Contact Congress to Oppose User Fees for General Aviation
Among the discussions currently taking place in Washington, D.C., about reducing the deficit and finding new revenue streams is talk about imposing new user fees on general aviation. There has been similar talk in the past, but Congress squashed the idea. There’s not yet any formal proposal, but there are enough rumors from official sources that many of the general aviation associations representing pilots and businesses that operate aircraft have asked their members to contact their Senators and Member of Congress to oppose the idea. General aviation users already contribute to the aviation trust fund by paying a federal tax on every gallon of fuel purchased, and general aviation users want to stay with that method.
The basic idea of a user fee is to charge aircraft operators a set fee per flight. The charge could be anywhere from $25 to $100, and it could be assessed per takeoff or per radio contact with air traffic control (ATC). Skydiving operators—with multiple takeoffs each day and a requirement to contact ATC on each flight—would pay more than most operators; the cost of jump tickets would go up. A new fee could be aimed at jets only, or it could be aimed at all turbine aircraft, or all aircraft in commercial operation, or simply all aircraft. Regardless, if enacted, it is a sure bet that the fee would eventually increase and also be expanded to other users in the future. Adding insult to injury is that the FAA would have to create a sub-agency to track billing and enforce payment.
USPA joins our general aviation brethren in fighting the user fee concept. Please take action now to ensure that Congress rejects the user fee idea.
On the Senate website, select your state from a dropdown menu in the upper right corner to be directed to your two Senators’ contact information. On the House of Representatives website, enter your zip code to be directed to your one Representative’s contact information. A phone call is best, followed by an email, and even a fax; mailed letters take too long to arrive. In your contact, identify yourself as an aviation user, and explain how increased costs would affect your participation in skydiving—an FAA aeronautical activity. Ask them to reject the idea of new user fees for general aviation and to continue the collection of federal taxes on aviation fuels.
The above article was taken from a USPS news release: www.uspa.org
CALLING DAVE BROWN!!
He’s funny, he’s creative, a world champion, an instructor, he’s the best friend you never knew you had, he’s a gifted skydiver and businessman, and right now, he’s missing.
Most of the skydiving community is now aware that World-Champion skydiver Dave (David Roy Brown) Brown has been missing for nearly two weeks at the time of this writing. Dave recently began working at Skydive Moab, and was last seen at the home of Skydive Moab’s DZO, Clint MacBeth.
Searchers are scouring the canyons of Moab, but it is literally tens of thousands of square miles. The search is a difficult, arduous process in the worst heat the year has to offer. Your help is needed and appreciated. Keeping aircraft, powered paragliders, search ATVs, vehicles is an expense not easily managed. We're asking the skydiving community for any help they can offer.
Donations to assist in the search for Dave Brown may be made to: Dave Brown Search (PayPal)
At the request of Dave's wife, the timeline of this article has been removed.
The Great Book of BASE - Review
Base jumping is something that I’ve not had a desire to do, so it was understandable that when I was presented with the opportunity to read and review "The Great Book of Base" that I did so with some level of skepticism. You see, I've always had preconceived ideas about BASE jumpers, their discipline, and the personality types involved - ironic when you consider the very notion, a pet peeve of mine, general skydivers have regarding canopy piloting/swooping. "The Great Book of BASE" helped turn that thinking on its head.
The Author, along with oftentimes anecdotal experiences with other BASE jumpers, paints a vivid yet methodical view of the world of BASE jumping. The book itself begins with a rather heavy handed push warning readers of the dangers of BASE jumping. Something, that while necessary, wears a little bit on the reader at times. It was the only part of the book I found a little difficult to get through - not because the warnings were invalid, or not to be heeded, but rather it felt like the Author was attempting to offset any potential future litigation.
There is something about this book that should be clearly stated: This book will NOT teach you how to BASE jump, nor is it the intention of the Author for it to do so. What the book does do, and in my opinion does very well, is give the reader a solid sense of a path to follow in the BASE world. It's a guide and a reference book, something you read multiple times in your BASE career and refresh the things you need to. For newer (and perhaps even some seasoned jumpers) the book discusses the myriad of things a BASE jumper should consider from etiquette (site burning, etc), mentorship (something the Author is a avid believer in), various types of BASE jumps and locations, detailed explanations on various weather phenomena that can affect the outcome of the BASE jump, and even the types of skydives a future, or current, BASE jumper should spend time working on to give them the greatest chance of having a positive BASE experience. Also noteworthy is how the Author takes some time to dispel myths, largely prevalent in the regular skydiving community, about altitude BASE jumps. All the subjects mentioned above are discussed in depth, but not so much so that they become a chore to read. Quite the opposite in fact, and the Author does a spectacular job of keeping the reader engaged in the topic being discussed - not always an easy task when discussing technical topics.
The book is well edited and written. The only real complaint I had about the layout, and it's a minor quibble, is that the Author refers to DBS (Deep Brake Setting) at one point, but doesn’t actually explain the acronym until a later chapter. As a non-BASE jumper, this term had me scratching my head until it was later explained.
So what does this mean for you, the reader? Well while I still have the opinion that BASE jumping is not for me I have a newfound respect for participants in the sport. Additionally I can say that if I ever were to reconsider my BASE jumping career, I would certainly have this book on my bookshelf and use it for guidance on the next steps to take. I definitely will be recommending to some of the local BASE jumpers I know.
Safe BASE jumps.
Overall: Highly recommended
Operation Toy Drop: Airborne Tradition Set to Explode in 13th Year
Thousands of toys and paratroopers, hundreds of volunteers, and more than a dozen aircraft come together December 10th and 11th at Fort Bragg in order to give back to the surrounding community.
WHEN: Friday, December 10, 2010 for Toy Collection and Lottery [ 9:00am – 10:30am ]
Saturday, December 11, 2010 for the Airborne Operation [ 7:00am – 3:00pm ]
WHERE: Green Ramp, Pope Air Force Base (Friday)
Sicily Drop Zone, Fort Bragg (Saturday)
What makes this year’s Toy Drop different?
The addition of the 437th Air Wing out of Charleston Air Force Base and their unofficial challenge to “out-toy” Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base by collecting more toys for underprivileged families throughout the region. This year’s operation will also include double the amount of jump masters from allied militaries – greatly expanding the number of foreign jump wings awarded to U.S. paratroopers who participate.
Operation Toy Drop’s goal is to collect more than 6,000 new toys for children and families throughout the region who may not otherwise receive gifts this holiday season. America’s paratroopers don’t hold back – donations last year included numerous high-end game consoles, countless bicycles, and more otherwise unattainable toys for children of underprivileged families.
Media opportunities include: hundreds of Paratroopers lined up to donate toys for their chance to join the jump; the jump itself; paratroopers delivering toys, and more. Live interviews via satellite uplink will be available Friday during toy collection and airborne refresher training and Saturday morning from the drop zone during the jump.
Dozens of parachute silhouettes raining down against the North Carolina sky are nothing out of the ordinary around Fort Bragg, but each December since 1998, Airborne operations have taken on a different meaning to America's men and women in uniform with the Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop. An annual opportunity for Fort Bragg's military community to help families in need over the holidays, Operation Toy Drop combines the efforts of Army, Air Force and civilian service organizations in a truly unique event.
Operation Toy Drop is a week-long, philanthropic project where Fort Bragg's paratroopers (or visiting paratroopers from across the nation) individually contribute new, unwrapped toys to be distributed to local children's homes and social service agencies. Despite the project's name, these toys are not "dropped" anywhere except into the arms of deserving children throughout Cumberland County and North Carolina. The drop is actually a daytime, non-tactical airborne operation supervised by foreign military jumpmasters – a rare treat for participating Soldiers who relish the opportunity to earn a foreign nation's "jump wings".
Masterminded by then-Staff Sgt. Randy Oler in 1998, Operation Toy Drop started as a relatively small-time success backed by some big-time coordination. Oler's dream of incorporating Airborne operations, foreign military jumpmasters and local charities was a tall order, but Oler was never one to shy away from a challenge. He approached his commanding general within the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command with the idea and was given the green light to spearhead the project.
That December, after eight months of planning, USACAPOC(A)'s first annual Operation Toy Drop had been completed on a wing, a prayer, and Oler's handshakes across several organizations. It was small, and very few toys had actually been raised - but it was a start, and from that point on Oler had a foundation to build on.
Over the following years, Operation Toy Drop expanded to include aircraft support from Pope Air Force Base's 43rd Airlift Wing, and welcomed the participation of Soldiers from Fort Bragg's XVIII Airborne Corps and 82nd Airborne Division. These Soldiers’ enthusiasm to participate in the budding holiday tradition greatly outweighed the number of jump slots available. With limited space on the planes, the project's organizers arranged to draw names of participating Soldiers at random to fill the slots. The name drawing has become one of the main spectacles of Operation Toy Drop, where hundreds of Soldiers crowd together for the chance to hear their ticket number called, no matter how long the wait.
Each iteration of Operation Toy Drop has brought in more toys for children in need. Even as USACAPOC(A) Soldiers mobilized with the rest of the military community in support of the Global War on Terrorism, those who remained stateside continued the tradition. In 2001, each child who lost a family member in the Sept. 11 attacks received a toy raised in the following December's Operation Toy Drop.
As the war broke out, Oler remained at the helm of the operation. By April of 2004, he'd been promoted to Sgt. 1st Class and was finishing up an assignment at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Even as the USACAPOC(A) commanding general was fighting Oler's relocation orders, which would take him away from Fort Bragg, Oler was starting to get the ball rolling for Operation Toy Drop, 2004, which was less than eight months away.
Oler had warned his colleagues that he might not be around for what would have been his seventh year running Operation Toy Drop. Sadly, he was right, but not due to any relocation orders. On April 20th, 2004, Sgt. 1st Class Randall R. Oler suffered a heart attack while performing jumpmaster duties aboard a C-130 aircraft. At 43 years old, Oler was pronounced dead at Womack Army Medical Center. The Tennessee native had joined the Army in 1979 as an Infantryman, spending time in Ranger and Special Forces battalions throughout his career, and had deployed in support of Operations Desert Storm, Provide Comfort and Joint Endeavor. In 1995, he joined USACAPOC(A) to become a Civil Affairs specialist.
Oler's humanitarian spirit built Operation Toy Drop from the ground up, and it's only appropriate that the following December, his dream-turned-reality was dubbed the Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop by those who had worked so closely with him over the years. The void left by Oler's death was a difficult one to fill – Oler had run the operation from memory for six years. With no written notes to work from, key players scrambled to make the connections that Oler had worked from his head over the previous years.
To this date, Operation Toy Drop has collected and distributed over 35,000 toys – from bikes, to dolls, to video game systems – for local families and children in need. In 2007, Operation Toy Drop's 10-year anniversary, over 3,000 participants brought in approximately $55,000 worth of toys.
USACAPOC(A), a subordinate of the Army Reserve Command, has had control over Operation Toy Drop since Oler, a USACAPOC(A) Soldier, initiated the event in 1998. Oler's passion for helping those in need is echoed again and again among USACAPOC(A)'s nearly 10,000 Army Reservists, whose civilian experiences play important roles in their units' missions overseas. By conducting civil-military projects and humanitarian assistance efforts, USACAPOC(A) Soldiers are making non-lethal contributions to global peace and stability across the world. Located at Fort Bragg, USACAPOC(A) is headquarters to the 69 Army Reserve Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations units across the nation.
Civil Affairs and PSYOP Soldiers account for only five percent of the U.S. Army Reserve force, but comprise 20 percent of Army Reserve deployments.
GoWear comes to the UK
Preston, UK – Sep 15, 2010 – Beginning in September, GoWear skydiving t-shirts from the USA will be available in the UK through Go-Wear (Europe) Ltd, a new company formed by UK skydiver Adrian Bond. “This will be good news for skydivers in the UK and Europe,” says Kris Ruff, the American skydiver and designer who started GoWear back in 2000. “There’s always been a lot of interest in our products in Europe, but the high cost of shipping overseas has made it difficult for our customers to get them. Now, t-shirts like our classic Jumps from Perfectly Good Airplanes t-shirt can be ordered from a UK-based website instead of having to come all the way from the U.S.”
A Good Partnership
Kris is excited to be working with Adrian, who will be the sole distributor of GoWear’s products in Europe. “Adrian brings great business expertise to this new partnership and has lots of great ideas for new products to add to the GoWear brand.”
Go-Wear (Europe) will start with 12 of the most popular GoWear t-shirts and widen the range in the coming months. In addition to t-shirts, other products, including personalized products that will be completely new to the market, are in the works.
All the Details
GoWear skydiving t-shirts and other products will be available in Europe at www.Go-Wear.co.uk during August. Unisex tees will sell for £17.99 and the luxury women’s fitted tees will be £21.99. In addition, some DZ shops will be carrying the range. Go-Wear (Europe) Ltd is also looking for agents in Europe. If you’re interested, contact Adrian Bond at [email protected] or t: 0843 289 1655 or m: 07786 980 984.
Author:
Adrian Bond has been a skydiver for 7 years and jumps camera for a four way FS team, he is also on the BPA council and has been for 6 years. As well as launching Go Wear is also a management consultant.
National Skydiving Museum Weekend Honoring Joe Kittinger
A mid-summer skydiving celebration honoring the "first man in space" is the centerpiece for one of the biggest fundraising events yet planned for the National Skydiving Museum. Fifty years ago, Air Force Capt. Joe Kittinger exited at 102,800 feet from a helium balloon over New Mexico, reaching a speed of 614 mph during a four-and-a-half minute free fall. The record still stands today, although there have been several attempts to better it.
The "National Skydiving Museum Weekend Honoring Joe Kittinger" will be held in DeLand, Florida the weekend of August 13-15. Kittinger’s jump was on August 16, 1960. Kittinger, who retired as a colonel and is now 81, plans to attend, as well as other skydiving luminaries. There will also be several activities during the weekend benefiting the Boy Scouts of America, another cause Kittinger supports, to commemorate their 100th Anniversary.
Joe Kittinger outside the gondola from which he took his historical jump.The Saturday evening dinner will be devoted to honoring the initial class of inductees into the National Skydiving Museum Hall of Fame. A special committee carefully selected eleven honorees, culled from a list of skydivers who made major lifelong contributions in equipment design, free fall techniques, and those who excelled in national and international competitions.
This fundraiser is part of the National Skydiving Museum’s $5 million capital program that will raise the necessary funds to build the museum in Fredericksburg, VA. (story contributed by Doug Garr)
Show your support and join us!
Skydiving Activities and Exhibitions...
Here are just a few of the events that will honor Joe Kittinger and celebrate 50+ years of skydiving history including giving special recognition to other pioneers for their contributions to our sport. (schedule subject to change)
Jumping for Joe 50-Way Formation Skydiving Exhibition
This 50-way formation with some of the best skydivers in the country will celebrate and symbolize 50 years since Joe Kittinger’s record breaking jump. Canopies opening in an almost simultaneous rhythm will have the audience cheering until the last skydiver lands.
Swooping Exhibition
Swooping truly shows how far parachute equipment has come over the years. Swooping is gliding a high performance parachute across the ground or water for long distances, generally a slalom type course, to show the skill of the canopy pilot. The exhibition will have some of the top swooping demo jumpers in both individual and team exhibitions.
Accuracy Competition
Accuracy goes way back in our history but didn’t get the recognition it deserved until the Sixth World Parachuting Championships held for the first time in the U.S. at Orange, MA. Accuracy canopies in those days were modified military surplus equipment with very little steerability. Today, high performance accuracy canopies and the skill of jumpers make for exciting and competitive accuracy contests.
Skydiving Demonstrations
Precision skydiving demos the world famous Army Parachute Team (Golden Knights) and the Air Force Academy Parachute Team.
Wingsuit Flying Exhibition
Grand finale and tribute to Joe Kittinger wingsuit flying truly exhibits the dream of human flight. Ten to 15 of the premier wingsuit flyers in the world will fly formations across the sky with smoke to add to the effect of this spectacular jump.
Source - http://www.skydivingmuseum.org/
Skydiving and the Environment
It is no secret that skydiving is bad for the environment, it doesn't take rocket science to figure out each load is using fossil fuel which is essentially damaging to the environment. Many companies, people and organizations around the world continue to try become more 'green' in an attempt to slow down emissions, an initiative which has been strongly inspired by the global warming buzz which has been increasingly present over the past decade or so.
Skydiving has been put on the list of most environmentally damaging hobbies/sports activities a few times, this because of the fuel used in each load. Though it's certainly not that black and white, and one has to look at little bit deeper, down to that layer of thought called logic.
To quote a member of the dropzone forums in an environmental thread.
"While skydiving may consume more fuel per participant then, say, soccer. He (the writer of the article that the thread is discussing) ignores the fuel consumed by the millions of fans who drive to soccer stadiums around the world every week. Therefore, the impact of soccer as a whole, makes skydiving look like a drop in the bucket."
Let's quickly look at some numbers and see just how 'bad' skydiving is in comparison to other sporting events.
In soccer for example, the world’s largest spectator sport- stadiums can hold from 40 000 to in excess of 100 000 spectators, and often these stadiums are full. The FIFA World Cup this year is in South Africa, and the South African chief organizer of the World Cup is suggesting a possible 300 000 foreign visitors. Including flights to the country, local flights between games and transport that's a lot of fossil fuel! This is of course just one example of a sport where the transportation of the spectators seems to outweigh the emissions of skydiving.
The fact that skydiving is an activity which is based around aeroplanes often tends to trigger people into thinking that conventional sports are a lot less damaging to the environment. But it is important to take into account the details and nature of each activity and not just look at which one appears at first glance to be damaging.
