fasted3

Practice. Solos are good, groups are better. Coaching - with video. Practice some more. Do tricks. Backfly. For safety: Know the flight plan and follow it. Inform others on the load, including the pilot. Carry a cell phone. Tracking is fun. Be careful. My guess is 80 mph ground speed with no wind and a regular jumpsuit. But what do I know?

I agree with you 100%. If they don't tell you, ask! And for the record, I went to Raeford with 85 jumps. They checked my equipment, logbook, and license before I jumped. I was given a thorough briefing to include exiting a low tail aircraft. Several older jumpers took me in and gave me an advanced course in skydiving, for free. I find it hard to believe that a young jumper was able to slip thru the cracks there. If it did happen, I would think it an exception, not the rule. In any case, it is still the jumpers responsibility to ask those questions. But what do I know?

I watched the teaser on how to fly for time. Today: 3:16 Thanks Justin! But what do I know?

Great story! Pulling in a track has seen a lot of debate on here. I'm surprised we haven't heard more from the 'don't do it.' side. As a wingsuit flier, I always do it that way, and really enjoy the soft openings. My guess is sub 100 mph easily. I agree with your premise, even when tracking without a suit, and have done it many times. So I wondered why some were convinced it caused hard openings. I think I know now. The key is doing a good track. It takes some work to fly good enough to slow down your vertical speed enough to make it work. If you're not careful, you could be doing more 'atmonauti,' or freeflying, than tracking. PS, flying a wingsuit does not automatically make one track like a bird, especially if it's been a while jumping without it. But what do I know?

Lighter exit weight comes to mind. But what do I know?

Good thread. I'm going to practice some emergency exits just for grins.

If you go over 30 days you will likely have to repeat the previous level. As you progress you will see the value of currency, and what it means in this sport. Delays mean that it takes a few jumps to get back to where you were, and even a few weeks will take the edge off your skills. A lot of us hate to miss even one weekend. But look at the bright side... No more wondering what to do with any spare money you have! Have fun.

Wingsuits! It was 06 before I saw the first one - a youtube video. Seeing that changed my life, but it seemed impossible. I was already too old, I thought, to be able to do it; I hadn't even made a skydive. Well, at least I could do that, so off I went to Cal City. I grew up near there, and had even made a bungee jump near the drop zone in 1980. There I met a jumper older than me who turned out to be a wingsuit pioneer. He was on the plane for my tandem, and his jump inspired me to sign on for the full ride. Thank you Tom Sitton! One year later I was making my first wingsuit flights, and since then it's been all I imagined, and then some. And one other thing: I feel younger now than when I started! But what do I know?

I hadn't thought of bugs either, and your story alone is enough to convince me not to do it again. As for 120 mph wind in my eyes, can't see well, etc. that's what was so surprising. I think my eyes would blow out of my head on a belly jump, but in flight it was more comfortable than riding my bicycle. Still, getting away with something doesn't make it a good idea, so unless I need to loan them to somebody again, I'll wear goggles. But what do I know?

Anybody tried it? I did, and was surprised to find how easy on the eyes it was. No helmet or goggles felt good on a cloud solo, and I could see fine. But what do I know?

I'm with you Lurch! And hey, the pioneer days aren't quite over dude; I'm that guy now at Gold Coast. It's always great to see a visting bird, and a few are taking it up now, but a lot of times it's just me and the puffies. We get great ones here but I'm not a photo or vidiot yet, so can't offer any of my own shots. I'd post some video links with me flying in some good ones, but speaking of bickering and cynicism, won't this time. Wheaties taste better without piss, I've found. So yeah, I know what Z is talking about, and appreciate your cloud break. I'm loving the pics, seeing myself zooming along the edges of them and dreaming of the next time I will be. This would be a better place with more of your writing; thanks, and keep it coming. But what do I know?

I agree that you're advice is very good, and would have made me a better ws pilot from the beginning. I followed a different path, so will offer my thoughts as to why I did. I was never that interested in skydiving until I saw a wingsuit video, and from that moment I was hooked. I started skydiving at age 56 just so I could fly. At 50 jumps I was tracking on most jumps, always looking for people to track with. On solos I tried the moves I'd watched on vids at your website: barrel rolls, front and back loops, etc. I did some RW stuff that was fun, but preferred tracking above all else, and added a tracking suit at about 100 jumps. By 200 jumps I was pretty good at tracking and not much else, but I was flying in an Intro suit and having the time of my life. Since then I've flown in groups, some pretty good size, and although I make no claims to great skills, I haven't hurt anybody or killed myself getting to this point, and have learned a lot in almost 300 flights. Don't get me wrong; my advice to a younger guy would be to take your time and learn and enjoy skydiving to the max first - it WILL make you a better pilot. In some cases an individual may be driven by the wingsuit, and in those cases, I do think that tracking skills are most applicable to WS flying, and high on the list of skills to have before the first flight. I understand you're points about RW and FF, but I'd like to see a good bit of tracking, including flips, rolls, and group flying, no matter how many total jumps a person has. I'm 58 now, and hoping for many years ahead of me in the sky. Realistically, I know those years are numbered, and I don't regret getting to the WS as soon as I could. My path has been the most fun for me. My post is not to argue with you, just to say that there are many ways to nirvana, and while yours is the better, it isn't the only way. But what do I know?

We are not plutonium atoms. People can be broken down into sub groups. For example, certain age groups have more car accidents than others. Certain styles of driving are safer than other styles. We can modify our risk by our choices and our behavior. Both for driving and skydiving, there is more to it than statistics. We may not be able to change the overall number, but we can change the odds of being one of them. But what do I know?

I didn't get upset with your question; I think it's a good one. Did you get upset at my answer? My point is that, while everybody can have an opinion about this, most are not able to do anything about it. I'm not, so you don't have to call me sir. The last line might be hard to understand. I said that because I usually land after everybody else. But what do I know?

sorry, didn't feel like reading all the responses. I would not be in any position to stop you from jumping at my dz. If I were to read everything, I may WANT to stop you. But it's not up to me. so If they let you jump... I may have to jump with you whether I want to or not. So I'll just jump and hope you don't kill me. You probably won't But what do I know?

You didn't but I did. I have been informed that my recent comments have indicated that I am blaming or pointing fingers in regard to this incident. For the record: I was not there, nor do I know any more than I have read on these forums. I do not know who was involved with this incident, and I am not blaming any instructor, coach, friend, or anybody else. My main point in the first place was to stress that the ultimate responsibility for our gear lies with us. Saying it should never happen was meant to be a general statement, and I was more referring to looking forward than looking back. However, I can see where this could be misinterpreted, and I am sorry if it was. Had I been there, I don't think I could have influenced any of the factors that may have played a part in the incident, or changed the outcome. My statements have also not been meant to minimize the fact that this was a low number wingsuitor. I readily acknowledge that it may well have been a major factor, and my choice to address the gear issue was not meant to disagree or downplay that assessment. But what do I know?

A seizure during a skydive is a scary thought! Nobody wants that, and this disease increases the risk, although it can be well controlled in most cases with medication. Simply being free of this disease does not guarantee not having a seizure. Accidents cause them sometimes, and an undetected disease could manifest itself this way in anyone. It can happen to anybody. The greatest risk if it does is to the individual having the seizure. Granted, there is also a possibility of others being involved, but that risk is much smaller. I do think the DZ should be informed of all medical conditions, and the ultimate decision rests with them. They should screen out people that shouldn't jump, for whatever reason. Bottom line is that I don't feel the need for an epileptic to disclose their illness to me. If they are willing to accept the risk of jumping, so am I. But what do I know?

Same here. For that simple fact, it is not a question of having them on or not. If I'm geared up, I do. It is a nice side effect that I haven't forgotten them. Anyway, thanks for the responses and votes. My main purpose was to voice my opinion that the sooner you put your leg straps on, the less likely you are to forget to put them on at all. Some have expressed the opinion that it makes no difference. If so, we shall agree to disagree.

'they're in need of assistance from someone not so distracted.' I agree with this completely. In fact, this is THE TIME to really take some time and make sure they get it. As I said, I did it myself, and still remember the lecture that followed, even though I wasn't even through gearing up. It wasn't just 'DON'T DO THAT!' It was a practical and thorough explination that still stays with me. It resonated with my diving experience, so it was easy to relate to for me. I've learned from this thread, (flames too. ) Chest strap problems happen a lot. Despite that, hardly anybody jumps without it on or with it misrouted. So it is getting done safely for the most part. Hats off to all that have or will make this happen. The sooner a skydiver becomes self reliant, the better, IMO. This should never lead to complacency. I do appreciate those that look out for me. I do not rely on them for my own gear. Thanks for your time.

Thanks Bill, this is a good contribution to the discussion. For me getting the twists out is part of putting it on right, so I do check for that before threading the buckle. #3 Requires a concious decision to do it wrong. Training and education SHOULD eliminate this. #1 - forgetting to do it at all. I did not consider this to be mis-routed, but will concede that it is. This is the final step with my rig, so the check for it must be tied to something else. In my case it's zipping up the suit. Going under the chest strap with the zipper is the check on it. If I zip up and don't hit the strap, something is wrong. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Each step confirms that the one before is done before moving on. The objective is to work on wiring my brain to prevent mistakes. Telling myself to be sure to remember to do something is very unreliable. Instead, I concentrate on HOW to remember things. Setting a routine with built in check points is a good way to do it. For those that want to argue that no system is perfect: Fair enough. If you think NO system is better, then use that one. It's all about YOU. This system has been perfect for me, so far. I believe that it will ALWAYS work for me. Upon reflection, I think I'll take back the '...hope I fall out.' one, if that's OK with y'all. I still bet my life on having my stuff on right, as do all of us. We should all win that bet. Peace

I agree. I have described one step of a process. Feeling confident that I am performing that step properly when I'm doing it is no reason to stop being vigilent. By all means continue your checks! I recheck my leg straps too. Check of threes is great, and BTW another example of grouping tasks to eliminate mistakes. The poll results show that some are confident enough to pick the dreaded 'never.' I think they realize that mistakes do happen, but think that they won't make that one. I hope they are right, and think it is possible that they will indeed never misroute their chest strap. I doubt if anything will prevent it from ever happening again, as it seems to be common for so many of us. Education and training is what I needed, and thankfully I got it before I made that mistake at a critical time. So don't slack off a bit, especially for the new folks. We bet our lives that we put our gear on right every jump, don't we? Some risks can be minimized. I'm looking to do that all the time for myself. I love skydiving and want to keep doing it as long as possible. I am comitted to self discipline. I've made mistakes; too many. I'm a forgetful person. I do what I feel is necessary for ME to get stuff right. I won't tell anybody they have to do it MY way. I won't even tell everybody they have to do it right. I feel confident that I won't put on my chest strap half way then stop. I hope nobody else does it that way, and if they do, it probably means they need some education and training, not that they are an idiot. Maybe someone will get something out of this. I hope so. If it pissed anybody off, sorry bout that. But what do I know?

Stick around for a little longer, and you'll see you are wrong. Would you describe what I will see when I've been around long enough? Seriously, I'm here to learn. But what do I know?

Ummm, so if you never take your chest strap apart, it will NEVER get misrouted! So there IS a foolproof method. We are making progress. It's not the same method as mine, and I think it is even MORE foolproof than mine. If I thought I needed to do that, I WOULD. But mine is foolproof enough for me. Trite as it sounds. Think about it. What IS a misrouted chest strap? How does it happen? My theory is that people don't forget HOW to put it on. They just don't finish the task. They leave it half done, then make it LOOK right. This can be prevented, IMHO. You can train yourself to NEVER do this. Maybe there are other chest strap errors that I am not thinking of. Are there other ways to screw up? Are there better ways to remember? I don't have all the answers. The way I do it has worked so far. I am confident that it will continue to work for me. (Just in case anybody missed that.) Time will tell. Oh yes. I DID IT MYSELF. About jump 6 or 8. Guy saw me, tore me a new one. Told me to never do it again. Told me how. Just passin' it on. But what do I know?

OK, thanks for the tips. I promise to not be complacent. I will continue to hope that everyone has wonderful skydives and never messes up getting their equipment on. I get pissed off hearing about equipment errors, be they leg straps or chest straps, because I think those are preventable errors. Some people are pissed off at me for saying that. Why? It's an opinion. I get one too. If yours is that NOTHING we can do will prevent someone from messing this up, then that's fine too. Moving on. And BTW that last statement wasn't directed at anyone in particular... I offer my ideas about remembering critical stuff, take it or leave it. I don't think these ideas require me to be one who never makes a mistake, has any certain number of jumps, or whatever else you want to argue about. This isn't about me anyway. I have my own ways just like everybody else. They work for me, and if yours work for you then great! If you have any better ideas, speak up! If you want to find fault with me, well, this is dramazone. I do think some good will come of this being put on the front burner for a while. I hope you have examined the way you do things and done all you can to eliminate mistakes. But what do I know?

Good thought. There are pros and cons to the snap ons. Funny, my first fear is forgetting to hook them up. As for the rest, I wear a big ass wing suit. I'm the furthest from the door, and unless my parachute doesn't come out, I don't want anything to do with water. Those things don't keep me from thinking about it, and devising plans. I think you understand what I've been saying on here better than most. A professional learns the value of routines. With built in check points. Getting your gear on right is ths least of your problems. But you get it on right, every time... You do... right? But what do I know?