GroundZero

Actually,I think it's gonna be one Kristi's pulled Boston Butts barbeque and the other Kristi's Crack Rum-aritas. Thinking something like a southern feed and carribean themed drink-athon. Been years since the watertower BASE incident, maybe we could do something like that again. The watertower has been removed but we do have the beacon tower... Chris

line twists don't matter.... jump a canopy that flies flat with twists and don't worry about. I used to get linetwists all the time... no mods, just same old gear... but my canopy is ok with twists so i don't care... More recently (about 300 jumps ago?) I got the Berger bag and not a twist since. Chris

I am opposed to the "exit first". As an experienced skydiver, Bird-Man and jump pilot and dzo, I feel confident that "exit first" is a recipe for fatality. I strongly voiced my opinion to Bryan Burke last year, but it would have been more dangerous to change plans midstream and have people, uninformed exiting at both ends of the stick. It is the Bird-Man's responsibility to stay clear of the following traffic, whether it is the plane 2 minutes behind or the jumpers exiting your same plane after you. Easy enuf for me and other experienced Birds, but when one novice is introduced to the mix... all rules are off. I was on a (plane) load with a bunch of Bird's including one newbie (my student). It was a huge chain of bad events that lead to a very dangerous situation.... It rained most of the afternoon; the 3:00 load kept getting backed up. We launched just before sunset (1). There were still some clouds in the area (2). Birdmen exit first (3), what a great ride on the ramp to altitude, most comfortable ride in a (plane) ever! Multiple go arounds because of clouds (4)... (refer back to (1)). Pilots seem to make the go-arounds quicker... somewhat tighter radius on each pass. Some jumper helps spot from tailgate (me) and tells loadmaster "there's the town" (5). Loadmaster screams, "Exit, Exit, Exit!! (6). I scream "No this is the wrong side of town", but exit anyway. (7) I line up first out with my newbie (his english is as bad as my spanish...(8), and out we go... The run-on speed was excessive, my guess is 140-160 kts. (9)... I exit and fly hard above the tall tail (10). My student exits and cartwheels across the sky. (11). When he recovers he has dropped low and is flying directly at the following 100-ish jumpers following. He continues to look at the clouds below and never saw the group of jumpers he was flying through. A FF group had jumpers on all sides of him. (12...look where you're going too.) As Murphy always lurks... he was jumping a demo canopy (13), one of ours, (doh!) Deployment was a bit funky... spins up and chop. He lands safely and I try to follow the cutaway shit.... but it's getting dark (see #1, again!) Everyone survived, everyone checked in at manifest to prove we lived. Exits at WFFC MUST be last for Bird-Men! Or we should consider no newbies/students. It is far easier to direct the newbie away from traffic that is 2 minutes away than to try to keep the fledglings away from the guys exiting right behind them. After many conversations with the S&TA and Air-boss at Rantoul last year, expect to exit last and fly outside pattern for the upcoming year. We can fly any aircraft north or south jumprun, communicate with pilots if needed. It is as simple as see the runway, fly away from it and stay outside... and open high if you feel the need, cause we flew way outside of jumprun. We will exit last at WFFC this year, Chris

what he said... I still can fly my slowest times in my classic... the Skyflyer can do the same, but i cover many more miles... Never underestimate the classic. Chris

It feels like (and is) flying... I've never seen a bird get bored with flight and decide to start walking instead. Chris

*** exactly! I'll be there! Chris

Yes... In South Carolina... Pilot was best man, person killed was groom... a wedding at the DZ. Airplanes work best at altitude. Chris

Yea... what he said Chuckie... hehehehehe Chris

Get it right away... can take 6 weeks, (or pay for expedited service.) While You're doing that. You'll need to request an invitation to get the Visa required. The Invite is rather simple and commercial, then on receipt of your passport, you'll need to get the visa for entry. All pretty straight forward, but start now. If you need help, email me and I'll show you the steps as I know them. Chris chris@NOSPAMprecision.net

Please feel free to contact me directly if you ever have any concerns with service or our products. I hesitate to jump into what is growing into a revisited witch hunt, but I do want to make myself available for any questions. Customer service and highest quality products are my primary concern. Sincerely, Chris Martin Precision chris@precision.NOSPAMnet 423-949-4688 I personally do not suck, I am purely heterosexual...

I figured out how bad the place was in just a few days... damn that travel agent!

Haiti? Chris

Egon from Relative Workshop, someone who feels very comfortable with the tandem system. All in an effort to expand the utility of a terrific system. We called it R&D. (and a helluva lotta fun!) Chris

Well my good friend had never done a Bird-Man jump so I felt it would be safer do do it tandem... he did quite well. Nice videos and I hope to get some stills to post. Chris Neat biplane thing!

No chance... Tennessee is somewhat conservative... Chris (but we want to support Nader here too! (hehehehehe))

OK... No more then and than mistakes. I am exhausted by the people meaning "then" and type "than"cause it sounds (almost) the same.... Grammar police here people! Figure it out or your posts are meaningless as you look like a fool. Chris Please, you make us all look like fools! Sorry, just a major pet peeve, you have to understand. (edited for spelling, how "foolish" of me!)

Exactly... Well said Paul. Chris

hehhehehehehe

You can't smoke in a balloon! Lots of flammable gas there... unless you fly with me... shit that big flame overhead is more likely to cause damage than my lil smoke! Chris

Bernoulli's is a school teachers easy way to teach what he/she does not understand. Not generally accepted by all. But you learned it above any other aerodynamic theory... and it proves itself well. Good questions, keep asking... (Personally I don't buy into Bernoulli, but that's a whole different thread!) Chris

Ok, I have to jump in here. Seems like 2 groups of responses here. 1) It's added responsibility and risks. Don't do it. ...These are coming from people who sound uncomfortable with the whole idea of tandem in the first place, even if they have 1000+ tandem skydives. Prior to doing hand-cam tandem videos, you should be VERY comfortable with your abilities as a tandem instructor. Period. (This group also includes video people who feel they are being passed by.) or... 2) I have experience with the system and I see it's merits, while understanding the additional workload. As a dzo (yes, the guy who reaps the additional profits and makes unlimited "free" jumps...), the system has great merits. As a tandem instructor, it captures the MOST important part that everyother video person has missed on every tandem skydive I've made, the first comments after deployment. I challenge any video person to show me the under-canopy footage of the grandmother talking about her orgasm. You video people miss the Most important shot. Sorry, but you all seem to go do your own thing at this point... you should really find a way to hang around and film the subject at their greatest moment. Until you can, this medium far surpasses yours. The video is about the student, and every conventional video person does not have the capabilities that the tandem person has to be there the entire skydive. Added workload and responsibility, damn right! It was one step up getting your rating. It will be a step up again when you can capture every moment of your students experience. The skydive is about the student, this is the way to capture it all. It does require experience and a certain comfort level that many will never have. The comments about the frame grabs of the student after exit, pre-drogue are unfounded. There were days with no drogue and we flew those fine. The purpose of the drogue is to ease deployment. Stability caused by the drogue is secondary... if you are drogue dependent for stability, you are in the wrong field. Until you fully understand this concept, and have experience with it, do not condemn it. Tom, perhaps Rob can send you a loaner. After jumping it, in whatever way makes you comfortable, I'd love to hear your comments then. Chris

Shit!... The rum is gone? Damn that Rob! Who else to blame. We should head back to Nagaubo...(spelling?) Thanks Selwin, fun time! Chris

shave...yea, but wax... we're guys not that tough... (waxing, girls way of scaring suddam, et al)

Bad Spot.... Pull High, pull clear. Get to the ground safely. Period. If you don't understand any part of this, get education, get experience... Thanks Alan, Thanks Chuckie. Chris Edited to add... Thanks Brian... everyone needs to need to think, good job.

I've had almost 3000 jumps with no reserve use... do I leave the reserve on the ground because of that... NO. This sport has risks and we all accept the risks, but we know the risks involved. To not know the risk is similar to russian roulette. Let your DZO know and make a decision as to how you will proceed. To hide the risk from anyone is immoral. Would I take a student tandem... no, I would increase his risk to exposure. Would you? Depends on whether or not that person knew his/her total risks. Skydiving instruction is all about the student, not about the instructor. We should give the student the best experience possible.... Sorry... but true. Best wishes friend, I mean that sincerely. Think about the student's best interests too.