skyjames

Tent #1 WFFC was talking to DJan, she asked me if I wanted to jump with them (which I did , that is why I was there) I said, "well I'm not sure if I am good enough" she asked, "how many jumps do you have?" I said "about 60 or so" She looks at me and says, "Do you know bill von?" . "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Thx Dave ! skyjames

Photo of the bottom float position, or is it really top float ... upsidedown ... doesn't matter, 'twas fun, day 2 wffc http://www.geocities.com/skyjames2/new-22.jpg Yahoo doesn't seem to allow offsite viewing. Copy/Pasting the url works though. sorry. . "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

After looking at your profile, I would say you made the correct decision. Assuming that a "few" years ago you were just off student status. Jumping at DZs you are not familure with should add a level of danger alertness. Yours was working. RIP... Mike McDonnal did his 8th and last jump at this dz. He didn't make it back to land, hit his head on a submerged rock and drowned, in shallow H2O. This "lake" in the middle is only 15 feet deep. His problem wasn't cloud cover or darkness, it was wind on a sunny day. We used to joke it was the 'gators that would kill you if you landed in the lake. To be fair, the dz had a different owner and different name at the time. I have jumped those conditions you mention ... at that DZ and felt I knew the area well enough (200+ jumps there) to be comfortable. I hate to miss out on the last load of the day, but will if conditions aren't right. John is right about the "aroma" during the day, it wasn't sugarcane burning. That was then, different ppl there now. . "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Fair enough, and true. The consideration I gave to his remarks were based on the fact he had been opening at 5K. Eventually his normal opening altitude will get lower as his confort zone and time in sport matures. For anyone not to tell: manifest/load organizer/other jumpers, that you are pulling high is a no-no, and bill just mentioned one good reason. . "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Sunshine, I understand the point you were asking. I ignored that point, even said I did :+) The action you described during the C/ride was more compelling to me than someone taking issue with you after the jump ... but to post my thoughts on the yelling and place. Yelling generally solves nothing, unless you are yelling WATCH OUT! HEADS UP! or some other attention getter for the purpose of alerting that danger exists ... (Warning Will Rogers, Warning!). If you gotta yell, take it outside. His approach to you in the hanger probably just made him look like a hothead. People should know how to handle a jump safety issue after the jump, but time and again we see ppl yelling. Walk away, they are hot and if the issue is really important they will seek you out, maybe calmed down by then. Altitude you were in the saddle at? Aprox what altitude did you see the other canopy coming toward you? Did he make any evasive measures at all? Was he on your dive, I'm guessing probably not. Seems like a good, heads up avoidance job in a difficult situation, you landed safe and even got to hear a rant. I'll take a rant over an ambulance ride any day. . "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Sure bill, I won't argue with your points. I was not trying to read between the lines of the original post. Most "you cut me off" complaints I have seen/heard about were during final, I am not one to say they can't happen at higher altitudes, or didn't occure on this jump. This was a 5 way, you and I both know 100 feet is distance enough to avoid contact for heads up jumpers, but unless the break off was lower than I suspect, tracking correctly should have put more than 100ft between the bodies, still I have no idea if the person that was complaining was on the same 5 way or not. Point taken, though the poster concerned themself more with protocol than the more pressing issue at hand. Perhaps the poster can clarify this position good to read you again stuDent . "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Forgetting for the sake of this post/reply that added input with canopy controls (riser/toggle) to increase landing approach speed, generally refered to as hook turning for no reason except to surf a distance greater and faster and to say "look Ma no hands" than your normal (what is normal) landing ... I could suggest, that any landing you wake up in a cold sweat after, brush yourself off, climb out of the hole you just dug, wondering why your rig isn't on your back, to be a high performance landing. Just guessing. "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

QuoteAfter a 5way jump i did, i had a bad opening. My canopy opened hard, then immediately took a hard dive to the left. (I beleive my right brake came unstowed upon opening). I tried to pull on my right riser and ended up using both hands to pull it hard enough to stop the dive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bad opening, was it whack you senseless bad? Your canopy opened, this is good. You didn't do a canopy control check, the canopy did it for you. It's understandable that the gray area gets larger, but you say you *think* your right brake came unstowed. Pardon me ... you think the brake came unstowed? You landed the canopy, obviously you had control of it at flare time (good thing too) When you did reach for the brake toggles, was one different than the other, as in one flapping in the breeze and the other still stowed? You don't mention your pull attitude. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anyhoo, during this another jumper was coming at me under canopy, so when i saw him i continued pulling the right riser to make a hard turn to avoid him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You just did a 5 way, you don't say what aircraft you jumped from, nor what exit place you had, 1st, 2nd, etc or last. You don't say if the jumper that took issue with you was on your 5 way, or if he was on a different exit. What I a can see from your post is: After the 5 way jump, (say 4K breakoff) you track ... Takes you to 3K or about ... altitude please? Your canopy opened and (whatever kind of opening) it controlled you, not the opposite. You controled the canopy after it told you it wasn't going to fly right. (I am still not sure when you left the risers and switched to toggles) Then: You had a close encounter of the canopy kind. You landed safely. YES! (as it should be) Soon after landing an angry jumper says you cut him off. I am having a difficult time picturing this happining, not the jumper being angry, not your bad opening being corrected with riser input ... I am having a difficult time seeing how this other jumper happened to be in the same area you were in after your opening, with the claim "you cut him off", while you were fighting a canopy above your hard deck. Then again all this could have happened before your final. Random thoughts: That had to be a really low opening you had, from what I know, cutting someone off is normally done on final, not directly after opening. If this *close encounter* was just after opening, more than a public display of anger could have occured and good it didn't. Actually it doesn't matter when it occured, this scene sucks. Think you are right? No problem, most DZ's have an ST&A that are more than willing to dance the dance, offer suggestions or solve disputes such as these. I know some ST's will tilt toward the experienced jumpers story, but if they are worth their salt they will see the problem from an objective view. This is where any such encounters should be taken. Good bad or ugly, it is yours and the other jumpers life that is on the line. Maybe the ST&A would review jumps dedicated to tracking after breakoff, or maybe group seperation, I wouldn't know, I wasn't there, but if you are doing 5 ways, you already know this stuff, yes? Fact is, you had a dispute; Secondary as to who is right or wrong, is preventing your next encounter like this one, should there ever be one, from becoming a fatility. Ever seen or heard two canopies collide? I have, I jumped high enough to call my landing a base jump! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was in the packing area dropping my gear ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Right now, I am going to forget the friendly meeting you had in the packing area. Be happy you were able to have it. Ever seen two (or more) skydivers argue about something that occured, each knowing they were in the right? Nooooo, never :\) . "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Don't fool yourself. You do know what you are "comfortable" with. 5000 ft. I assume you will buy gear in the near future and not rent, or borrow for 200+ jumps as I did. Try dropping your pull altitude by 500 foot at a time, until you are comfortable pulling lower. Granted this will cause you to miss a 2 or 3 way for the time being, but there is plenty of time for "ways" later. Just remember it's YOU that has to be in your comfort zone. Do not let anyone tell you pulling lower than you feel good about is unsafe. Exit last, give a good count for the ppl/tandems/etc that left just before you exit. As already mentioned, tell jumpers/load organizer what you plan to do and do only that. Besides, pulling higher will prolly get you back to the DZ, being last out. Some of my most memorable jumps have been hop-n-pops from a bit higher than 5K ;) "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

As one of the "manifest girls" I can tell you that none of the three of us at the manifest window had any clue about the jet not showing up until that copy of the fax was shoved in front of our faces. The dropping jaw was legit and heartfelt. As for "Don will make an announcement", you didn't really think that one of us would be willing to make that announcement and take the heat for it, did you? --------------------------------------------------- It was obvious that none of the girls knew anything about it. I asked 1st and when told "this is news to me",I said I saw a memo about it, I was asked to show a copy, which I did, 'twasn't me that "shoved" anything at anyone :) Anyhoo ... I was disappointed the jet wasn't there but continued jumping. Hmmm.. I jumped everything but the high altitude jump. On the helicopter jump was the 1st time I have ever been concerned about the reliability of seatbelts! james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Yo! Billy, Where the hell were you while I stood in line for a chance to jump (err I mean out jump) your butt? Huh! You and Amy decided to compleatly ignore that SKYJAMES was there, a force to be reconed with Never you mind, D. Jan took it upon herself to entertain me. 1st she asks how many jumps I have... I err here and say 14. She reconizes a billy joke when she sees one. "Oh by the way, did you see that joke some guys played on Bill one year" she asks? Oh well, blew that one. Had a good time, might be back .. that is, if Don DOES NOT say a Jet is really coming! After the jet was xled ... btw I got a copy of the memo and went to manifest to ask if it was really true the Jet had been scrubbed. The looked at me as if I were trying to start a riot act. Told me they heard no such thing, when I presented the memo to the "Manifest girl", her jaw dropped and she went to the back room. Upon returning she said Don would be making an announcment shortly... where was I, oh yeah ... after the jet was xcled it was like all the snow birds in Florida migrated back north. Befor the xcling you couldn't walk across tent city, after the xcling you could drive the golf cart across it with ease. 'nuff of this, had a great time despite no jet. scare-de-kat! james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" blue skies "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Ok, here's the scoop. If you take the rant out, U have oul left. Don't sound like much eh? oul= oh, u left? Yes, I am (will be) leaving for RANToul tomorrow, wait, no, I am leaving here (my home) tomorrow with my final destination ... geesh back home again, this sucks .. what I mean to say I am going to RANToul, and all my plans include the end result of me ending up back where I started from. (Yeah, right here) Got a new laptop, taking it with me (damn I hope it works better on the road than it does here) and I, with the help of the electron gods, phone company(s) and fate, will deliver a blow by blow update on a (hopefully) daily basis of "JAMES DOES RANTOUL." WOW, that has a nice ring to it :) Anyhoo, I know one person who will be building and posting a 'DIARY,' (loved reading it all the years I couldn't go to the WFFC), but that is only one point of view. I'ma gonna give ya'll another one. So why not start now with a PRE WFFC post, just so ya'll can get an idea of what to expect. ------------------------------------------------ I went out to the DZ today, got in 2 jumps. One 8 way and one 9 way. Nothing much happened during the jumps that was noatable, well, that is if you don't include the fact that my new and improved jump suit is so slick I fall like a greased ball of snot, yeah I went low ... wasn't my fault, those lofty bastards were wearing baggy suits and only weighed 1000 lbs betwix them! For the life of me I don't know why they always make me a diver, for once I wish I could do front float, yeah, that's it, I'd show them then. Anyhoo, before I could show them what I could do on front float it started raining. Beer thirty, end of jumping for the day. This is probably good 'cause I got a ton of loose ends to take care of before I move on to bigger and better stuff at the "New and Improved WFFC." (like posting this) I have no idea what the hell I am doing on a 9 way, it's an odd number ya know? I can't wait to do something even numbered at the WFFC, like a 30 or 60 way. Stay tuned, I intend to have a blast (even if the others on my jumps shake their heads and wonder what the hell I am doing on them), and report my antics back here. Of course it will be a biased accounting, but what the hay, I am the one reporting it. yours in skydiving ( I call it 'skydiving' even if they do shake their heads at me) bill von better watch out ;) skyjames muff muff 2773 'exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile' 'nother james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Quote Mike Anderson Skydive America~ Pahokee, Fl lol bb, look at the # I used and the # the poster uses. One and the same. Hi ya Mike! congrads,where are you doing your 1K jump? james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Mike is no color. He darker than the tannest white jumper I know though. Mike (D9493) has more tandem (TM) jumps than most of us have jumps period. Did my 100th with him (and about 12 others). No matter where I see him, Sebastian,Clewiston,Deland...etc, I always ask him if he is fun jumping. What a great person! If Martin Evans were reading this he would say, "Mike?, he can get on any jump, anywhere, anytime. In the words of my old friend James Depenna: "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" I wish my friend of color was still with us. james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

