diablopilot

16 for the year in the US. That's the number I came up with after Ed Scott informed us we were at 14 for the year yesterday at the USPA BOD meeting here in Alexandria. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Obviously at the time of this post there are no details about the most recent incident, however based on the current trend of similar incidents I feel compelled to share some thoughts. See and avoid works in general aviation as a valuable tool to maintain separation between aircraft in the same airspace, and it works quite well in skydiving if applied. Too often skydivers are not trained, or simply forget to apply the method of looking around and scanning the air around them for other traffic. Hopefully none of us drive our cars without occasionally checking the mirrors or looking out the side window every once and a while. Keep that head moving, your canopy will continue to fly just fine if you take your eyes off the target for a moment. Situation awareness is important to begin developing and practicing from the earliest of jumps. Usually you know how many people are going to be in the air with you at the same time, you shared the plane ride up with all of them. Start practicing the habit of accounting for all the other canopies while flying yours. Those you can't account for, be extra vigilant in your search. It's not as hard as it sounds. Share the landing area, pilots do, and they haven't got near the options we do as skydivers. They are usually limited to one or two choices for heading, and can rarely land more than one at a time, we have 360+ choices in heading, and countless number more runways than pilots. High performance canopy pilots share the same landing points through prior planning, and while fun jumpers might not need such planning, in place of it they need to select a different landing point than someone landing at the same time as them. Predictable patterns, go a long way in the aviation world to preventing collisions. A standard pattern of downwind, base, and final goes a long way to helping predict and find traffic. If you cannot join the standard landing pattern, consider landing out, or at the very least be extra vigilant about keeping out of the way of other landing traffic, and not crating a hazard. Flying the appropriate canopy for the skill of the pilot is often stated, and makes sense. One must be able to fly and make decisions for where the canopy is going to be, not for where it is now, and must be able to react at the speeds that the canopy covers distance. What is often overlooked IMO, is that the canopy choice must also be selected for the situation. Or better stated yet, the canopy you fly must match your skill level in the situation you are flying it. A person may have good canopy technique when in the comfort zone of their home DZ, large landing area, with the usual max of 14 other people in the air with them at any one time, but taking their pocket rocket canopy to a boogie, or bigway puts them outside their skill set on that canopy. At that point a change must be made, either choose a different canopy, or land further away from the crowd, as simply "flying conservatively" does not seen to be working. And finally, missing by an inch is just a good as missing by a mile, if your alive to learn the lesson of your mistake afterward. Practice, practice, practice with your parachute, so that when the time comes for an emergency avoidance action is required, you can perform it. Please, train yourselves to be better canopy pilots people, as I'm gonna be pretty pissed if someone else kills me. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Makes me smile to see you say things like that about your father. I've always regretted not meeting him in person, but having met you and your brother makes me think he was quite a vibrant individual! Keep me posted on the book and see ya around! ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Looking forward to it, and don't let any critics get ya down.

I'm thinking they might be overstating the "and adhering to new changes in FAA 337 modification and jump plane certification rules—has made KODIAK #5 the first new aircraft with a jump package certified through the FAA’s Aircraft Certification Office. " for effect. Several other types of aircraft are certified for jump operations through the FAA since new, and have been for decades. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

SON! You put that thing back in your rig RIGHT NOW! ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Even genius can be naive. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

I've only been there for an afternoon, but I've got to say that Gold Coast is one of THE most friendly DZs I've EVER had the pleasure of visiting.

Nothing personal, just the way I see it.

How does an insurance policy effect the 'rightness' or 'wrongness' of someone's actions? . It doesn't. But lawyers generally don't seem to bother suing someone who hasn't got a dime to squeeze. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Hey Chuck, you have any openings? I want to work for you dude. If I were a DZO, I'd definitely want a no-bullshit instructor with zero-tolerance for egotistic prick students.

Sure, the responsible people should be punished to bail out the irresponsible. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Not sure how you came up with that. Not sure how you wouldnt come up with that Spoken like someone who believes the sport started 10 minutes before their first jump. Seriously, the Stiletto was jumped by many of the "Pioneers" of swooping, and they made that canopy look good!. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Reserves (and most other canopies) often have 2 "max" weights listed, and that can be confusing. One is the max certified weight, and that is related to tested maximums for deployment limits. The other is max recommended weight and that is simply what the manufacturer thinks (or wishes to admit to) is a good idea for performance and safety. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Bounce Bingo. Ask the regulars at the Ranch. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Never forget to buy your rigger a bottle if you have a ride. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Doesn't change the fact that this thread belongs in another forum (perhaps freeflying) since there's nothing instructor related about it. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

I have an RSS bracket and plate and have used other QR in the past. Sometimes it still needs to be moved, or other equipment added. You're right, it's not the right helmet for me. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

What about a removable top plate. I won't buy a dedicated camera helmet that doesn't have one. Too frequently I change set ups or have equipment changes and a non-removable top looks like swiss cheese within a year. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Kudos for your decision to wait, learn, experience, and enjoy skydiving for a while more before complicating and adding risk to your skydives. I have well over 1500 camera jumps and I ALWAYS fear an entanglement. It's part of what keeps me vigilant in my efforts to reduce the possibilities of one as much as possible.

There is so much truth in that statement, however I can't figure out if it's a good thing or bad thing. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Used to watch the original on PBS when I was a kid..... good stuff. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Of the ones I've visited so far, New Hampshire is pretty close. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Bill has got to tighten those laterals up some. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Hmmmm....I lkie the weight an balance of my HC3 and 5 better than my PC120, 110, and 100 as hand cams. And the quality is far better than the 105 even in SD. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.