nigel99

Kallend - you ask for evidence of the sport being damaged by high-wingloadings. I know that you are going to call this anecdotal but I am a direct casualty of a high wingloading death. Having spent 7 years convincing my wife that I wanted to jump again she had the "pleasure" of calling the emergency services for someone who misjudged a turn. The trend in the fatalities database shows that deaths under a fully functional parachute are possibly the most significant contributor - and this excludes people not handling malfunctions on HP canopies. I think that it is also fair to look at well established principles and that people usually under-estimate risk due to in-experience. We see this in all aspects of daily life from sport, driving, and work where the people are wary of the rookie who is briming with foolish confidence. Granted there will be exceptions and rules tend to slow the exception down but it is the price we pay (and should pay) for the prevention of un-necessary injury and death. When you mention your stilleto at 40 jumps - you are probably leaving out crucial details like 100's or 1000's of hours on a paraglider/glider/hang-glider etc. Similarly there was that person who did alot of tunnel-time and their first jump was an x way. These are exceptions and a "good" system allows credit for experience to transfer. An excuse of talent is simply not good enough as 80% of us believe we are in the top 20% Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Could someone explain - this is a static line rig, but in the video it looks like there is a pilot chute/drogue doing the deployment? How does this type of static line work? All the static lines that I have ever seen (and done) the line was directly attached to the d-bag? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

you mean like this? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I just saw this clip, and I don't know if it is a repost or not but http://www.glumbert.com/media/irack Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Actually I disagree with this. They don't have money but there are a very large number of charities that pour resources into the 3rd world. Even strategic pilot projects can help prototype idea's. So as example instead of you & I rigging up solar to "supplement" our nice low cost electricity that won't make an iota of difference to our countries supply output, we could install the systems in a village in country x giving someone a lifestyle improvement & probably reducing deforestation etc at the same time. I am also specifically thinking groups like greenpeace could do something productive like this - rather than commiting expensive terrorist acts (they recently broke into Heathrow and climbed on a plane). Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

This thread should be locked while rushmc and Billvon are in agreement Has that ever happened before for an entire thread? However on topic it does seem that politics, economics and the "green" agenda are undermining a fundamental principle of grid electricity supplies - and that is the provision of reserve capacity to deal with short term peaks in demand. I don't believe that wind or solar energy are efficient generators for large scale electrical generation - but they do work very well (solar in my experience) for micro-generation at homestead level. In essence there is a choice do people want to have low cost energy that is stable in supply and "unlimited" at domestic level or move to green energy supplies on a micro-level and pay the price (it is much more expensive). In many ways the 3rd world is ideally positioned to prototype and explore radical concepts in clean energy generation as they do not have established supply to homes. For example I would be curious to see if micro-generation could be modelled at say village level to exploit mesh networking techniques and topologies. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I posted the story not because it was very "newsworthy" but because the original comment about someone being shot and a contributing factor was the clothes they wore. At the time of the comment (August 2003) many people laughed at the concept (along with the fact that the war would be here 5 years later! Another interesting "fact" is that the thread in question is in the bonfire Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

A number of years ago Bill posted this See todays news http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7268645.stm Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Yes cause he's got no balls Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Thanks Orange1 and Itdiver, I thought that I had made it all up. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I have just done a search through the old thread and I can't find the reference, so maybe I mis-remembered. But I thought that i recalled you stating that his illness and belief that he did not have very long to live (I paraphrased to months) as a possible motive. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Sounds like he was quite a guy. Shame that he died. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

From following the 2 threads I seriously doubt that it could have been Duane for the following reasons: While I am not familiar with the exact parachute types mentioned I did do all my training on T10 and C9's. They were very heavy and constricting in movement and this was with no baggage. Add the money, briefcase etc and I really think you start to need a fairly fit individual (granted it appears there is no belly mount reserve which helps mobility) It has been stated that Duane had some sort of illness that made doctors think he only had months to live at the time - that doesn't tally - especially as it was a stated potential motive. Finally having progressed through SL I have never come across a first time free-faller who didn't pull virtually as their feet left the step (maybe even before ). At the speeds that are being talked about for exit I guess a quick pull is going to (probably?) result in death or very serious injury. If the person didn't bounce then I think they had more than a handful of jumps to their name - or were very lucky. My gut feel is that the person was probably some sort of special forces person who had experience with "most" of the elements. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

