wonko

with all the respect to our common hunger for flying free i must say it's very likely going to be a waste of jumpticket and risking smth more valuable if you get into plane in bad condition. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Congratulations, you did a great job! It is really amazing how easily can things get snagged, etc. up there. On the first jump yesterday we made a horny gorilla exit with my buddy. When we decided to separate then he could not get his leg off me - the sandal he wore had got stucked with the elastic band between my legstraps . We stared to each other with really stupid faces for a while. Ok, we had plenty of alt and of course he eventually got his leg free slamming my ass with that rubberband ... boing ... villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

yes, this may be a great method. But the result depends a lot on your pc and your pouch. I tried this and result was I could not draw the pc from my cordura pouch (the 2-nd attempt worked, though :)) ). Test before you use. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

I just red about a mid-air collision fatality... Sad story. I have survived (and so did my fellow jumper) one such a thing and I'll share this here, because I think wise fellows can learn from others mistakes. This was my jump#124, 19-aug-01, an fs8 attempt. Exit 12000 ft, I was in a 4-man-base. Some people did not get into the formation. Outer circle breakoff at 4500, inner breakoff 3600ft. I found a free sector to track into and suddenly I saw somebody was below me almost crossing my course. I panicked, tried to change my heading and then I saw him waving and throwing ... I saw a PC, then canopy right ahead and below me and I remember the words in my brain: "goodbye". I de-arched as I could to track as flat as possible and then I impacted his canopy with my hips and legs. After one black moment I figured out I am alive, have smth like a broken knee and I'm not tangled to anything and I opened. I did it on 1500ft (pd210). The other guy had quite a long blackout, a broken helmet, torrn (still landable canopy) and sore neck & spine for several weeks. We both were very lucky. We live, we fly. Afterwards-analysis: The guy below me was jumper who didn't make it to the formation and fell down. It is not known for sure when did he start to track but it is for sure we both were lousy trackers this time. We both contributed to the would-be fatality but I had a mayor role in this, because I was the upper man. LESSONS: 1) always be aware about airspace around you. 2) a "lower man" has privileges but nothing is granted. You are obliged to use your brain and eyes. 3) if jumping formation and failing, you must still try to keep level with a formation and to break off at the right (not arbitrary) altitude. 4) more than one beginner in a formation is a danger. Yes - it depends - a beginner for what. It's midnight here and I am a little bit pathetic. There has been too much sad reading in incidents forum this year. Be safe, bros and sys out there. Villem villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Hi wise (wo)men out there! I tried some rear riser landings recently. Well, it was extremely hard to pull these slippery narrow risers down and almost impossible to keep there! I think maybe some kind of loop (like a dive loops on front riser) would help much if I really have no other choice than rear risers to land with. Has anybody heard about such constructions? Thanks, -wonko- villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Pete, last summer I had similar pleasure. My measurements were right, but the container still "hovered" few inches above me in freefall. When hanging myself head down (on the ground) the container went fairly over my neck... The reason: lateral straps connecting hip rings to the container were made way too long. Finally, the manufacturer changed my whole harness/container to a new one. Good service. Try this ground trick - maybe you have the same problem. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Hi David, after flying with it a bit, I can say: the most important setting is your ability to fly - 90% of my 1-st weekend's footage was plain crap . About camera settings, the following seems to work: [Exposure]=manual -- dont adjust it for too dark environment [Focus]=infinity [others]=auto Some guys here use autofocus, but infinity seems to be more foolproof for the beginning. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Hi there, I'm just lazy thats why'm asking : [Focus]=(manual,infinity); [Program AE]=auto? [White Bal]=auto? When searching this forum about the topic, I saw recommendation to set WhiteBal=auto for camcorders, but Quade (speaking about 10D camera, though) stated: Yeah, camera and camcorder are are not the same thing. Anyway, I always feel kinda pain when trying to think... =wonko the sane= villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Hi folks, has anyboy out there any experiences with Symbiosis camerasuit (big wings)? I'm about to buy an used one as my first camerasuit. Due to very special @* weather conditions I can't test-jump it right now, but the deal must be decided. Any opinions ? thanks villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Mike, 7-cell vs. 9-cell is topic discussed quite a lot in Swooping and Canopy Control forum, for example. I have jumped Sabre but not Sabre2 . I know it is very good canopy. But I would still vote for Spectre, a second-hand one. The reasons: - easier to land to somebodys backyard if you really have to; - a bit safer in turbulence than 9 cell; - when you finally will be able to swoop it as you like, you probably have learned a lot. Then it will be the time to buy a new rocket for next 300 jumps have fun villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Just do this and pretty soon you'll have a LOT of friends who think you are perfectly sane . What comes to risks - meeting mother earth at 120 mph is very convincing threat. It leaves no room for self-deception. Perceiving this threat helps me to do everything related to skydiving, with a feel of respect. I think this is a right mood to do this, and to enjoy the glory of flying free. Bad weather just spoiled this weekend. I feel sort of pathetic. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Yep. They are still amateurs. The real proffesional wealty-skydiver would let his/her rig not only be packed but also jumped, for money. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Hi Mike, we are all different and nobody can tell you which canopy to choose without seeing your flight. Lower wingload is certainly safer but it can easily bore you. Another bad thing about big canopies (yes flame me now !) is that somtime folks jumping them never get an idea about proper canopy control. They do believe they do - actually they are just passengers. If possible, get some good canopy coaching - it is really worth of every single dime. Then make your decision. I bought spectre-170 (w/l slightly below 1.4) when I had 200 jumps. Immediately after this I received canopy control coaching (3 days focused on landing techniques + CReW intro). This coaching has saved my ass many times. And without that coaching, I could be toast even under by previous canopy - PD-210 (w/l 1,1), for now. It is not a big nylon what makes your safe. And, a good news: the spring is coming

