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michaelqld

Pond Use Procedures

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Can anyone share any experiences of dropzones with procedures in place on the use of their ponds?

i.e. Do swoopers need to be authorised by the DZSO/S&TA?
Can the pond only be used when doing hop and pops?
How is traffic regulated/limited on the pond from height loads?

There is a new pond being built in Western Australia. The dz is interested in how pond use is regulated elsewhere.

Thanks for your help

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Do swoopers need to be authorised by the DZSO/S&TA?
Can the pond only be used when doing hop and pops?
How is traffic regulated/limited on the pond from height loads?



I've heard of all three of those being used, or some version of those.

A pond is a huge magnet for every low time swooper, and a bunch of jumpers who are not swoopers, but for some reason want to fly over it and land right next to it (on purpose). Target fixation comes into play, and people have a bad habit of being extra stupid when there's a pond around.

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davelepka

people have a bad habit of being extra stupid when there's a pond around.



Yep. And it's worth remembering that the purpose of a pond is not to allow swoopers to pile into it vertically and walk away from mistakes that would kill them on land.

It offers some degree of protection from skipping off the surface compared with ground and also allows for more accurate judging of "dragging disciplines".

Additionally, of course, there have been cases of people pounding in on the ground just on the edge of the pond while "not giving up the gates"! ;) (Well it was bound to come up!)

IMO the pond should be reserved for those who have already mastered their turns and are now moving on to practice with gates. All others should give the pond area a wide berth to leave the airspace clear for HP turns and aborted runs.
"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

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DocPop


IMO the pond should be reserved for those who have already mastered their turns and are now moving on to practice with gates. All others should give the pond area a wide berth to leave the airspace clear for HP turns and aborted runs.



You don't "master the turn" if you need "practice with gates", imo.

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cube



You don't "master the turn" if you need "practice with gates", imo.



I understand what you're saying, and maybe master wasn't the right term to use. But one should be proficient at performing a repeatable turn at an appropriate altitude before one tries to hit a set of gates from that turn.
"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

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