Plummet

6 or 7 years ago, when I was first starting out, I had a Cruiselite that needed some help. A rigger in Texas (Leonard Moorehead) was offering a coating process. I had him do it for me. It changed the "Bruiselite" into a completely different canopy. It was well worth the money. That being said, not long after that, I had an opening that broke 2 lines (center 2 A-B lines, just below the cascade). So I had it relined. While the coating helped out alot, having new lines made an even greater improvement. Damn. Posting this made me think about getting it out and flying it again. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

30 some-odd years ago, I did the minimum required to graduate high school ("He's such a smart kid, if he'd only apply himself"). I have decided that event is no longer worthy of wearing the ring on my finger (OK, so I have a hard time letting go). I wanted to get a USPA ring but the USPA no longer sells them. Does anyone (especially those disillusioned with the USPA) have one that they are not wearing any more and willing to sell? I believe that I could get it sized to fit. I saw the new ad in the Parachutist for ClassicRings, but I'd really rather have the USPA ring. Thanks !! -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

Dude !! Congrats !! But you have no idea how much you scared me. I did not know you had another daughter. Peace, -Older but not even close to being a grandpa yet. http://home.wi.rr.com/plummet

I don't believe in reincarnation. I did in a former life but not any more. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

We sure do !! We are out every weekend if it is even remotely jumpable. What is really beautiful is to be the first to land after a good snow. Stick the landing, and then look around at the snow. No foot prints anywhere. C'mon out !! -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

We have one by us. He is a local radio personality. OK, he's only done a couple of tandems but he swears he is hooked and is going to go through AFF in the spring. He's going to need some really short risers. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

Oh? That is for bum washing ?????? I thought it was for .......... whoops ......... forget I posted anything. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

www.washletoffer.com The videos are hilarious !! And they are serious (I think) ! -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

Check out my web page. Most of those pics were with a disposable. I started off with a Kodak "Weekend" camera. It is a disposable underwater. It has a good sized rubber band as a wrist strap. Fairly easy to hold on to, but winding takes both hands. It can be done. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

The cool way to do it is to get out straight up over the drop zone. Then let the wind take you and see how far away you can get. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

I'm wiped out at the end of the day as well. I don't understand it though. All we do is take a short walk to the plane, ride to altitude and then coast all of the way down. No physical effort at all. That's my kinda sport ! -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

Glad you made it OK !! We miss you already !! -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

http://members.tripod.com/~Plummet/bored.html -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

I have many goals in life and more than a few in skydiving. One of these goals was to jump a round parachute. On Tuesday, July 29, 2003, I accomplished that goal. I made a round, static line style, jump from our Cessna. I had no plans to land the 35ft. "TU" canopy. Many people said landing the round would be fine. The canopy I was jumping had been used to train students for years. I deferred to the will of my less-than-perfect knees. I try to protect them so that I can jump for years in the future. So, the plan was for me to exit with the round canopy, ride it for awhile, chop it, return to freefall and then deploy my Omni 183.5, leaving me with my normal reserve in case of trouble. The rig that had contained the round has a container that is detatchable from the harness. I wore that harness underneath my regular sport rig. The setup was a little tight, but not cumbersome. Because I was not wearing a container for the round main, I had to hand carry it, enclosed in the deployment bag. I was on a load with a student who was doing his first freefall. After he exited, we ascended to 7,000'. I guessed at the exit point as I didn't have a great deal of experience spotting under these conditions. After checking everything I climbed out on the step. While I am doing this, Holli was maintaining order out of the bag and all of the loose lines. I crouched low, because I wanted to be sure to clear the door and to make sure that everything happened over the top of me. I let go and almost immediately I had a very soft opening. There I was, hanging under a round canopy at just under 7 grand. Yeeeeee haaaaaaa !!! I gave the canopy a cursory check. I'm not sure of what to look for other than the obvious. The first thing I noticed was two gaping holes in the back of the chute. I was pretty sure they were supposed to be there. Even if they weren't, it didn’t matter, the thing was working and I was going to chop it anyway. Although I was definitely descending, I didn't sense much speed because I had no forward movement. I pulled down a toggle and the canopy rotated. That was about it. It wasn't steering as such. I rode the canopy down to about 4,500' where I decided to chop it. I wanted to make sure I had enough time in case I had any problem. I released the wooden toggles and got mentally prepared. I pulled down the Capewell covers and put my thumbs in the rings. I pulled the rings sharply and felt the “click” of the release. For half a second, I didn’t sense any real movement so I Iooked up and saw that the canopy had indeed released. Then I was falling, feet first. I wasn’t at terminal velocity yet, and flailed like a geek. I had an instant flashback to my balloon jump exit a few years ago. Finally I flipped over into position and deployed my main canopy. I thought that I would be uncomfortable hanging in the two harnesses but it was just a bit tight, no biggie. I landed and looked up into the air for my cutaway round. It was still WAY up there. The canopy had cross connectors and stayed inflated. I casually walked back from the circle to the clubhouse, dropped my gear, and removed two harnesses and a jumpsuit. I grabbed my wallet and keys and headed out to try and retrieve the canopy. I drove about 5 miles, staying under or nearly under the canopy the whole time. That is until about 800’ when I ran out of roads underneath where the canopy landed. I searched for a few hours, including about one hour by boat (Thanks, Don!) but to date the canopy hasn’t been located. Oh well, it was well worth losing a $30.00 canopy for that great experience. I had underestimated the thrill of cutting away. Meeting the goal of jumping a round canopy was great, but chopping a “perfectly good canopy” was a real rush! It really was like having two skydives in one. I’m getting another round canopy. That was just too much fun not to do again! -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

The second one makes more sense, obviously. However, I agree that we should leave things the way they are ..... as far as the organization goes. The publication is a different story. Didja ever notice that "Parachutist" only covers skydiving and "Skydiving" covers all parachute endeavors? Maybe they should swap names? -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

Little Johnny's teacher was giving the mandatory sex education class. Because Little Johnny was in the class, she was dreading it more than anything else she had ever taught. The teacher starts by asking the class, "Who knows anything about sex?" A few hands are raised. Little Johnny is in the back waving both hands excitedly. The teacher knows better than to call on Johnny and calls on Billy instead. "What do you know about sex, Billy?" "I have a dog and it had 4 puppies. That's what I know about sex." The teacher told Billy that was very good and looked around the classroom again. Little Johnny is frantically waiving his arms again, but she calls on Becky instead. "I have a cat and it had 9 kittens. That's because of sex." said Becky. The teacher continued asking around the classroom until only Little Johnny was left. Unable to avoid it any longer, she cringes and asks Johnny to tell what he knows about sex. Little Johnny stands up at the front of the classroom and starts his story. "The Lone Ranger is caught in an ambush. To the left of him, 100 indians. To the right of him 100 indians. Directly in front of him, another hundred indians. He checks his ammo and finds out he only has 3 bullets left. Carefully he takes aim to the left. BANG! One shot, down go 100 indians. BANG ! Another shot and the indians to the right go down. BANG ! One more shot and the final 100 indians go down." And then suddenly, Little Johnny goes back to his desk and sits down. The teacher, more than a little perplexed, says, "That's a very nice story, Johnny, but what does that have to do with sex?" Little Johnny stands up and says, "It only goes to show that you don't fuck with the Lone Ranger !! -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

Dead Cat http://members.tripod.com/~Plummet/deadcat.html -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

I hold a dropzone record for number of 15-second delays to move on to 30-second delays. I wsa convinced that they had a bowling ball right around the corner for me. It took me 13 times before I "met the targeted learning objectives". I persisted, because I wasn't particularly unsafe, I was having fun, and I was SKYDIVING! They didn't give up on me. Eventually, I learned how to "ride the bike". And I'm still having fun! -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

I have (psycho) packed my parachute blindfolded. From start to finish, with no one watching me except my whuffo wife. The hardest part was identifying the lines as I flaked. I took my time and had confidence that I knew what I was doing. I jumped it the next day and it opened the same as it always has. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

My Protec is off to him and anyone else who does choose to jump blind. What I did was nothing. I always had the option of bailing and ditching the glasses. They are into the jump for the duration. Aren't we all? -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

The spot is only important if you care where you land ! -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

The plan all along was to ditch the goggles at the first sign of trouble. But, when we were discussing it, Tom did say something to the effect that if I was under a reserve he would assume that I had removed the goggles and would quit talking. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

I wear a Protec. I always wear the goggles with the strap directly over the middle of the ear. I was taught to put it there in case the goggles fog up. Then you can pull them down without ripping your ears off. There has been more than one occasion where I've had to do that. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

The first step in any mal was to pull down the goggles. That is why I chose a higher altitude for a h-n-p. After that, any mal procedure would be the same as normal. I went through the skydive quite a bit with the goggles on, to try to envision as many scenarios as possible. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.

I made a complete skydive today, blindfolded !! Bored skydivers on a weather hold ......... Those words hold as much promise as “No shit, there I was. Thought I was gonna die ........” Yesterday, waiting for blue sky that never came, one of our instructors was relating how bringing in a student on the radio was just like flying himself in and that the student may as well be blind. One thing led to another and here I am today, making a skydive blindfolded. I want to stress that this wasn’t done purely on a whim. There was much thought and planning put into the execution of the jump. For me, skydiving is taking something that is inherently unsafe and making it safe as possible. I took a pair of goggles and completely covered them with electrical tape. I was not able to see anything with them on. The instructor and I talked at length about the jump and all of the possibilities. The number one consideration was that I could bail at any point in time simply by pulling down the opaque goggles and carry on with a normal skydive. All of the possible “what ifs” were discussed and it was determined that the jump was doable and survivable. I jumped from 5’000’ wearing a student Manta. I picked the altitude because that would give me plenty of time in case something went wrong on the hop-n-pop. It also allowed Tom to see me from exit to the ground. I wanted the Manta because the really “iffy” part of things was going to be the landing (Duh !) and that would probably give me my best range of acceptable landings. I spotted the C182 and then donned my special goggles and helmet. I asked the pilot for the door and he (I later found out) nodded yes. I asked him again and this time he answered me. I checked with the guy who was “jumpmastering” me. He thought the spot was a tad long but otherwise OK. I was set to go. I dived out and had no problem getting stable. I took about a 3 second delay and then reached for ripcord. I consciously did not do this automatically, I wanted to make sure that I grabbed the ripcord and not try to find a hackey that wasn’t there. No problem. The canopy opened and I quickly stuffed the ripcord away. One of the steps I thought might be a problem was finding the toggles. After I was pretty sure that I was under a functioning canopy, I slid my hands up the risers and found the toggles. I’m still jumping my winter gloves but didn’t have any trouble getting my hands in the toggles. Right about then, the radio crackled to life and Tom started to talk to me. We did plenty of turns and practice flares and determined that the canopy was performing as desired. Because I had pulled so high, there was plenty of altitude to play. Tom was diligent about keeping me informed about where I was and at what altitude I was except the one time he told me I was “over the trees”. We jump in Wisconsin! There’s trees all over the place! It was more funny than a problem because he had to know where I was, I didn’t. I “felt” that we were close to the ground as he set me up for final. The moment of truth was close at hand. Tom gave me the “wait......... wait ........ wait .............. FLARE !!” command and I did. It came faster than I had anticipated. My flare was a little weak and I hit the ground before I was through flaring. I didn’t see it coming so my body was relaxed. As soon as my heels impacted, I did my version of a PLF and I was down. I ended up sitting on my butt and was not hurt in the least !! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!! I couldn’t get up fast enough and so I sat there giving Tom the thumbs-up and started yelling, “I’m all right ! I’m all right !”. It was a flashback to my student days, except I was blind yet. I got up and was elated! I felt like it was my first jump all over again. I survived !! I’m still walking a couple feet off the ground. This is an example of yet another great aspect of our sport - TRUST. How many times on each jump day do we trust our very lives to another. Yes, this was an extreme example, a little more than the “fall backward and I’ll catch you” thingy. All the same, I love this sport, it is the greatest in the world! Thanks to Tom, and Mark, and the unnamed pilot. I couldn’t have done it without you. (Boy, that would rate right up there on the Darwin scale, trying it without them! ) I am not naive enough to think that I am the first to have done this. I would be interested in hearing from others that have. -Jeff. http://www.iplummet.com Common sense and common courtesy are NOT common.