3mpire

I fly my slot In my experience, suit-less guy docks with my burble.

If i'm on a belly jump with someone without a suit or a suit without grippers I tell them up front it's really just polite to give everyone else on your jump something to grab onto when trying to do whatever we're trying to do. I've turned down jumps if the guy I'm supposed to be docking on doesn't have a suit on. It's often a waste of my time. If you are not wearing a suit on a belly jump and I need to dock on something other than your hand, I just grab as much flesh as I can and hold on tight. arm hairs, skin, whatever. I'll stretch the fuck out of a t-shirt if I have to. Not comfortable for you but it works for me. Seriously. Dress for success.

I don't know if the guy in question is literate or not you seemed a little wound up so I couldn't resit pokin' ya with a stick. I don't think anything posted or not posted on the internet will do much to change behavior on a societal level. If it did, every new post in the incident thread would be unique. that said... i don't think anything posted or not posted on the internet will do much to change behavior on a societal level so it wouldn't kill anyone to let the post stand, either. I figure if they left a flying vehicle it's a skydive if they left something attached to the ground it's BASE. incidents on here for flying, general discussion or bj.com (rimshot) for BASE. but I try not to get too worked up about categorization. life is too short.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2_SNnSqzvk granted not a wing suit...

Stop showering and build up your own funk and eventually the thing will smell like your funk, not euro funk. Everyone likes their own brand.

Don't waste your time trying to build a community at the tandem mill you're at, if the DZ wanted fun jumpers around they would be there already. Once you're licensed and you've bought gear from them they will be happy to see you go since they've made most of their profit from you. Find out which DZ the fun jumpers in your area go to and go there even if you have to drive 100 miles instead of 10

My favorite part if announcements like this is the wave of perfectly good older gen units that you can by for way cheaper as people unload them to get the new hotness. I just got a hero2 never jumped for less than half what these new ones are going for. Even included a 32GB Sd card.

whatever it takes, right?

The thought of a non-jumper picking the anchor for their static line before flopping out the window gives me the heebie jeebies but if they're in a situation where they're doing it, it's probably not the worst option! better a D.I.T. than nothing, right?

that is way cool that you are able to get that performance even with the instrumentation variation. I hadn't thought about the sound that has to be like being suspended in mid air, I can only imagine how cool/weird that has to seem. I'm obviously not a BASE jumper though I try to learn as much as I can about it out of intellectual curiosity. I noted up thread you said you needed about 100 MPH vertical speed to generate enough lift to hit that sweet spot where you start to climb. What kinds of vertical speeds are common on a BASE flight? I'm sure even at lower vertical speeds where you're not actually climbing you can flatten your glide angle enough to have a wide envelope to operate in. But looking at the graph and the altitude I'm not sure I'd try that maneuver so close to the ground :D

I have to admit I had never given much thought to it until today but after some quick googling I believe once you're talking about truly "flying" as opposed to "gliding" you start talking about lift-to-drag ratio instead of glide ratio. Wikipedia says that for gliders and wingsuits the glide ratio and lift-to-drag ratio can be the same when speed is constant but with varying speed the two can diverge. I'm not sure if it is "correct" to represent a negative glide ratio or once you cross that threshold you just switch to lift-to-drag...? Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_to_drag_ratio http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliding_flight#Examples

That is pretty incredible and the plot is fascinating. The glide ratio is off the chart when your altitude spikes. Thanks for expanding my brain, it's cool to have some perspective on what the big suits can do.

I remember reading about these after 9/11, well before my skydiving started: http://novatechgadgets.com/executivechute.html http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/magazine/15SKYS.html 125 feet is pretty close to 12 floors.

Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something. ~ mitch hedberg

My understanding is you never gain altitude you only lose altitude at a slower rate. What relatively appears to be going "up" is just within the context of other jumpers who are falling faster, or a mountain side which is angled "down" at a steeper angle than the angle of flight. In other words: you're always going down, it's just a matter of how fast. Someone with more experience might be able to explain whether it is possible to actually increase your altitude. However I would assume even if you managed to momentarily truly gain altitude you would be in danger of an aerodynamic stall fairly quickly, right? I could be wrong, so I'd be interested in what someone with more knowledge on the subject has to say. (edited to add: I know exiting a tailgate a jumper in a ws can "pop up" and gain altitude, but I would think the relative wind plus a zero vertical speed allows enough "lift" to gain altitude but once in "normal" flight gaining enough lift to have a negative fall rate would be very very difficult if not impossible... rigid wings and jet engines a la yvess rossy excluded

I am in the habit of consciously only threading the flat end through my main lift web when buckling the belt in a 182 or benchless AC. The reason is I want to be able to lift the buckle and smoothly slip out of the belt in the case of a rapid exit. If you have the large end of the buckle routed through your MLW, it could snag on your harness even after the ends of the belt are released. I hadn't considered the situation in the video, but this is another reason why having the flat end of the buckle on the "inside" of your MLW is good. If you thread the buckle through your MLW and forget to unbuckle before you exit the jump master position in a 182, it might get tangled even after releasing the buckle. That said, I don't think simply routing the buckle in the least snag-able way makes a hook knife unnecessary. Give the buckle a try once or twice and if you can't find it or you release and you're still hanging, a quality hook knife that can cut through the belt is obviously needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4IjTUxZORE On behalf of the gopro generation that just doesn't have a clue sorry!

There is no way the TSA would provide a rigger. How could they possibly justify having a guy on call to repack a reserve in time for you to make your flight? Can you imagine the expose about government waste the nightly news would do on that one? Edited to add: and since when was customer satisfaction even remotely interesting to a TSA agent?! lol If you carry on, you should go through with your rig and nothing else inside a bag that is big enough to fit your rig + unpacked reserve. I know it's "cool" to walk through the terminal with your rig on like a backpack, but there's nothing cool about walking through the terminal with your reserve and a pouty lip out while your plane leaves the gate without you because you can't gate check your ball of shit and it won't fit under your seat or in the overhead

It looks like it is still there according to Google Maps satellite view: http://goo.gl/maps/kjWEi [inline sugar.png]

at least offer to pay the full price of the jump ticket (about 25 dollars)

Once you leave the airplane the only person responsible for the outcome of your jump is you. Which is why I give credit to the OP. While their post focused on all the negatives, let's look at the other side of the coin. Despite having a wicked spin in free fall, despite being alone (THE HORROR!! ) without an instructor docked, despite opening in line twists, despite the off field landing... the OP didn't have a scratch because the OP took action using their own brain and their own body and took control and made it work. It may not have been pretty but you can't argue with the outcome. Lessons were learned, corrective action was taken, and all by the jumper's own initiative. A proactive, self-reliant jumper is the best kind in my book. [good-natured-rant] While it's not "cool" to learn on S/L, I would say that one benefit is never building a dependency on someone else to solve your skydive for you. Once you leave the plane you're on your own and I think there is something to be said for that mentality starting with Jump 1. (.... and you learn how to spot... and exit stable ...at 3000 feet ...heyo!) [/good-natured-rant]

you're right, it's unsolicited and I don't know you or him so my apologies

Skydiving is his passion, not hers. He should make the proposal about her, not him. Especially with a young family, it's important for a father who jumps and is with a non-jumper to keep your priorities straight. I know several jumpers who are all young dads with non-jumper wives, and all I can say is make sure your kid knows who you are and don't let your woman think for a minute that she's not as important as nylon and strings.