LawnDart21

When you get your license be sure to come back to Massachusetts and make some jumps with us at Skydive Pepperell. "I have my D License so that means I know everything, right?" Tom

Okay, so here's my question. I am currently jumping a Vengeance 120 loaded about 1.85. I am not an agressive canopy pilot, in that my swooping consists only of 90 degree right riser hook, followed by double fronts. I don't get involved with 180s or 270s, I just try to keep it simple. Anyways, here is my question. Last weekend, I made 4 jumps in zero wind, and had three perfect swoops, about 50 to 60 yards and straight. The last swoop of the day though,I did everything the same as before, yet on my swoop I was side sliding to the right. It wasn't a carve, as the canopy didn't turn, it just slid like it was a crosswind landing, but there was no wind. I assume I might have shifted wieght in th eharness or something, but I am 100 percent focused on symmerty when I land so I don't think I was unsymmetrical. Any thoughts? Any advice? Funny thing is when I bought the canopy a few months ago, my exit weight was 200, so my wl was like 1.66. I quit smoking and now my exit weight is 225 at a wl of 1.85. My girlfriend thinks I'm gaining weight on pupose to increase my wingloading.......LOL "I live to EFS" Tom

The back, chest, seat & lap are differnt types of reserves that the rigger is rated to repack.

I had that job when I was in high school................it SUCKED!!!!! "I live to EFS" Tom

Yeah that's a sweet plane. Here's my pic.......LOL "I live to EFS" Tom

There will never be an absolute answer to solve the problems you listed, as there are continually multiple changing variables on each jump run. A delay, be it 6 seconds or 10 seconds, is simply designed to reduce the risk of collision, not remove it completely. That is an impossible ideal. 2 counter points I'd like to make are 1) At my DZ, it;s every jumpers responsibility to look out the door and visually assess the seperation before jumping. If, on an 8 second seperation, you look and still see the group in front of is too close, it;s simple, you wait. If the end jumpers get "hosed" on the spot, they too, must look at where they are and either A) jump and pull higher, or B) ask for a go around. I'm just not sure what your asking in your post, I mean, yes there are problems, but most of them are preventable and solutions are available. The other quick comment was that once we leave the plane, we are still responsible for being airware of otehr groups in the sky. This wasn't meant to be a flame, just my .02 "I live to EFS" Tom

There will never be an absolute answer to solve the problems you listed, as there are continually multiple changing variables on each jump run. A delay, be it 6 seconds or 10 seconds, is simply designed to reduce the risk of collision, not remove it completely. That is an impossible ideal. 2 counter points I'd like to make are 1) At my DZ, it;s every jumpers responsibility to look out the door and visually assess the seperation before jumping. If, on an 8 second seperation, you look and still see the group in front of is too close, it;s simple, you wait. If the end jumpers get "hosed" on the spot, they too, must look at where they are and either A) jump and pull higher, or B) ask for a go around. I'm just not sure what your asking in your post, I mean, yes there are problems, but most of them are preventable and solutions are available. The other quick comment was that once we leave the plane, we are still responsible for being airware of otehr groups in the sky. This wasn't meant to be a flame, just my .02 "I live to EFS" Tom

She's alot taller in real life.................

She's alot taller in real life.................

Well said Bill. I agree. Hey, let's go bowl a few and see how the other half live! "I live to EFS" Tom

Well said Bill. I agree. Hey, let's go bowl a few and see how the other half live! "I live to EFS" Tom

Here's a picture of me and Shakira hanging out at Quincy before we made a balloon jump. 'I live to EFS" Tom

Here's a picture of me and Shakira hanging out at Quincy before we made a balloon jump. 'I live to EFS" Tom

They may be a crap station, but as long as they keep showing Shakira videos, I'll be glued to the screen! Damn she is a hottie!!!! Britney who? It's all about Shakira in my humble opinion.........LOL "I live to EFS" Tom

They may be a crap station, but as long as they keep showing Shakira videos, I'll be glued to the screen! Damn she is a hottie!!!! Britney who? It's all about Shakira in my humble opinion.........LOL "I live to EFS" Tom

I understand what your saying Bill, but I just think there are two types of skydivers out there: 1) Safety conscious jumpers (of course that is a relative term to our sport) and then 2) The "accidents waiting to happen" jumpers. This jumper on RealTV was definitely an accident waiting to happen. I'm sure in your experience you've seen a few low time jumpers that think they are invincible skygods, that was how this guy was protrayed on Real TV. I mean, I've jumped at Dillignham field and landing there is no joke. Anyone with that few jumps that's showing off and decided to hook it in there deserves the "bowling talk' in my opinion. In the long run, they do more damage to our sport than it's worth. "I live to EFS" Tom

I understand what your saying Bill, but I just think there are two types of skydivers out there: 1) Safety conscious jumpers (of course that is a relative term to our sport) and then 2) The "accidents waiting to happen" jumpers. This jumper on RealTV was definitely an accident waiting to happen. I'm sure in your experience you've seen a few low time jumpers that think they are invincible skygods, that was how this guy was protrayed on Real TV. I mean, I've jumped at Dillignham field and landing there is no joke. Anyone with that few jumps that's showing off and decided to hook it in there deserves the "bowling talk' in my opinion. In the long run, they do more damage to our sport than it's worth. "I live to EFS" Tom

I was watching Real TV a few days ago, and saw a skydiving clip that really pissed me off. It was a jump in Hawaii and they showed the jumper in the plane on the way up and the voice over said "This is so and so, he is an "expert" skydiver, with over 200 skydives", and then they show a caption under his picture with his name and title of "Expert Skydiver". Anyways, after a totally unstable freefly, the video then shows Mr. "Expert" who decides to hook in his landing and basically he touches the ground about the same time as his canopy......two broken legs later.......(he hit HARD, he is one lucky son of a bitch!) Real TV called the hook an "advanced canopy landing technique that should only be attempted by experts" (like this yahoo with 200 jumps). The best part of the clip was a post crash interview with the jumper in a hospital bed with two full leg casts. He was laughing and joking saying "well, I won't be trying that again any time soon...ha ha ha", not even realizing how close he came to dying. This guy should trade in his rig for a bowling ball in my opinion........Anyways, that's my precoffee rant for the morning! That guy is a darwin award waiting to happen. "I live to EFS" Tom (as a post script, it's not the jump numbers of the guy or that he hooked it in that pissed me off, I mean I know jumpers with 100 jumps that hook landings successfully, and thats cool if they respect the danger and know the consequences, but it was the totally arrogant attitude of this jumper and how Real TV tried to portray him as a cool danger seeker type, when in reality his caption under his name should have just said "DUMB ASS". Okay, I'm off my soap box!!!

I was watching Real TV a few days ago, and saw a skydiving clip that really pissed me off. It was a jump in Hawaii and they showed the jumper in the plane on the way up and the voice over said "This is so and so, he is an "expert" skydiver, with over 200 skydives", and then they show a caption under his picture with his name and title of "Expert Skydiver". Anyways, after a totally unstable freefly, the video then shows Mr. "Expert" who decides to hook in his landing and basically he touches the ground about the same time as his canopy......two broken legs later.......(he hit HARD, he is one lucky son of a bitch!) Real TV called the hook an "advanced canopy landing technique that should only be attempted by experts" (like this yahoo with 200 jumps). The best part of the clip was a post crash interview with the jumper in a hospital bed with two full leg casts. He was laughing and joking saying "well, I won't be trying that again any time soon...ha ha ha", not even realizing how close he came to dying. This guy should trade in his rig for a bowling ball in my opinion........Anyways, that's my precoffee rant for the morning! That guy is a darwin award waiting to happen. "I live to EFS" Tom (as a post script, it's not the jump numbers of the guy or that he hooked it in that pissed me off, I mean I know jumpers with 100 jumps that hook landings successfully, and thats cool if they respect the danger and know the consequences, but it was the totally arrogant attitude of this jumper and how Real TV tried to portray him as a cool danger seeker type, when in reality his caption under his name should have just said "DUMB ASS". Okay, I'm off my soap box!!!

Yeah, gonna be back again in March, for about a week, gonna try and jump at Spaceland and Waller while I'm there. The funny thing is, that my company actually pays for my jumps while I'm there........LOL YAHOO!!!!! "I live to EFS" Tom

I was ona business trip to Houston last winter, so I brought my rig and made some jumps out at Waller. One of the days I was there, some people were selling the shirts to raise money for the team. People always ask me if I am a part of the team.......LOL..........and I live in Boston........ "I live to EFS" Tom

The picture is a bit dark, but look closely at the shirt.......... "I live to EFS" Tom

I'm making my annual March treck from Boston to Louisburg to jump Paul's Casa for a week, March 11th through the 17th, just figured I see if any of you jump there? Or are interested in planning a DZ.Com road trip? "I live to EFS" Tom (ps-if it matters, I'm bringing a whole bunch of college age chicks to jump with! There will be boobies raining at CSS that week! One set belongs to my girlfriend, but there will be others!) LOL "I live to EFS" Tom

Oops, almost forgot, I wanted to add, that I was under the impression that the problem with the Crossfire was considered an "anomily", in that most canopies flew fine, and it was only a small population of canopies that were affected. The initial consumer concern was that at the time, no one could give a definative reasoning behind the anomily, and that seemed to scare people away. If the problem was in fact a subtle anomily, as it was widely speculated, then it would make sense that you could possibly jump your canopy a zillion times and not see a problem if your canopy was not prone to the problem, but that same statement that your canopy flew fine, would not negate someone else experiencing the speculated anomily and experiencing any unsafe buffetting. If it were absolutely identifiable, it wouldn;t be an anomily. Anyways, not trying to be a flame, just offering an opposing view. "I live to EFS" Tom

I've read alot of threads/posts about Icarus and the problems with the Crossfire, and I'll be the first to say, I'm not an expert, I only have 430 jumps and I have no affiliation with any canopy company. I had a Crossfire 129 on order from Icarus around August of 2002, and cancelled the order because of all of the safety issues that were raised at that time. I did a ton of research before canelling my order, talking with multiple riggers, multiple 2000+ jump canopy swoopers, and even a jumper sponsored by Icarus that jumped a Crossfire himself. (Not a Team Extreme jumper, just a competive swooper that was a regional sponsor for Icarus). Anyways, long story short, was there any definite reasoning established to say either way "Yes the canopy is safe, or No the canopy is not safe"? No. Nothing concrete. What was concrete was that no one was sure about anything. And I think alot of jumpers, myself included felt that if they were going to spend $1900 on a canopy, they wanted to be supremely confident in the safety of the canopy, and at that time, in the fall of 2001, most people weren't confident in the canopy. So, while I agree with you that Icarus may be getting unfairly flamed over all of this, the bottom line is that people have a right to voice their opinions whether good or bad. I mean, no other company in any otehr industry is above consumer criticism, so why should Icarus be put above it? If people want to complain about Icarus or voice their concerns on a public forum, they are certainly entitled to do so. (As a footnote, I love the Icarus Saphire, and don't have any problems with the company, and wish them well and hope they pull through this). "I live to EFS" Tom