chuckakers

"...gimme 5 left...oh, wait...." Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

The guy with 500 jumps in a year would probably be a better flyer, but the guy with 3 years in the sport would probably be a better skydiver. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Kinda sounds like your pilot chute crawled out of its pocket. Did you get a gear check *by someone else* before board the aircraft and/or before exit? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Of course. That's what John is talking about. Horizontal drift only occurs relative to the ground. There is no drift relative to the wind because the jumper and the wind move together. A flag draped from a hot air balloon will hang limp even if the balloon is moving across the ground. This is because the balloon is moving relative to the ground but it's sitting still relative to the air mass it is in. Ever see a fish swim 100 mph? Put it in s fish bowl, hop in your car, and drive 100 mph. That's the freefall drift you are talking about. The fish's position is changing rapidly relative to the ground, yet its speed relative to the water in the bowl (like the air we fall through) is zero when it sits still. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Seriously? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

I ran a DZ years ago and got both of my kids jumping at 16. It's not about age. It's about maturity. Good thing my kids got their maturity from their mother. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Says who? I had to read that one a couple times - I think he's saying that "people just aren't worrying about it anymore." Not that the snag hazards have disappeared, but given the number of people wearing them with no cutaway systems, it appears that the concern people used to have about the snag hazards has disappeared. I understood what he meant, but that hasn't been my experience. Where I do LO work we have the "snag factor" conversation often and encourage jumpers to know what to do if they get a snag. Anyone who doesn't have a plan for the day a line gets hopelessly snagged on a mini-cam is foolish and unprepared. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Says who? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Oh brother. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

So go to the $175 course. Or don't go at all. Course directors do set their prices, but it's only robbery if he/she take your money against your will. In my experience, you get what you pay for in ratings courses. DJ Marvin at The Ratings Center is a great example. He's probably a little pricier that most course directors, but his candidates get way more than they pay for. It's not about cost. It's about results. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Construction may begin early next year. Cutting a deal on the land now. Location - I-10 near Bunker Hill. Easy access from the loop and the beltway, as well as from all the majors, 45, 59, 290. Don't say anything. You know how fast rumors spread on dz.com. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

I will refer you to the folks who were on the jump. They are all highly experienced freeflyers and most if not all felt his actions were dangerous. Bottom line - this was a state record attempt, flying a very delicate, very fast formation. This was a jump that required everyone to be on their game and fly the plan. Bones did exactly the opposite. Adding the unexpected variable on a jump like this was dangerous enough. His drifting around and groping for grips just proved it. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

That is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever read on this site. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Not even close to a fair comparison. Danger by ignorance or omission of thought is not the same as danger by intent and malice. Mistakes in skydiving are excusable. Intentional safety infractions are not. I know Bones pretty well. He is a very smart and talented guy. He didn't make a mistake. He knew what he was doing was fucked up and knew it would add unnecessary risk to the jump. He made a conscious choice and had plenty of time to reconsider his plan before taking action. What he did was willful and malicious. His actions are inexcusable. He has a very long road to being trusted again. For some, he will never get there. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Which is why every skydiver should have a true working knowledge ALL types of typical modern gear. "In the day" we trained to perform ALL necessary processes to make a jump so if we were ever put in a situation in which outside assistance wasn't available we would be competent from gear check to repacking. Where I learned to jump (Parachutes & Associates, Frankfurt, Indiana, circa 1985) no one got signed off for their A license without demonstrating complete knowledge of every common system of the day. That seems to have gone by the wayside - but it shouldn't have. Collectively we should be comfortable allowing any current, licensed skydiver to check our gear for us. Unfortunately that is not the case. For a real treat, see how many jumpers - especially newer ones - out of ten can actually talk you through the complete operation of their own rig. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

yep Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

And THAT is why we don't track off early. Nice footage, too. Pause it at the point where the two jumpers are closest to each other. Geez, that's close! Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Unless of course you consider the infinite possibilities had his drifting triggered a bigger problem. Many incidents begin with something that seems benign. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

That Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

There's a difference between hatred for a person and disdain for a person's actions. The mistake Bones made wasn't flying head up on a delicate, fast head down jump. His mistake was having the extremely poor judgment and the complete lack of respect for the safety and success of his fellow jumpers to do it in the first place. That's what drove him and THAT'S the problem. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Funny that you complain about the drama while participating in it. Do you know how it all really went down? Could it be that the record was announced 10 minutes before the load because they made the decision to give it a try 15 minutes before the load? Could it be that the idea to try for a record wasn't even hatched until the group was already organized? Could it be that the organizers were simply working with the same people they had already been working with and never even thought of adding anyone to a last-minute impromptu attempt? You mention that some folks don't travel much and may not have been invited because the organizers didn't know them. What would you like the organizers to do about that, invite jumpers whose skills they aren't familiar with on a difficult state record attempt? Or would you prefer the organizers travel around the country at their expense to meet the folks who CHOOSE not to travel? Sorry, it doesn't work that way. I've been skydiving for nearly 30 years and probably have the skills needed for the high-profile big-ways that I see blazing the pages of Parachutist, but guess what? My lifestyle doesn't allow me much time to travel so the vast majority of the big shot organizers probably know more about Truman Sparks and Gardner Barnes than about me. You think I'll be on any of those shit-hot skydives anytime soon? In this sport we get out what we put in. If your friends don't want to travel so be it, but don't complain when their lack of sacrifice gets them overlooked on top-shelf jumps. It sounds like you just want what you want for your friends without respect to what it takes to get there. My guess is if your friends would communicate with the organizers you're referring to they would be invited to appropriate events where they could put their skills on display. THAT's how it works. And finally, you seem to think there was something inherently wrong about the way things happened. I don't. These were jumpers who paid their own way to come to Texas, paid their own way onto the planes, paid for their own accommodations, food, rental cars, gas, and maybe even some whiskey, blow, and hookers. How is it that those folks should feel obligated to seek the approval of ANYONE before any particular skydive, record attempt or not? These were paying customers doing their thing and they don't owe anyone anything. I do think some of them are owed an apology, though. Texas skydiving is better than this petty crap. 5 left and cut. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

(post not aimed specifically at Cheach) I don't have a dog in this hunt, so I think I can speak objectively here. Some of you folks are way off base with this state record stuff. State records are classified by WHERE the record was made, not by WHO made it. The amount of time between records means NOTHING. Who is on the load vs where the load occurs means NOTHING. In state, out of state, money spent, miles driven - all of that means NOTHING. Did it occur to anyone that the Cali folks traveled all the way to Texas for this event, bringing their Cali dollars to a Texas DZ and specifically choosing a Texas DZ OVER a Cali DZ where they held the event previously? Did anyone consider that they - by everything I've heard - had no intention of coming to break a record and only did so when they saw that they had a group that could pull it off? Did anyone consider that if the roles were reversed the same thing may have occurred? Do you really think a bunch of Texans would refrain from attempting a record in Cali just because another record had been established 2 month earlier? Hell no they wouldn't. How is it that some of you think things should be different in Texas? Are we really that full of ourselves??? Some of you are making it sound like the Cali gang didn't have the right to do what they did, or that they somehow broke some unwritten rule of record etiquette. Butch up, people. As has been said before, records are made to be broken. Getting your girly panties wadded up because YOU don't think enough time has passed since the previous record or YOU don't like the people chosen to participate is crap. Y'all are making Texas jumpers look like a bunch of pussy whiners - knock it off. It's especially insulting that some are using the impromptu record effort to justify Simon's actions - saying he was "defending" the Texas record. Have you lost your minds? If there's any wrong in this it belongs to the guy who made an ass of himself and put other people in harm's way because he couldn't keep his ego in check. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Love the reserve pillow grope at :19. That would have been one sporting deployment! So dramatic... That was the cutaway handle, not the reserve Would've made a low main deployment more interesting though. Ah, right you are, Ski. Either way, this was a most f*cked up thing to do. In my 28 years of skydiving I can't remember ever hearing of someone sabotaging a jump or a record, let alone doing potentially deadly crap in the process. I've known Bones for a long time. I am very disappointed. Not surprised, just disappointed. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Love the reserve pillow cutaway pillow grope at :19. That would have been one sporting deployment! Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

More or less dangerous than the day he intentionally flew a tube through - yes, through - 2 sit-flyers in the middle of a jump? Smacked 'em pretty good with it too. And yes, he bragged about it during the video debrief. Impressive abilities necessarily include impressive judgment. Without it you are sport death. Makes me wonder what goes through that boy's head - if anything. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX