virgin-burner

mine tried to sell me one, and all i said was "no-no, i'll be back for AFF!" - "yea-yea".. still mocking that instructor with that (she's HOT).. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

See, even more of his 'mad skillzzzzz' that you ignorant skygods can't recognize!! ..says the 5-jump-per-year-average-(hardly) guy.. i bow to your excellence! “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

Have you ever been to the top and seen how tiny those windows are? You would have to be a midget to squeeze through there. i havent even been close to the US yet.. but i like our pal, and heck, damn me if i werent up for a jump with him sooner or later..

i'm in! “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

some friends got the bridle wrapped around both their legs; not so funny if you exit around 4000ft.. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

that was my first canopy at 60-something jumps.. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

no more fondue for you! “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

hey boris! i know there's at least one guy in this thread that's an awesome flyer; and you choose about the worst pilot to actually fly that suit.. i'm swiss like you are, i know your dilemma, and i'm very sympathic to you, keep the spirit moving! there ARE opportunities..

the safire2 made by NZ-aerosports is AWESOME!!! “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

you really dont need to! that's the great thing about having a discussion; you dont NEED to participate, but you can, if you want to!

thanks for making my point; if you dont have to look away, in your day-to-day operations (jumping at your dz and intending to land there), and having a device to tell you accustically, is not a bad thing; it will not only clear your head from looking at your analogue altimeter and having to guess how high you are, but it will afford you more time by beeping/telling you, ok, you may think about this or that NOW if you havent before.. i believe that's a pretty good thing for a "newer" jumper, isnt it!? “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

i wont quote the whole thing.. please excuse my ignorance!

i REALLY dont want to disagree with you dave, you have a lot of good stuff to say on these boards, and while i'm only a low-timer, maybe with a more "modern" background.. i still wouldnt want to disagree with you.. sure, learning a pattern you should be able to do so in your first - i dont know - 1-200 jumps maybe!? like, nailing it on the spot, within 10ft.. then you may downsize, like i may have done, then the speed is all different, heights are all different, you got to watch out with the other traffic and so on.. i dont really know how to put this accurately in feet, but for the metric guys out there, my N3 beeps at me at like 600 meters or thereabouts, telling me ok, you're getting low, may be time to find out about your spot in the pattern and get there.. after the optima and the solo told me first at 1800 meters, ok, dive's about to end, next thing is find a nice way out to actually separate, then another horn comes on at 1500 meters, ok, that is separation, NOW! at 1200 meters it tells me, ok my little friend, if you havent figured shit out, it may be time to do so and actually deploy your "chute"; that means i'm open by 900 meters! of course, i got all of those alarms set on both my audibles, so if one should stop working, and the "big picture" doesnt look right, i still got an alti on my wrist to double- and three-times check! after i've checked for traffic and if my "chute" was alive and well, and most of all, it was working, i may should look for my intended landing area; still got plenty of altitude to work with.. i may do a couple s-turns or even "spiral" a little, until the alarm on my wrist goes off; ok, 600- meters, better get in gears, AND, into business.. who's around, what size of canopies and approaches the guys i share my air with are flying.. ok, go a little faster, or a little slower, find my spot, and, go from there.. i may end up entering my "pattern" at the exact spot, and i didnt even have to look at my alti once, by that time.. and since the audibles in my helmet will go off at 300, 200 and 100 meters above ground, i may never have to take my concentration of my "visuals" only once.. i have lots of ressources for looking around, do my "home-work" regarding spot and what alterations i have to do and so on.. sure, it's flying by "beeps", and if a NEMP didnt happen, it's very unlikely for my (three) alarms intermediating with each other, to completely fail me.. yet, i only LOOK at what's actually around me! dave, as much as i respect you, PLEASE dont tell me that is wrong..

