snowmman

Didnt you read my post about how cheap skydivers are? I guarantee you there would be a huge rash of "emergency" cutaways when the FAA mandated reserve repack dates were approaching. The DZO's would be living in tents not trailers. 377 Since we talked about the risks you accept due to the other jumpers on a load, it's interesting what risks you're accepting if everyone else is cheap, and you're not. Being cheap is fun, when you need to be. It sucks when you don't have to be cheap, and playing cheap just gets you dead (or you have to be conservative, to accomodate the inherent risks created because of decisions that are cheap)

no 377, the rest of the world is perfect. only skydivers are flawed. Actually, skydivers are an easy target because there's less graceful degradation on failures. it's kind of a one-shot thing..you don't have time to try a lot of different things when things go bad. The time element is what boosts the risk up a lot. (edit) I think there are social pressures around deploying a reserve that maybe people don't admit??

orange1 mentioned reserve deployment reports (maybe only in certain countries) If that requirement, is keeping people from using their reserves more, then obviously it's a seriously messed up thing..i.e. it's causing less safety, not more safety? (edit) or repacks USPA should make it a requirement, that all DZs are required to repack reserves for free if deployed on a jump there.

377 said "The huge mistake is thinking you can land it, changing your mind at 500 feet and impacting just as you are getting reserve line stretch. It happens. It happened at WFFC twice in one year. " see I think you're providing info that confirms my thinking. The only reason you would hestitate and then change your mind, is if you weren't confident in your cutaway technique. Since indecision is a big failure mode, like you say, you want training, such that in an instant, you look up, say "looks like shit" and cutaway without a second's hestitation and no fear. The fear would be reserved for when you start the cutaway and realize that things are seriously bad and can't go normally. (edit) don't try to tell me that the hesitation is due to worries about the $2000 rig? (edit) I've read some accident reports that sound like newbies cutting away and entangling, when they shouldn't have cutaway but done something else to get a good canopy. That kind of reinforces the idea that the reserve really isn't a reserve. It's something else, but not what people say it is.

There actually was a commercial product developed to do just that. Riser mounted cutaway activated low power xmtrs bought by jumpers and DZ owned direction finder receivers. I think they operated on garage door opener freqs in the 300 or 400 MHz band. It never caught on even though it worked REALLY well in demos. 377 well, duh, yeah. It removed the excuse of losing your rig, for explaining why you didn't do a cutaway. And that was a marketing plan for the company? They should have said "use our product, .....it's scarier and you're braver!"

okay, we let 377 go when he started talking about how nimbly he steered his rounds past barns and such, never having a collision. Now he's talking about all the hot FBI women he's dated. Well, I guess it's the right thread, if you're going to be B.S.ing.

The best approach is always the honest one. Be direct. Call up the FBI. If a woman answers, ask her what she is wearing. That would certainly be easy to do. excellent. However the "Snowmman way" would be: Go to the DZ. Find an AFF student that's about to do his first solo jump. After he lands and is all excited back at the building...I go up to him and say "Oh there's just one more thing..kind of a initiation ceremony..goes back a long way...dial this number for the FBI and say this ...."

Jo, you've had more contact with the FBI than the rest of us. Are any of the FBI agents really, really hot women? Do they wear skirts? or what? Any wear jeans? I'm just wondering. (edit) I'm just saying, that if there's a meetup, and some of your people are there, those short black skirts are really nice.

377 said: "It's REALLY hard cutting away from a semi-OK chute, e.g. open but serious control issues due to damage." Why? what's the problem? You already jumped out of a perfectly functional airplane. And you'll do that again next weekend...?? The problem with illusions is they are just illusions. If you can't cutaway on a good day, how are you going to convince yourself you can cutaway after a midair collision that leaves your brain half-dazed and maybe blood on your face? (edit) in terms of losing a canopy. Uh duh, why not use cheap radio transmitter to re-find it. Each DZ would only need one. Can rent it out. (edit) is the reality that the safety is all about gear: i.e. the auto-reserve-deployment stuff? If so, why pretend that you think your training and mental attitude is guaranteeing your safety? It isn't...your gear is.

orange1 forwarded: "But is it worth your 'piece of mind' to risk losing $2000+ in gear (main, free bag, handles) and risk a reserve malfunction when you have really nothing to gain from it?" So you're saying there is no learned skill involved in a cutaway, there's no need to practice? The result is independent of me? (edit) That I can't create a training situation that is less risky than the worse real thing, but will make a worse real thing, less worse? I don't need it? Like I say, I'm surprised skydivers live. Although, with the thought processes involved, maybe the low death rates show that it's pretty safe no matter how you think or act..i.e. you can be a dumbass and still have a good chance of living.

377 said "I am afraid that the FBI might really be covering up a massive Cooper conspiracy that involves Duane. " No need to fear. It's a sure thing. Jo has told us. The fact she won't expose it on Coast to Coast, just means she's part of the conspiracy. That's why when you shoot at people, you need to shoot everyone. Everyone else is in on the conspiracy.

Okay, so you're admitting that you don't want to roll two dice, and part of the safety is only rolling one die. (at a time) If ten cutaways aren't safe, then yeah I'll be afraid because it's like running across a highway with cars going by. Be stupid not to be afraid if death is on the table, and it's independent of anything I can do. You can do the ten cutaways with a third reserve. (remember: cheat to win) Or: are you saying the failure modes (entanglement) mean a third reserve doesn't help? If so, you're just bullshitting yourself that the reserve is a good enough safety (because you don't trust your cutaway procedure) That's the real problem I see. You say you have a reserve, but it doesn't cover the common cases that cause death under main canopy failure (entanglement? You can fill in the blank for whatever other cases make you not want to do cutaways....You don't think you're mentally or physically fit? what is it that you're afraid of? misjudging altitude? Cheat to win, do it at 8000 ft? What's the problem, really? (edit) I'll note the common reliability assessment problem I see...thinking that the reserve creates an independent source of reliability, so you can multiply the fail rates and get a very low fail rate. The problem is, the fail rate of the reserve is not independent of the main canopy failure mode. So any reliability model people talk about, is bullshit. The only real one is derived from the actual death/accident statistics. Not people's perception of "does the reserve keep me safe"

The topic is DB Cooper ? What year were Piper Dakotas first manufactured? Could Cooper have done any jumps from a Piper Dakota? If not, I agree it's off topic. Does anyone know? Here's a '94 that claims to be the "last one manufactured" http://www.aso.com/listings/spec/ViewAd.aspx?id=127247 Wikipedia says this "PA-28-236 Dakota In 1977, Piper stopped producing the Cruiser (140) and Pathfinder (235), but introduced a new 235 horsepower (175 kW) plane, the Dakota (PA-28-236), based on the Cherokee 235, Charger, Pathfinder models but with the new semi-tapered wing." So was 1977 the first year of Piper Dakota? If so, are we saying Cooper never jumped a Piper Dakota? But what if he continued jumping after the hijack? Actually if there's evidence of a Piper Dakota jump, I suppose that means we know Cooper survived? Seems pretty on topic to me. A good post.

Maybe... I watched some tatooed bad ass latino gangsta wannabe secretly puking behind the DZ hanger right before he was going up for a tandem. He seemed to be having a real hard time doing brave. 377 There's a constant refrain, of people wanting to say skydiving requires a huge suck-up of mental state, and they use examples of the weakest people they can find. Since anyone with a checkbook can skydive, who pukes or doesn't...means little. If people want to brag, from my understanding of the sport, I'd like to hear about people who are confident enough in their techique and gear to make 10 practice cutaways a year. If you don't, why not? Are you afraid? Because you suck? Because you really are just rolling dice? and thinking not rolling pairs of dice will make you safer? (edit) I'm thinking that a cutaway is a more complicated event than just jumping without a reserve..i.e. a base jump.

whenever I see someone do something crazy, that's what I'm always trying to understand...how did this person do something different..i.e. cheat..whether it's planning, training, skill, knowledge, gear, time, money, weather. ...so what used to be crazy, appeared sane to him. people really never do crazy things. Its just a matter of what is needed to make it sane. The sad thing is when people just think it's a matter of being brave. Brave is cheap. Anyone can do brave. (edit) The best cheating is hanging out with a group that you can sponge off of.

I am desperately trying to modify some eBay sniping code to do the job, but there is still too much random chance. What would Duane do? Could he code a solution? 377 See this is why I can't understand how skydivers stay alive. It's like their thought processes are so limited when it comes to problem solving. I will use the Gary Coleman solution. From page 660-664 I will totally get everyone pissed off at me so everyone quits the thread, and there are no more people posting except me. I will leisurely stroll to page 666 and make the sole post. When there's competition, you don't worry how to win the competition. You eliminate the competition. See, regardless of how people feel on the day of 666, in 5 years, I will still be the one with the first post on 666, long after the other issues are forgotten. (edit) I will spend pages 667-734 bragging about how I succeeded in my quest for 666.

377 said "One thing you can be sure of, there is no chance of me getting the first post on page 666, not in a group of skydivers." that's what I was thinking. So then you say it's competitive. So will there just be a mad rush on page 665, and it's just luck of the draw who hits the top of 666. Or will superior planning come into play...i.e. timing. It can be done with just one post. Just has to be at the exact right time. A D license could probably not post on page 664 or 665 and get the first post on page 666. That would be true skill... So the competitive thing is complicated. Just blabbing away and posting 60 in a row and getting 666 is boring. No brags there. The "one shot, one kill" is the brag. And it can't be altered once it's done. There will only be one poster, ever, that posted the first post on page 666. Even if people attempt it on another thread, what are the chances that any other thread in this forum can make it to 666 pages? I'm just saying, it's not like this is a trivial little thing like night jumps with flares.

Duane did them with one hand. Uber-Ranger style. 377 you can actually work up to a bit of a cheat that's good. doing one hand on, one hand holding a towel flipped over the bar (both ends) is a good start. then do "one hand" with the other hand grasping the wrist of your pulling hand. Still pretty good.

ah! I was always curious how much it costs per hour to rent a C-47. I have no idea how much you guys pay for this sport.

pullup is palms out. chinup is palms in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chin-up no kipping! world records here: http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/chinups.html vietnamese guy has the record for most in 3 minutes (100) 100 Ngo Xuan Chuyen (VIE) 1988 "Strongest Soldier in Vietnam" contest

hangdiver said " Like I said, I'm not here for the bonus points, just the masturbation, unless it's the first post on 666. Now that's bonus points. " I've been wondering how thats going to work out. As you can see, there's a lag sometimes, in terms of seeing other people's posts. So how can we guarantee 377 posts first on 666. We could all wait, but we'd have to stop at some appropriate place to allow for possible lag time from other posts, to make sure we don't overrun page 665. But then 377 might have to make a couple posts to clear out page 665. That seems like cheating. The rules should be that the first poster on 666 can't also be the last poster on 665 But then there's a trust factor. If we wait, what's to prevent some cheater newbie from stepping in and grapping the first post on 666? Or one of us? I've got my doubts that we can pull this off. And then I'm worried, that if we miss it, we have to wait another 666 pages before we can try again. This is kind of stressful. I mean we could do a practice run. I've noticed I've hit the first post on a page a couple of times recently. But it's not really a controllable thing. I think I'm going to puke from the stress.

hangdiver: "I jumped an H-34/S58 once. Only because I was paid to video someones jump. That was one of the scariest rides I've ever been on. " Ever jump a Dakota?

377 said "Sometimes I worry that Jo is already paying some Ivans. She is such a ripe target for con artist "investigators." Who are "my guys"?" Don't know. But I think she would make a lot more progress if she paid them more. Maybe take out some mortgages on the house. The main thing that's keeping her from unlocking the secret of Duane Weber is that she needs to spend more money. Maybe just go to the local DZ and hand out cash? Good things might happen?

Now this is a good post. I'm telling you, the evidence says: Get the Bar, You Get The Redhead. Airtwardo the elder has spoken. It's up to us as to whether we listen and learn. (edit) for those who believe this is off-topic. The money was found at Tena Bar.

Jo said "Not one of you took the challenge of finding what prisons the skyjackers were incarcerated in and the period of time they were there - I gave the date range of several yrs and told you how many incidents occurred." Only information gathered thru legal means is posted. The rest we sell on the open market. There's a web site, with servers in Lithuania. There's someone there with Duane Weber information. He needs some cash though. His name is Ivan.