mdrejhon

Y'know... A CRW downplane DOES look a heck a lot like a TIE fighter... May not have anything to do with it, but it sure is the 'Dark Side'. Looks like lots of fun (someday) -- for now I'm focussing on bigway RW...

After World Record all-deaf night RW (8-way), the spot was bad at opening. As they broke off, below them was darkness, no lights (a dark swamp below). 7 people landed out, one barely made it to the edge of the dropzone. Nobody got hurt, someone landed in a lit parking lot, another landed in the middle of a dark swamp. Needless to say, after that jump, I believe Billy Vance swore he would never do night-jump RW again This was on the same plane load as mine, but on a separate pass than my pass. I self-spotted, pulled high as pre-planned, had my very own airspace, landed in the middle of the lit landing area. Tons of fun! I'd still try night jump RW if an opportunity arose, but I'll be wearing my bright headlamp just in case of a dark out landing (I only powered it on after opening, far away from other parchutists), just in case. I know you can see the ground on a full-moon night, but I like the extra security and the convenience of having a headlamp and not needing to manhandle a flashlight (just aim my head), at about 300 feet, the illumination is roughly as bright as a full moon, then progressively gets brighter, so I could even jump into an out on a moonless night if I had to... (though on an unexpected moonless out landing in a totally dark area, I'll be limited to about 300 feet of obstacle avoidance -- good thing to know flat turns and flare turns for that possible unexpected tree or fence! Unlikely to happen since I ain't going to do a night exit if the spot is bad -- I know how to spot myself since I jumped mostly Cessna for a long time, and I'm sure as hell going to doublecheck and triplecheck the exit spot on any night jump! But you never know, especially with wonky midwinds...) Goofy smile of my night jump: pic clicky

I have notified him of this thread. He wouldn't be a suitable interpretor as he is deaf too, but obviously he would have some very useful insight to offer as being one of the major deaf bigway jumpers, a World Team member! P.S. Still accepting volunteers, including volunteers who are participants, for Plan B (in case of Murphy's Law, and for other field stuff)

Nah. I'd only be offended if she wasn't the volunteer.

I keep a notepad in my jumpsuit pocket. I try to keep observant of conversations going on in the plane even if I can't understand well. If I see people talking excitedly in a big group, then I know something's up. If I see someone signalling something, such as a go-around or something, I'll verify that too. And if there are multiple groups, I often confirm my my jump intentions (belly or freefly, pull altitude) with a person or two next to me, to ensure that I've indeed been placed correctly on the load. If someone's talking about clouds and debating the spot through gaps, I'll also confirm if plans has changed as a result, such as a lower jump altitude.

That's an excellent idea, but interactivity is often critical. Often, the instructor/captain is pointing at the video and talking about something. Or they need to ask me questions directly such as my viewpoint of a mistake I may have made. So I kind of need near-real-time transcription during video debriefs. This is how it was done last time, using the "buddy system" -- just that this time I need someone dedicated (not a participant) to avoid distracting participants inside the video debrief room. I think I may have found someone! However, still looking for multiple people for Plan B (opt-in participants).

FTFY. Touché. I'll deal with it -- I'm not going to quit, though. That being said, this post by a new skydiver can still be a wake-up call, a cry for action - the surge of genearlly avoidable deaths is still unreasonable and could be improved upon. That's why I say, fresh perspective from a new skydiver to remind us to think about our sport. I have no desire to nitpick on some details which may even be naive or inaccurate, just I recognize the cry of dissapointment is real and understandable. Is this going to have to become a much worse year than last? Normally hundreds of jumps pass, or even well over a thousand, before one witnesses the first death...

It's already starting to scare me. I have not witnessed a fatality but as I visit more bigway camps, it could happen as I continue this sport. To other guys that are replying in this thread, let's take it easy on this one. Let's not predictably needlessly nitpick over details of the post (i.e. legitimate no-AAD uses for CRWdogs, etc); I can see dissapointment in this post is real. Fresh unbiased perspective from a relatively new jumper.

If you can plane-out a 190 at 0.8 wingloading, then that might be just all fine in a good compromise of a safe canopy while having a pillow landing on a good flare.. Plane out -- meaning zero vertical velocity before touching down (lack of thump effect on foot, the stepping-into-pillows effect that's often not found at wingload 0.6 but found at wingload 1.0 proper flares). Some say that the sweet spot where planeout begins to occur is about 0.7 or 0.8 wingload, so you're right at the edge of that range... Again, talk to the canopy pilots who's familiar with these effects... (And got lots of experience with big canopies in these ranges of wingloadings)

I had the 190 versus 170 debate myself for quite some time... In the end, I just kept jumping until around #57 before I got myself the 170. If your instructors agree, AND you are already doing great standups on the 190 for a few dozen jumps AND you can make it to a canopy coaching course (Scott Miller, Brian Germain, et al), I don't see any reason 170 is a bad choice and I'm sure many would agree. It would probably last longer. The "1.0" seems to be the sweet spot, while anything above that is being somewhat aggressive (unforunate norm, in the view of many). Then again, I am naive in my knowledge of your situation and 170 is a dangerous choice. It's wholly possible, especially if your body has some fragilities I am not aware of... But I can say I was in a similiar conundrum: 190 versus 170. I'm still flying my 170 -- happy with it even after 200+ jumps on the same canopy, and was glad I went 170 instead of 190, and at the same time, glad I didn't too quickly downsize to 150. EDIT: Might want to pay attention to soft openings, if you have a beat-up body. I think Sabre and Sabre 2 might actually end up becoming poor choices -- unless you're perfectly fine with their relatively brisk openings. Some open harder than others, or randomly give you slam-opening. You may want to demo jump some pillow-openers such as Safire2, etc. Disclaimer: As usual for these types of dropzone.com posts -- don't listen to me directly and do talk to your instructors, pass things by them.

