chrismgtis

Boogies don't kill people. Skydivers who can't continue to use common sense on every jump, especially with a lot of canopies in the air, kill people. As they say, guns don't kill people, people kill people, which pretty much applies in the same way. I've got 28 jumps and I'm guilty of it doing something stupid under canopy. I'm sure everyone here is. The way I see it people need to be flying very consistent patterns on every jump and constantly twist their neck to check their airspace like the meaning of life is somewhere written on a cloud. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I put mine on and secure it before stepping foot on the aircraft. Not everyone does it, but that's what I personally prefer to do. It also makes me feel safer walking near the prop. Seriously though, with all that air coming off the prop, especially on a Twin Otter (which I jump from every week), it's possible you could fall (off the steps to the door or out of the door) before the aircraft even starts moving and bust your head wide open. It might sound retarded and childish to some, but it's true. I don't take my helmet off until I am safely on the ground. Always better safe than sorry whether or not anyone thinks your a retard for wearing your helmet too soon. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I'm not quiting for a very long time until: a.) I run out of money, in which case I will eventually get more money and jump (or if I lose a job - still temporary) b.) I die c. ) Become disabled to a point that I can't jump. And only B and C will stop me from skydiving forever. :D Of course I haven't been in this sport long (6-7 months), but skydiving is one of two things I've ever done that I absolutely love and just can't see ever stopping. The other would be playing instruments (I would really prefer a career in it, but it's a hell of a lot harder to make a career in music then it is to drive down to a DZ and make a jump on occasion). Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I got used to it around my 7th or 8th jump. After that I wasn't nervous at all anymore. For a few jumps after that I felt funny at the door, but now I'm so used to it that it's no different than getting out of my car. *shrugs* I never would have thought that I would have found something like skydiving so easy to handle, but I eventually did. I think it's just a matter of finding your comfort point in your mind and using it. I chose not to think about the dangers - but to perform all the safety checks and make sure I've done everything I should before I get on the plane. If you do that, then there is no reason to fear your skydive. If you don't, you have plenty of reason to fear and a single detail that you may realize you forgot can make you nervous on the plane. If you've done everything you should have and are prepared, you're jumping out of the airplane and you chose to take that risk, so why fear it. That's the way I look at it. It in no way means I think I'm less weak than the next person. There are plenty of things that would scare me that wouldn't scare others I'm sure. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Damn right. I was saving tons of money each week in my savings account before I started skydiving. What I had managed to save before beginning to skydive survived 6 months until I purchased a rig. Now I'm down to $6 savings. • You know the dz phone number while you don't even know your own. Haha thats me. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

It's not an issue at all with contacts in though. The shield has never fogged up, so I don't have any problems with the full face. The glasses were the issue. I'm actually considering getting an open face possibly later this year though, so I have that option. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Worse can happen by letting go of your toggles. I was taught never to do so. I'm not sure how much I trust the toggles to stay where they should, especially on a canopy whose risers I had never even seen until it opened. If it was my own gear, there might be enough trust there to do something like that. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

As I said though, the canopy was in a deep turn as soon as it opened and I was flying a faster canopy than I was used to. It was the first time using the 190. I didn't want to take any chances spiraling downwards (considering you are an obstacle and descend much faster in a turn). I wanted to get out of that turn so I grabbed the toggles and released them. From there I didn't have the choice to pull a hand down and grab the shield to pop it up. Figured it was a bad idea. I made a few attempts, but as I said I made the decision not to continue trying. Please read the whole story first. I couldn't just "take them off" under canopy. I have a full-face and as soon as the canopy opened I was in a deep turn and made the decision to release the brakes and get out of it. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

About time you started posting Andy. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I think it depends on your instructor(s). Odds are they will not let you. Your DZ should have some of those goggles available for people with glasses. They point out further than the standard goggles so you can fit glasses inside. I had to wear those for a while, until I got a Z1. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I always leave the Z1 cracked until right before I leave the airplane to prevent that and so I can actually breath. The problem was, once the canopy opened I was in a left turn (this seems to happen often for some reason). I downsized to a 190 from a 230 that day and had no experience on a faster canopy. I grabbed the toggles and released them to get out of the turn. At that point, I tried to grab my shield and open it, but it's (obviously) not easy to do since it puts you right back in a turn. So, I wasn't really sure what other options I had other than trying my best to see what I could. I couldn't see the traffic too well, but I was able to tell where I was over the airfield and land without landing on top of someone. It just seemed like a bad idea to allow myself to go into a spin for however long it took to push the button in and open the shield (it's a bit hard to do sometimes and I had gloves on making it harder). Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

