ChasingBlueSky

Lead by example. If it isn't considered cool anymore, the newbies won't do it. It will take a few years, and a few more deaths....but if the newest generation of jumpers coming into the sport see how the mid-level experience are acting, that is how they will act for the most part. I am more than happy to miss a jump if it will teach a lesson. There was a day that the winds were ok for my WL, experience, etc....but they were borderline for someone at 50 jumps. I saw two people gearing up that experience level - I walked up to them and mentioned if they saw the winds because they were enough for me to pull myself off the same load. I asked them if they thought they could handle it if I couldn't....and they in turn pulled themself off the load. Now the two of them are both very safe skydivers that also lead by example. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Right along with people feeling that going to a small swooping canopy early on makes them cool, there are just as many people that feel to be a cool freeflyer they need to wear a camera. I usually just ask the person "Why exactly do you need to jump a camera? I feel I am not good enough to fly a camera yet, what makes you safer than me that will allow you to fly a camera?" I love watching the "amazing" videos that low jump numbers newbies get: shaky all over, never on target as they struggle with their flying, mostly pointed at the sky and not another jumper, and usually some of the worst footage I have ever seen. Then take someone with good flying skills, teach them how to use the ring and they tend to have decent footage that needs tweaking over a few hundred jumps. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Rory, I don't think the issue is him freeflying at 60 jumps, but jumping a camera at 60 jumps. Plus, his belly skills are most likely a bit lacking at that experience level (he prob went right to freefly off student status) - which makes you wonder how he is on deployment. You've jumped with a camera - do you think it is something simple that a new grad should be doing? I've had the pro's tell me different - I tend to believe them. That's why now at 500 jumps I am only really starting to consider putting a camera on my head. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Funny thing - I get called "mother hen" all the time on the loading ramp. I am often jumping small ways with people with less than 100 jumps and I want to show them that safety is the prime concern on every jump. I gear check them on the ramp, then have them gear check me (while an expereinced jumper supervises them). On the ramp you will hear me pointing out issues about peoples rigs and it annoys some people - but almost every time I start looking I can find something wrong - from a twisted leg strap, tandem RSL that isn't conected (and I am not a TM), dytter that isn't on, alti not set right, and countless cheststraps routed wrong or not on (I make a stink about it - I will not let someone get on the airplane with their chestrap undone), misrouted bridle, uncocked PC, etc. This makes a great example for the newbie and I have seen the kids I've jumped with doing the same thing. They have learned from my example. I don't care if I piss off or annoy any jumpers with my safety checks. I do it for two very selfish reasons, 1) I don't want their gear to be the reason I get killed and 2) I don't want to attend another funeral for a jumper....I've been to too many already. I realize it will happen again, but it won't happen because of obvious gear fuckups of those sitting around me. Want to try something? Start doing a gear check about 6K - looking at your rings, chest strap, etc....if you do it for a long enough period of time you will notice those within eyesight will do it as well. Roger used to preach to us two things: 1) Wear your seatbelt - if you don't and the plane starts to crash, your friends will become your airbags. You will live, they won't. 2) Get on the plane ONLY when you are ready to jump. Most emergencies happen quick and you have usually less than 2 seconds to get out of the plane. Do you think you would have time to tighten your leg straps in that time? I have only experienced one engine failure - the right engine went into full beta and caused the plane to drop like a rock. The pilot said get ready to exit, and I was at the door before he finished that phrase. It was a light load and two people were busy doing gear checks during that time...luckily the pilot fixed the problem and there was no emergency. But those last two jumpers could have been stuck in the plane. What unnerves me is the DZs I have been to that don't do any gear checks. I love the excuse I often get on King Air's: It's to tight for gear check, and it's only been a few minutes what do you think could have happened in that time. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Funnel? It kinda looks like my avatar

No problem...I am sure you don't follow the 4way world as much as I do. This is very true. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Guess I was given the wrong information...I stand corrected. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Yeah I know. I didn't mention it cuz I don't want people to think all I ever talk about is the tunnel. You talk about your rack just as often Heather and I might stop by the DZ on Friday for a while - so keep an eye out for us. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

go ahead and say it _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I don't know anything about that camera helmet - and I do not know enough about camera helmets to judge the safety level of it. And this is coming from someone that has jumped camera helmets without cameras just to get the feel of them. If I feel my experience level isn't good enough yet, why is yours? Just because you may see other people with almost the same amount of jumps as you with a camera on their head doesn't mean you should follow their unsafe lead. You never answered my question. Why do you want to jump with a camera so bad? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

they are doing the largest sequential jump....trying for a two point 140 way. 120 is the current record set at zhills last year. I have a lot of friends on the record this week, and there are a few dz.commers on there as well. You want to read what some pilots were saying about the Lakeland flyin? Check this out, read from the start of the thread. Apparently everyone in aviation related field bitch. rec.aviation.piloting Google clicky _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

4:0:0 Four wisdom teeth removed Sat morning along with plenty of medication so I felt like I was flying. No jumping for a few weeks for me. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Leap Day, Feb 29th. It will be a few more weeks since I just had my wisdom teeth pulled. I'm going back to packing full time on the weekends as well...I need the cash. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I don't know if they make them anymore - but Fannie May made these eggs...some would be green with milk chocolate inside and the others would be milk chocholate wit the green mint filling inside...others would be chocolate/choclate. By far the best easter candy. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

BMI still reminds me of Body Mass Index _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Usually the DZ has an agreement with a team. They promise the DZ to do so many jumps in a set period of time at usually a buck or three cheaper than the average ticket. In the long run, the DZ can make a profit from this. The DZ usually has to promise that the plane will go to alti no matter who else is on the plane. This in turns becomes a marketing tool for the DZ - they can let everyone know that the plane will be going up no matter what all week long in the morning, thus driving more jumpers to get out there on a weekday. Also, team jumps tend to happen very early on the weekends which will motivate the weekend warriors to show up early. I have seen several DZs offer the "7am club" which gets you cheaper jumps all day if you are out for the first load. Just another way to get more business. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I don't know about you guys - but I had heard of the term before I started skydiving. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Isn't that essentially what Juggernaut did in 2002 Int 4 way? And then Alchemy had to play in Open 4way, even thou they were a freefly team with no previous 4-way competition outside of their player/coach. Hell, they didn't even have RW suits until the weekend before Nationals at Lake Wales. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I was wondering about that myself - I wouldnt think that trackers could keep up with BM suit. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Packers need to ask questions as well. Most DZs tend to stay with the same group of rigs. We are mostly a Javelin and Vector DZ and the first time I saw a Racer, Talon, and Reflex I had to ask the owner a few questions about them. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Here are some pics HeatherB took of the event! Skydivers doing stupid stuff on the ground???? Nah. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Why don't you contact Aerodyne and ask them? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

You do realize that PD has a policy to "jump with one more parachute than you think you will need." They have gone up with a four parachute system....you should only plan on packing a mal if you have the right equipment to save your life. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I had a friend that sold off everything she owned on ebay (it took a few months) and spent the entire summer traveling and jumping. It was the best experience of her life and she ended up in a new city where she met a new guy and she is very happily married now. I have spent two summers in this sport without a job...if it wasn't for packing, I would have never been able to live or get in one or two jumps a week. Taking the summer off is fun, but the lack of money is frustrating....all that free time in warm, lazy weather was the most relaxing summer I have ever had. BTW - is everyone on this board moving to FL? I'll be down there full time by the end of the year. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Recruiting doesn't work, for most anyone. You are at that early stage in the sport where you feel you need to get everyone to jump with you, and it is probably one of the first things you bring up in a conversation. Since I stopped inviting people to the DZ, I have had more first time jumpers go out with me...odd, huh? Not really, it has to be their choice. I didn't tell anyone at my job I was a skydiver until a pilot recognized the closing pin...word got around, and now half the office wants to make a tandem and I never asked any of them. Once everyone knew, then I put up pictures of me jumping in my cube. Don't go out of your way to tell a whuffo girl that you skydive until it just happens to come up. Let her get to know you some instead of going for the shock value. I try not to tell most people anymore, but when I get asked about my necklace or why I where a watch with an Altimeter in it, I will then tell them. I've dated whuffos and my girlfriend is a jumper (with more jumps that me). Just like any relationship, it takes compromise and you can make it work as long as you are both mature. Immaturity, lack of trust, and lack of communication will end any relationship...whuffo or skydiver. Oh yea, I met my girlfriend because of this board, and we are quite happy together. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....