Trying to become more environmentally aware does not mean that one must stop all activities that are harmful to the environment, because with that logic one would likely never leave their room. It's about trying to make a difference, looking for greener ways to continue what you're currently doing. There will be times when you will have to sacrifice comfort should you want to become more environmentally friendly, though this is a personal choice you should make on your own.
With that said; There are dropzones who are getting into the green swing of things and attempting to cut their emissions the best they can, while at times positively enhancing the dropzone as well.
Skydive Lake Wanaka is just one dropzone who has recently purchased a P-750 X-Stol jumpship. They stated in a press release they have upgraded their current Cresco to the Cresco P-750 in an attempt to cut down on the amount of loads done per day by increasing the size of their aircraft and doubling the amount of possible passengers per load. This is just one case where a small investment allows for progressive environmental support while at the same time increasing the quality of the dropzone. The P-750 is not only larger than the current Cresco, but it is more comfortable, has larger windows and a quieter engine.
The current Cresco has an average fuel consumption of 180 litres/h while the P-750 X-Stol has an average fuel consumption of 192 litres/h, an increase of just 12 litres an hour while being able to hold twice the amount of passengers.
Skydivers
Yes, I know who you're talking about.
It is these crazy guys, who jump out of perfectly good aircraft with the bunch of ropes and fabric in their backpack.
The only reason why they are allowed to do this is the fact that the pilot wants to get rid of them. Badly.
Having a cabin full of freaks which are laughing, kicking out the jokes only they can understand and giving each other high five from time to time... you know, I can understand the pilot.
Some of these guys are so untolerable so the pilot makes them to get out in the middle of the way up (sometimes at 3,500 ft). The crazy bastards call this "hop and pop".
Aha. Hop'n'pop. You know.
Hop! And pilot turns the red lights. I believe this is because skydivers almost never listen to the pilot so he has to give them a visual cue. Most of them are still allowed to drive a car so the red light still rings the bell. Surprisingly, this bell tells them "the fun is about to begin"! Green light follows.
Pop! The guy is popped from the plane. I suspect, sometimes, this happens not without a good kick to the ass from the humble bros and sisters. Why would they call it "pop" otherwise???
Then, there is always somebody who is curious if the pushed out guy got his lesson - you can always see a few heads out of the plane looking at the guy tumbling in the air.
No, they had not been such freaks from the very beginning.
In the beginning the innocent guys and girls were lured into the small room full of weird stuff: worn out harness containers hanging on the ceiling looking like just taken from a dead body, creepy plane cabin imitation, tables on the wheels with soft tops looking very... very... suspicious.
The whole place looks like a mideval torture chamber.
Then, during several hours they are asked to do a lot of strange things: hang in the harness and partially disconnect it from the hanging ropes, falling down like been hanged, assume strange poses on the soft table, fall and roll on the floor while other yelling "PLF, PLF!!!", memorize a lot of motions which doesn't make much sense for any decent person who got used mostly to the movement of glass with beer to the mouths.
I think, "PLF" must be an abbreviation for Practice Leaning to the Floor. But why jump from the small stair for that???
All this is sometimes interrupted with the videos showing multiple ways how the parachute doesn't work. And such videos for some strange reason are supposed to be encouraging. No way!
After a few hours, when the instructor ensured the guy is driven crazy enough already, they get with the student on the plane going up.
While it is the beginning, no normal person is going to jump out of plane, but these bastards got a trick for it: one of them holds the poor guy on one side, another - on the other side and then they suggest "just to look at the prop". Yeah, they are trained well so it is easy to push the relaxed guy into the air.
During the freefall their favorite joke is to tease the guy in the middle with quite inappropriate gestures.
The most popular is the gesture which the Rome Ceasers showed "death to him" to the gladiators at the arena: big thumb down.
Some other gesture is the way people in the Europe say "you're an ugly goat" - two fingers apart.
When the student screams and kicks legs, they just tip the big thinger to the palm showing "shut up".
And when they sick and tied of the guy, they point to him, which will mean "fuck off, pull now so we cannot see your ugly face any more around".
Do you know why they give the guy the radio on the first jumps?
They always say "it's a one way radio" but actually they enjoy listening to the screams of the student.
It is obvious that after such a treatment the guy goes nuts completely and gets an inevitable desire to repeat.
However, some of them reasonably try to get rid of instructors on the jump (who wants these freaks around, really???). The most popular ways are: don't give an exit count or exit in the middle of count, tumble like a bitch on the exit, hoping that the instructors will be lost, assuming the unusual positions in the freefall hoping the guys aside will not be able to hold on. Apparently, this almost never works – in the most successful cases the best achieved result could be the one instructor lost only.
With the time, guy's craziness goes deeply and it is only one instructor needed to make him out of plane. To check that the process of madness goes well, instructor requires the guy to do weird things on the jump: put the head completely out of plane and look for aircrafts, roll and rotate while falling, try to hit the small piece of land while landing.
The advancing on that way is almost completed when the guy decides to jump out of plane alone.
However, after a few jumps alone almost all of them got a bit better and prefer to get out with a coach, trying to hang on him during the freefall. Obviously, it is safer to hang on something firm while in the air! They call it "docking".
The progressing in that is recorded in the special (I believe, medical) sheet (white or yellow) and then submitted to the organization which tries to keep account of the sick bastards. The organization is named USPA which is apparently the abbreviation for US Psychiatric Advisory. In 25 jumps and when all the symptoms are listed, USPA classifies the guy and assign him a first "A" number in the sad history of sickness.
The progressing classifications are:
A - Almost Hopeless
B - Better Be Avoided
C - Completely Crazy
D - Dreadfully Mad
It took time for USPA to figure out exact symptoms of progressing from one category to another.
However the common anomalies were noted and listed (like jumping into the water, jumping in the middle of the night etc.)
It is noticed that many guys prefer to exit from aircraft not alone (some prefer to have as many jumpers as possible surrounding them). And this is a natural fear - and it is not a rare to see multiple jumpers hanging on each other in the sky. Sometimes, by chance, their formation looks even nice. However, within a minute they realize that hanging on the other guys don't help them from getting close to the earth and they break off and fly do the different directions, obviously scared. I personally saw 30 such guys at once, flying from each other as fast as they could.
Some of them try to pretend nothing unusual happens and flying sitting - like they were at home on a sofa. Some prefer to have some roof over the head and flying head down.
Anyway, all of them soon realize that something goes wrong. "Most probably", they think, "it is that heavy backpack drags me down to earth" and the obvious decision is to get rid of it. For some unknown reason all of them start with ripcord or BOC pilot chute...
In a few seconds the parachute opens and now they have the desire not to get down to earth somehow satisfied. Poor bastards! They could have simply stayed in the plane instead!
Any reasonable man can confirm that having as big umbrella as possible above you is safer under the open sky.Who know, what can fall from it on your head. Especially, when you are flying.
So, obviously, the most experienced skydivers land with two parachutes over them.
They call their parachute "canopy". "Canopy" must have came from Russian “konoplya” and in Russian it means "cannabis" - something that gets you high, which obviously is associated both with the parachute and the whole process itself. "Get high naturally!" - they say, - "Skydive!”
Hmm... I think skydiving should be declared as a controlled substance too.
Note, while under canopy these guys are very dangerous and do not hesitate to use their awful knives (designed in the best traditions of Jack the Ripper) if somebody else decided to join them. Even if another guy just wanted to chill out together!
The separate branch of the symptoms is the animalizing. Some of these guys (and their number is progressing with the years) decide that they are not humans but the... birds. Yes, birds!!! I suspect birds flu has something to deal with it.
They take on the bird-like costumes. Sure thing, somebody is making money on this heavy mania, selling the bird suites to them. Then they jump out of plane.
Another proof of the animal-like anomaly is then they get and fly together. They call this "flocking" - what else needs to be said!
Sure think, not all of them so unreasonable. There are some guys who recognize their “mental change” and do the best to make it safe. The best of them do not get on the plane to jump on awfully high altitude with heavy backpack stuffed with two parachutes.
They know that it is safe to jump from low, unmoving object. They know that two canopies introduce exhaustingly big number of options: which to pull?
So they jump from very reliable, unmoving, low bridges, buildings and cliffs. With one canopy only.
These ones are obviously less crazy and the other skydivers call them BASE jumpers - they are nuts too, but only basically nuts.
Yeah, and, of cause there are some guys who enjoys to see the normal people dropped from the plane. These are very smart and persuade the good citizens to do this, proving on the ground that there is nothing scary in that.
"You even don't have to wear this heavy ugly backpack. I can do it for you. But put this harness on so my boss would not suspect anything."
While in the plane, they sit behind the poor guy and, unexpectedly, grab his harness and tie up to his one.
He get close... very close... to the guy or the girl.
And I personally saw how they pushed the poor one to the aircraft exit in front of them, telling them: just cross your hands on your chest, there is nothing else you can do now... Yes, I was the one of the guys dropped out of plane that way.
But this... hmm... close relationship doesn't last long - in 6-7 minutes they are on the ground, and giggling, seeing as normal people runs from them, screaming on their way.
"They are excited!" they say. Yeah, right!
If the guy doesn't run away - here we go, he is another candidate for AFF (see what I wrote about it before). Oh, yeah, AFF is obviously for Awfully Freaked Fella - the student.
So, when you are going to marry a skydiver, don't even hope that he or she is going to be around you all the time. Sky and jumping will be the on the top of his/her list of priorities. And if you want to get to that list not far after sky, jumping, boogie, bonefire, beer, new container, try a wingsuit, new reserve, freeflying, freeflying jumpsuit, wind tunnel, night jump, audible alti, jump from balloon, big ways, CRW, hook turns, swooping, go to Florida to jump in winter, spend vacation on drop zone in New Zealand, high-altitude jumps, sleep sometimes, try weight, try that cool new canopy on boggie, jump from the cliff in grand canyon, dogs... then you have to become a skydiver too!
Wanna have him or her around more often? It is simple. Do RW with them!
Blue skies!
Managing Media on the Dropzone
Managing Media on the Dropzone
Whether for positive or negative reasons, every dropzone in the world should expect a visit from local news media at some point in time or another. This is a short guide to help you best understand how to manage modern media on the dropzone.
For starters, understand that the media generally considers skydiving as an "extreme sport" so they're often willing to portray it from a perspective using terms like "dare-devils," "Adrenaline junkies," "thrill-seekers," and so forth. It's not necessary to encourage these labels; they'll exist anyway.
Remember always, that any press is good press, but well-managed press is GREAT for the DZ and the sport.
INVITING THE MEDIA TO AN EVENT AT THE DROPZONE
If you've got an event at the dropzone, such as a celebrity jump, someone's Xthousandth, a war hero, multiple generations of a family, competitions, special guests, etc, you'll likely want to invite the media. It's not quite as easy as it may seem. Here are some rules and practices of etiquette that will enhance your chances of succeeding in bringing the media to the dropzone.
-Send a short press release no further than four weeks out. Follow up two weeks out. Follow up one week out, and send a final release the day before the event. Press releases should NEVER be longer than one page.
-Make sure the press release contains at least two contact phone numbers. At least one of those numbers should be an after-hours number. It should also CLEARLY state the date and time the event is taking place.
-Include some action statements and if you're creative, you might consider generating one or two subtle headlines. "The Family that Jumps Together, Lands Together," "World-Record Skydiver Visits XXXX Dropzone," "Human Birdmen Flock to XXX Dropzone," etc. These headlines will almost assuredly not be used, but will spark the creativity of the reporter or editing staff, and most importantly, the assignments desk.
-Have a place for the media at your dropzone. Assign a dropzone liason to stay with the media during the entire event. This person is not only there to answer any questions, but to also guide the media to safe areas during landings, help them to find the best angle with safety in mind (they'll almost always want the sun at the back of the camera operator), and more importantly, act as their friend during what is likely an unusual experience. It's a good idea to have cold bottled water on hand if it's a hot day. They're your guests, treat them as such. The person assigned to act as a media liason should be well-spoken and well-groomed.
Articulation is very important. Remember, this person is representing YOUR dropzone and our sport to the masses. He/she may not appear on camera, but if he/she will appear on camera, be sure they're wearing clean, non-wrinkled clothing with neatly groomed hair. They should be able to start and complete a sentence without "ummmmm," or showing a lack of confidence. They should be able to smile and speak with a slowed cadence. If it's an exciting event, great. But fast speech is slurred in most instances, unless they're a trained speaker. They should know the language of "sound bites." Like it or not, the MOST airtime your event will receive is 2.5 minutes and that length of time is fairly rare. Being able to speak in concise, clear sentences will assure that you'll get maximum airtime, and likely increase the chances of the media wanting to return for future events.
RULES OF ETIQUETTE
-Don't send photos or video via email before the event. Send links to downloadables, links to photos, or make it clear that photos and video will be made available on the day of the event.
-Don't ask a reporter if they received your email.
-Don't ask for a copy of the story. If you want it badly enough, go get a copy for yourself. The reporter has other things to do. Your event is a big deal to you; to them...it's just another story.
-Never provide gifts of any kind to reporters. It's bad form, and could be misconstrued.
-Don't expect reporters to do tandems. If they ask, great. If not, don't push. Some reporters have clauses in their contracts that prevent them from doing anything considered to be a "high risk." You don't want to be known as the dropzone that broke the reporters leg or tailbone.
-Don't call reporters during deadline hours. It's a good idea to ask a reporter when the best time to reach them might be. Don't repeatedly call; it may be seen as harassment. Don't be "that guy."
-Don't spam every reporter at the media source. If you don't have a cultivated contact, send email to the City Desk or assignments editor.
DEALING WITH THE MEDIA IN TIMES OF AN INCIDENT
"If it bleeds, it leads." Period. That's ALWAYS the axiom of the news media. Deal with it. Death, mayhem, corruption make for more interesting stories that up ratings. Depending on the story, it can quickly go huge. Cases in point, my own incident went nationwide due to my small celebrity stature. Another case in point, the guy that dropped his paraplane into a crowd and injured six people, including small children. Both generally small stories, but mine occurred on a slow news day, and the paraplane story had great footage from an amatuer camera. Understand you can't stop this from occurring, and trying to keep the media away from injuries or fatalities only piques the interest and will make your dropzone look as though you've something to hide. You cannot win against the Fourth Estate. Deal with it.
If you have a fatality or unusual incident, you should;
-have someone pre-designated to speak to the press. This is critical, and this person hopefully has already rehearsed or has spoken to the press before. As previously mentioned, this person should be capable of articulate, intelligent speech.
-NEVER speak off the record. Ever. There is no "Just between you and me" with reporters. Ever. Gossip is the fodder on which they eat. Shut your mouth.
-Do not provide details about an incident; it's usually too early to provide details anyway, depending on how quickly the press arrives at your dropzone. This is not the time for some arrogant, ego-driven jackass to be promoting his authority on the subject of skydiving. Merely by appearing on camera will give an air of authority, and a brief sound bite is all that is needed. Later, we'll look at some general methods of speaking.
-Do not allow the press to shoot images of any aftermath if possible. There are alternatives to managing this better, such as a Crisis Kit or EPK (Electronic Press Kit). Every dropzone should have one of these.
-If you have footage of the incident occurring, the DZO, DZM, or S&TA; should be given a copy, and its usually a good idea to have the videographer turn over the original work so it doesn't show up on YouTube or similar. Bear in mind that any video may be retained by the police or investigators as evidence. Fatalities are treated as a crime scene in most areas. Help, don't hinder.Skydivers are our own worst enemies. Case in point, at the USPA Board of Directors meeting, I was informed that the FAA has watched several wingsuits buzzing tandems. They're watching. They've also watched videos of DZ's busting clouds and I'm aware of at least one DZ that was visited and ramped, simply due to a video of skydivers busting clouds. Keep a tight lid on footage of incidents and have someone worthy of responsibility and sound judgement decide what to do with the footage. This is why one reason I've encouraged my home DZ to institute a "Work for Hire." Tandem footage or hired aerial camera footage belongs to the DZ, not the camera flyer.
-Keep statements short and as glib as possible. Here is an actual (shortened) transcript of a Dropzone Operator speaking to the press;
"The guy was doing a low turn, he turned low with his toggles, turning too close to the ground. When the parachute turns close to the ground, it loses altitude and his body slammed into the ground. He made a mistake and he's now badly hurt. We'd talked to him about low turns before but he just kept doing them...." The DZ rep was still talking as the press cut back to the news room. In other words, he desperately needed to show his superior intelligence about the sport of skydiving and was reveling in his 15 minutes of fame. And wouldn't shut up. Not good. For anyone involved. Additionally, the end result of this poor presentation is that the skydiver ended up having his insurance company challenge various aspects of their payments, citing that he willfully put himself in a bad situation by turning low, and that he was negligent. Do you really want to put one of your buddies in that situation regardless of what may have occurred?
Finally, if you're hot-headed, avoid being near the press. Incidents are emotional, and hot-heads and high emotions don't mix with the media.
A recent incident had a skydiver become aggressive with a news camera. The news station gathered unflattering footage that may be trotted out whenever there is a skydiving incident, and the station has a prejudiced view of skydiving in general, simply because of an immature, emotional person that felt they needed to keep the media off the DZ. In the future, do you think the media will present pleasant, happy stories about skydiving?
Keep these sorts of people away from the media.
A better example (and a paraphrased version of another incident report);
"We're not yet exactly certain what happened. All we know at this time is that unfortunately, one of our friends has been injured, and we won't know the cause until we talk to everyone who actually observed what occurred. We will be providing a full report of the incident to the USPA, and that report will be available to you as soon as we have it."
Simple, short, and sweet. It doesn't degrade the skydiver, doesn't give the news a "push" to assure it meets the "bleed." And it's all true. Be brief and stay on point. You'll also get more questions. Answer them confidently, briefly, articulately. Don't be afraid to say "It's too early to know that," or "That's a great question, and we hope to have an answer very soon." Additionally, don't be afraid to say that "Skydiving is a high-risk activity, and sometimes accidents occur." If you do want or feel a need to provide details, keep them as factual and simple as possible, and explain that we train for these scenarios, etc. Remember, your dialog with a visual media reporter is a 'performance' as much as it is a dialog. Stay confident, look in one direction, avoid moving your eyes around. Try to avoid "uuhhh,,,, mmmmm,... weeeeellll,...and other verbal distractions. Just because you're the DZO or DZM doesn't mean you're the right person to speak to the media. Find that nice-looking, articulate guy or gal on the dropzone and have them represent you and your DZ.
The media serves one purpose and one purpose only. They need to bring a story back to the station. DZO's, S&TA;'s, or media personnel at the DZ can shape the voice of the story, and help direct the flow of the story by being courteous, professional, and helpful. Or, they can create a bad image for the DZ and the sport by reacting badly. Just as you have a job on the DZ, the press has a job too. One way or another, they're going home with a story. Wouldn't you rather have a say in how that story is presented?
BUILDING A CRISIS KIT/EPK
A Crisis Kit or Electronic Press kit is a great tool for DZ's whether it's used for crisis management or event promotion. This kit is a DVD that contains:
-Contact information and a headshot of the DZO, DZM, or other authorities for the DZ that are permitted to speak to the media.
-A "fact" sheet of statistics related to skydiving. This is available from the USPA website.
-Random video clips, well labeled, that show happy times in skydiving. Hoop jumps, tandems, RW, VRW, wingsuiting, etc are all good to include. These clips should not be more than :30 in length. These provide the media with cutaway shots, and will quell their desire to create more than the "real" story in the event of an incident. It also will help promote your DZ in a positive manner, regardless of what has brought the media to the dropzone. I recommend delivering in a .mxf format, high definition is preferable today. Any news station can open a Material eXchange Format file. DV is next best, preferably widescreen.
-Contact information for the USPA, assuming you're a USPA dropzone. The USPA has a PR team there to support and help you. Provide them as a resource.
Most savvy DZO's know that any press, good or bad, is good for business. However, if you can work with the media, provide them tools and assistance, make them feel welcome and appreciated regardless of their role on the DZ, they can become a weighty ally for your dropzone whether you're promoting a competition or just sponsoring an Easter Egg hunt.
The media can be free advertising and provide a draw to your location. Used wisely, you can dramatically increase traffic around your dropzone.
Blue skies and puffies,
~douglas
How I Built My Own Wingsuit
There I was, in the middle of a Utah winter, dreaming about jumping again. I’d recently finished editing a couple of instructional DVDs regarding wingsuiting, and those videos had sparked a new interest for me: I wanted to learn wingsuit flying in the upcoming jump season. My budget was tight, and the cost of a new wingsuit seemed high. “Why not build my own suit?” I wondered. My sewing skills were adequate for patching canopies, but that was the extent of my expertise. I’d been planning to work on sewing projects this winter… projects that would expand my knowledge of sewing. This was a logical step, I ventured. Surely building a wingsuit would help me in the seamster department, provide a suit for me to use in springtime, and keep my budget intact… it all appeared to be a fantastic idea.
I went through a list of resources I had available:
1) A great DZO (Jack Guthrie) who would allow me use his sewing machines.
2) A good friend (Douglas Spotted Eagle) who would let me borrow a wingsuit for a while. Note: Neither Douglas nor I expected that “while” to be 4.5 months.
3) My girlfriend’s mother (Jane) works at a fabric store, and has extensive knowledge of available fabrics and parts such as zippers, snaps, etc.
4) A Wingsuit manufacturer (Tony Uragallo, of Tonysuits)
Tony Uragallo of Tonysuits who was willing to answer some questions I had about wingsuit design and assembly. Tony’s input was key during a few points in this project. The first thing I did was take the borrowed wingsuit to Jane at Hi-Fashion Fabrics, in Grand Junction, CO. She inspected this Tonysuits Mach1 and helped me create a list of fabrics and parts necessary to build a replica. That day Jane was able to provide me with all the Parapac, Supplex, and Cordura I’d need, for about $225. Some parts, such as zippers, binding tape, snaps, and thread were purchased from other stores.
Next step was creation of a pattern. I laid the borrowed Mach1 out flat on the floor and inspected the design. It became apparent that this design could be easily broken down into three main pieces: Right wing, Left wing, and body piece. Jane had donated some white basting material, which she thought would work well for the large pattern pieces I’d need.
I started copying the body piece first: tracing the front skin and rear skin onto my pattern material. Much like the top and bottom skins of a ram-air parachute, these front and back skins would have ribs connecting them: providing an airfoil shape when inflated. The two skins were easy to trace and cut, but adding the ribs required some planning. Because these ribs were inside the model suit and therefore out of sight, I decided it was time to reach out to Tony Uragallo, designer of this suit.
I explained to Tony that I desired to learn more about sewing, and this was a project for my learning. Tony said if this was the only suit I’d build, and if I’d promise not to begin manufacturing more of his design, he’d help me out. Tony provided key information about size and shapes I should use for ribs in all three wings: Tail wing, right wing, and left wing. I wish I could say that the project was a breeze from this point on, but there were two key points of sewing that I needed to learn. First: Thread tension in the sewing machine.
I’d purchased 210 denier Parapac, and when I began sewing two layers of this light fabric together, the stitches would bunch together, causing each of my seams to shorten, thereby slightly changing the size of my pieces.
You can see bunching in these seams, more severe in some areas than others.
The thread tension needed to be very loose. I was nearing completion of the main body piece before I finally understood how to correct both top and bottom thread tensions in the sewing machine precisely. Second: Patterns must be laid out horizontally or vertically on Parapac material in order to make them hold their shapes symmetrically. I’d been thinking of how to maximize number of pieces that I could get from my pieces of Parapac, and so I’d placed the parts at odd angles on the fabric. Oops.
This pattern should have been rotated such that it pointed straight up the
What did this mean for my project? As I neared completion of the main body piece, and began attaching zippers from foot to throat, I saw the body was leaning hard to one side. It took me a while to figure out the issue. I knew all my pieces were cut symmetrically because I’d folded the front and back skins in half when cutting them… why were they no longer symmetrical?
The body piece warped into an asymmetrical shape
Finally it dawned on me that if I pulled one side of the body, it would stretch several inches. Pulling on the other side however wouldn’t yield much at all. This was because the threads of this fabric were not running straight across my pattern. The only way I could deal with this big error: wad up the body piece and start from scratch. At this point I was approx 25 hours into the wingsuit project. With these lessons in mind, my second body piece was built much faster. My patterns were already made, so the parts were quick to cut and mark. Since I was still relatively new to sewing, assembly did take me another 12 hours til completion of the main body piece. Thankfully this body piece was symmetrical after completion, and proper thread tension had been used throughout. Now for the arm wings. Tracing parts for the arm wings wasn’t nearly as simple as it had been for the body piece. There are quite a few curves and angles, which were difficult to duplicate when using a pre-assembled wing as the model. Another difficulty in the arm wings: Each rib shape and size was completely different from the others.
You can see that each wing rib is unique. Creating these pieces takes time
My leg wing had used identical ribs, because each rib was approximately the same length and height, creating a uniform symmetrical shape. Arm wing shapes for the Mach1 are much more complex than the leg wing, and use of CAD software would be necessary to create truly accurate patterns for this. After much painstaking measurement and pinning of my patterns, I was satisfied that I’d created a suitable set of patterns for my arm wings, close enough I believed to provide a fully functional wingsuit.
The wing ribs are first sewn to the bottom skin, then top skin is attached at gripper
Assembling of both arm wings took about 25 hours. There are air locks, zippers, inner sleeves, elastic, snaps, and binding tape involved.
Next step is sewing top edges of wing ribs to the top skin, essentially “zipping up” from outside in
With the right wing, left wing, and body piece assembled, I figured I was very close to completion. Then I learned how difficult it can be to create correctly sized booties, and to attach them in appropriate places on the legs of a suit. My first attempt at booties took 10 hours and failed to fit me. Those booties found their way to the trash can, and the second set took another 5 hours… these fit much better.
Booties need to be made wider than the shoe, so that the shoe can slide in easily.
After the booties were finally finished, I had only minor trim parts to finish, and final connection of all three pieces. Tony’s Mach1 design made it quick and painless for me to mount the wings: Tops of the wings zipped on (up and over the shoulder), and bottom of the wings required a simple straight seam, one running down the side of each leg. I tried the suit out while wearing a rig, and it fit quite nicely. However, I still needed a bit of training before I’d feel comfortable jumping out of an airplane with these wings attached.
The suit fit, but I needed some more instruction before taking it to the skies.Photo by Dru Poma
I’d already been through a First Flight Course with Scott Gray, and a refresher course with Scotty Burns, but both those classes had been several months ago. First I sat down in my living room & watched the FlockU DVD that I’d edited, Wingsuits 101, to refresh my memory. Next I called on my WS instructor friend, Douglas Spotted Eagle, and requested that he run me through all the ‘what-ifs’ (ie: what if I go upside down, what if I start spinning, what if I can’t find my handles). Douglas put me through all these scenarios, and finally I felt comfortable that I could handle any of these situations. The following day was gorgeous, with blue skies and warm weather over Skydive Utah. Douglas came along with me for my initial jump in this suit, and took a few photos.
Boarding the plane requires some concentration when your feet are inhibited by a leg wing. Photo by Dru Poma
Riding up in the plane reminded me of a night jump: all the training had been covered in detail on the ground, yet still I was nervous. A few minutes after takeoff, we were at altitude, with an open door awaiting our exit. I hopped out of the plane and counted “Jump one thousand, Wing one thousand”, then opened my wings.
I could feel the positive pressure inside the wings.Holding my arms in place required little effort. Photo by dse
All three wings inflated evenly, and the suit felt stable.
Photo by dse
Photo by dse
I didn't keep my tail wing collapsed during deployment, resulting in line twistsPhoto by dse
Douglas and I flew a left-hand box pattern, and I deployed at 5,000 ft. My giant grin was evidence to those who met me on the ground that my Mach1 replica had flown well and had provided great enjoyment.
I’m looking forward to jumping this wingsuit many more times this summer so that I may learn more about the exciting discipline of wingsuiting. There are quite a few tricks I need to learn through practice, such as keeping my leg wing closed throughout deployment of my canopy.
photo by Dru Poma
When all was said and done, I’d spent over 100 hours planning, researching, buying parts, and building this wingsuit. Also, I’d spent about $350 on parts and equipment for this suit. A little math made me realize that if I’d worked a minimum wage job and spent 100 hours working it, I’d have been able to buy a new suit from the manufacturer with all options, would’ve received it much quicker, and would’ve spent the same. Would I recommend this project to anyone else? No way. Go buy a suit from a manufacturer and realize what a deal you’re getting! They may seem expensive at first, but once I understood the amount of R&D; that goes into each design, and the amount of customization required for each individual suit, to fit each owner’s body, I realized that the MSRPs for these suits are actually very reasonable compared to parts and labor combined, for building my own suit. Cost and time aside, I’m glad I built this wingsuit. My ability to sew improved exponentially as I worked with this project, and my understanding of how wingsuits function increased drastically.
Chris Warnock is a TI, AFFI, Rigger, Canopy Coach, and videographer at Skydive Utah. Chris produced the "Canopy Control" DVD with Chris Gay for VASST. See him fly at the FreeFlock Utah Boogie in July, 2009.