wolfriverjoe

Wow! Makes mistakes, asks for advice, actually listens to and follows advice. Is this a first? Seriously, I'm glad you decided to listen. Some of the stuff you get here is just crap, but when ALL the advice says not to do it, it is probably worth listening to. Listen most of all to your instructors. Keep learning and blues skies "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Thanks a bunch for this thread. I jumped a PAC for the first time yesterday (first roll-up door ever). I ended up sitting at the back of the right side bench all 4 jumps. Having read this, I made sure I knew where the door went, and kept my hands clear. I'd like to think I would have done so anyway, but with everything so different than "normal", would I have?? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

You didn't understand the dangers of sliding into other groups airspace either. The bullet cam reduces the risks, but doesn't eliminate them. Distractions and snag potential (both during opening and under canopy) are only 2 of the risks. Read through the camera forum and the incidents forum (you can search to save time) to learn some of the others. I'm not an instructor, or even all that experienced, but adding any extra risk on a student jump is foolish IMO. Also self video doesn't show all that much. You can't see yourself, so you can't tell anything about body positon or anything else you should be concentrating on. I know it sounds like the "old guys" don't want the "new guys" to have any fun, but there are very good reasons (most of them taught in blood) for the rules and recommendations in place. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Yes and no. Keep in mind that the pilots get a lot of practice looking for traffic-in VFR conditions you spend the majority of the time doing just that. Also, conflicting traffic is the hardest to spot because it has the least relative motion. If the other guy isn't moving in the window, you are on a collision course. I don't want to dismiss this as a threat, but look at how often the collisions happen. I'm not being complacent, but "big sky" avoidance works pretty well (It's a big sky, there's lots of room for us all). As a pilot, I'm always willing to hear a jumper in the plane ask if there's any traffic or point other traffic out and ask if I've seen it. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'm not a rigger, so I might be wrrong, but I was told the chest strap isn't a load bearing part of the harness. There isn't any stress on it when you are in the harness normally. There really isn't a whole lot during a normal opening. It is a lot thinner than the main lift webs and leg straps. Any real rigger may have a more correct answer. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I don't know for sure. I've washed mine a couple times with no problems, but there's a TI at my DZ who swears up and down that everytime he washes his, a tandem student pukes on it. I'd wash it right side out for the reasons you suggested. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Big. Huge. Gargantuan. I learned to fly back in the early 80's in Oshkosh when Warren Basler started doing the DC-3 turbine conversions. I saw several in process and was blown away. Think complete teardown and rebuilld. He even tried a Twin Beech (Beech-18) tricycle gear turbine conversion, but the only one crashed down in Florida (selected an empty fuel tank for takeoff), and they never built another. Again, think complete teardown and rebuild. They even replaced the twin tail with a huge single tail. The paperwork and testing and documentation for FAA approval is unbelievable. Maybe smaller, newer, twins are less involved, but then, the Basler conversions were cargo craft, not passenger craft. The FAA is a lot pickier about people than packages. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Half retail price? Go for it. If nothing else, you can sell it later and get most of your money back. If you later decide you want the data logging, you would then have a back-up audible (recommended for freeflying, right?) "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Read your SIM. (You have a SIM, don't you?). After 30 days off, you have to do a practice pull to get recurrent. Don't be so sure you this will be your last jump before winter. My first year, the winter had a very slow start. I made jumps right up to Christmas. GO JUMP!!

Makes sense to me. Kind of like not walking down the middle of a road closed for construction because you never know when a drunk won't see the "Road Closed" sign. Betting your life or health that other people are always going to follow all the rules will probably catch up to you sooner or later. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Women flashing male pilots gets more altitude. Men flashing female pilots gets restraining orders. Be VERY nice to the packers. Seriously, be yourself and learn, learn, learn. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

#1 Talk to the instructors at YOUR dz. They will have much better and more specific info for your situation. #2 Get a SIM (skydiver info manual)available online at uspa.org. You can view it or buy a copy. Some DZs require AFF students to have a copy for training. Its a good thing to have anyway. It includes the integrated student progerssion (ISP) that describes how tandems can be used toward AFF. I have heard that some DZs require AFF students to do a tandem as their first jump - you get the experience of the first jump out of the way under a much more controlled situation - Keeps the debrief of "oh my god, I just jumped out of an airplane, that was awsome" (repeated 50 times) from wasting an AFF jump. #3 Read "advice" sticky in S&T forum. Welcome to our world. The people you will meet are the best in the world (IMHO). Plan on spending ALL your money and most of your time on this for quite a while. At least that's what I do. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Makes sense to me. You must not be fresh out of school - you WANT homework! Have you tried your homeDZ? Mine had a couple old Mantas sitting around when I first started - ragged out, one with a blown cell, that sort of thing. You might also ask your local rigger. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

...So in that case, though the person you responded to may have minced his words, yes, a "shorter bridle" is safer. Not that it's *actually* shorter, but it just has less ground to cover. The less distance it has to cover from closing pin to pilot chute, the better. Thanks Lloyddobbler, you are right. That is what I meant. Less chance to misroute, easier to stow, less bridle to be flapping around if it comes loose, that kind of thing. PLEASE, correct me if I'm wrong. I know perfectly well that I have many wrong ideas. I'm far more interested in getting the right answer and correcting my misconceptions than being right first and feeding my ego.

What in the world is the matter with you guys? All you guys blaming or pointing fingers at Bill are missing the boat. ... YOU are the idiot that will be screaming about "it was HIS fault" when you get hit. You expect a pilot to crash himself trying to avoid your dumbass walking around in the LZ? What? You think the LZ is a chat room or something? Like Squeek said...my first responsibility in this situation is to myself. You walk out in front of me and I can't avoid without getting hurt? Well, then I'm takin' you with me. God, I can't believe some of the idiocy some people post. Blindly stand there, walk around out there make a target of yourself if you like. Please don't cry too hard when you get hit. ..Yes, a decent pilot probably could avoid you. Bill did it rather nicely, don't you think? Depending on every one of them to be a "decent" pilot and avoid your blind ass is a little much, eh? You wanna mindlessly flame somebody? Flame me, not Bill. Nice rant. Hit a lot of good points right on the head. BTW - FAR 91.67 (f) "Aircraft while on final approach to land, or while landing, have the right of way over other aircraft in flight or operating on the surface". We aren't airplanes, but i would think the rules still apply. Right of way doesn't make you heal any faster, but gives you right to yell a little. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

How about sitting in the E-room waiting to get a broken limb set and cast? Haven't had that happen skidiving, but I've been there a couple times. I backed out before even getting on the plane once. Minimal regrets. I was not in a good mental state, and could very well have made bad mistake. The fear is still there (Get real, I'm leaving an airplane 2 miles above the ground), but I use it to keep me sharp. You might want to check out the "butterflies" thread - its already back to page 3 "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Google "Australian customs broker" These guys do that for a living. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

My rig has a handle on the chest-the RESERVE. You are absolutely right that it is easier to find and use. I'm not a rigger, but I would guess that we have BOC over leg pouches and the other older stuff to make bridles shorter and easier to stow. Also, the springloaded pilotchute ripcords are on your right hip to make routing the ripcord smoother and shorter. You will probably notice that almost all rigs have the main handle in approximately the same spot (right lower). Makes it a lot safer to switch between rigs. Again, not a rigger correct me if wrong. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Yeah! The experienced guys like to laugh too. The experienced jumpers at my DZ love to jump with me, they're usually laughing so hard that they screw up their landings. Seriously, be safe, learn, have fun (in that order). It kinda sounds like you're doing that. You might want to take a minute and practice your exit while the plane is still on the ground next time (if the plane isn't doing hot loads of course) "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

maybe so, maybe not (I don't think so, but who knows) In any case, if Phizzie is looking for sympathy, I don't see much. Lots of encouragement (including mine), lots of suggestions about taking responibility for ones actions (also incl. mine), even some empathy. Not much sympathy. Still a good thread about resposibilty. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Your thinking of his little brother, "Jake". But Yah, he seams real unpopular... Yeah, if you made noises like really loud farts all the time you'd probabaly not be real welcome either "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Considering how many wuffos are here pretending to be skydivers, you fit just fine. I'm new to the forums, but not all that new to skydiving (not all that long either). Read lots, search before you ask questions-most have already been asked and answered and the long-timers seem to get tired of the same things over and over. Just like at the DZ- learn, learn, learn; have fun and be careful. And don't follow ANY advice you find in here without first checking with your instructor. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

OK, you made some mistakes, now you have some consequences. 6 months isn't all that bad. You may have to repeat some classes, but the credits you've already earned won't go away, will they? (Duck because here it comes) However, OWI IS NO JOKE!!!!! I've lost too many friends to it to have any sympathy! (both their own fault and innocent victims)OWI on a bike?? A sportbike??? Please don't say it was only one or two. Everybody says that. (OK, end of sermon) If you learn from this and are willing to take responsibility for your actions, this can be the greatest sport in the world. The people are the coolest I have EVER met. Look at the encouragement you have gotten so far. But, as others have said, skydiving is very unforgiving, even small mistakes can have very serious consequences. Good luck, and I hope you get past this and get to jump. (edit) I may have overreacted, you said HTO, not OWI. If so, you probably won't get the full sentence, the jails are too full. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I was taught yes. I was told (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that the slider has to be ALL the way up. It not only keeps the lines tight together, but also shields the nose from the relative wind, thus slowing the inflation. Again, I may be wrong, but this is my understanding. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

This comes closest, but no one really seems to appreciate how civil suits work. (somone might, but hasn't said so yet) If a victim gets hurt and decides to sue, he gets a personal injury attorney. The attorney then contacts the business, the business contacts their insurance company. The insurance company then has THEIR lawyers look at the suit - circumstances of accident, any waivers and their applicability ect. They then decide the chances of winning the suit, the cost of fighting (including the settlement and/or appeals if they lose). THey then offer a settlement to the plaintiffs attorney. He then figures out the cost/benefit of fighting the suit (including getting no fee if he loses) and a settlement is usually negotiated. The majority of cases never go to court. (Korbin-this is why there is so little case law on it). Having no insurance, DZs really can't do this. And they don't have any pockets, let alone deep ones. A wavier isn't a magic shield against lawsuits. Is is a discouragement from them being filed and a defense if they are filed. But judges can still throw out some or all of them and allow the suit to proceed. At which point the DZ can close, sell off all its assets and pay a settlement; or close, sell off all its assets and pay a defense attorney. Parachutist had an interesting article about just such a lawsuit back in summer of 2005. The DZ ended up winning, but it was a major fight. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo