Raistlin 0 #1 May 24, 2004 As I sat in front of my computer, an interdimensional hole suddenly opened in front of my very eyes, allowing me a peek into some place that looked very much like my own home, only wasn't. I spotted a calendar-type clock that was exactly like the one sitting on my desk. Only, my one read 2004, and that one, read 2025! There was some semblance of a computer visible in that bizarre hole. Cautiously yet burning with curiosity (for I realized that fortune allowed me a peek into the future itself!), I extended my hands forward and, ignoring the hideous Windows XXX 2020 logo, ran Ultrainternet Explorer. My mind swam with possibilities. See what stocks would raise dramatically in price so as to make a fortune? Go to a History site and learn what future awaits us? Suddenly, inspiration hit me. Of course, there was no other place to go than www.dropzone.com! But as soon as I went to that site, the hole began to close slowly. I clicked on the first post I could reach and as soon as I finished copying it, the hole closed. Behold! Here it is! The post from dropzone.com of the year 2025, the words from the future! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I read the posts at today's forums, and really, sometimes they make me raise an eyebrow. A lot has changed in this sport since the day I made my first skydive on a Katana 120, and it was a mere fifteen years ago. Mere fifteen years! Back then, rigs were big and airplanes slow. The maximum altitude we got was 20k - maybe 22k on a lucky day - and the freefall time was around two minutes at most. If you wore a Skyflyer, you could increase that to four minutes. Nowadays, I read complaints about how 8 minutes isn't nearly enough to break the sound barrier. The climb to altitude used to take about 20 minutes, unlike now, when you whoosh upwards at about the same speed as you are going to be falling a minute later. Katana was considered an aggressive canopy that you shouldn't fly over 3.0, and for a first jump, over 1.8. Reserves were seldom under 100 sqf. At the DZ only our chief instructor had a XX. After all, it was 33 square feet! Yes, very few people could land a VX-26 or a Xaos-27 21, and it was unheard of in occurrence to land a wingsuit. To have your canopy wrapped around your body, or stuffed in a pocket, was an idea belonging in a trash bin. Surviving freefall was a miracle, and jumps from over 25k required oxygen masks and thermosuits. We didn't have a rigid wing to penetrate us through the choppiest of winds; canopies with lifting force were a lifelong dream of any pilot. If you started your swoop TOO low, there was the only option of banging into the ground and that was a little painful; you could not drive your canopy into a spiral motion, go up, and repeat; no siree! We had Cypres-3's and Vigil-AA's for AADs. They were pieces of geeky equipment that calculated your rate of descent by measuring air pressure. Although they were pretty reliable, they were dumb, so if you went on your head past the activation altitude at 400 mph, you were likely to break your neck. And those things cost! Mind, $1300 for a unit, and they had to be shipped back regularly for inspection. Doesn't sound at all like your Anti-G 3000 or AG-Pro that gently slow you down onto your tiptoes, does it? Back then, AG-Pro was something most skydivers would give their kidney and half their liver for. And here you are, the young generation, taking it all for granted. Years went by, but we still had to study for all of 5 jumps of our AFF. We had to actually do stuff ourselves. We did not have the survivor skills beamed right into our skulls, along with the reflexes of the world's best champions. Learning to swoop required more than 50 jumps, and you might break a leg that took three days to heal, not fifteen minutes! Nowadays, kids with the money buy themselves a ticket to Vitalizer and actually try to spiral-land their rigid-wing Cheetahs 12. What is the point of this long ranting, anyway? I don't mean to discourage you from trying out the wonderful possibilities of this perfectly safe sport, but for God's sake, try to enjoy it, try not to take it for granted, try not to complain. Think about the hazards we had to face mere fifteen years ago. We ran the constant risk of death - every year as much as 3 persons perished in accidents - but we enjoyed it. We did not have JetPack's, but we were quite happy flying our Velocity 35's even if it was not the fun of going at today's modest 200 mph speed. Please stop to think about it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflyfree 0 #2 May 24, 2004 thanks for the memories -- Blue Skies NO FEARS, NO LIMITS, NO MONEY... "A Subitánea et Improvísa Morte, Líbera nos, Domine." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FrogNog 1 #3 May 24, 2004 I like the technical inaccuracies that really make it feel like it's in the future - forgetting that broken bones take a bit longer than Three! Whole! Days! to heal, and that people back then have two kidneys, not one, and giving away all of one's kidneys would be suicide. -=-=-=-=- Pull. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Decibel 0 #4 May 25, 2004 QuoteYears went by, but we still had to study for all of 5 jumps of our AFF. You studied? My jump prep never started more than 1/2 hour before my jumps and never lasted more than 20 minutes or so (except for level 2 of course). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frenchy68 0 #5 May 25, 2004 You guys are SO acting like old timers! I was going head down on my AFF level 1. And on the way up, the foot massage in first class (on the Dupper Otter at Perris Skydive and Spa) was soooooo relaxing... it was like walking on clouds... Nick "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
