fasted3

I think Lurch gave a really good response to your question. For me, I could probably do it either way. Also, I don't stow the tail and just land with it behind me. So far so good, but it might bite me in the ass one day. But what do I know?

Thank you for your thoughts about this. This seems like a good time to point out two articles by Bryan Burke that address the horizontal travel problems we are seeing today with disciplines like angle flying and wingsuits thrown into the mix. http://www.dropzone.com/safety/General_Safety/The_Horizontal_Flight_Problem_935.html and, http://www.dropzone.com/safety/General_Safety/Implications_of_Recent_Tracking_Tracing_and_Wingsuit_Incidents_938.html Trackers can get out 2 miles away and still make it back, and wingsuits can travel 5 or more with a good tail wind. Bryan does an excellent job of explaining the problems and his solutions. But what do I know?

That was an option for a USPA response to this incident. In relation to the skydiving world, probably not much. People will react as they will, regardless of what the USPA does. For me, no USPA action is necessary at all. But what do I know?

Maybe, maybe not. We are the USPA, remember. Members need to complain. An S&TA needs to talk to an RD. The RD can petition the USPA. If there are enough complaints, then maybe. But it stops with us, the membership. We have to act. Stop passing the buck off on the "USPA". Get off your ass (not aimed at Spence) and become a squeeky gear. IMHO as always. OK, What do you want to do? If anything at all should be done, I think censure is enough. (Not that I'm going to get off my ass to tell the USPA that, I don't care one way or the other.) Even if they do nothing, I'm pretty sure Simon will be regretting his actions for a good long time, should he continue with skydiving at all. I don't need to stick in another knife. What do you want to do to him? Tar and feathers? I guess I'm kind of soft on mistake makers, having made one or two myself. But what do I know?

I'm glad to have one, I probably learned more on that skydive than the last 400 that I did. I learned that it's harder to peel the velcro than I expected, and that caused a short delay. Lesson learned, got to peel it, don't just pull it. When you get a repack, pull the handles. I learned that it's easy to not pull the cutaway all the way out. I didn't, but still went far enough to release both risers. Dumb! Lesson learned, pull that sucker all the way! Hope this helps. But what do I know?

That seems a bit high, but it depends on who you count. I think there are at least that many people that HAVE flown in a wingsuit, but less that currently do it on a regular basis. One or two thousand is my guess. But what do I know?

Not necessarily, as a properly timed flair could put you at zero vertical velocity within 30' of the water, granted with a horizontal velocity of probably about 150 mph. Now it's just a matter of killing off as much forward speed as possible before impact, er, touchdown. Piece of cake. Oh, and while this one is fake, Gary landing in the boxes was for real. But what do I know?

My longest flights came from when I got out far from the DZ and right away had to fly hard to make it back. When I tried to fly for slower horizontal speed, even though it seemed I was falling slower, my times were not as good. My conclusion is that just trying to get the very best distance over the ground you can will also give you the best times. Now if you really want to increase your time, try losing 10 lbs. But what do I know?

If you do it, get as far away from the tunnel as possible. It's loud, and they ran it a lot at night when I was there. Elsinore is not far away and the camping was much more enjoyable for me there. Jumping was excellent at both. But what do I know?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEP8juRSBRo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5_ITt2LM0A&NR=1&feature=fvwp Well, one guy did it. But what do I know?

My motivation for this post comes from discussions in the wingsuit forum, but it applies to all disciplines, as I've seen it happen to all; in fact, I've seen more out landings without a wingsuit than with. Full disclosure: I've landed out a lot, both with and without a wingsuit. No major problems, some good lessons learned, some good experiences, some not so much. My concern is that sometimes too much emphasis is placed on not landing out, especially directed towards wingsuits, and here is why. To me, an out landing is like a cutaway. It is not a normal event, and not a desirable part of any skydive. It is, however, something that sometimes happens, and if it is necessary, then it is best to just do it and not be stigmatized for making this decision. We should not discourage cutting away because having people stick with a bad canopy for too long is not something we want to see. It seems the same situation with landing out; we don't want people to do it, but it's better than 'get back itus,' leading to an unsafe landing. If you can't get back safely, then pick a good spot and land there. It's the safer option most of the time, and I know that almost making it back has led to some serious accidents. If you want to make it a big deal that everyone land at the DZ, you might be a factor in someone getting hurt. I guess that's enough to get this discussion started, if anyone wants to. Now for some entertaining BS personal observations. As stated, I've done it a lot, and a found a couple of folks that were all revved up to come get me when I did it, but when they got there, they gave me a ration of crap about doing it, like what a big imposition I was doing to them making them come get my ass. My solution was to carry a cell phone and immediately upon landing call the DZ to say I was OK and would not be needing any assistance getting back to the DZ. I'd rather walk than put anybody out. I also learned that the more you miss by, the easier it is to catch a ride back. Don't get me wrong, it is a mistake to land out, and it should be avoided, and usually can be. I take pride in not doing it much any more, but if necessary, I'll do it again. I don't want to cause a wingsuit ban, piss off Farmer McNasty, or cause any negative impact on skydiving, but if necessary, I'll do it in a heartbeat, and I'd recommend that anybody else do the same. But what do I know?

