aresye

The geedunk at our squadron is pretty goodl. Tasty beverages, and snacks for the long hours. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

The person I bought the rig from was 5'10", and I am the same. He is also the same body type as me, so the rig pretty much fit me as well as it fit him. Under canopy, I would say with an average opening my shoulders are approx. 3" below the straps. This is due to my leg straps loosening a slight bit. I'll try doubling up on my leg straps and chest strap, to see if I can prevent all slippage from occuring. The leg straps are in very good condition, and the buckles are stainless steel, so they don't have as much tension as a broken in strap or buckle. The softer the opening, the more they loosen, but never enough to pose a danger (I think). On a recent hard opening about jump 92, I had no slippage whatsoever in the leg straps because of the sudden tension. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

Yup, definitely Navy terminology right there. Now if you escuse me, I must quench my thirst from the scuttlebutt. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

Now you can LEGALLY jump with all your friends, as we all know most of us have snuck it in... Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

I loved the movie, mainly for one reason, and that is just how suspensful they made it. For example, I have never seen a bad guy in any movie be quite as creepy and terrifying as the killer in NCFOM. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

Funny, I was expecting a picture of Benny Hill to pop up, but this is what I got. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

^^^Agreed. I never go from full flare to fronts. I think it's harder to be precise where you want to fly. Onto riser pressure. BrianG talks a lot about this in his book, and if I can recall correctly, since it's been awhile, is that riser pressure is influenced from many different factors. Wingloading, trim, airspeed, air density, and the deformation of the wing caused by front input all play a role in what kind of pressure you'll experience. Now even for high-performance pilots, holding double-fronts can only be done for a certain amount of time. I don't know any pilots that can initiate, and hold a double-front dive for an extended period, but there are some canopies that can allow that. Some canopies have such a long recovery arc, that they have to manually be brought out of it most of the time. I found the best way to keep a front riser dive going, is: 1. Start in half-brakes. 2. Let the toggles up quickly, but not suddenly, and pull both fronts down a couple inches. 3. Let up on 1 front for a split second, and let the canopy turn and gain airspeed. 4. Let off the front, and then slowly add pressure to bring the other front down all the way. This method works really well for me when I want to do a 270 (up high). Even coming off of half-brakes, it's harder to simply pull down 1 front riser, and hold it the entire turn, than it is to carve into the turn using the method I stated above. *Note that this method is what works for me, and on my own canopy at my wingloading. Many canopies have drastic differences in flight characteristics. I strongly encourage the reading of BrianG's book, "The Parachute and its Pilot," for every canopy pilot needs at least some basis of understanding how a canopy reacts in flight. *Only attempt dives up high, and make sure you keep your head on a swivel. Don't spiral down into other groups, and don't do these moves at all in congested skies. Remember you are increasing your airspeed on a canopy that's designed to fly at a set speed from its trim. With higher airspeed comes the chance of something happening. For example, if you flare your rear risers after a front dive, you can actually very easily put yourself in a high-speed stall. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

...and Chicken Salad sucks! Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

My rig has fit me very well up to this point, but so I can get your perspective on it, here's a picture from when I first got my rig. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

It was a headdown dive towards the front of the plane from inside. Once off the hill, I transitioned to backflying. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

It really depends on the individual character. I continuously try my best to be as squared away as possible, both on and off duty. So yes, I keep my stuff all neat and organized. There are a lot of people who don't keep their stuff neat and orderly in the military. We simply call them shitbags. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

I asked several people on the ground after I landed without touching anything, and they verified it was indeed routed correctly. I definitely did not have it loose from the beginning, as I always make sure it's past my midsection, which is when tension starts. If I notice it's slack on the ride up, I'll adjust it prior to exit. I think the burble while backflying makes the most sense. I'll talk to a rigger and let him look at the friction adaptor, as the chest strap is a bit thin compared to others. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

It's Christmas time in a galaxy far, far away... Darth Vader approaches Luke Skywalker and states, "I know what you got me for Christmas." Luke, puzzled, asks, "How?" . . . . . . . . . . "I can feel your presents." Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

The recent incident of the wingsuiter falling from his harness got me thinking to a small instance I had a few weeks ago that definitely got my hair standing up. My buddy and I do a freefly jump, him sitflying, and me backflying. Everything was normal until it was time to break. As I went to my belly, tracked off, and slowed, it felt as if I didn't have a rig on. I felt nothing on my back, and was relieved when I felt the hacky behind me. The resulting opening was normal. Now under canopy, I feel very loose in my harness. I look down to my horror, that my chest strap was completely loose. Not undone, but loosened all the way. Now I'm a very OCD guy about gear checks, and I can assure you all that the chest strap was routed correctly, had tension on it, and was securely in the locking band. In fact, it may have been the locking band that prevented the strap from completely coming out, despite it being routed correctly. What could have caused this situation? I was wearing a t-shirt during the jump, so maybe the t-shirt didn't have enough baggyness against the strap? I'm completely baffled, but glad it hasn't happened since. It just scares me to think that if I was in a high-speed track for a long duration, such as during a tracking or atmo jump, that I could have possibly slipped out from my shoulder straps. Which btw, with the chest strap loosened all the way, I can easily shrug my rig off. I have no doubts the wind can do that even easier. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

Agreed. That H&P from 2800 I mentioned earlier was part of a small demo jump we did in Florida, because the cloud layer was low. What was funny is that half of the jumpers said they weren't going to go, because of the low altitude. I was already used to San Diego's 3000ft H&P's, so I went 3rd out. Next thing I know, all the jumpers got a little bolder, and there were 14 canopies in the air. Great jump for those that did it, although it was unfortunate the 2nd load couldn't jump. The cloud layer went down to 1500ft, and I don't think anyone's up for a H&P from that altitude. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

Started the new year off with a midnight jump. I could see the fireworks going off at the end of my freefall, and during the entire canopy ride, which was a bit scary due to a wind shear that was flying me backwards. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

I remember a conversation I had with Mel at Elsinore about de-arching, and she stated as well that it's an unstable position, because you're cupping, and spilling air. I'm fairly good at tracking already, although I haven't taken any skill improvement courses to get it better. Even my first track in AFF my instructor told me during the video debrief that most students don't track that well on their first attempt. Since then, I've gotten more comments, some from coaches, and some from other jumpers, saying that I track really well. My favorite comment had to be: "Well, you suck at freeflying, but man you can track!" Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

I love low altitude hop & pops, although when you're rushed to exit at 2800ft, and you end up flipping all over the place, it can get a bit hairy. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

I do respect my instructors at Elsinore. Definitely a big thanks to Mark, Lob, and Montana, who's not an instructor, but has given me good advice on other things, in addition to spending a lot of his personal time with me on packing class, and other times that my military schedule prevented me from doing it with a regular time. Unfortunately, I am no longer in San Diego. I have moved to my permanent duty station here in Jacksonville, FL. I drive down to Palatka to skydive, so I'll be sure to ask Art about what he thinks about barrel rolls. Although truth be told, I think I've already gotten a good amount of advice, and evidence that it's not a good idea. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

Well said tbrown. I must agree with some of the others in this discussion. Considering the nature of my post, even I am surprised at the amount of mature responses that have been posted. I think part of that is this topic, and its relevance to this recent fatality. After thoroughly reading your responses, and some other topics on this subject, I have to say I've definitely learned something. All I needed was a little light on the other side, and to see this topic from a different angle. I thought about opening collisions, and in the end, it's really the person above that is making the mistake. As long as you track hard, and far, and deploy when you say you are, there should be virtually no chance for a collision. Plus, you can go so much faster with your head looking down I will start making it a habit of tracking hard, and save the barrel rolls for fun freefall manuevers. Sorry to have stirred the pot a bit. I hope you can forgive this newbish thinking situation I have found myself in. *On the bright side though, at least I'm not suggesting a toggle to untwist! Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

See this thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3356784;search_string=eicosanoids;#3356784 *BTW, I only got sick once since starting the Zone diet, and that was because of SERE school, and the impact that had on my body, not the diet. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

I did a search on this topic, and there are skydivers who are a heck-of-a-lot more experienced than me, that swear by a barrel roll prior to deployment. So let's try and take this thread to a different level. Established: Performing a barrel roll prior to deployment on a big way is dangerous, frowned upon, and should only be attempted by experienced jumpers who know what they're doing. Now, would there be a scenario in which performing a barrel roll prior to deployment is recommended? Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

For me, the biggest jumps I've been on have been 12-ways. A couple of them have been with a staggered breakoff. On one of the jumps, I found myself low on the formation. In fact because of my slip up I ended up so low that I was worried others couldn't see me. Well, maybe they could or couldn't. Regardless, when it came time to breakoff, I turned 180 degrees from my heading, which was watching the group, and I tracked as hard, and far as I could until it was almost time to deploy. I went into a barrel roll while still in a track, which isn't too hard, and if done correctly, you can still be in a good track the entire time, with little speed lost. It does not require super human skill. Plus, it helps you maintain a heading if done correctly. So anyway, I roll to clear my airspace before pulling, and there's a person still tracking above, and slightly behind me. If I had deployed, there would definitely have been a chance he could have struck me during the opening. I guess on the end it's really on a case by case basis. For me, I'll do a barrel roll if there's a chance that somebody lost track of me. Forgive the way my post originally came across. I can definitely see a barrel roll on large big ways being dangerous, and frowned upon. My situation just happened to occur on a 12-way. *Also, my OP was a reply to the Z-Hills fatality, for those of you that think I created this topic myself. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

Skydivers should make it more of a habit on group jumps to clear their airspace with a barrel roll. There has been a couple times in which on a big way, I've performed a barrel roll and found someone tracking above me. When routinely performed, a barrel roll is fast enough that you don't lose that much altitude. I'd rather sacrafice an additional 500ft in order to prevent a freefall collision upon opening. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

Did you use a machine? It almost looks as if it were hand sown. It just simply looks sloppy. An RSL should be treated as a backup device, but it's still a possible life-saving device, and should be treated as such. Are you willing to potentially put your life on the line with some stitching that you aren't completely sure can pull 22lbs? For me I wouldn't be satasfied unless that RSL ring can support >100lbs. You don't want to be in a situation in which you need an RSL, and have it fail you. Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.