Aviatrr

Damn.. I came up with 0.. I guess I'm the SUPREME DUMBASS!

The best is a toss up......the first few seconds out the door, or the last few seconds under canopy.. Everything in between is awesome, but those two things are the best to me.. The cramped-ass plane ride I could do without.. I love those Twotter loads with 10 people - but 22 is waaaay to damn many.. The worst has got to be waiting for a load.. Ya know, those busy weekends, ya get down, go to manifest, and they tell ya it'll be an hour.. You pack, grab some grub, and still have 30+ minutes to wait.. That sucks.. Packing is not so bad - I prefer to do it myself, rather than have a packer do it, for peace of mind.. Both of my cutaways were packer induced(massive tension knot causing slider hangup, and step through) - so I'm much more relaxed at pull time if I packed it myself.. I'd have to say, overall, the people are what makes this sport the best.. Think about it - how fun would it be if everybody jumped solo, and we never hung out together? Not too fun.. The comraderie is the best part.. Mike

Ya know, I guess I'm pretty damn lucky then.. I can't jump ENOUGH to spend all my money - much less dip into the credit.. Three rigs, jumping all I can(which isn't much) when I'm not working, and there is still a pile of money.. Hmmm.. What to do, what to do? Mike

Hey, I've seen lots of women do it.. They sure make it look easy.. For a $5-10 cover charge, you could see it too!

DAMMIT! NOW you tell me that's an option! Mike

It seems that everytime the military does a large parachute training drop, there are quite a few injuries.. Nothing to worry about, I'm sure - probably just minor injuries.. With a round canopy, landings can be pretty rough - especially if you don't PLF the landing.. Mike

One day at the DZ, while waiting for the low clouds to go away, a bunch of us watched two birds try to fly through a window time and time again - only to smack into the glass, fall to the ground, and try again.. We figured they had gotten into the beer supply a bit early.. Anyways, that night, I had a kinda freaky dream.. I watched a bunch of guys in birdman suits do exactly the same thing - try to fly through closed windows(with no canopies out, of course), bounce off, hit the ground, get up, brush off, go back to the plane, and try again.. Everytime one of 'em walked away, another smacked into the window.. Mike

You may not be seeing exactly what you think.. If you're on an airplane with me, you will ALWAYS see me tightening my leg straps and chest strap when we get close to jumprun.. Do I get in the airplane in the condition I plan on exiting? Nope.. Having those straps as tight as I normally jump with would be damn uncomfortable.....BUT, my straps are always tight enough to not cause a problem if I exit that way.. When I'm freeflying, I like my straps very tight.. I get in the airplane ready to exit in a low emergency.. That means leg straps and chest strap fastened and snug.. If I am belly flying the entire dive, I will not need to tighten them before exit - but if I'm freeflying, I will.. Next time you're in the plane, look to see if those people are tightening them because they are too loose to safely exit, or because they are too loose for the freeflying they are about to do.. I get comments now and then regarding tightening my straps on jumprun(and not prior to boarding), and I explain to 'em that I have all straps tight enough for belly flying or a low exit, but not tight enough(IMO) for freeflying.. Regarding the gear checks prior to boarding and exit, I use the 3-3-3.. Check the 3 rings, check the three handles, and check the 3 points of attachment.. I do this check twice on the ground(after gear up and before boarding) and several times in the aircraft(at least during taxi, sometime during climb, and again when preparing for exit).. When I check my chest strap, I don't do so by just looking at it - I pull on it.. If the chest strap is misrouted, it will slip when you do this.. I always have people telling me my chest strap is mis-routed, but it just appears that way at first glance because of the way I route the excess.. I always show them how it is routed, and thank them for saying something when they thought it was wrong.. Mike

It's hard to say exactly what I would do without being in the situation - but on my canopy, I would've chopped it in a second.. I landed a canopy once where I had to have a toggle slightly below shoulder height(with the other in full flight), and it wasn't fun or pretty - but I didn't have much choice since it was my reserve.. Mike

SUPPOSEDLY, as I have heard through the grapevine anyways, Luigi has done a tandem with a VX119 loaded close to 5:1.. I don't know if there is really any truth to this or not, but it came from a regular at Perris/Elsinore who claims to have witnessed the landing.. It scares the hell outa me just watching my buddy fly his VX at around 2.2... I normally load around 1.5 or so, but have gone as high as about 1.65.. My next canopy will be around 1.6.. Luigi is just nuts landing that damn thing loaded over 4:1.. Mike

Hmm.. I'll have to look a bit closer at 'em.. I'll be loading either a Crossfire or a Cobalt at about 1.5-1.6, depending on my final choice.. Anything to make life easier/riser pressures lighter is a good thing in my mind.. Then again, I'm a lazy bastard..

I put 5 jumps on the Sabre2 150 loaded as high as 1.5 about a week ago, and I was impressed.. Very nice canopy.. Opened like a Spectre, flew like a de-tuned Spinneto.. I considered buying one, but have opted to go for a Crossfire or Cobalt.. I've got a Cobalt 150 coming for demo in a couple days, and I'll be jumping a Crossfire 139 about the same time.. For somebody just off student status, I think the Sabre2 would be an excellent choice - or even for somebody more experienced that just wants a sporty but easy opening canopy with a decent wing loading range.. Mike

Yes, the Hornet packs quite small.. I put a 190 into a container sized for a 150ZP canopy.. Many 150ZP canopies fit fairly tight in my container(such as the Spinneto).. The 190 Hornet was a very tight fit, but it went in there without a problem.. For a Hornet 210, I'd say a container sized for most 170ZP canopies will work, and allow you to downsize considerably.. My container will take a Crossfire 129, or even as small as an Extreme VX 99.. The VX packs quite large(due to all the cross-bracing) - so most canopies I could only go as small as a 120 size.. I don't see myself going any smaller than a 120 anytime soon..

Well, I'm sure you weren't doing 155 average, then.. If so, your JM would have likely needed to sitfly to keep up.. With your build, I'd say you'd probably average around 125-130 max.. Maybe the 155 was a maximum speed reached during the dive, or maybe it was set to TAS rather than SAS.. Well, when you're talking about SAS and TAS on the pro-track, there is no right or wrong - it's just a matter of preference.. As altitude and/or temperature increase, TAS(True AirSpeed) increases because the air is 'thinner'.. SAS(Skydivers AirSpeed) is effectively how fast you are moving through the air.. In airplanes, we use IAS(Indicated AirSpeed) which is basically the same as SAS....it shows how fast you are moving through the air mass.. SAS is 'normalized' for, I believe, a 4,000ft altitude with standard temp/pressure just to give consistent readings.. If that doesn't make any sense, here it is in as basic terms as I can make it.. The higher you go, and the hotter it is, the faster you move through the air.....BUT, for a given body position, you will have the same amount of airspeed(air flowing over your body) to maneuver with regardless of altitude/temp.. This holds true for typical jump altitudes - but not for extreme altitudes.. There I go again, making shit more complicated than it needs to be.. Mike

Hell, if you would've been falling that fast, I would've just gone to a sit to hang with ya.. Maybe a slow sit.. I think we were doing around 130-135 on that jump.. That's SAS, for those that care.. Mike

A friend of mine asked me if he should get standard mini risers or triple risers for his new canopy.....and I have no idea what triple risers are for.. I can't say I've even seen a set of 'em.. Anybody use 'em? Mike

I have psycho-packed several different types of canopies, and never had a problem.. If you start to psycho pack, I'm sure you'll hear the "My first cutaway was a psycho-pack" line from a few people.. Well, my first two cutaways were PRO packs.....it means nothing(other than that the pack job sucked).. With the psycho pack, I was EASILY able to fit a canopy 40sqft larger than the manufacturer said I could get into the D-bag.. What kind of canopy do you have? Is it an Icarus Safire? I've had nothing but good results with psycho-packing the Safire.. Icarus says not to psycho-pack the Crossfire - I'm not sure why.. The only explanation I've received when I asked 'em was "Bad shit happens".. Mike

I have never pulled off a Mr Bill - tried it once.. I was Mr Bill, and Slugo was supposed to pitch his PC right out the door.. We were perfectly stable, but for some reason he delayed.. We had briefed prior to the jump that if it went beyond 3 seconds after exit, we would abandon the Mr Bill and just turn it into a Horny Gorilla.. After nearly 10 seconds, I saw him reach for his hackey - and I bailed.. Sure enough, he pitched....and I stayed on my back waving to him for a few thousand feet(he pitched at about 8k after a 9k exit).. Hell, I was damn near re-packed by the time he got down.. Next time I jump with a good friend of mine, we're gonna try a Mr Bill on his canopy.. He's jumping an Extreme VX that he loads at 2.2 - and it will be loaded about 4.5 with both of us..

