Deuce

Can you elaborate on this or explain why? Canuck They had the minimum number of jumps and experience for the rating, and hadn't done hardly any belly flying since their own AFF. Knowing how to move around all axis in a sit is useless when you are gripped on a level one that needs to arch. The number of freeflyers that can stay with a release dive in a sit or head-down is very small. I just don't see the argument here. All skydiving experience improves any skydiver, but the AFF program as it is is a belly program. To be able to teach somebody how to move around and change their fall rates on their belly, the instructor has to know how to do that. What the hardcore freeflyer instructor candidates would do when things went bad when Jay did his retard-student stuff and tumble out on them was go to a sit. It's hard to drive forward in a sit and then put arms out forward to take a dock on the student. It's more effective to arch hard, drive forward with legs and drive into the student to take the dock and unf*ck them. The other way they got undone was when Jay as the student was tumbling, they would go sit or head down to get to him and he'd "figure it out" and get stable and slow down and they'd rocket past him going into a big sit, or back flying, but that's not as slow as a flat belly flier. Also, usually in a slow sit, the flyers arms are behind them and wide, not a position that allows for docking. In the end it's a muscle memory thing. If someone never owned a bumper suit, and have a total of 10 belly jumps, they are going to have a real hard time getting their AFF rating. That's not a criticism of freeflying, Bonnie.

What the Hell? He's telling people to use IM, but he's got it turned off? He's weirderer than I thought.

On a Coached jump, it should not be necessary for you to dock a tumbling student. In order to get off AFF, the student has to have demonstrated the ability to get unstable and then get stable again belly to earth. Your role as Coach is to refine their demonstrated ability to fly themselves. That said, the biggest issue I have found with Coaches is that they don't have enough speed range on their bellies. When you need to speed up, you arch until your back cracks, put your feet on your ass, and bring your elbows to your sides and hold your hands in contact with your chest with your palms together in front of yourself like you are praying. As your accelerate you can use your hands like a foil to direct your movement. Diving and stopping, one skill, is the most underacknowledged talent in skydiving, and a must for an instructor. Do yourself a favor and go out and find your range. See how slow you can fly, and still have manuverability, and the same thing with how fast, on your belly. I did my AFF with Jay Stokes, and the guys who tried to incorporate freeflying into the curricula failed. Specifically, the way you stop a tumbling student is you dock them, as hard as you have to. If they are on their backs, you grab the nearer lift web, and the farther leg strap and rotate them towards you, using the chest arm to stop the rotation. You then shake them and get them to relax and show awareness of signals before releasing them again, or deploying them at the hard deck. As a Coach, you should never be put into the position of having to deploy a student. Those issues should have been resolved prior to being released to solo.

Ditto. During a A-license gear briefing sign-off, I was going over the AAD and RSL with a student who had already heard how they work, but hadn't retained it. When I explained the RSL, the student said "Oh, OK. Then I don't have to pull the reserve deployment handle, then" I have also had students tell me that if they lost altitude awareness they should just get stable and wait for the Cypres. So, now that we have had the Adrian accident, perhaps the saying regarding the Cypres should be "Freefall like you don't have one, and pilot like you do"

I had one like that on a tandem. By holding the canopy in half brakes with more tension on the left brake, the canopy flew straight. I could even sort of flare it, but then it would stall. When the brakes were released it would spin. (I found this out over 5000 feet just trying to clear it) Then I chopped it. It was the scariest of my chops because when it was in the sweet spot, it was flying. I have found chopping violent malfunctions to be pretty easy. I could see where this person would be reticent to chop it, if they hadn't chopped before. I think if you don't have full-range control due to a linover, full flight to full brakes, you should chop the canopy.

Properly fit Gatorz will stay on through anything, pretty much. I wear mine on tandems with no helmet, on freefly jumps with an Aviator open face, and on RW jumps under my full-face. I wear clear goggles, or no goggles under my full face when I think eye contact is important. (It's not with my regular 6-14 way RW group, like they could give a poop)

Great narrative, Bill! And great pictures too! It looks like great visibility for Perris, with very low smog. How cool. Lots of calendar girls in your pics. Best of luck and blue skies to all the participants.

Then you'll either have to meet both of us or ask someone who knows both of us. I posted my proof years ago, not doing it again. I officiated at the ceremony. I am your witness. Testify!

The best part of my last 50 jumps were my Nationals video jumps. Since getting my tandem rating, I mostly do tandems. It used to be a lot more fun, the tandem rating, because we would get a few tandems, and those would pay for fun jumps. So, 12 Nationals video jumps, 2 fun jumps, and tandems, most of which were fun, but it's not like 10 way or freeflying with my best friends.

I remember your mom and your "daughter" perfectly, but I've never seen your fireplace. Some other middle aged camera flier, maybe?

You know, Seb, you are what's best about Nationals. You motivated four other jumpers to go down and DO IT! Competing is the next level, and you showed great leadership in getting NorCal jumpers to go down there and hang it out. And you probably met Phree, he was in the same area as us. Nice guy. I really enjoyed hanging out with you and the Hollister crowd. Remember that first FF jump with me outta that wicked cool turbine DC-3 at Perris a million years ago? Nationals is like the coolest boogie/reunion there is.

Oh my gawd! YAY! Can you help me with all these speeding tickets? Seriously, good luck my friend!

You mean this one? Naturally Shamrock, my dog, fell in love with JP. Whoa! I just sold a house with rose carpet just like that! And that's the other, tastes great but less filling JP. Pictures of me, or by me, dammit!

I'll have the tarps I promised out there tomorrow about 1:30. They are blue, 12 X 16' and just about brand new. -I want them back

Bring it to Byron! Please! We got a boogie going on! Steak dinner, FREE BEER, and naked California girls! BRING IT!

The intermediate 4 way thing was like being a tweener and being told to eat at the little kid's table. It was annoying, but pretty much understandable. We had to jump really early the first day (bizarre to be at a dropzone in the dark with a flashlight getting my gear ready. Usually the darkness flashlight thing is when we're trying to find where somebody passed out -Byron boogalee this weekend!) and then jumped until sunset the second day to accomodate the frontrunners in Open. One of the USPA officials encouraged us to write letters, cause it was kinda stupid, but you know? It really went well otherwise, and if it wasn't for the special attention the famous teams got, nobody would really have noticed. This year was better than last year, and next year is somewhere else (AZ). No need to complain.

Yeah, it is archaic. Nowadays we call it stalking. Nothing says " I love you" like a restraining order.

By streaming, do you mean "sniveling"? They have to do that in case you have do deploy the reserve at tandem terminal. That's why we open above 5000 feet. I have 4 tandem reserve rides, and yeah, they seem to take forever, but if I manage to need a tandem reserve at terminal, I would rather not blow lines and cells and damage to me and my passenger because the reserve opened like a sport reserve. Again, that's why we open our tandem canopies so high.

Dude, I'll make the same offer I made two years ago on the naked load, I'll strip nekkid on the plane, but I'm jumping with my camera suit on. Heck me and Iwan naked with full camera gear would just look like pink meteors streaking past with Flat Top Pro's attached. Naked video is better from above.

Hey, MonoUno. I was with Derek having dinner in a very disreputable pub in San Francisco on one of the nights of the competition with two other skydivers, and we had a great conversation about swooping. Mainly, how the competitors were going to compensate for the altitude and weights and how speed records would be set, etc. I agree wholeheartedly that landings should be controlled and ideally should be stood up. I scoff at the condescending attitude of some of the top swoopers that I just "cant understand". What limit is reasonable if standing up isn't? Is it landing without needing a red helicopter ride? Is it landing without needing medical treatment? That's my question: If somebody is allowed to crash land in the accomplishment of a record, does it only not count if they died? If not, how totalled can somebody be, and still claim the record? You know, on my world record, we could easily have gotten four sequential points with 121 skydivers if we all agreed to go in. You know?

I've got two, and I think Tony Hathaway uses them also. G Gasson had a couple last time I saw him. Great cameras, if you are having issues, hopefully a cleaning will do it, otherwise send them to a Sony center for help.

If the embroidery had been for anybody other than you I'd probably have a broken toe or three right now. So change your shout out. It should be "I saved Lisa from breaking her foot three days before the Byron Boogie!" Dear Planet Earth, I saved the SkyBytch from breaking her foot three days before the Byron Boogie. Even if I was responsible for breaking her foot, the anasthetic available at the boogie as well as my gratitude would have been worth it. Well, that plus the hope that my new Freefly Bomber suit won't make my ass look fat. Sincerely, JP Kelly

Ah, JohnKellyProperties.com appreciates your sacrifice! I can just hear you now "Fucking JP and his stupid fucking NASCAR wannabe desperate marketing bulltshit crapdoodle embroidery DAMMIT!" As to my shout out? "JP SHUT UP! Nobody cares!"

Yeah, for kicking you out of bed...

Dude, when you buy a head of lettuce, a roll of paper towels and a large container of Astroglide they know you weren't there to get stuff to make salad. I understand the astroglide and the paper towels. Is the lettuce just a diversion or do you have some kinky use for it. I can't see it but maybe I'm missing something. You couldn't wait until Friday? You drunk already? Lettuce as diversion is CORRECT! DINGDINGDING!