I believe you are taking BG's quote, and reference here - out of context. And therefore you are misapplying it, where it does not (here, for a beginner/student who does not even have BASIC PATTERN skills) apply. I believe you also need to take into account the context of the lesson (chapter) you are referring to, is (IIRC) in reference to set-ups for HP Landings! This is very specific, and I do not believe applies to the OP's situation. Visual analog altimeters, as are what are USUALLY issued to students, just are not accurate enough below 1k to be RELIABLY used effectively for this purpose. If he has one of the latest, specific to the application digitals, okay then - MAYBE. Otherwise though VB - IMHO, you are mixing apples and oranges, and providing advise that is designed for a specific purpose, then taking that advice and applying it to another purpose entirely - for which it was not intended, nor Germane (yes, bad pun intentional ). while you are right, and while you're not - i think pretty much everyone being able to read and comprehend, can take any chapter of said book and use it to their best - or worst - and get away with it; be it as a reasonable skydiver or a cripple on his crouches.. i was thaught a certain way, and while i'm still listening to the "approach" my instructors told me, i may vary WAYS off what you think may be "apples / applicable" (check my profile if u're interested).. and yea, having some sort of "reliable" alti, be it accustic or visual, has helped in certain ways.. if nothing else, it told me not to do some sort of "panic maneuvre" after a certain signal.. and yes, i'm used to a VERY congested landing-area, and lots of crosswinds- and even some downwind-landings as well.. sometimes painfully, most of the times well deserved.. and, teaching a good lesson as well! “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

yay! congrats to ryan.. now for next month's entry, i may aid you in your approach by sending you an X amount of $ to the account of your choice; just send me a PM! oh, i jump a mindwarp with all the work being done on it.. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

hence, you better use TWO altimeters, or better yet, THREE; two audibles and a digital one! after all, HIM, the allmighty BG has said IT..

What do you think a dytter is, genius? It's an altimeter, and truthfully if you're going to use one for flying your pattern, the audible one is what will keep your eyes up and looking for traffic. The visual one will have you glancing back and forth from it to your surroundings, reducing the quality of your traffic scan. How about not using either one? Use your eyeballs to fly your parachute where you want to go? As a student, you can reference it AFTER you have looked and determined you are at the correct altitude to check the accuracy of your 'eyeballing', but after that you should just be flying your canopy with your brain and eyeballs. like in the last few days, i've had the same discussion with that old fart from STF the other day; and while i only re-urgitated loosely, i'll try to give an exact answer to what BG has said in his book.. here goes: "Use your altimeter for se-up. Despite what many experienced skydivers believe, visual acuity isn't all that relaiable. Airplane pilots use their instruments to aid in the approach, why do skydivers think they are so special? Maintain your altimeter, and use it!" lesson number six from HIS book.. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

Very cool... I will hit my 17th skybirthday this month. Gotta look up my profile on the other site to find out which day. You were probably in kindergarten or something then. I was actually in kindergarten at that time... 9 more days to my skybirthday - June 23, 1993

i just figured, i had my 3yrs skybirthday saturday! guess it's time to updat my proflie.. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

Never made the claim to be one - jump to conclusions, much? Certainly, starting way back on my 5th or 6th jump in AFF and since then, just for fun. But that's how we roll in the States. Again, jump to conclusions much? oh yes, u're the expert for separation, i read it all over here in this thread! oh, you mean you got unstable on your AFF, yea, that's how you roll in the states.. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

seeing you can give it can you take it? Hows your tracking going these days anyway? Just fine, thanks - but then again, it's been flatter than atmo since my AFF. How's your atmo going...been able to get flatter than 45 degrees yet? See THIS thread. Even the best trackers have a hard time breaking 1:1 glide ratio (which corresponds to 45 degrees). I find your comment unconvincing. I was actually speaking of my body position, to twit rhys - your comment just makes the point even more obvious that atmo isn't all that and a bag of chips. i think for the time being, your jumpnumbers havent changed, if any, over that period.. i managed to get 278 jumps in over that time, yet, i dont see the need to be an obvious expert like you claim to be.. have you ever had the possibility to experience different orientations than belly-to-earth in your 50!? “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

Yes, the Americans' contributions certainly pale in comparison to those of that well-known powerhouse, the Swiss Skydiving Community. like yves rossy you mean? or "solar impulse"!? interesting; i put some sort of intelligence ahead skydiving, unlike whatever you think is patriotism, and look what comes out? if you dont get the difference, you may very well be affected too? “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

and i would not.. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

maybe an indicator of american skydiving as well!? i mean, if you cant even get the terminology right.. how could you possibly be a competent skydiver!? “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

did you mean you're an idiot ?? I find it very telling that both piisfish and VB are the most familiar with this phrase. we're better live! “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda