dreamsville

Musical thoughts on the way to altitude: Mostly classic jazz: Miles Davis, Kenny Barron, Freddy Cole, Roy Hargrove (from a long list), etc. It doesn't sound as if anyone else thinks this way so far. However, lately I don't think much of tunes because now there's a CD player installed in the cockpit and a sound system pumping out music into the cabin. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I asked the rigger in Betzilla's zone about having slinks with bumpers over them to prevent the slider dropping below the brakes/slinks. Kirk reminded me that the grommets will nick up after many encounters with these bumpers, and those nicks will fray the lines. Just a relevant thought. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

It was nice here too! Upwards of 20 Otter loads on the weekend, 30 for the week. With friends coming out in force, it was about like a summer weekend. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I answered "both equally", but it differs a little bit depending upon the jump. I'll always love the canopy ride for the beauty and navigational fun. In freefly, I have the best fun after exit on the jumps where we are smooth and in each others faces. In R/W, I love being a diver at exit and having the formation below me against the Earth as I swoop toward it and slow down for the pin. Everyone on this forum has his/her dreams, and I'm visualizing my experiences as I write this. Pure joy. I couldn't resist. I edited this and attached a pic of this RW jump on approach, which has Harry Parker Jr. top center and Adrian Nicholas orbiting on the upper right. This would be a Melonhead jump. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Just ask him if he plays golf, skis, or bowls. Same thing, but at least as rewarding. It's your golf course in the sky and you get together a whatever-some (oops, -way) a few times a weekend whenever you have the chance. If you like the person tell to come with you sometime. The difference is that the instructor will tee him off. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I've seen that smile before in response to skydiving issues being discussed. Just think of it as being similar to when a task freezes up on your computer and no other program responds or it goes to a "blue screen". You need to give them time to reboot their brains, after which they act like you didn't say what you said. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I really hadn't seen it. Thanks, AM. I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I had the exact same malfunction as he did. I just made the decision a lot earlier. I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Diverdriver is right. One helpful rule-of-thumb may be "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand," etc. thought/spoken at a continuous UNHALTING pace. Check it against a second counter/hand on watch/computer, then watch for visible horizontal separation at exit time to reinforce whether you are right or not. Interestingly, there were 98 MPH (I don't think it was knots) at SDC last Sunday at 12,000ft. Were someone to be able to safely pull there, we figured that, even with the drop-off in winds at lower altitudes, one could easily drop 20 miles away and have altititiude to spare to return to the DZ on a cross-country. Unfortunately, it was 15 deg on the ground and no one had the nerve to jump those temps. Better to forgo than to return as a petrified block of ice. The flip side of this is that on an upwind jumprun, the plane isn't moving so fast. Just watch the group ahead of you to see. Also, an OK track (although Rook Nelson may hit 50 or 60 mph) is going to take the edge of a dispersing formation (say, 15- or 20-way) much closer to you at pull time, so add horizontal separation for that. Personally, I like to be aware of the winds and approx. speed at exit time as a better reference for my own comfort level. I've been 2+ miles west of Sebastian, Fla. (fortunately free fly coach and Harry were last out before students), I left early and pulled high, and got it wrong. With the winds we had, I could have been at least a quarter mile FURTHER away, pulled at 3,000, and still had altitude and time to spare. Oh, well. As a last resort, step aside and indicate to the next group to go ahead if they've ants in their pants. I let some guy go past me at Pahokee out of the Casa, and we did a go-round right then. He landed between the town and the DZ and hitched a ride. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I know there has been a bunch written on this. At this drop zone (where I learned), jumpers just off student status were told they should have RSLs. At early levels of familiarity it's a good backup to be sure that the reserve gets out promptly before the AAD (they want that too) fires, although that may not adequately address the problem of a back-to-earth deployment. Later on, with much more experience and higher performance canopies that have the tendency to maybe spin one on his back if things aren't well, one may want to disconnect the RSL. One example: cutaway with a spinning line twist that can't be kicked or barrel-rolled out of. Maybe you would want to cut away first (make the decision EARLY), spend the briefest possible time getting belly-to-earth, then deploy the reserve. I can speak from experience that it does work. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

On four-way video I will wear some weights and a suit with camera wings and booties if I know that the group has capability to develop a fast fall rate. Depending up on the maneuvers of the jump, that gives me range to stay down with them, yet slow down fast if things change. I am kind of floaty in a loose suit without weights, so this is something that works for me. It's obviously not right for everyone. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Sorry for going a bit off the thread. Do you know of situations where skydivers have exited the aircraft when it was upside down? | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I guess that's true, at around 30 a year. The thing that whuffos often do not realize is that the sport has progressed to wing canopies from rounds. In most cases, many also believe that landings are hard (yeah, it happens more on the earlier jumps), and that landing softly under parachute, steering the parachute, and steering the body in the air don't really happen. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

At first I thought that a bomb was being tested in Moab, Utah, before reading further. Our S & TA is down there BASE jumping (Dave Cicarelli). | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

They'd need to be good-sized collars to coer the rings, kind of like a Bozo the Clown outfit. With smaller golf-shirt collars (sometimes I end up wearing them on a jump), just make sure there is a jumpsuit over them and that they are covered by its collar. Then it ends up being OK. I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Thank you for distilling all of this. I haven't had physics since my second year at the Cornell University School of Engineering. Since I have forgotten a bunch of what I knew and haven't the patience to re-learn all of whatever-it-was, I rely upon inquiry and the time-tested reliability of the Performance Designs wing to keep me alive another day to write this drivel. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

The attitude by some that it will "never go right in the sky" may be partially responsible for problems. One's point of view and relationship with the other jumpers can go a long way towards making a dive go well, sometimes even with the seldom-recommended method of dirt diving on the ride to altitude. As you jump with people, you may come to notice certain traits of jumpers/organizers and why dives are consistently better with some groups than with others. Let it roll off. If the person in question persists in the subject attitude or comments, it may be time to fly with someone else. It's your choice. Also, how experienced is the jumper, and could there be a confidence problem? Remember, sometimes support and a good attitude is the best gift we can contribute for the well-feeling and improvement of others. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

If the DZ you're at does not normally produce digital versions, see if someone has a camera and computer at the DZ and if the vidiot does not mind giving him a digital copy. That would be up to them, but it doesn't hurt to ask. There are adapters for going from analog (VHS) to digital, but I don't recommend that. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I have been on organized jumps with Petey and others, although not part of SDU. Most enjoyable. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Who's seen this Bets? Never, in my canopy-flyin' days have I heard of or seen this at our place. Is it at a certain area or altitude? | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I don't remember everyone who was in my FJC before the tandem. However, most of the people who started AFP with me are still jumping (that was "class of" 1997-98, and there are 10 or 12 people I can think of), with some placing in Nationals teams this last year, both in free-fly and R/W. This thread got me looking back on the last few years in the sport. I'm proud of the friends I've made and love the experiences we've shared (excluding the jump where we ended up in the ravine and somehow survived unscathed).

Mike flys like that from time to time. I think if you look you'll see that there are at least 2 fingers out on his left hand. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I agree, but then I've never been at the door of a jump plane without a rig connected to me. At the dropzone a couple of years ago, some of the passengers were going on with the aircraft to a party at another location after the Otter dumped our sunset load at the DZ. One of the girls on the plane who was going to close the door after we left sensibly put her rig on in preparation for this task before she would go near the door. I hope that they got to jump into their party, of course. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

The same is true of Palm Beach Extreme Skysports (temp home of 220EA). Their current position puts it in the town of Lake Worth on the ocean. I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Also remember that learning to fly on your belly means learning tracking. That's your escape route skill at the end of the jump, and you will want to be stable on your belly at pull time. No one wants line twists. A slight de-arch with hands by your side and as close to your body (as you can fly stably) helps for tracking. With free-fly, learn to fly sit first as it is easier than head-down (at least to begin). That will always give you a fast-falling recovery position should the head-down not go as planned (help you avoid corking). Enjoy! | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143