NickDG

>> Don't you think that you put much much efforts to scare others?

Move to the west coast. Do it now . . . We always laugh when we see that stupid annual PARACHUTIST article about spring cleaning your gear, WTF . . . NickD

I once said, and have been quoted a few times, that, "Ever since Free Fly started there's this notion that every rig designed prior is now obsolete." Being pithy made the point get lost on some people, but of course, if you are doing free fly than you should have a rig designed from the ground up for that purpose. But for what you want a rig for a V-2 in airworthy condition is fine. Think about the fact we jumped rigs for years that didn't even have riser covers. And we did long high speed dives straight down to big formations. We did loops, rolls, and sometimes got into mega funnels. And the rate of premature openings these days don't seem to me to be any less than ever. I did a lot of AFF evaluation dives with a rig of the vintage you speak. The Velcro riser covers never stayed closed on that rig. I flushed a lot candidates down the drain right out the door which turned into wild tumbles. I spent a lot of time on my back letting AFF candidates chase me. And I've had them clawing all over me and my rig looking for my dummy handle in a panic as the hard deck was coming and their dream of being Instructors was fading. And it was all good. A badly maintained rig, no matter if it's a new Wings or an old Wonderhog, is what's really dangerous . . . NickD

There are some misconceptions about free fall positions and it even gets more convoluted when you throw in wind tunnel practice . . . In a wind tunnel if you look at a stationary point, or at your tunnel instructor who's standing against the wall, you can pretty much lock into a single position and stay in one spot. Especially because being a novice in the tunnel the wind speed won't be all that high. But there is no wind speed throttle in real free fall. And I don't care how experienced you coach or instructor is at 120 mph every time he twitches he's going to move. How much he moves depends on how fast he corrects for his unintentional twitch with another intentional twitch. And usually these moves are so small they are unperceivable to a novice's eye. And everyone, first jump student to world champion, twitches. We all too often tell our novices to "stick out your legs," or do something with your arms, or your arch, and so on. So they lock into those positions and then wonder why it isn’t working. But good freefall control is a series of continuous and never ending movements to keep you where you want to be, or get you where you want to go. And it's why laying a student down on a creeper and locking him into a good freefall position is the worst thing you can do if you just leave it at that. You have to explain things a bit further. Look at video of novice free flyers or belly flyers. They wiggle around in freefall like fish flopping on a hook. It looks bad but they are actually doing the right thing. As they get more experienced the movements will get smaller and they will look a lot smoother. Eventually they will look like they are not moving much at all, but they are, and all the time, you just can’t see it as easily. Take two experienced jumpers faced off in the sky and it looks like they are glued to each other. But each, without even realizing it, is continually adjusting for their own and each others twitches. And then it looks smooth. I've probably oversimplified this explanation as it's really the speech you give mid-level AFF students, but some more advanced novices don't get it yet either. It's why what we do is not called flight, that's sitting in row 23, seat B, sipping a rum and coke. What we do is called flying, and that means moving, all the time . . . NickD

>>Reserves are engineered and packed to open fast but not so fast they kill you.

They had skydiving rigs in the 70s that were spring loaded and side deployed just as you described. But I'm off the spring loaded PCs now and onto something else. If you want you can read about it in this thread: http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1294243;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread NickD

Remember where you were today . . . At 4:48 PM, Mountain Time, on August 27, 2008, the Democratic National Convention nominated Barack Obama, by affirmation, as their choice for President of the United States of America! I'm so very proud of my country! I'm sitting here in tears. What a moment . . . NickD