It might be worth trying different gear at a different dropzone. Find out if your dropzone has a "partner dropzone" that may allow you to jump different student gear that might end up being safer for you... This may require co-operative co-ordinating between both dropzones, since you're a student. Just be aware that rivalries between dropzones can be fierce sometimes, so word your request carefully to your instructor such as "partner dropzone"... Just some other (additional) suggestion to many great ones already here... I have a nagging suspicion at 25 student jumps, you've probably tried several different fits of student gears, and thus the gear choices may be suboptimal for you... (I could be wrong, but...) Also, if you find a safe canopy with the proper fit, some canopies do partial flares better when done at different speeds. Talk to your instructor, and ask if you can get a high-altitude hop-and-pop (10,000 feet pull), so you can practice fast flares, slow flares, etc. Big lightly-loaded 7-cell canopies often seem to need a faster non-staged flare, to land better -- at least in my experience -- but it varies by canopy so don't follow my advice, talk to the instructor. For example, I have noticed that heavy guys seem to get away with a somewhat slower flare than a light guy on the same student canopy, due to increased airspeed of the heavier loading only needing a smaller flare to convert forward velocity to zero-out the vertical velocity. Again, don't listen to me, as certain flare techniques are dangerous on certain canopies (i.e. fast flares on a small canopy) and you can be seriously hurt. But it's worth covering with the instructor, once a proper-fitting gear is found...

I look forward to seeing you again if I make it that far! If I make it past the BWC and my provisional slot in 100WC becomes confirmed, that is! BTW -- Those attending only 100WC can still volunteer to be part of Plan B. I need multiple Plan B volunteers, may never be needed, but just in case. I am definitely still interested in volunteers that is only attending on one weekend. Only for those of you who feel that it doesn't inconvenience or distracts you.

Hello, I'm slowly reaching the real bigway leagues, including my first 49-way at the Perris P3 big way camp last May, and I am going again this September, also with a hopeful slot in the 100-way on the subsequent weekend if I jump well enough! As a deaf skydiver, what was your experience at bigways when you can't follow the video debrief on your own and need an interpretor to write notes for you? -> Did you hire an interpretor? -> Did you just rely on the buddy system, surrounding skydivers? -> How did you avoid being high-maintenance to the load organizers. Billy Vance and John Woo, can you chime in too? Also, I'd love to hear from anybody who has encountered the deaf skydivers (I believe it was John Woo and one other) that was at the 400-way World Record. Were they an inconvenience to the load organizers, or were they able to be independent without distracting too many comrades? Organizers may argue that a deaf skydiver who asks adjacent skydivers for note-taking responsibilities, may distract them from paying attention to video debriefs... So I'm looking at solutions, to help me keep moving forward! (See my clicky below too)

This is excellent stuff for bigway newbies like me. Although I have been to Perris P3, I was given a Kate Cooper document in advance that was remarkably similiar to this one. To everybody going to their first bigway camp, I recommend reading these documents to gain insight about bigways -- highly recommended reading! Rules do vary a bit but the general principles and terminology (i.e. stadium, radials) is essentially the same at the Perris P3 bigway camp. Worth a download, print, read on the airplane ride to the bigway camp... Of course, the official document handout at the particular bigway camp will override things if there are any divergences, but it's useful pre-study...

Thanks! I've sent you a PM.

I was able to get rides both to and from LAX -- a much further proposition. Definitely be prepared to rent a car, but keep fishing for potential carpool buddies -- they definitely exist, as Perris P3 is a very international gathering and many fly into either SAN or LAX. The foreigners, like me, often fly into LAX because it's cheaper. (It was $700 for SAN versus $400 for LAX, enough to pay for a car rental if necessary) However, this year my priority is in finding a helping notetaker for video debriefs who's a non-participant in the bigways (I'm the deaf guy from the spring Perris P3). While many were so wonderfully helpful (especially thanks to Laura from UK!), since I'm trying to reach the 100-way leagues, I'm trying to minimize distraction in the video debrief room, so I am actively seeking out volunteers to help me (Paying $10 per video debrief for simple notetaking activity). I made a post here: Deaf guy at Perris Big Ways: Help for Video Debriefs? Suggestions?

Here's a thread about this back in 2004: Landing a Mr. Bill I wasn't yet a skydiver back then, but the thread was still on fire when I first came to lurk at Dropzone.com ... Was pretty controversial, but the video did prove (to many) beyond a doubt that landing a Mr. Bill (with no injuries) was possible -- albiet illegal.

