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rapter

Dust Devils

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Just one of the things you may have to deal with....I jump in a lot of places... and get to see them more than I would like.... But if I see them spinning up.. its time to sit down on the gournd and watch those who are more willing to break themselves in one.

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No shit there I was!:o (so everyone says)

On Jump #40 (not licensed yet - I was procrastinating) at the American Boogie two years ago, after doing a 2-way and hanging from the bar of the Skyvan, I open up to land at "The Barn" and see a 100 ft high dust devil waiting right around where the van would pick us up (around the SE corner). I stay on the west side and land there, thinking, "You mr. dust devil can stay on your side of the field and I'll stay on mine." I landed w/o incident and I think it dissipated right around when I and the other guy landed. Then, the van dissed us and some guy in a Camaro gave us a ride back.

Just before that load, a dust devil had knocked over a vendor tent. The other guy videoed it and I wish I would've gotten the footage.

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Several years ago a guy a Perris landed out on the far east edge of the DZ and after he had touched down a DD came through, picked him up and slammed him back down. It killed him.

They scare the hell out of me.[:/]
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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Several years ago a guy a Perris landed out on the far east edge of the DZ and after he had touched down a DD came through, picked him up and slammed him back down. It killed him.

They scare the hell out of me.[:/]



Think it was the turkey boogie and his name was Carlos.



Only the good die young, so I have found immortality,

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I remember a few years ago at the Pell City, AL DZ a pretty sizable DD came right through the parking lot of the DZ and on up the road, upending tents and sun-shades, all while a full load of skydivers were on their way to altitude. It was an awesome sight. Right there in the middle of Alabama. Who'd have thunk it?
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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I was at Elsinore last August. Mel Curtis and I were planning out a jump when a dust devil came right through the dz -- the anemometer read ~70 knots. We gave each other a look and sat the fuck down.

Considering I had 200 jumps, it was a real ego boost to know we had the same reaction to danger.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

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I got caught by a dust devil at about 200 feet over the peas under a Paradactyl at the old Ghoulidge dz. For the next couple minutes I had absolutely no control over the canopy. Whirling and turning, I was lifted as high back up as 1500 feet, and toward the end was carving a turn at about 500 feet at a much faster clip than ever a dactyl did. As suddenly as it grabbed me, it spit me back out and went its way. I made a normal landing ... a mile and a half away from the peas. Sport Death
Zing Lurks

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Several years ago a guy a Perris landed out on the far east edge of the DZ and after he had touched down a DD came through, picked him up and slammed him back down. It killed him.

They scare the hell out of me.[:/]




Same thing happened to a student at Skydive Las Vegas a few years ago.... the guy was just touching down at the drylake....dustdevil snatched him up and slammed him down. Killed him too.


bozo
Pain is fleeting. Glory lasts forever. Chicks dig scars.

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Several years ago a guy a Perris landed out on the far east edge of the DZ and after he had touched down a DD came through, picked him up and slammed him back down. It killed him.

They scare the hell out of me.[:/]

One of my coworkers witnessed the same thing at Colorado Springs whenhe was working the tower one day.

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The 4 that voted just part of the jump, have obviously never been smaked down to the ground by one.
I watched a guy go from toes on the ground to being flung up and smacked back down again in less the 2 seconds. We call them Willy Wllies here in OZ and they can really frigg up your day[:/]:|
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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Mel Curtis and I were planning out a jump when a dust devil came right through the dz -- the anemometer read ~70 knots.



Disclaimers:
The scale goes by the damage done and not windspeed.
The scale has a slightly different definition of wind speed than is usual.
The dust devil has to be coming down from a cloud to fit the official definition.
Having said all that...

That's not a dust devil - that's an F0-F1 tornado.

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We gave each other a look and sat the fuck down.



Wuss. Come to Oklahoma and get your F5 rating. :)

Eule

PS Far more than you ever wanted to know about tornadoes.
PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

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Thanks to a dust devil that I nor any one else could see yet, musta just formed, my canopy partially collapsed and I ended up with a compression fracture in a vertabrae. I dropped from about 30 feet people said but was told I did everytyhing right continuing to flare. I had just got my A license to. This jump was #60 and happened 6 weeks ago in Perris.

I get to start jumping again this weekend finally. Now I am in Ohio, home of green grass and fields. No more dust devils to worry about and my canopy packs easier.

;)

David

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Now I am in Ohio, home of green grass and fields. No more dust devils to worry about and my canopy packs easier.



That is a big negatory.........the green grass just makes it harder to see them....they can and DO occur everwhere in the country...all you need are the right weather( hot usually) with a bit of wind..... and poof there they are... We get them at Lost Prairie up in Montana and the landing field is just a HUGE pasture covered with grass. We get them here in Western WA... on warm days........and they can be a bugger to see because we usually have a LOT of green grass around with our weather. You can find them around places that heat up next to the grass... like runways..... like roads.. or parking lots that absorb thermal energy from the sun and cause updrafts....even a plowed field can get them going. just be observant and watch for them.

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Now I am in Ohio, home of green grass and fields. No more dust devils to worry about and my canopy packs easier.



That is a big negatory.........the green grass just makes it harder to see them....they can and DO occur everywhere in the country...all you need are the right weather( hot usually) with a bit of wind..... and poof there they are... We get them at Lost Prairie up in Montana and the landing field is just a HUGE pasture covered with grass. We get them here in Western WA... on warm days........and they can be a bugger to see because we usually have a LOT of green grass around with our weather. You can find them around places that heat up next to the grass... like runways..... like roads.. or parking lots that absorb thermal energy from the sun and cause updrafts....even a plowed field can get them going. just be observant and watch for them.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Agreed!
Even in the coastal rain forest of British Columbia, we still get the occasional dust devil. The only difference is that they are difficult to see because of the lack of dust.
Sometimes we see tiny dust devils swirling dust around the corners of the hangars, but we only SEE large dust devils at the construction site off the end of the runway.

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Thanks for the info. I was just making an assumption with the cooler weather and the grass being cooler, there wouldn't be any dust devils. Will be on the lookout then. Maybe we should jump in the winter time in the cold. Should be no risk of them then. Brrrr...Although I think it might be too cold, I want to try at least one winter jump, so I know.

David

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We gave each other a look and sat the fuck down.

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Wuss. Come to Oklahoma and get your F5 rating. :)



I don't get it. Why would you give someone shit for making a safety call and not jumping in potentially dangerous conditions?

The point of skydiving is to be able to do it again. Not to prove that you're tough or macho.

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We gave each other a look and sat the fuck down.

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Wuss. Come to Oklahoma and get your F5 rating. :)



I don't get it. Why would you give someone shit for making a safety call and not jumping in potentially dangerous conditions? .



I don't think his Smiley quite came through. ;) It was a joke...an F5 tornado will take out a skyscraper and he's from Oklahoma where they have to dodge F5's all spring. The good news is in OK there is nothing of value to damage...;)
"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

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