DSE

I'm curious as to what kind of control you can have on a student at exit. Surely at some point you have to let him go out the door, and it's right outside the plane that he can potentially do the damage. Am I missing something ? Apparently so. An AFFI should be able to show you how. Easier shown than explained. One of these days I'll take a photo. I think someone caught photos at the last wingsuit coach course I gave. Bill? Matt?

Recent events surrounding modified, stolen gear that resulted in an injury have me wondering when (if ever) this has previously happened in skydiving history. Person takes modified gear from military or civilian supplier, sells it into the skydiving community as used gear, and someone is injured or killed using the stolen equipment. I've searched the forums, and only found one related reference; some gear stolen by members of the armed forces from armed forces units. Are there any others?

I did/have, about a year ago...got lots of chuckles and complaints, negative commentary. It's still around somewhere. The "target" or ring model I used wasn't the best depiction, but no one has offered a better answer. I'm all-ears on a better solution.

Did you -start- in size X? Or learn to fly your body first? This weekend, had a person show up for Chicks Rock; 30 WS jumps and 25 of them in a very large suit. Very large guy. We did two small group jumps with him during the boogie, and for safety reasons, he was given options; ~fly solo from a Skyvan. ~put on a smaller suit that he could manage. ~not jump a wingsuit during the boogie. Aside from 2 very near-to-tail exits, he was washy, up/down, and couldn't slow himself with stability. We see this sort of "progression" all the time. Even in his big suit, he could not stay with larger guys in P2's, constantly sinking, washing, jetting forward and stalling....all typical behaviors of people who don't take the time to understand body positions and learn how to fly small suits. The person that destroyed my ear didn't know how to stop, and was flying a suit beyond his range at the time. Canopy manufacturers ain't dumb by suggesting wingloadings and aspect ratios at given experience levels. They know people will progress. Manufacturers can take a page from their playbook, IMO. Either way....falling like a leaf in too-large suits seems to be the rage, complete with potato chipping and instability. Makes it no fun to fly with low-skill people hoping to rely on their suits to compensate for a lack of knowledge/skill.

Big suits for low-timers are all the rage these days. Big suits give big dicks to people with low skills...everyone knows this. 3 tailstrikes this year, god knows how many we haven't heard about, and how many close calls there have been.

I use keepvid, and on the files that are on other sites that block keepvid, I use Camtasia to create new files from the high-res of the original.

I saw it before it went away...was there coaching going on? Maybe there was a lot of ground time spent, and that can't be seen in the air. Suit looked too large for the apparent experience level, or maybe it was just highly turbulent air. At least she did a solid wave off, there are a few coaches that teach "wave offs are not necessary until you start flying in flocks."

There is *always* time. The sky ain't goin' nowhere.

Couldn't ask for a better group of folks, Lurch. Congrats on the effort.

Lots of Chicago folks here at Elsinore now...we're open all winter with bunkhouse and new grill.

I'd say it's not worth it. As you say, "reputations get around." People are still gonna get scraped up off the ground. Having been one...an internet list would have served to make me more determined, and would not have stopped me from flying the way I did prior to my injury. I was warned. A DZO or S&TA calling another DZ is a personal conversation between two people. An internet list is a public doc for many to see. I'm sure you see the difference.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2210507375530

f you watch last week's wingsuit episode on the Skydive Elsinore Wingsuit School page (FB) you can see the famous Elsinore red-tail hawk flying with me under canopy. He's a regular, and will fly straight towards us and turn at the last second. I think it's a game for him.

Looking forward to seeing you here, and competing, John!

No worries, the school will manage your lesson just fine! Enjoy the crowd, enjoy the peoples, and the vibe around the DZ.

Although it maybe isn't a cave, still some big balls of steel to fly -towards- a stone face, vs alongside it. Impressive.

Who administers the list? That's the other biggie. Demi Moore isn't into skydiving, AFAIK...

It's not an attack, it's a demonstration of how it can (and most likely) work. We *can* continue to do what we're doing. It works. My counterparts at other DZ's and I talk about students; we talk about who is doing what with which wingsuits. Like the guy who biffed at Spaceland, people know what's going on, for the most part. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is anything? There is no way to police someone who has a desire to circumvent their peers at their local DZ. The Spaceland incident demonstrates this; the guy had been spoken to by several others. Did it stop him? Obviously not. People who knew him were there; according to them he (perhaps) got onto a different load so that they wouldn't see/question his actions. I'm all ears to an answer that doesn't burn a brand onto people. I'm all for an answer that allows for local control. I'm all for an answer that encourages experienced people to speak up. I can't imagine anyone with half a ration of reason supporting the idea of branding people on an internet website. There is no precedent in any activity that suggests this is acceptable. Even potential terrorists get more consideration. I'm all ears for your solution since you find my solution reprehensible. Until then, you're on "the list" of dangerous skydivers with whom no one should share the air, simply because "I say so."

OK...we'll go that route. I've read many of your posts on DZ.com, most of them are frivolous, off the mark, and silly; clearly you're incapable of focus and attention to the details related to skydiving. You've made technical blunders as well, and as a result, you're on "the advisory list" because I, the guy that has 1000 X more skydives than you, has determined that you're not a safe guy. It's a fine line between reality and perception and may be my personal bias, but then again...that's what discrimination is, isn't it? If I put you on "the list," what recourse do you have? None. It's not about litigation. It's about branding people with a huge potential to be terribly unfair. If something is seriously wrong, then there is USPA and a 1.6 in the Governance manual (if the USPA had reason to use it) Big difference between local DZO grounding someone or banning them, and a "list" where people are branded. As far as "the problem," I don't think there is an "answer." No matter what obstacles and processes are placed, people will contrive ways around them. The "system" isn't really so broken that we see these kinds of stupid incidents occurring all the time.

This bears repeating.

True...but look how far that got Denny's with the African Americans (still the largest discrimination lawsuit to date, I believe) and other private businesses that have been sued for mega bux. The spectre alone would nail DZO's to the wall. From a different side...maybe a DZO doesn't like what someone posts on DZ.com, so they take it out on them via this "list." I agree there is a problem, and in today's world it's a silly one with seemingly simple solutions. But branding folks with a scarlet letter doesn't seem to be the answer.

Post processing stabilization can't do a good job on electionic stabilzation. The image is so zoomed/soft, it might as well be a DV source on HD content. Cameras are smaller, lighter, and generally higher quality at the expense of higher (yet more efficient) compression. GoPro's and Contours are decent, but whne you start pushing color around, you'll want the CX or similar.

Who moderates this database?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_260_us.html is what I'm using.

I tried a Safire for a dozen or so jumps; didn't like the snivels, that seemed to generate more linetwists than faster-opening canopies. That's part of why I settled on the Storm, and have been enjoying the Pulse while my knee recovers. The Pilot is a great canopy too (provided you have one of the newer ones).