To those who want to volunteer: Please send me a PM. If you'd like to volunteer to help a deaf guy like me achieve his bigway dreams (I'm willing to pay $10 per debrief) even if you can only go on specific days. You only need reasonable paper notepad abilities and/or reasonable typing abilities. No sign language knowledge needed; as I use different methods of communications. Just being at Skydive Perris, being on stand by to rush into the video debrief about 4 to 6 times per day, to spend 5 to 15 minutes writing/typing notes to me of what the organizer is saying, so I can read at the same time. (Just like the buddy system I successfully used during Perris P3 last time, but using non-participants rather than participants) I will need help on these September dates in decreasing order of priority: 21st, 20th, 19th, 18th, 14th, 13th, 12th, 11th. Basically formations are biggest at later dates, where critical safety information is most important for me. These dates cover two separate 4-day spans Thurs-Fri-Sat-Sun covering two weekends.

Hello all, First, to introduce myself... I went to Perris P3 bigway camp during May 1-4th, 2008, and successfully completed my first 49 way (clicky for photo). In this photo, I'm pointing at my slot where I docked approximately 43rd or so. (My somewhat low jump numbers for the bigway leagues, is currently being compensated by several hours of 3-way/4-way tunnel time and near-RW-exclusive jumping.) I'm still pretty much a bigway newcomer, after all.

I think that in some modern cars, the battery is acting as a kind of capacitor to regulate the fluctuations of electricity requirements in a car. Without the battery, the alternator load is more "unregulated" than it would be with the battery in the circuit. Modern cars have car computers and more electronics, that are sensitive to unregulated electric power, and more likely (than classic cars) to malfunction with the battery disconnected from the alternator circuit. At least, as a former electronics engineer, I can attest to the fact that electronic car systems are more sensitive to unregulated electric power, and the battery kind of functions as a capacitor to smooth out fluctuating electrical loads. There may be other electronics to smooth the alternator load, so a good well-regulated alternator may be enough -- but it is possible to engineer the alternator to be so dependant on the battery to regulate the power generated. So this may depend on a car-by-car basis. Most likely, this is somewhat of an older car, and thus might continue working perfectly fine after being given a boost... (then again that's a risk, of course...) It has been a while since I researched anything about this, so I may be wrong. But either way, modern cars definitely have more electronics and built in car computers, that critically require a clean power supply...

One of my favourite solos was a night jump at Deaf World Record 2005 -- It's a piece of cake when you're well prepared. Full moon, strobe light, bunch of glowsticks, $50 headlamp that projects 300' away, good spot, and being the only canopy in the air (no canopy traffic to worry about). Just don't turn on the headlamp until you're under canopy.

I have started keeping track of tunnel time in a separate logbook. I think it's worthwhile to do so now, especially if you have more tunnel freefall time than sky freefall time. (freefall, schmeefall, it's the same thing as long as you're not touching the walls, grate, whatever. Semantics in the scientific definition, at university. But it's definitely not official skydiving freefall time that counts towards your skydiving license.)

AGL, at Perris. I think that makes it 18K MSL. I remember there being a go-around on one of the oxygen jumps (although I can't remember if it was this jump or subsequent jump), which meant extra time at 18K, since we all had to reinsert our hoses in a hurry. On the first oxygen jump, my full face was never fully closed while I had the hose slipping into it, so there was ample opportunity for a low-oxygen environment in my visor. So I think I still had a visor full of 18000ft oxygen sparseness. The door was open and my helmet visor was made fully open temporarily when I removed the hose, so the draftiness immediately blew whatever oxygen buildup I had, out. Then 30 seconds elapsed after hose removal and before exit, so I think there was some time for the oxygen in my helmet to deplete even worse. Many (everyone?) made the same mistake of early hose removal (might have been the go-around) as it was their first oxygen too, but my open visor definitely exacerbated things. After I pulled, I had the sparkles in my eyes -- a hypoxia symptom that I recognized, and I opened my fullface. Dissappeared seconds after I opened up my fullface. That definitely was a low-oxygen environment in my visor. As I'm already familiar with my hypoxia symptoms (up to the point of tunnel vision), I definitely had it on this oxygen jump. And I remained pretty tired for more than an hour afterwards. Needless to say, subsequent oxygen jumps was with the oxygen hose routing along my neck, with the full face completely closed above 15000 feet, and removed the hose only at the last minute (10 seconds before exit). Totally full of energy at opening time, this time around! And the fact I docked too

Eventually, you will need to. At least once you start to bellyfly with other A-license newbies who has less skills than you... By necessity, I now need to know how to backfly and how to quickly get back to belly no matter what my orientiation is -- to quickly survive a funnel, burble, or somebody more inexperienced gripped on me who burbles and takes me out -- and puts me on my back. Some people saying even becoming a better freeflyer helps you become a better bellyflyer: I'm starting to think I'll need to work on freefly more, as I'm finding I now need to learn a few more freefly techniques to help prevent me from funnelling, or to recover from a strange distorted exit. Fun stuff.

Finally! Actual construction of foundation, the bottom part of the recirculator!