deltron80

I don't think the public really cares when a skydiver dies.

For my first solo jump I basically just did nothing and the whole way down I couldn't believe I was skydiving alone! It's a pretty good feeling.

I asked that question on the forum then broke my ankle the next day so I think it's probably better to just not worry about it.

gaming is bad for your bone density. so is smoking.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/13/flight-attendant-record-fall-hoax Woman who fell to earth: was air crash survivor's record just propaganda? • Czechoslovakian air force may have shot down plane • Explosion story invented to cover up mistake, say journalists Kate Connolly in Berlin guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 13 January 2009 20.32 GMT She fell out of the sky from a height of more than 10,000 metres (33,000ft) and lived to tell the tale. By doing so Vesna Vulovic also became a national heroine and earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for surviving the highest fall without a parachute. But now the story of what happened to the Serbian flight attendant when the plane she was on apparently exploded mid-air 36 years ago, turning her into a cold war-era celebrity, has been challenged by two journalists who claim it was a fabrication by Communist authorities to cover up a mistake. Peter Hornung and Pavel Theiner, investigative journalists in Prague, claim the Yugoslav plane on which the 22-year old Vulovic was a flight attendant was probably mistaken for an enemy aircraft and shot down by a Mig fighter from the Czechoslovakian air force, causing it to fall and break up at a much lower height than previously believed. Vulovic was the only survivor of the incident on 26 January 1972, in which 27 people died. Based on secret documents, mainly from the Czech civil aviation authority, unearthed after more than a year of research, Hornung said he did not believe the aircraft was blown up by Croatian nationalists as the Yugoslav government, backed by Czechoslovakian authorities, claimed at the time. "It is extremely probable that the aircraft was shot down by mistake by the Czechoslovak air force, and in order to cover it up the secret police conceived the record plunge," he said. "The Czechoslovak secret police managed to spread this wild tale throughout the world," he added. "No doubts have ever been expressed regarding the fall. The story was so good and so beautiful that no one thought to ask any questions." The Yugoslav secret police also helped to uphold that version of the story, he said. Black boxes were never found. According to an official version of events Vulovic had been in the tail section of the plane, even though eye witnesses have repeatedly said they found her in or around the middle, above the wings. She suffered a fractured skull, broken legs, and three broken vertebrae. The new investigation says villagers from Srbská Kamenice, the Czechoslovakian village near the East German border where the Yugoslav Airlines DC9 fell on a wooded and snowy hillside, reported having seen the plane intact but on fire below the clouds before it broke up. That and the small area of crash debris indicated the plane had disintegrated at around 800 metres. A second plane was also spotted. Hornung, whose investigation was broadcast on German radio at the weekend, said his evidence showed the aircraft got into difficulty and diverted from its course. "It went into a steep descent and found itself over a sensitive military area" – just two flight minutes from a nuclear weapons storage facility. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and his East German counterpart Erich Honecker were reportedly in the air at the time after a conference in Prague, supporting the theory that the DC9 was mistaken for a military threat to them. Vulovic has no memory of the crash and can only recall boarding the Zagreb-bound flight before it took off in Copenhagen. When interviewed recently she said she would not be disappointed if the world record turned out not to be true. A spokesman for Guinness World Records told German paper Taz: "It seems that at the time Guinness was duped by this swindle just like the rest of the media." In Serbia respondents to news websites were attempting to repudiate Hornung's report. 'I have had nine lives' Vesna Vulovic, below, was on JAT Yugoslav Airlines flight JU 367 only because of a mix-up with another flight attendant with a similar name. She was left temporarily paralysed by the accident, but regained the use of her legs after surgery and physiotherapy. She took a desk job at JAT, but continued to fly, having no fear of flying - probably a result of the fact that she had no memory of the crash. But she was fired from her job in 1990 after expressing opposition to Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic and taking part in rallies against his rule. It is commonly believed that her fame prevented her arrest. In 1985 her plunge earned an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. She received the award from Sir Paul McCartney. Vulovic, 59, lives in Belgrade and is still considered a heroine throughout the former Yugoslavia. She continues to have an active but low-key role in politics, protesting against Serb nationalism. In an interview with the New York Times last summer, she said: "I am like a cat ... I have had nine lives. But if nationalist forces in this country prevail, my heart will burst."

I'm not sure about telephone systems, the internet, or the interstate highway system...Usually people guess the Great Pyramid of Giza. But apparently Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, NYC is the largest manmade structure on Earth :D

The great wall is the *longest* but not the biggest by volume...

What's the largest man made structure on Earth? No cheating!

"One out of every 1,000 skydivers will die while jumping." They put that quote up on the screen after a segment about a skydiving accident...I doubt that statistic is true and even if it is, it all depends on what they consider to be a "skydiver" and other factors. Stuff like this probably gives the public the impression that one in 1,000 tandems die.

cool much appreciated

Does anyone know where I can find one or more pictures from the ground zero demo that was featured in the most recent issue of parachutist?

sweet thanks

does anyone have a link to that awesome photo of a few otters coming toward the camera over (i think) lake elsinore from like a year ago? i've been searching for it and i can't find it

I'm sure this has already been posted, but wow. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352477,00.html

Regardless of whether there is gear available you'll probably find the AFF program a lot easier if you lose some weight. I'm 6'1" and was 215lbs when I did my AFF and I was very awkward in the door of the Otter and my instructors said I fell "very fast" :O Skydiving requires a lot more strength, agility, and coordination than I realized at first so it can only help to trim down. I also severely broke my ankle on my tenth jump. Be careful--jumping out of airplanes is serious business.

sounds like fun! http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/student-pilot-in-remakable-survival-tale/2008/03/27/1206207243994.html

On my way home from Vegas a couple weeks ago I forgot to take my cell phone out of my pocket and I set off the metal detector... I apologized sincerely, but the guy who searched and frisked me was a complete @sshole about it... He was flaunting his authority and trying to intimidate me -- what a jerk.

yikes! i'd freak out

My favorite car chase scene was in Ronin until I saw Death Proof... I've never seen Bullit, Vanishing Point, or French Connection... guess I have some movie watching to do.

I just want to wear a skydiving t-shirt. When can I do that?

http://into-the-abyss.ytmnd.com/

Last summer I broke my ankle pretty bad on my level 7 AFF jump ... They had trained me to do a PLF in the event of a "hard landing," but I didn't feel very confident with it. On that particular jump it didn't look like I was going very fast at all so I just tried to stand the landing. The thought of doing a PLF never even crossed my mind ... My instructor was apparently telling me to PLF, but I don't remember hearing him. I'm going to practice jumping off lots of high things before I return to finish AFF!

Well ironically enough, my 10th jump resulted in a dislocated & broken right ankle. I have 9 screws in my leg and won't be walking w/o crutches for 3 months, but I'm alive!

hi, I'm new to the sport and having a great time so far, although I'm still usually extremely nervous in the plane and the doorway... I try to de-arch in new and interesting ways on each exit to give my instructors a good show. I have 9 jumps so far including my first 2 tandems. I'm doing AFF 7 & 8 tomorrow, then hopefully my first solo jump! I was wondering if anyone knows of a good site or book with statistics or info on the safety of skydiving as compared to other activities like driving, motorcycling, hang gliding, etc. I'm sure it's been asked before, but I'm pretty curious about whether the whole "you have more chance of dying driving to the DZ" thing is true or not... The USPA website has a couple tidbits about it, but not much. Thanks