But being British territory not mainland Britain it is probable that it was pure miscommunication. Ultimately it is the US to blame - they are behaving like a true rogue state - they would be screaming bloody murder if Iran did that to a US citizen. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Does this admission mean that we no longer need to question who Cooper was, but ask you how you pulled it off? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

20 per day is way to high if enforced daily. I agree use it or lose it policy would work best - otherwise after a 2 week break someone could provide a flood of drivel. The problem with a low daily limit is that if you are off-site for a few days interesting topics may leave you wanting to post to a number of different posts. Starting a thread shouldn't count extra - but maybe a limit on the number of attachments? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I can see the point of trying to act quickly but the saying "winning the battle, but losing the war" comes to mind. I guess it is only natural that this type of thing causes resentment. It is also a gross violation of being a superpower, as it is quite likely that another nation behaving in this manner would at the very least find itself in a diplomatic row, and at worst at war. Lastly actiing quickly tends to result in innocents getting killed - how many times has the US had to back-track on "suspected terrorists" only for them to have made a mistake? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

As someone else said it is a good idea. If feasible a weekly limit would be better as it would enable people who come in less frequently to "catch up" with posts. I think that the non-bonfire/sc threads should have a much higher limit as there are non-mods who often have alot of good idea input. Finally I think it is fair that premier members get a higher post allocation. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

What if the mugger IS your 75 year old grandmother? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7248555.stm I was going to post this for JR anyway as it is knife crime in England Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

This morning I collected my bike with a brand new front tyre - and fairly large maintenance bill. Frost/ice on the road and I came off on the first corner about 100 yards from the bike shop. I was probably only doing 20 miles an hour but I am pretty bruised. Anyway it's back in the bike shop with the exhaust ripped off and damage to the crank case Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I disagree with this if you mean forcing them to compete is wrong. The problem is that of balance. In general most of us are good at something. Our daughter is extremely bright and realises that she is way ahead of most of her peers - as a result she struggles with arrogance. If there were more competitive sports she could then realise that she is non-athletic and the class dunce whips her ass at sport. We see the same thing in other bright "nerds" and the sport would help knock them down a peg or two. Similarly a child who struggles academically could get a boost of self esteem from doing well at sport. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I didn't mean "spot" in the conventional sense that we use the term. Simply in the sense of "hey DB you are over-head now". I can't visualise a corridor that is +/-4 mile corridor 10 thousand feet above in terms of horizon. Also it was mentioned ages ago and I don't remember an answer - if aircraft fly reference to Above Sea level (and their altimeters are referenced to that?) then what is the elevation of the DZ - people say it is rugged is it 1 or 2 thousand feet ASL meaning an 8-9k AGL potential exit? People have mentioned that it would not have been to co-ordinate with someone on the ground as there were no mobile telephones back then - this is just an option. Now the problem is that even IF he had a radio in the plane he isn't going to be able to use it under canopy - but then again having it on him may allow for a final meeting post jump. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I am curious as to why nobody mentions mobile radio's as a possibility? I am to young to know the state of PMR in the early 70's but young enough and from a background where hand-helds had good range 2-3miles on the ground and small enough to be highly portable (pre-mobile phone days). A big speculative "if" but could he have co-ordinated a drop with someone on the ground using radio? range is hugely extended with height and a 20 mile "line of sight" is possible with a plane at altitude. Potential scenario is that IF he/they knew the flight path someone could "spot" for him even without a visual cue through the noise of the plane passing overhead? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I saw the bbc article and the part that caught my eye is bolded above. I really feel that within a country there SHOULD be a common law for everyone. We have seen recent examples of disparate laws here for different groups (e.g. MP's exempt from police monitoring). Fundamentally it is wrong. I am pretty ignorant of Sharia law - but as an immigrant to the UK I do know that I had a choice to come here and as such I accept and abide by UK law. I don't think that freedom of speach and freedom of expression extends to freedom to have your own version of the law. If he is talking about stupid laws that govern aspects such as marriage and divorce etc that are based on victorian attitudes and cultures sure get rid of them and if muslims want sharia law to cover cultural aspects let them have it - but let me have my 3 wives! Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

In the UK it is classed as theft and not legal. It is also against the terms and conditions of use from most ISP's here to allow uncontrolled access to your WiFi. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.