Congratulations.. Your A number will probably be around 40,000 or so.. Isn't that about where they are now? You did better than I did on the last two numbers this weekend.. I'm 2 up on ya for the first, though..

Freefall is what happens from the time you leave the airplane until you deploy your canopy.. No more, no less.. RW is something you do during freefall.. Freeflying is something you do during freefall.. Tracking is something you do during freefall.....etc.. Well, RW is prominent at some DZ's, while others are predominatly Freefly DZ's, but most have a good mix of the two.. I, personally, don't care too much for RW.. I do it sometimes, but most of the time I'm freeflying.. Freeflying is flying your body in all different positions(sitting, standing, head down, etc).. A good freeflyer can fly in any position, including belly flying, and greatly vary fall rate and horizontal movement based on body position.. AFF typically consists of 7 levels, but many DZ's add a 'level 8' as a supervised solo.. Each level has TLO's(Target Learning Objectives) that the student must complete to pass the level.. It's not uncommon for people to have to repeat a level or two during AFF.. For a general outline, go to 'www.USPA.org' and download the SIM(Skydivers Information Manual) - it's under the 'Download DOCs and Forms' section on the left side of the opening page.. The new ISP(Integrated Student Program) is broken down in the SIM.. I believe they use 'Category A' through 'Category H' now rather than 'Level 1' through 'Level 8'.. Not all DZ's have switched to the new ISP yet, since it is very new.. Mike

Most important thing - listen to your instructors.. Second most important thing - SMILE! Make a conscious effort to smile.. If you can do that, you will automatically be relaxed and things will go well.. Mike

Uhh...what is your height/weight? It's damn rare to see somebody average anywhere near that speed on their belly.. If you really do - you'll be a hit with the freeflyers that want to do hybrid dives.. Maybe your JM had his pro-track in TAS mode rather than SAS mode - which would show much higher than actual skydiver 'airspeed'.. I average 160 in a sit, 115-120 on my belly, and 180-200 head down.....that's all based on SAS......and I'm about 5'11 and 210 out the door.. Anyways, congrats on the level 5 & 6! You're almost there.. Just think....then you'll be allowed to jump by yourself, and with people other than instructors! Mike

Oh, great - here we go again.. Let me guess - you want to ban high performance canopies and low turns, right? Think of it this way.. People that don't skydive think that ANY skydiving fatality is inexcusable.. I mean - why would somebody jump out of an airplane and risk serious injury or death?! I guess we better ban skydiving.. People that choose to fly high performance canopies and do low turns know the risks.. If you don't want to see these types of maneuvers, go to a DZ that doesn't allow them.. I don't like to see injuries or fatalities - but it's a given in this sport.. Placing more restrictions on the sport is not the way to go.. Yes - I do 'low' front riser turns.. If I'm told I cannot do them at a specific DZ, I will go elsewhere.. I know the risks.. Don't try to tell me I can't do 'em.. Mike

I've seen all kinds of things on cutaway and reserve pillows.. "Uh Oh" on the cutaway, "Plan B" on the reserve.. "Pull First" on cutaway, "Pull Last" on the reserve.. "Bye Bye" on cutaway, "Hello" on the reserve.. "Please Go" on cutaway, "Please Work" on reserve.. And my personal favorite....this one was on a rig that I used to jump.....until I had to chop and I lost the handles.. "Oh Shit!" on cutaway, "Try Again!" on the reserve.. Mike

You obviously don't want it bad enough.. I've seen people jump with casts on their legs before.. One of 'em did have a built in left turn, though, with that full leg cast on his left side..