Even before I made my first skydive, Matt's videos played over and over on my computer. It was awesome to then meet and fly with him, and great to see him a few times since then. He always made me feel welcome and happy to be around him, in the sky and on the ground. His WS and camera skills are legendary, and he's a super guy. I think his selection was well deserved. Fast Ed But what do I know?

Spaceland is a great example of how to do it right. But what do I know?

- if it points the same direction for the entire load. Yes, that is important, and if there is a drastic wind shift at the wrong time, it will just have to be dealt with in the specified direction. What I'm shooting for is somebody to make the best decision as close to the landing window as possible, and the jumpers respecting that decision. But what do I know?

WooHoo! Pre-determined. I like that. I do too, but note that there is a provision implied that it can be changed if necessary. This should not be a problem if the indicator is readily seen from above say 1,000'. But what do I know?

I've seen the consequences of two people landing in different directions at the same time. The more people do it, the greater the chance of an accident. I'd like the most reliable methods adopted to prevent this, and in some cases, the big arrow, or indicator, is a great way to go. But what do I know?

This was the worst of both worlds. Everyone agreed the winds were quite squirrely, and did switch directions a lot over the weekend. Just the time for someone out directing landings, as conditions sometimes warranted a change from when the plane took off. But what do I know?

You have some other explanation for what you said? "Arrows are a great way to go, provided they have someone who can quickly move the arrow when the wind changes. " If you meant between loads, you need to be more specific. I will stand up for between loads. If this is done, almost all questions are eliminated about which way to land. I can see whole days where this won't need to be done, ie: when the wind is steady from one direction. So once in a while, somebody has to go out there and point the way down for the load. Before the first guy gets down, a direction is chosen and the arrow is pointed. The person holds it till the last one is down, and incidentally, observes every landing they can see. Anyone violating any other jumper's safety is noted and talked to. That's my idea. But what do I know?

Absolutely, and the proper course if you don't agree with the landing direction in the main landing area. But what do I know?

This works too, and I support this approach. But what do I know?

Yes! When the wind is steady there is no need to worry about it, but when it's light and variable, having somebody standing there is a good way to reinforce the landing direction. This person has made the call, and can also watch for any violators. Here is what I want to avoid: People landing in the same area going different directions. I think this is not the way to go. But what do I know?

Yep, that's why I like big arrows, easily seen from real high up. But what do I know?

Then what? At the last possible moment, you choose to land opposite to everybody else? ha ha. But what do I know?

I've posted before to promote large landing indicators at DZ's. My position was based on a marked improvement after my DZ installed a large arrow to indicate landing direction. It moved with the wind, and on days with a nice steady wind was the go to authority on which direction to land. Low wind, and squirrely wind days, not so much, but it seemed most jumpers followed the arrow, and chaos was small. I moved near Spaceland, which has a tetrahedron, and found good landing conditions there. Most jumpers follow it, even on low wind days. It is there, saying 'land in this direction,' and people do. So I go back to my old home DZ and find the arrow gone. Somebody hit it. Landing chaos. This is unacceptable. S&TA tries, states landing direction on the way up. Wind changes, I land downwind. No complaint. I then witness this conversation: Jumper: I'm landing into the wind. S&TA; No, you need to land the same direction as everybody else. Jumper: Fuck you, I'll land like I want. And he did. IMO, the arrow was a good thing. I know it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. But what do I know?

A two way tracking jump with my daughter. Her first one, and she was a natural. We flew shoulder to shoulder for what seemed like forever, flying like birds. I did a front flip and she repeated it perfectly and we kept going. 7 years and 665 jumps into it. That one was around jump 100 for me, and still the best. But what do I know?