Oh, those little sauce packets . . . I can never see or even think of those without remembering a time a group of us lived on them for a day and a half. We were at the old Ramona DZ when the phone rang late in the afternoon. There was a Jeep Safari going on out in the desert on the other side of the mountains and, "Could we send over some parachutists to jump in?" Spur of the moment demos are never a good idea and this one would be no exception. We'd already cut loose the FJC class until tomorrow as it was too windy and cloudy. We had a good IFR rated pilot although the front door C-206 had a very stripped down panal and didn’t have all the gizmos one needs for flight into clouds. But the low ceiling was still somewhat broken and we were all wearing parachutes so what the hell, we departed. We got above the clouds easily enough and headed west. There was a small abandoned airstrip about twenty miles from where the Jeeps are and we'd get rides and meet the airplane back there. Once past the mountains and into the desert it was severe clear. We found the Jeeps and five of us jumped, landed all right, got big cheers, and then drank and drove around in the Jeeps for awhile. We got a ride to the airstrip and the pilot said the WX was looking iffy but we'd go take a look and try to find a hole. We'd packed after the demo, and although it was beginning to get dark we planned on jumping back into the DZ. We took off and climbed out over the mountains heading west. About ten minutes into the flight one of the jumpers announced he had to pee really badly. We looked around but there wasn't a suitable vessel onboard and you can't pee in leather Frappe Hat because they leak. (Don't ask how I know that). He said he'd just pee out the door but the pilot said no as it would get all over the side of the airplane and also blow back through the door. He held it for a while but he was really hurting. He then said he'd climb out on the strut and pee and everyone thought that was an okay idea. So he unzipped his jumpsuit and dug out his dong and climbed out on the jump step. We were all laughing our asses off as he was trying to turn sideways away from the door and looking to find some clean airflow. I was just thinking how shitty it would be if he fell off, and he did, right then. I stuck my head out and just caught sight of him disappearing into the clouds. We all then just looked at each other in disbelief with big wide eyeballs. It was almost dark now and there were big mountains below us. Holy shit! The pilot keyed his mic right away and called SoCal Approach. "Ah, Approach; we just had a parachutist accidentally depart the aircraft." I could only hear one side of the conversation but it was a real corker. "Yes, he was wearing a parachute." Pause. "No, we are en-route." Longer pause. "No, we didn't see him open." Really long pause. And then he gave our position as best he could . . . We then talked over our next move. But there wasn't much we could do. Turning back to the airstrip didn’t sound great because it wasn't lighted so we kept going toward Ramona. We then all sat back in silence. We were about 7500-feet when he fell, and there are five and six thousand foot mountains every where below us. Someone picked up his Frapp hat and we all looked at it. We were all thinking the same thing although no one said it. We were pretty sure he was dead. The pilot was trying to get our lone VOR receiver to work and it wasn't. I'm an A&P mechanic so I snaked my arm up under the panel and was jiggling the wires, but I over jiggled and now we had smoke in the cockpit. We pulled out the circuit breaker and got that under control, but I'm thinking, oh man, what next? Once on the other side of the mountains there was nothing. No holes, no lights, just a solid overcast below us. We headed toward what we thought was a few other airports but there was really no way to let down through the clouds. I looked over at the fuel gauges and then at the pilot. He nodded his head and we both knew we'd have to return to the abandoned strip in the desert and we had to do it right now. On the way back east we asked the pilot to call in and see if there was any word. They had the sheriffs and the fire department out looking for him but it was rough terrain, nighttime now, and rough going. Our nav lights on wings were working, but when I looked out the back window I could see the white nav light on the tail wasn't. "What about the landing light?" I asked the pilot. "I don't know," he said. "It worked the last time I checked it, but I'm going to save trying it until we really need it." I looked out into the moonless night, and although we'd been in the dark for awhile now I still couldn't really see much. There isn’t much down there in this part of the desert. We found the airstrip by following a few lights that lined the road that led to it. A couple of the guys wanted to jump, but I nixed that idea. Nothing was going our way and the last thing we needed was another bad decision. We turned final over where we thought the airstrip should be and at a few hundred feet the pilot hit the landing light. And it worked. As we got lower we could see we were wide to the right so he skidded over and we landed okay. Now we all had to pee . . . About an hour later a sheriff in a Bronco pulled up. He told us they had everybody they could get out looking but so far there was no sign of him. "Have you guys been drinking?" he asked. The pilot said we were, but he wasn't, and that basically we were just passengers and that seemed okay with the cop. We all piled into the Bronco and he took us to hotel/restaurant that was about 45 minutes away. Except for the pilot who decided to spend the night with the aircraft. On the way we could hear the radio chatter on the search. And nothing was sounding good. Once we got to the hotel we realized no one had any money, no one even had a wallet or credit card. After all we'd gotten into the plane to jump and figured we'd be back in a few hours. And the innkeeper was a real jerk. "Yup, I know your type, you'll fly away in that plane of yours and I'll never see my money." He did eventually give us a room as it was starting to get pretty cold outside. Once inside the room one of the jumpers produced a condiment container he swiped off a table and we dined on ketchup, relish and jelly. I'd have killed for a cracker . . . It was getting on to about 10: PM and eventually we all drifted off to sleep. But it was a fitful sleep as it had been a real bad day. Then some hours later there was a banging at the door. Once opened there was two cops and our lost friend. He was bruised, he's clothes were torn, and he was limping a bit, but he was very much alive! We asked if they cops could swing by and let the pilot know, and they agreed. Then we settled in to hear the story . . . "For the first few seconds," he began, "I couldn’t believe I actually fell off." "Then I realized I didn’t really know where the ground was and I needed to get something out. But I had my dick hanging out and I was afraid if I pulled the zipper on my jumpsuit would lop it off! So I fumbled around in the clouds for a few seconds but settled for just hanging onto myself with one hand and throwing out my main with the other." We were all spellbound at this point. "Then once I opened I put myself away and realized I was still in the clouds. I popped my brakes, pulled down to just above the stall point, and just tried to keep flying straight. And after about what seemed like 45 seconds, or so, I just crashed into the ground. I was on a steep hill and started tumbling down in the dark and that was the first time I got really scared. But I eventually stopped and just laid there. I could hear you guys flying away." We then explained what was going on with us at that point and he continued. "I knew down was the best way to go so I gathered up my gear and started picking my way along. I made it about five minutes before I said the hell with the gear and just dumped it. I couldn’t see five feet in front of me and after a bit I was sweating so I took off my jumpsuit and dumped that too. After about three hours I made it down to where it was flat and just headed toward the one lone light I saw. After another hour I came to a road and just kept walking. I could see cars in the distance but they were a long way off. Finally the cops you saw came down the road and saw me. They gave me some water, but have you guys got anything to eat?" "Sure bro, here - have a relish . . . NickD

Hi Rosa, I went and looked at the staff photos at your iFly website and I'm now pretty sure you weren't there. My class started at 1:15 last Sunday. And looking back on it now I did a very stupid thing. I didn't mention to anyone I was a jumper. The reason, I guess, was when we went to the LV tunnel in the 80s we decided not to say we were jumpers and just wow them. But when we got there we couldn't contain ourselves so we blabbed to everyone about being skydivers. Then we didn't take the class seriously and we generally acted like skydiving baboons of that period. And guess what? We got into the tunnel and flailed around like beached fish. This time I didn't say anything, partly because no one asked, and in fact later on Kris told me he usually does ask about past tunnel or skydiving experience, but just didn't this time. And second, I haven't made a jump in two years and I was afraid of making a fool out of myself. I swear as I was waiting for my class to start I was having performance anxiety attacks left and right. But I really didn't know how accommodating to skydivers you guys really were. And if I'd told Kris right off it would have been better all around. I've had skydiving students in FJC classes with passed parachuting experience they kept to themselves until later. And it used to piss me off simply because I could have been more effective and helped them more if I knew ahead of time. And I can see now Kris was probably annoyed at me. When I came out of the tunnel he whispered into my helmet, "How many jumps do you have!" And it was more a statement than a question. I guess I'm writing this so other skydivers don't make the same mistake. I know I probably sound like a blabbering newbie, but I had blast in the tunnel last Sunday. I never imagined how much fun it could be. And I'll definitely be back! The below picky is me in the LV tunnel. It was the only photo we got because I couldn't stay in one spot long enough to get more. And this was taken a split second before I went sailing into the wall . . . NickD

>>Who is really to blame here? The company or the saps that buy their Tandem certificates

Nine things they wish they could take back . . . NickD

Lot's better L/D ratio and no frigging packing . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z985xdXW-3w NickD

>>in a pocket on the jumpers ass?

The Condor turned into a chicken . . . NickD

Yes, it was Kris . . . NickD

Oh, I thought you were referring to the new lighter FOX and FLik line from APEX BASE. Please let me revise and extend my remarks. You'll be toast! NickD

>>I don't knoe but he looks kinda low!

I think I know what canopy you mean and I worked for those guys for many years. Let's put it this way. In the early days of BASE, and even skydiving for that matter, it was sort of wing loading - schming loading. I skydived with squares for probably ten years before I even heard the phrase wing loading. When I first started B.A.S.E. jumping we were all more concerned with the aspect ratio of a canopy. That's the cord measurement (leading edge to trailing edge) and span measurement (end cell to end cell.) The thought process being boxy aspect ratios were better than more rectangular aspect ratios for on-heading openings. And as long as we opened straight we could handle whatever the landing brought. All the skydiving canopies we were using for early BASE were in the 220 to 240 size. And pretty much both lightweight and heavyweight jumpers used those two sizes. When BASE canopies first appeared in the early 1990s these were still pretty much the only sizes available. It took us awhile to discover bigger was generally better in BASE and for basically two reasons. BASE landing areas aren't always flat and wide open like proper DZs. And since you only had one canopy the bigger it was the amount of damage or amount of malfunction (slider hang, line entanglement, or line over) it could sustain and still land you alive is higher. On the other extreme is the issue you brought up. Too big a canopy is bad too. There where lots of small woman who had problems with big canopies in the early days of BASE. I've seen some that just rocked back and forth between a stall and dive all the way into the ground. The jumper just didn't weigh enough to get the canopy to drive forward and fly. When "wing loading" became a buzz phrase in skydiving it quickly migrated over to BASE. And then the BASE manufacturers started to offer more sizes. We now had canopies, in general, from 205 to 265, and nowadays that range is even wider. So to try and more answer your question, first off, with a higher wing loading and less hefty construction type BASE canopy the first question I'd want answered is, "Is it possible I can blow the canopy up?" Traditional BASE canopies were all on the over-built side and they could easily shed some of that extra re-enforcement. Does that mean you need to inspect it more closely as time goes by? I'd say no as you should be inspecting the hell out of the only canopy you have no matter how built like a tank it is. So that's a wash. Also let's look at how often skydivers blow up their mains. It does happen on the DZ from time to time. But why? Usually it's a reefing system failure. Either the slider comes down prematurely, or didn't get un-stowed prior to packing or something like that. Also skydivers, because they pull high and have a reserve, tend to jump things until they break. We even see tandem canopies blowing up, but as tandem masters get less gear savvy, like the general jumper populace at large, some DZOs get away with getting every jump possible out their tandem mains. So basically they get jumped until they finally fail too. You, as a B.A.S.E. jumper, knowing you are jumping your only canopy, your reserve actually, won't do any of that so that ones a wash too. Now onto performance. It's simple. The more weight you put under a 7-cell canopy the faster and harder it will do everything. Full flight will be faster, turns will be quicker, toggle pressure higher, and stalls more abrupt. But it will handle turbulence better and penetrate into winds better. The danger there would be not keeping in mind while your canopy may handle squirrelly winds better, your body might not. If you are taking about the same canopy I am, then I know for a certain fact, this company wouldn't market something new like this without considering every angle six ways from Sunday. Including the fact a lot of B.A.S.E. jumpers are boneheads and don't always think things through. Personally I like a more responsive BASE canopy. At night, in the city, I want a canopy that goes where I point it and right now. I do however own something larger than that because I've been injured before and my legs are shot. So it's up to you to make a good decision as far as that goes . . . I've seen video, and maybe you have too, of people jumping Stilettos at the Potato. Somewhere between that extreme and jumping a barge is the groove. And it's up to each of us to find our own groove . . . NickD

That's a very good point. When everyone did static line they could and would first concentrate purely on just saving themselves under canopy. Once they had a good handle on that they'd move on to learn freefall. It's kind of ass backwards now . . . NickD

That was an RC jumper and RC plane. It was in PARACHUTIST many years ago. The RC jumper even had servo controlled arms so it could steer . . . We all thought it was pretty cool at the time! NickD

I know most of them are in their twenties, except the Instructor I had, he said he was the old man at 36 which made me feel ancient. And, yes, I can see what you're saying about using the wind. But after a few hundred hours in the tunnel they have to bring me a stretcher and morphine. . . NickD

>>I had to do 19 PRCP's before I got to do my first hop'n'pop. Body position,kicking,couldn't find the handle. I did it all. On the worst days I did 6 attempts and only got 1 approved pull.

