Orange1

Cloud suck has killed paragliding pilots, but bear in mind these are guys who launch and can fly far from where they did so (both distance and altitude) and end up in different weather conditions from launch. From what I understand skydivers should not be jumping in conditions that lead to cloud suck. You might find the book "Understanding the Sky" by Denis Pagen (not sure if i spelt it right) of interest. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

You will come across differences in ways of doing things to what you have been taught. Always practice and do what your instructors have taught you, not what you read elsewhere. But certainly feel free to chat with your instructors about what you've read. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

that's my point! and i'd wager not many prospective passengers would then say "OK, sure go ahead"..? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

with all due respect, I think people who have been in this sport even a very short time (like me) forget what they didn't know before they started jumping. i still think it's difficult to really make someone understand if they haven't even ever experienced a normal landing. how many tandem passengers (remember for a lot of them this is just a fun ride not a step to learning) do you think really understand how a parachute flies and flares? heck... as someone said above, there are regular jumpers who don't always understand these things... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I guess it was the stack of papers requiring my signiture and initials, signing my life away, and then getting a video record of me signing my life away,.. I pretty much new that there was a very high risk in the sport. but the person should defidently be aware of the TM's intentions. So you fully understood that the risks would be different on a normal landing vs a hook turn? All you signed were papers saying "i know i could die". Was there anything explaining all the different variables and scenarios in which you could die, to help you understand that properly in detail? We all signed all sorts of things, but the bottom line is you don't know jack shit until you've been up there yourself. Simplest way to show this: ask any whuffo, or someone who's signed those papers but not jumped yet, how you are most likely to die or injure yourself skydiving, and I guarantee the answer will be "the parachute doesn't open" (no matter what they signed). Ask anyone who's been in the sport a while the same question and your answer is.... Jeez, unless the passenger is actually shown videos of the difference between the types of landings and has the details explained to them, I really don't buy this argument. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Sorry if this is a dumb question (i've obviously never jumped a wingsuit), but why? I can understand that the "freefall clock" would be different, but why would the ground look different because you are in a wingsuit? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I'm guessing for most tandems it is a first jump, and wonder how many of them can actually properly understand the risks? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Would be interesting to know what happened to the companies in those ads...Irvin, Russel, Switlik, Triangle... did they somewhere along the way get subsumed into any of the current equipment manufacturers? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I've been wanting to ask this too. I can understand I think that water would make visual alti awareness very difficult , and that goes back to the other alti awareness threads: someone posted once that visual alti awareness doesn't always work that well at unfamiliar DZs, and I can imagine this would be exacerbated jumping over water? fwiw when we were taught hazardous landings in FJC, we were taught not to chop until our feet hit the water because it is very difficult to judge height over water. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

maybe ... but well over 20% of skydivers who responded to the poll have metal in them! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

http://www.iit.edu/~kallend/skydive/ and click on the "physics of skydiving" ppt (or any other link that looks interesting) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

That's good advice - I think what mark was meaning, is some people still think we land under rounds so every landing is a shock... but I am not going to rush back sooner than recommended! C Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

hiya brad i'll email you the details later! just got back from doc - i have just got 2 screws ("we could only put 2 in because that's all the bone that was left") and a titanium plate, but he reckons the screws can come out pretty soon (v close to the skin) he said 9 months before i can jump again , though markb reckons i need to find someone with more experience of skydivers to give me a shorter prognosis Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

meaning??? you are waiting for surgery or planning to break something?? Grafico- ouch - that is apparently why they prefer titanium if possible, less chance of infection re the BASE question... i just didn't think of it but on reflection - nah, a whole bunch of different risk factors. would be interesting to see results of a similar poll in the BASE forum though! OK, so on responses so far, just over 1/3 have broken something, and in most of those cases (29%/34%)this has required metal. Of course there are jumpers who don't come back after breaking something too. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Hmmm.. at Peej's suggestion, a new poll. Thought might be interesting to break down according to jumps #s. "Metal" = steel, titanium or whatever else. If you have broken something but not badly enough for metal, please choose option 7 irrespective of jump #s. I'm sure there are lots of flaws with the way i've set this up Please only answer yes to metal/breaks if they were skydiving related. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Hi Josh fear is normal! do a search, there are lots of threads about it. we have all had to overcome it! you will find some people with hundreds of jumps who still get scared when they go up b'hatzlachah! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Congratulations! Now the fun begins!

I'm in a similar situation (bit worse, can't jump for 9 months, and my injury is from jumping) - my husband has suggested i take a part-time job at the DZ (...once i can walk again....) to keep in the loop and my jumper friends seem to think this is a good idea. btw ... it's probably wiser to accept that you won't be exactly at the level you were when you left off... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

er, ok. i just got told i was getting titanium and assumed that was 'normal'.. re the poster mentioning a 500-jump minimum as cut-off: why? i can understand that that's a target group for those who are going to hurt themselves doing high-performance landings etc, but of my circle who have broken something (not all resulting in metal of some sort) a number seem to have been at the "you think you know what you're doing but realise too late you don't" 50-150 jumps stage... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Any idea? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

PASA - Parachute Association of South Africa Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

so purely aesthetic, no practical reason as such? (was asking cos personally i don't like the "shiny" look but needed to know if i was missing something!) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Hmm. maybe lucky being at a small DZ out here but had a few instructors to ask (one is a rigger too) and they came up with pretty consistent answers. just a q your S&TAs I presume are same as our chief instructors (CIs), over here a CI will check your rig 1st time at a new DZ or if a new rig and not let you jump it if he doesn't think you're safe on it - does this happen in the US too? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

what are the main reasons for people choosing parapak? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Like some of the posters above, I have started to exercise to get fit for jumping. Heck, I even stopped smoking The tandem masters on our DZ look in pretty good shape. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.