OK andwhaddayouthinkabbout Wings & Javelins ? villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Well, I've experienced one "drawback": if the harness is a bit too big for you then hip rings can make things worse than you expect - container might travel & hover above your back, no matter how did you tighten your legstarps. Funny feeling when it's time to pull . But with perfect fit, the rings just put a cherry on the cake it's bad practice to miss a lunchtime villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Hi Erno, try this long one: There is the beer line somewhere under that snow... villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Seriously, I would not rely much on a hook-knife that has been used for cutting line stows, onion, shoelaces etc... I do avoid any sharp steel when packing. So I use an opening pin to remove broken rubberbands if they too tight for my fingernails. Have fun up there! villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

umm... this topic just reminded me how my teammate broke his femur 2 months ago. The canopy (sabre150) did not collapse. It just lost all the lift at 10ft or so and jumper came down like a stone. It was a hot slightly turbulent day and nobody knows exactly was it about a wind-shift, sudden gust (rotor) from above or what. So there is always a shit waiting to happen, no matter what gear we fly ... be prepared. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Yep, I got one on my spectre170 (wl=1.36) and it was cleared by deep toggle input of the same side. It just liked to happen this way. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

where can it be found? villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

I have wings container. Here is a simple test for you: try to open your reserve flap and see how far you can go. If you are able to rise the whole flap, then your rigger has probably failed the step 7 on page 34 of Wings manual. If you can pull only the tongue off the pocket and see just the pin - then it should be OK to go for Wings customer service. bs villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

Emmie, I'm glad for you and your helmet

nice point, Bruno . And it's good to grab toggles before going for pillow, if there is still altitude left. I had lineover last month and it cleared when i pulled left toggle all the way down. My lucky day of course. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

*** Jumping with students brings it all back! Sure, Johnny - feelings do differ from climb to climb but for me there is one excitement point for sure - when the door opens on halfway to the altitude and IAD students stand up and grab for their pc-s villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound

I think to avoid pushing your limits is about just as bad as to push them too fast. This "too fast" can be translated into "with no guidance, with no understanding, with no time to practice" and this topic has been discussed a lot in this forum. The other side - trying to be safe by doing *only* the things you think you can really manage - has been discussed far less. I have experienced such mental state for a while and it sucks - it can kill both your joy and your vision pretty quickly. You may become a "safe" skydiver who does not even realize how little he/she knows about all the stuff. You will do your stuff always the same "safe" way and this is both dull and dangerous. Some positive experiences from pushing my limits: ff jumps are far more dangerous than belly flying. Right. I made my first solo sitfly jumps at about the same time I started to fly 2-way belly. In both cases I flew like shit. But after the first success with ff (getting stable) I got a *lot* better control and sense for fs jumps, too. I am still lousy in headdown position. You must not go to formation while not mastering solo flight, right ? But one day we turned a flower out with an experienced headdowner and after releasing the hand grips I could actually *fly* hd for the very first time! Later, I made some solo jumps again and was unable to repeat the quality, but at least I know on which direction I must work with my hd. And I remember that great joy ... Downsizing too early ... well, my first season I jumped mostly pd210 and put some jumps on sabre170. Sabre was much easier to land than PD - now I know my flaring technique was not good enough for that old f-111 fabric :-). One day I begged for a permission to jump a borrowed bt60 (wingload 1.37). I was warned it will thrill shit off from me on landing. Well, on my first jump with it I didn't experience this thrill because of spinning mal and cutaway. A very healthy experience! And on my following jumps with it I slowly started to understand what do the big boys mean talking about ground speed and stuff like that. This gave me a good motivation to read every article about canopy control and aerodynamics I could reach. And of course I signed up for CC training when it became available. This training has saved may ass for several times for now. Baaah... where's the point? Having a good training and coaching for different skill levels is much more productive than telling *don't*s. Well, often the answer must be *don't* but this can be put in constructive way: "to do THIS you should be capable for this-and-this first, because..." . So one gets both argumented answer and a set of more realistic goals to work with. And no hard feelings. Answering questions this way, the old hands will face enormous challenges to their patience and their minds will quickly develop to levels they don't need any planes & chutes any more and they will just levitate freely above the DZ. It's been raining here for weeks now