Fury canopies were very popular in B.A.S.E. before dedicated BASE canopies became available. And B.A.S.E. jumpers are always looking for these types of canopies for water jumps or as "B" gear. An exceptionally airworthy Fury, Pegasus, or Unit is worth about three hundred dollars on the BASE market. And a decent rigger could repair the lines and slap a tailpocket on it in about an hour. Bridge Day is coming up in a month or so. So there's always demand for seven cell canopies around this time. Crawl up inside the cells and check for any separation in the seams. And while you're in there check around under the bridle attachment point on both sides of the center cell for any problems. Then gently, but not too gently, do a thumb test on the various parts of the fabric especially the end cells. Use the flat part of your thumb, and not your fingernail! But don't go gorilla on it! You are just checking for UV damage. If it doesn't give way like a dry paper towel its probably all right. Then take some photos and go over to basejumper.com classifieds and sell it. Just be as honest about the condition as possible. Canopies, like aircraft, are meant to fly, so give the old girl another chance! NickD

I received an interesting PM this morning. It was from a Rigger, who in considering this incident and thinking out loud, wondered if we've considered going to ripcords and spring loaded pilot chutes for B.A.S.E. wingsuit flight. It's not a new idea as I've thought about it before and talked to Todd at APEX about it in the past. And when thinking about pilot chute pouch location and extraction issues, it's the first thing a lot of older jumpers suggest. Some of you may have also considered it too, and I'd like to hear your cons because I can't really think of too many. One block may be more mental in the fact not many people have a great amount of experience with ripcords and spring loaded pilot chutes these days. And while the B.A.S.E. jumpers who skydive carry them around in their reserves it's not like they get used all that often. On the pro side, the ripcord housing could be routed in all kinds of imaginative ways and the actual ripcord mounted anywhere. The housing could even be incorporated into the wingsuit itelf. And in reality you only have to pull a ripcord a couple of inches to get an open container. The first downside would be what plagued spring loaded pilot chutes in the first place. Hesitations. But with the relative wind direction of wingsuit flight I don't see the pilot chute doing anything but being swept away. However, there probably is a small burble of dead air somewhere behind a wingsuit, so that's an issue. But the fix would be the same as it always was, just fold up. And if for any reason it did hesitate there could also be a chance for an out of sequence deployment. But that could be addressed by the design of the container. And right before we went to hand deploy in skydiving we finally had some pretty decent spring loaded pilot chutes. There was the Hot Dog pilot chute that was very tall and had a large spring that was easy to compress. And if you think about it, during full flight in a wingsuit, a pilot chute wouldn't need to jump up and out of the container as much as just stand up and be swept away. Another concern with spring loaded pilot chutes would be limb entanglements. That happened back in the day sometimes. But again wingsuit airflow would keep it away from the arms, and since wingsuiters don't in effect have two naked legs trailing behind them it should be difficult for a problem there either. But I'm not sure if maybe a large spring loaded pilot chute could not somehow completely corkscrew around your lower body. But some airplane testing could sus that out. Another stumbling block may be, and correct me if I'm wrong as I haven't been keeping up, is that some people design and build wingsuits, and some people design and build B.A.S.E. rigs. But is there a very experienced B.A.S.E. manufacturer that does both? Maybe we just need to get our ham and eggs together. Again, like the Rigger who wrote me, this is just thinking out loud, but I wanted it on the record so if we do go in that direction, while you geniuses are patting yourselves on the back, some of us can say, hey, wait a minute! NickD

Yes, the kids were amazing, they are limber and fearless. I also gained a new found respect for tunnel instructors. It has to be exhaustive to muscle folks around like that all day. And they deal with some of the same issues as skydiving Instructors. Besides the kid who blew snot all over his instructor (I've had that happen to me on tandems) there was one older woman (not in my group) who panicked somewhat in the tunnel when she thought she couldn't breathe. And while gearing up, just like at the DZ, some were attempting to put their jumpsuits on backwards. It was also interesting, while waiting my turn, listening to the folks who stopped by to watch. Wuffos are the same everywhere. One wife asked her husband if he wanted to try it, and he said, "No thanks, I don't float!" I hadn't kept up with tunnel design over the years but compared to the LV tunnel this one is light years ahead. It's quiet inside and outside. I lived across the street from the Perris tunnel, although I've never been in it, and all I know is it kept me awake at night. The iFly also has wall to wall air flow. The LV tunnel had a column of air surrounded by cushions, and people were falling out of the column left and right. In fact, the LV tunnel originally closed, and stayed closed for years during the 80s after a few people took headers into the cushions and injured themselves. It's also not hot or stuffy inside the iFly and the airflow is pretty smooth. And who ever came up with the idea to enclose the tunnel in Plexiglases and put it out where everybody could watch is a marketing genius. I'll be honest and admit I've always kind of looked down my nose at wind tunnels. But last Sunday I came damn near inquiring about a employment application. There's no zealot like a convert! . . . NickD