when arching. ("Put your feet on the TM's butt") I have seen a few video's of tandems 'going funky after exit / before drogue pull' - including myself in the leading role Common denominator seems to be a de-arching student (at the hips) with fully extended legs that disturb the airflow around the instructors legs. Most people that 'freeze' in the wrong body-position stil have their hands on their harness at that time. I find that even big guys 'going fetal' (knees to the chest) can be controlled and pose no problem. But long legs, de-arched and spread out do. (Sometimes a tendency to start spinning under the drogue) Just an observation... (And I do believe the laterals should be as-tight-as-can-be-without-chocking-the-student...) "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Used to drop static liners on rounds, three in a row from a C182 at 2000ft. Last one out, pull the bags in, yell: "full prop" to the pilot, dive out towards the tail and deploy while head down. You are right about the swing. In short: Yes you can. Don't know if YOU can, though... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...