I left that off on purpose james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Why would I want to do that? This thread is holding up pretty well without the aid of a bra. If any thread deserved the "hot" thread award, it should be this one. I get hot just thinking about nipples. ok, ok a tit joke . . . There was old hermit named Dave Who kept a dead whore in his cave She was ugly as shit and had but one tit but think of the money Dave saved. I wish I hadn't posted this. james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

A city boy, Kenny, moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died." Kenny replied, "Well then, just give me my money back." The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already." Kenny said, "OK then, just unload the donkey." The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?" Kenny said, "I'm going to raffle him off." Farmer, " You can't raffle off a dead donkey!" Kenny, "Sure I can.Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he is dead." A month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?" Kenny, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $898.00." Farmer, "Didn't anyone complain?" Kenny, " Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back." "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Nipples Yeah that's the ticket! While we are on the subject let me add my .02 Tits! I love titties, big ones, small ones, ovals, pear and round shape are just plain fun to look at, that is when you aren't doing otherwise with them. Those store bought ones are sure pretty to look at, but they don't have the feel or bounce like the ones nature provides. Nipples are gods way of showing you where the tit ends, without them most guys would get lost and might just start sucking on your shoulder blade. It would probably suck to be a flat chested girl with a wart on your shoulder blade. Nipples ... squeeze 'em, pull 'em, nibble on 'em, suck on 'em till they are hard, swollen and red. I like to see nipples trying to excape a wet tee shirt. Big silver dollar sized nipples. Small pert nipples. Puffy nipples. Gotta love 'em all. Oh to walk over an acre of tit, or sleep on a bed of pubic hair. But that is for a different thread, like .. butts, legs eyes and lips. Bring back the NIPPLE! james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Oh my! How Un-geeky of me :) oops ... door! "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

There are several ways to get viruses. Opening email attachments is one. You must have a really old version of Norton, the back door virus (in all it's versions) isn't anything new. Downloading free games from unknown sites will get the job done also, but there are other ways also. Want to know how safe your comp is from the rest of the world? Go here and run the tests, my guess is you will be a bit surprised at the results. [http://www.pcflank.com/art21.htm ] If you want to get rid of any file/folder/program on your own, play with this free app. enjoy :) [http://www.gibinsoft.net/gipoutils/rightview.htm] his geekness, james door! "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

I have always been puzzled by the lack of effort some (not you Bill) people are willing to spend to achieve any particular licence. While most of us realize having a licence (any licence) actually only shows you have fulfilled certian requirments, it also can be a barometer of your abilities. D licence loads ... jeesh, some of those are fun just to watch! Or scary! Tell me Bill, how many times have we sat in front of manifest to watch a D licence only load land? I think we aptly named it D= DUMMY People don't want to have a restricted licence, reminds them too much of their 1st drivers licence me thinks :) The E licence idea has been around, kicked around, pushed around ... the corner, out of view. I wonder what Dan Rossi would have to say about his depth perception on a night jump? Do you recall the time I spent trying to get a live water jump? About 1 year IIRC. I had to travel to get to do it and would do it again! That is off topic but relates effort spent and no licence requires it. Neither does jumping a round but I travled to do one of those also. I agree with those who don't want to cheapen an already to easily attained coveted "D" door! james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

"Dude, that brought tears to my eyes" It was a sad day. Read it as an outlook on your 1st day of skydiving The collections of strips are available, as are books with stories. I think I liked "Babysitter" best. I may grow old, but I will never grow up. "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

Correction: It wasn't (Mike) MOM that posted, it was (Don) Treetop My bad! james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james

The last script of C&H can be seen here: http://www.geocities.com/skyjames2/cal.htm If you think about it, it should be what you thought after your 1st jump. Another one I think is cool: And kinda skydiving related is a photoshop "fix" of cal and girl friend :) http://www.geocities.com/skyjames2/calgirl3.gif james "exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile" 'nother james