It is amazing how many people view the Iraq war/conflict and the number of American deaths as a large scale death count or as something out of the ordinary. They are in a guerilla war zone. Do we expect 10 people to die each year in this conflict? How many people died in WWI and II, Vietnam, Korea, the Civil War, the Revolutinary War, the War of 1812, Desert Storm/Shield and all other conflicts? Compare American deaths to Iraqi deaths (including civilians) and it's not a large number. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I forgot to put the shield down on my Z1 a few jumps ago. I had the shield down with a crack open to let enough air in so that I could breath on the plane. I jumped out and the shield flew up. I grabbed it quickly, pushed it down and snapped it while maintaining a good arch and stable exit. Woot. Recently on my last jump I wore a pair of glasses (ran out of contacts) with my Z1 full face helmet which resulted in some pretty bad fogged up glasses. I could barely see in freefall and even worse under canopy. This resulted in not being able to check the traffic, landing downwind and almost having a collision with another jumper which caused him to have to turn to avoid me and land downwind. Oops. Luckily I landed without breaking anything even though I could barely see well enough to decide when to flare at the right moment. Was not my best landing but I think I did a pretty good PLF and landed with no injuries whatsoever even though I landed hard and got dragged across the grass for who knows how far (10 ft?). Lessons learned from this: don't wear glasses on a jump anymore without an open face, check the wind before THAT jump (I chose my final according to how everyone landed on a previous jump) every time. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

You play soccer I take it Na. Two old friends of mine I grew up living beside played. I remember his brother accidently kicking him in the nuts once. That was kinda funny. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

If you save as a JPG in Paint, you're going to get a very unacceptable quality image since you can't decide what to set the quality as in Paint for JPG. If I use Paint for any reason I save as a PNG. You would think they would have made Paint easier to use and added some of the very obvious features that it should have a long time ago. As someone said, use Irfanview. There are several free graphics applications out there worth having. Personally, I don't like Irfanview, because it lacks some features I want, but it's free and it does a lot of useful things for a free application. I'm just so used to Photoshop that I'm spoiled. As the above poster said, no malware or any of that. Just good, free, quality working software. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

It's bullshit. Has to be. No way most of those are actual laws. If they are, they aren't enforced so parachute away. We can't shower naked? Possibly some of those are old laws from the 1800s that haven't been removed? I lived in Tampa Bay for a year in 2000-2001. Hmm. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

If I had the money to blow I would get one. I'm not in a band right now so theres no point in blowing $3500 for a guitar. I own 3 already as it is. I wouldn't mind having a Les Paul Standard either though and there much more affordable. :-D And yea, I love the way the PRS look. I think they are by far the best looking guitars that you can buy. Really though, every one that I have played felt and sounded better to me than anything I've played. When you're actually playing the guitar with your own hands you hear things other people can't. Hard to explain, but I assume you know what I mean if you play. I could swear I somehow play better when I'm using a PRS or a Les Paul and feel more creative. It's like I suddenly have more and better ideas. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I used to be somewhat. For example I was in Ohio last June standing on the balcony about two or three floors up and leaning over the edge made me feel a bit uneasy. A few months later I'm jumping out of airplanes every weekend. It never bothered me to a point that it freaked me out, but I've been on towers 400ft in the air made for tourists and felt like I needed to grab ahold of something to feel safe. On the ride up or standing at the door at 14,500 feet it doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother me looking down in freefall or under canopy at any height one bit. I haven't been on a tower or balcony since I started skydiving so I don't know if I got over that "uneasy" feeling or not at low altitudes where I'm not there for the purpose of jumping out. Having a rig strapped to my back makes me feel safe I guess. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Didn't know they could sprain their tails. Then again, I didn't know I could pull my tongue muscle (or whatever muscle is underneath it) until I did and I was in massive pain for a few seconds. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I would still hit it. After she got tested for AIDS. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I think I would get off the road. That's just me. Or, if it's not my fault, stumble out, fake lots of pain, fall over and cry in over dramatized agony. Insurance money is nice. (Hopefully I won't get run over) Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I want to be cremated with all my organs intact. Definately do not want to be embalmed. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I would rather have a Paul Reed Smith. Seeing as how they are so expensive, thats my guitar dream. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

It isn't about being "tough". What alarms me is that an individual is able to stand on their own two feet so easily, but is impaired enough to not eventually become aware in that rather lengthy period of time that things are not right. Obviously I've never experienced hypoxia, but I've been under the influence of mind altering drugs and beverages before and was able to determine what was happening was not normal. I guess you will have to allow me to experience this first hand before I will believe your mind is in such of a state that it is not in your control to such an extent. The jumper that was on his back at the door, I can understand that he was experiencing hypoxia to a level that he wasn't thinking clearly. It's the jumper standing so easily above him that worries me. As some of you have said, after seeing this video I will be cautious about these things now. The last thing I ever want to do is not be 100% aware and healthy when I jump. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Not that I know what I am talking about, but that seems like a pretty high wingloading to jump with the number of jumps you have. At that number of jumps I feel that how well you've adjusted and how much you have learned is irrelevant to what wingloading you should be jumping and more of a "is this a safe wingloading for your exit weight and almost no experience?". That's just my opinion as a student though, which means I don't really know what I'm talking about. It seems like .9, 1.0 and 1.1 would be alright if your comfortable under canopy, but wouldn't you want to get in some more experience before jumping a 1.2 wingload (and at 1.26 you would probably want to consider that a 1.3). Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan