yoink

The day the Pub died.

those photos give me vertigo! you should be staying at home with your pipe and slippers.

The great thing about skydiving is that you can enjoy a myriad of aspects of it, but despite that, we all touch knuckles before getting out and share beers and talk crap at the end of the day. Personally, I've never really been into the freefall part. It just doesn't grab me the way flying a canopy does, but some people are just the opposite. They see canopies as a method of getting down so they can do freefall again, wither competitively, hauling passengers, strapping a plank to your legs or filming friends... whatever really turns them on about it. but we all get down and at the end of the day the little groups (mostly) go away... Your idea of fun is just that... yours. If it's not fun, why would you do it? Man, wouldn't it be boring if we all though the same stuff in the sport was fun?

he's referring to your total number of jumps in your profile. to the the internet savvy youth, 1337 is how you spell 'elite'.

fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it.... Or, assuming the catastropic aircraft failure, track like a bastard as far away from the scene, just to fuck with the crash investigators.

I now have a new canopy drill. Thanks DSE, heal fast.

The canopy has about 15 jumps on it. He says he was flat and stable when he deployed. He does have a fast fall rate though, but its never been an issue before? Does he have enough experience to really know if he was flat and stable?

Man, I'm a skydiver and even I get bored when people talk about nothing but jumping. For whuffos it must be excruciating. There are other things in life worth talking about too.

Years ago I saw someone who had attached a wind horn to their lines - I presume after deployment. The pitch increased with airspeed. He sounded like a Stuka dive bomber when he swooped that thing!

You could pretty easily rig a video camera up at the 10ft level and feed that to a TV. :)

Sometimes you're never going to make it back to the dz, no matter what you try. The thing to learn quickly is to identify these situations early, and have the skills to deal with them without putting yourself or others in danger. The more you get a feel for how much distance you can travel under canopy, into wind, down wind and cross wind, and the better you get at judging your landing area (search for The Accuracy Trick here), the sooner you'll be able to say with confidence "OK, I'm not hitting the DZ. What are my other options" The sooner you make that decision, the more options you're likely to have and the safer you're likely to be. Really working on your landing techniques with an instructor will hopefully prepare you for the day when you do have to make an off landing, and will take away the fear of landing somewhere you're not used to. Skydiving accidents are almost always a chain of events leading up to the moment of trouble. Knowledge and deliberate practise are the best way to break pretty much any link in a chain. Have fun

TSA Airport Badging Program: Security Directive 1542-04-08G May 29, 2009 On May 28, 2009, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued Security Directive (SD) 1542-04-08G, which modifies security protocols for transient aircraft and after-hours operations at commercial-service airports. This newest revision of the security directive – "Version G" – clarifies the TSA's initial security directive, SD 1542-04-08F, and addresses some of the immediate, top-level concerns raised by NBAA and other general aviation groups about how the TSA's "badging" program would be implemented and what impact it might have on security and safety. Note: Due to the sensitive nature of the information included in the directive, the TSA has not made the full content of the document widely available. TSA has provided additional clarification on the impact of the SD to general aviation operations: As previously discussed, the purpose of the SD is to require background checks and identification for All PERSONS with UNESCORTED ACCESS to the SIDA and AOA at Commercial Airports. The affect of these badging SD's on General Aviation pilots will depend upon where they are operating: For HOME-BASED PILOTS, the badging requirements will apply if you have leased space or are part of a tenant program unless alternate measures have been approved by the airport operator. An example of an alternative measure would be an escort program. For TRANSIENT PILOTS, they will not be required to have airport badges or background checks from any of the NON Home-Based airports they visit. Transient pilots are advised to remain in the footprint of their aircraft and to and from fixed-based operator, service provider or airport exit. Special allowance will be given to transient pilot operators in the AOA who are fueling or in emergency status. taken from here

*Nominated for "Most random post of the year" award.

Assumming you were out first and the jumprun was into the wind, exiting early means you'd have been downwind of the DZ. Tracking towards is would mean that you were tracking straight up the jump run... Really bad news. Ask your instructors to teach you to spot in case you find yourself in this position again.

Now that just makes no sense... It looks like an explosive, but we'll allow it on the plane anyway? No way. Little Hitlers making you jump through hoops just because they can is much more likely. I'm flying out from Heathrow through LAX in a couple of days with United. My rig is packed securely in a checked-baggage bag with a printed sheet inside on the top saying in big font: and I've put in the CAA Cypress exemption letter, the TSA advice and the Cypres details. I can't stop 'em opening the case, but I can be as polite and helpful as possible if they do. That's the best option.

Only that the VX is a very high performace wing. You probably wouldn't recommend someone with no pargliding experience to jump onto a Swoop 14 - it'll probably seriously injure them in short order if they make the smallest mistake. (Already seen that in the UK. ) Similarly, be really careful with the high performace swooping wings unless you're got a lot of skydiving experience on them. They'll handle very differently than most wings you've probably flown.

Rhys, I fly an Aeros Ballistic 105 - JVX-ish, and an Ozone Bullet 12 m2 The flight characteristics are worlds apart. The Bullet is easier to launch in low winds and has a better glide, but rolls far more in turns and damn did for me under 1/2 inch of front riser. Simply DON'T use a front riser on those canopies! They're not even a control input as far as paragliders are concerned. My experiment collapsed half the canopy at low altitude. ... These canopies use toggles and weightshift. Alternatively, the Ballistic, from a skydiving design, loves being flown on rear risers and eats up hills. Pretty much the only time I touch the toggles is for takeoff / landing. It's properly quick, without being too twitchy. Having flown with a number of people there seems to be a difference in flying styles that drives these characteristics. Pilots from a paragliding background take a very direct line down a mountain or hill. It's usually 90 degrees to the slope with the landing point pretty much directly below the launch, but they'll do a large number of very tight, high roll turns down that line. There's a belief that these tight toggle turns are the best way to build speed, which is what they enjoy... obviously, to anyone from a swooping background that sounds like the bad old toggle whipping days... GL with a skydiving background, on the other hand, tend to cover a much greater lateral distance of the hill at lower altitudes, putting less turns in before landing.

Only in 2 that I know of. +1 for the GL forum.

It's definately worth pointing out that while practising rear riser landings are a good thing, doing one from half brakes will greatly increase the risk of stalling the canopy. A rear riser landing, and a half braked rear riser landing are 2 different beasts in my book. Be super careful with the second.

Were the posts actually allowed as evidence? Or did the court merely consider it? I'd guess as the case is ongoing, it's meerely a consideration at this time. The lawyer who was interviewed thought it was possible. I didn't catch the whole interview, so I may have missed something, but I can well believe it will be tried.

I was once picked up and thrown out of the back of a Skyvan. That was cool as shit! I was kicked backwards out of one for my unstable exit on SL progression... Like a hardcore version of the thrown exit.

+1 There was a piece on the UK News recently about the courts thinking of accepting posts written on YouTube by self confessed 'musicians' on the Satriani vs Coldplay case that's ongoing as 'Expert Testimony'. You can bet that if those posts are accepted, then posts from here certainly will be too, where real names, qualifications and jump numbers are visable... Think before posting. Option 69: Lets all get together and throw the ambulance chasers out of aircraft!

Put down the keyboard and step away from the computer. This is your sanity calling.

For lightly loaded canopies there are annoyances and there are malfunctions. 2 different things. An annoyance can be fixed given enough time and altitude. These are such things as line twists & closed end cells provided they don't contradict the 3 rules in my first post. A malfunction is a cutaway. Can I steer it? No? Chop. Is it the shape it's supposed to be? No? Chop. etc etc. This is all first jump course material. Now the line blurs slightly when you start getting more experience - we all know that line twists on a highly loaded canopy can be unrecoverable, for example, but the thinking is that by that time, you've got enough experience to think your way through the situation rather than relying on some blanket rules, but for the OP with 30 jumps? Simple is best.

For low experienced people: Is it the right shape? Is it steerable? Is it intact? If the answer to any of the above is 'no', then it's a malfunction and a chop. :) FJC stuff.