chuckakers

Pitched at 1,400 feet trying to get clear air after an 84-way. That was in the days of the 400-500 foot opening. No AAD, of course. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Your memory does serve you correctly. It was a long-time Racer owner who bought one with an RSL for the first time when they became popular. He didn't bother reading the manual which clearly warned that the double-sided RSL MUST be disconnected on at least one side before chopping a main during a 2-out situation. His ended up with 2 out and cutaway the main while both sides were attached to the risers. The main slid straight up the reserve lines, choking it and causing it to collapse. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

I never have problems wearing my fullface, but sometimes find a contct stuck to the inside of my goggles after a freefly jump using an open-face helmet and stadard goggles. Some folks tape up the vent holes on their goggles and say it helps. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

His partner at the time was Dick Simon; who went on to own Simon Trucking ( a small skunk is their trademark and I occasionally see one of his trucks on the Interstates ) and then into Indy car racing. Dick Simon has competed in the Indy 500 many times; I have no idea what his best finish was. They hosted the '64 US Nationals at their Alta, UT dz. When Bill moved west, Dick dropped out & stayed in Utah, going on to more expensive things. JerryBaumchen Wow, how cool. I grew up in Indianapolis watching Dick Simon race. I always wondered if he had anything to do with Dick Simon trucking and had no idea he was a jumper/DZO! Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Nope. What's next? Several people have hard openings on a load just before sunset so we decide that sunset must have something to do with it? How about sunrise, or maybe the moment that the wind turns 180? Maybe at the stroke of noon before the second full moon in a calendar month? Give me a break already. It's called coincidence. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Not a chance. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Always nice to see a jumper - famous dude-guy or dozen-jump wonder - get back to it! Glad to see Shannon is ok!!! Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Can you expand on that??????? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Just out of curiosity, under what circumstances do you occasionally jump from pressurized airplanes? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Not the issue. The issue being discussed is what could happen if a jumper - as the advocate of the technique advises - sits up at a 45 degree angle to clear (or insure clearance) of the p/c at the time of pitching - which is NOT the same moment as when the bag launches. More specifically... The advocate of the technique advises to sit up at the time of the pitch. This means that when the bag does launch, the jumper is already in a 45 degree head-high attitude, or some variation thereof. That can and has caused lines and risers to snag on the bottom of the reserve container resulting in a variety of nasty mals. If you need some evidence, call pretty much any manufacturer and they can probably provide you with photos of rigs returned to the factory for repair after being damaged by "other than flat and stable" deployments. There is more than one way to skin a cat, but some ways can kill you. Sitting up before your bag and risers have cleared the container - which is exactly what the advocate suggests - is simply asking for trouble. If anyone doubts me, call a rig manufacturer and ask them what they think about the idea. Something tells me the advocate won't like the answer they give you. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

You're very wrong. B-bye. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

You are absolutely correct, but the point I am making is that the parachutes still deploy above their heads as they drop below the open canopy. They are effectively standing up with the parachute deploying almost, but not quite, straight up behind their heads. I.E. the bag, lines, and parachute effectively deploy in a manner that is on much more of an angle than if they were belly to earth or even sitting up 45 degrees relative to the horizon. Big Noise was saying such a deployment could cause a lot of problems....I'm saying thats not necessarily so. But I expect him to jump all over the same point....

You're digging yourself a deeper hole, ol' man. CReW jumpers, static liners, and hop n poppers aren't head high to clear a pilot chute as you suggest in your ongoing misinformation spew. They are head high because they deploy on or shortly after exit - when the wind is horizontal or nearly so! Of course they are head high. Head high IS belly into the relative wind when one's path through the sky - and therefore relative wind - is horizontal. Jumpers should be head high (or more accurately belly toward the front of the plane, be they head high or head low) to be belly into the wind upon exit. This is the very kind of dangerous misinformation that we have talked about on these forums repeatedly. Short of personal assaults, no one can stop such sh*t from being posted here, so I guess we will just have to continue calling people out for posting it. Really man, think about your post above. If you really are NZ D-84 with 30 years in the sport, you should know better by now. If you don't, you are just plain dangerous. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Sorry I can't post pictures or clips....but just to clarify a point. Are you saying that being in a head up body position during deployment of a parachute is somehow dangerous?. You can't post a link to a youtube video of jumpers routinely at a 45 degree head-hi angle to the horizon making sure their pilot chutes launch cleanly? That really surprises me because I thought sure you would find tons of the real pro skydivers doing it in skyvids. After all, there are plenty - thousands, probably - of shots on youtube of people deploying. Surely you could find just a few to illustrate your point. Tell ya what, Einstein. You post even just a handful of links to those types of videos and we can talk. Until then I'll just consider you another crackpot posting horsesh*t that some unsuspecting noob might actually do someday because "it sounded like a good idea at the time". Careful who you listen to out there, kids. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Uh, no I wouldn't. And I can honestly say I have never seen videos or real-world situations - and I've seen and/or videoed my share - in which anyone routinely sat up by 45 degrees from horizontal to insure p/c launch as you suggested. Maybe you could provide us with a youtube link or two depicting people sitting up at 45 degrees after pitching out. I'd love to see them. Really. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

I didn't actually mean going to a sitfly position. After pitching, arms forward and tucking the knees in a little will pitch the body up. (About 45 degrees into a bit of a backsliding position). This is a good position to be in when then going for your handles. Your head is also pointing in the right direction to see the next sequence of events. First, I said nothing about transitioning to a sitfly position. Second, tilting 45 degrees backwards creates a radical backslide, so if the burbled p/c takes any amount of time before launching, the jumper would have a dramatic increase in fall rate which could result in a hard opening. It could also lead to the main bag, lines, and risers hitting or snagging on the bottom of the reserve container resulting in a horseshoe or in-the-bag line twists, a p/c bridle snagging on a main container flap, and any number of other issues. And for the sake of newbies who may actually take your advise to heart, please don't . Newbs, your equipment was designed to deploy in a belly-to-earth, stable body position. Your best chance of a good opening is to stay that way to let everything cleanly lift off your back and be pulled away from you. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

The OP may have had a p/c in the burble, but "sitting up" after pitching is a really bad idea. Doing so can result in everything from a hard opening to a horseshoe mal from snagging. A better idea might be to do what every - I hope - student is taught in the FJC. Simply tip your sholders off-level by looking over your shoulder to see what's happening back there. I have yet to see that not clear a burbled p/c just fine. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Can't speak for anyone else, but I do know several ladies who jumped through the end of their second trimester with the doc's ok. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Instead of tipping, buy your instructors dinner. They'll appreciate the personal touch and you'll get some one-on-one time with wisdom that can keep you alive...if you listen. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Cut that out. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Not sure I've ever seen a 5 foot 2 inch, 200 pound "muscular" skydiver. At least not one who could fall with all the not-so "muscular" folks. Huh? That only represents a BMI of 36.6. I don't know much about BMI. It just sounded a bit chunky to me, even if he is muscular. Either way, I think he'd have a killer fallrate. BMI is a ratio of height to weight that was invented sometime between the years of 1830 and 1850. If you take a modern athlete that trains heavily with heavy weight, that athlete will easily be considered "obese" by the 160 year old "standard." That is regardless to having a low body fat percentage. For instance, Chuck, you are supposed to weigh around 160lbs. Yeah, but I'm muscular. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Not sure I've ever seen a 5 foot 2 inch, 200 pound "muscular" skydiver. At least not one who could fall with all the not-so "muscular" folks. Huh? That only represents a BMI of 36.6. I don't know much about BMI. It just sounded a bit chunky to me, even if he is muscular. Either way, I think he'd have a killer fallrate. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Not sure I've ever seen a 5 foot 2 inch, 200 pound "muscular" skydiver. At least not one who could fall with all the not-so "muscular" folks. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

As the proud Dad of a 26-year old that grew up in the sport and became a professional skydiver with 6,000 plus jumps, I know how you feel. Congrats and good luck! And enjoy the beer. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX