Tonto

At JSC all instructors - That's SL, AFF and Tandem - have the right to refuse a student, no questions asked. I always find it somewhat ironic that we all know someone that dropped out of school, or never got their drivers licence 1st time, but that almost everyone passes the 1st jump course. Skydiving has huge margin for error when compared to some other endevours, but our consequence to failure is extreme. If you, as an instructor think either a) The student will not perform as trained or b) Your skillset on the day is not capable of dealing with a worst case scenario Then it's only prudent to turn the student away or hand them to someone you feel is more capable than you are. (But I suspect you already know this..) I turn 2 or three students away a year. Several others are weeded out before I get them. Some are handed over by others in the faith I can do a better job, and I've handed a few over too, especially on the lighter end of the spectrum. t It's the year of the Pig.

About 400 AFF dives.. and it wasn't even on a real pull! The student had really struggled to find their ripcord on the practice touches after COA, and I had my hand on his, with my face right there. I managed to turn my head sideways and took a cracker to the jaw. I thought I'd shut my eyes, but the Instructor on the other side said they were open, and he was ready to dump the student out and get to me before "I came back online." Exciting stuff. I tend to hang back closer to the legs during the pull and practice touches now. They can't generate very much power there. t It's the year of the Pig.

I beg to differ. I have 1900+ AFF dives and the last 400 odd have been in a pair of Birdman Pantz and a Go Fast long sleeve T. My students have ranged from 44kg (97lb) to 100kg (220lb) and my speed range on my belly from the high 90's to the mid 140's measured on my Neptune. I'm 77kg (170 lbs) and 1.79m (About 5'11") t It's the year of the Pig.

Gotta call bullshit on that one. 2 of the incidents happened outside of the US to people who are not from the US - so memorial day doesn't exist for them. 2 of the incidents were also BASE and not Skydiving. Different countries, different sports, different nationalities. Think Global. t It's the year of the Pig.

I use my other rig until the riggers have my gear back up to speed. I have 19 cut-aways. t It's the year of the Pig.

Well... since you asked. a) It would make it impossible to put my wingsuit on my rig.. and b) If fitted with the wingsuit on, would make the suit impossible to remove. Clearly all risk of falling out of the harness is removed when you wear a wingsuit. In fact, there are at least 2 documented cases of wingsuit pilots failing to wear their legstraps, and have been kept in the rig by their suits. So. To be safe, you really should get a 1st flight course ASAP! t It's the year of the Pig.

I'm moving this to History & Trivia. Maybe some of the old timers can remember this one. t It's the year of the Pig.

And off to Skydiving History and trivia we go! t It's the year of the Pig.

That was absolutely awesome! Thanks a ton. Clearly, when things are dark - what we need is more cowbell! t It's the year of the Pig.

A bit like "The boy that cried wolf?" "This term comes from the tale about a young shepherd watching his flock who, lonely and fearful, called for help by shouting “Wolf!” After people came to his aid several times and saw no wolf, they ignored his cries when a wolf actually attacked his sheep. The tale appeared in a translation of Aesop's fables by Roger L'Estrange (1692), and the expression has been applied to any false alarm since the mid-1800s. - www.answers.com Doesn't mean "wolves" are not dangerous or that they don't exist. t It's the year of the Pig.

Yup. That's why I added point 5! There is balance in all things. Skydiving shines so brightly because it's dark side is so horribly dark. There is no one without the other. t It's the year of the Pig.

After reading some of the posts in the incident forum over the past week, I'm stunned at how many skydivers simply do not believe what the possible consequences of jumping from an aircraft can be. A generic warning lable says something like this... 1. Sport parachuting is a hazardous activity that can result in serious injury or death. 2. Parachute systems sometimes malfunction even when they are properly designed, built, assembled, packed, maintained and used. The result of such malfunctions are sometimes serious injury or death. 3. If you use this parachute, or you let somebody else use it, you are acnowledging that sport parachuting is risky and accepting the fact that the parachute system or it's components may malfunction. 4. If you are not willing to accept the risk of sport parachuting or if you are not willing to accept the possibility that your parachute system or it's components may malfunction and perhaps result in you being injured or killed, then you should reconsider your involvement in sport parachuting. 5. Have a nice day! Does it sound familiar? Do you understand what it means? t It's the year of the Pig.

It's not the old "Fly through the freeway underpass" is it? Yawn... t It's the year of the Pig.

I knew it from the begining. Front mount reserves, no alti's, 5 SL's and then your 1st freefall from 2800 with no AAD. It didn't take me long to realise that 2 seconds is all it takes. I know it even more certainly today. t It's the year of the Pig.

Loosening or releasing the lower connectors is common practice, but only after ensuring the canopy passes a control check. This is important for landing as it helps prevent weight transfer to the pax if they don't lift their legs for landing. I'm not a very experienced TM, having done only 750 Tandems, but I've never losened the legstraps in any way. In the event of a cut-away after the lowers have been released or loosened, the TM should scissor the pax's legs prior to pulling the breakaway pillow. Failure to do so could result in the pax seperating at the waist and their head pushing back into the TM's head. If you try this on the ground, you'll see a broken neck on the TM is a very real possibility. t It's the year of the Pig.

Yup. Summer's here.... t It's the year of the Pig.

Wow. A USA made wingsuit! That's a 1st!

Yes - And I got hurt, although it was as a result of what I was doing since there was no downsizing in those days. We all jumped 7 cell, F-111 type fabric canopies around 220 sq ft, but I was the only one trying to swoop mine... Even a few minutes after smashing myself I was pretty sure I'd learned my lesson. Pity it took nearly a year to recover from my mistake. Much like Chuck, I had over 1000 dives by the time I was on a 120, and over 3000 dives by the time I went to a 107. Maybe I'll go sub 100 when I get to 5000.. or maybe I'll change planform instead.. There really is no hurry. t It's the year of the Pig.

I like the ironing board in the background. EXTREME IRONING! Seriously - Nice suit! Enjoy it! t It's the year of the Pig.

I did one in AZ from 20 000ft. It was mid winter. Suit was an S3, clothing underneath normal stuff. Freefall time was 3m 56s with an opening at 4000ft. It was a lot of fun. Fortunately the spot was terrible cos the 3 dudes doing head down took their O2 off at about 13000 ft and started to mess with goggles and helmets and stuff, then argued about how to get a 3 way head down out the King Air. We had a straight flight back after that. They landed 7 miles out. t It's the year of the Pig.

I deleted your last post. This is a topical forum. If you want to post meaningless bullshit - go to Bonfire. If you want to upset people with meaningless bullshit - go to SC. t It's the year of the Pig.

Time passes. The ground waits. It's not fast, but it's patient, and it always knows where you are. It doesn't give a flying monkey's toe how talented you are, or how current you are. When you arrive with speed it will do the damage it does. Every jumper lying broken or dead on a DZ from a high performance landing gone bad thought they were doing just great ten seconds ago. Human flesh has been torn by our planet since the begining. It will remain so till the end. t It's the year of the Pig.

Well, the good news is that he has a friend who cares. That's you. The bad news is you may need to help teach him to walk again. You're not wrong, but there's not a lot you can do either. Best you can do is remember this lesson when YOU start to downsize. t It's the year of the Pig.