obelixtim

After doing ground tests on hand deploying reserves like this, we concluded that the mess was caused by the packing method. Pulling the reserve out, with one hand on the apex and one on the periphery resulted the guts dropping out as soon as the reserve was extracted from the container. We changed to a roll pack, which involved rolling the reserve up from the apex. (rather like a toilet roll) This resulted in a much more solid handful of canopy which was much easier to extract and throw, without it turning into a mess. Never had to do it in anger, as we had just turned to cutaways and pilot shot reserves. Glad we had the new fangled system. Hand deploy was only any good under cheapos anyway, PCs tended to spin up a lot faster than a C9.

RIP Frank, ex Manawatu Skydiving club. Judge at several nationals in the 70s. The big C strikes another one down.

The answer is.....Yes. But, as usual, there is always someone who knows better than the majority of experienced jumpers.

RIP Richard Kinloch, who was a good buddy back in the 70s at Manawatu Skydiving Club before he moved to Australia and jumped at Elderslie DZ. Ex RNZAF. We had some crazy good times back in those days. Fly free old mate. ETA: Richard posted on DZ.com as Marisan. Hadn't been on here for a while as he was battling the effects of a stroke a couple of years ago.

Getting in front of the big spinny whirlygigs of death is always a dumb thing to do. I am going to steal that line!!! :) That is so awesome!!!!! Ironic in a way that over the last 3 or 4 years it was women that have been mauled by those "big spinny whirlygigs of death" !!! Def gonna paint that line on an aircraft!!!! So much better than: "Prop Blast." Or " Danger Zone." We just call it the mincer... (mince = ground beef, hackfleisch, carne picada) My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

There is no such thing/person as a skygod. Get that out of your head. Anyone arrogant enough to consider themselves as a skygod, is nothing of the sort. Wanker would be a much more appropriate description... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Sorry man, but I have a big issue with your home brew opinions and training ideas. So will any family, First Responder, or any individual responsible for another's treatment that isn't in the book. You want to "train" others to follow your point of view? AGAIN, your all alone on this one. You have neither the experience or training to create your own treatment protocols, nor do you have any authority to do so. But yet you persist in framing your opinion as some kind of sanctioned activity in a vain attempt at creating some kind of plausible conduct that does nothing to help the injured person. Again, your eloquent attempt to shift the care of the injured to protect gear is insane. You have your priorities messed up. Spend the same amount of time elsewhere, because believe me, I have seen the result of this kind of insanity many times,.... you will end up in court, alone. Attempting to explain why the damage you caused to a defenseless individual was so important. And when you start to explain you felt that saving the Gear was more important,.....Good luck with that. Again, prioritizing gear instead of caring for a casualty sends an insane message. Your priorities are screwed up man! Why do so many of you persist in saving gear, the can be easily repaired, is just a heap of nylon, Why do you continue to place such a high value on equipment, that isn't even yours, as compared to the pain and suffering, potential irreparable damage to someone else's health, and a delay of care? All to protect gear??? The logic is inane. ESPECIALLY when this same amount of effort could be spent on actually doing something good? And your comments about First Responders, and Medics don't know anything about skydiving is just irresponsible and irrelevant. Knowing how to care for an injured person has nothing to do with the activities of skydiving other than the MOI. Like I said, my scissors cut nylon like going thru butter. And if in my opinion a harness is in the way of actually caring for a fellow skydiver that harness is history and you will end up arrested if you interfere. You have NO RIGHT to interfere with another's care to save a nylon strap. I don't think he's seriously suggesting that a severely injured jumper can be cared for properly by DZ personnel. Nor do I think anyone is going to jump all over an EMT doing his job. They wouldn't have the equipment anyway. That is the job of the professionals, and I think people with the basics in first aid would not get involved with anything but treating for shock and giving reassurance to someone with a suspected spinal or head injury. But standing around with your finger up your arse while someone is lying injured and you are waiting for the EMTs isn't a hell of a good option either. But a broken leg might be met with a bit of arguing if you pull out your butter cutting knife. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I miss static line. Good times! If you are really good at instability, you should be able to tie a reef knot and bowline before deployment.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Not sure what aircraft you are using, but once out the door, that becomes pretty irrelevant. Forget about the license thing, that will come anyway if you stick with it. Its irrelevant at this point. And don't compare yourself to others, everyone is different, there will always be people who progress faster or slower. Forget them. Think about where the air flow is coming from. Initially it will be coming from the front of the plane towards the back, from both the prop blast, and the forward momentum of the aircraft itself. As you drop below the aircraft, as your forward momentum washes off, the airflow changes to come from below. You've been taught to present your belly to the relative wind in FF. The same rule applies throughout the jump. On exit, present your belly to the relative wind. It doesn't matter if you are head up, head down or sideways. If you dive straight out, you need to do a half roll to present your belly. Hold the position and you will transit naturally to a stable face to earth FF. If you are unstable, flip over, or start to turn or spin, that comes from rigidity, somewhere in your arms or legs (most likely) As every student gets hammered into them, the key is to relax. Think about long hair blowing in the wind. That's what your arms and legs need to be doing. The wind will do the work, you don't have to fight it. Head and shoulders back, and arms and legs blowing in the wind. Even if your arms and legs are asymmetric, if they are really relaxed this won't cause a problem. Tension comes from nervousness, which itself comes from several directions. I'd suggest your current nervousness comes from the fear of screwing up the jump, which just makes things worse. Plus you are prolly trying to rush things. The thing to remember is you have plenty of time in your FF to sort things out, so it doesn't matter if it takes a few extra seconds to get things right. If you are really struggling for stability, the delta is your best friend. Even straight out the door, if you adopt a delta it will put you head down and stable reasonably quickly. Then you can transition back to belly to earth. It all comes down to self confidence. Focus on the positive things you can already do well, and don't stew on the negatives. With confidence comes the ability to really relax. Then it will all suddenly all come together, and you'll be wondering where all the problems came from. It'll happen. Rome wasn't built in a day. ETA: And just remember, every skydiver you'll ever meet, was once a student. Any that claim they never ever had a problem, is a stone cold liar. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

This is the story of pretty much every student. It's no big deal. You just need more jumps. A diving exit can be difficult. I know people with 300 jumps who screw it up 50% of the time. It takes practice. As long as you're being safe, the rest is fairly inconsequential at this point. It will get easier with time. Rubbish. That sounds to me that there are a bunch of crap instructors out there. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I've been to about a dozen DZs on the west coast. Only one had a GSO, and only on the weekends. It certainly does not happen at most DZs from what I've seen. A DZ is a business intended to make money. I dont think many DZOs will see the value in posting someone out at the landing area to watch a bunch of licensed jumpers who by definition are authorized to jump without any supervision at all. I am not saying I agree with it. I think there is value in having a GSO, but I dont think many (any) DZOs are willing to pay for one and fun jumpers are not going to agree to a price increase to cover one. The DZSO/GSO doesn't need to spend his time standing around watching people. He can jump all he wants. Most days he will have little to do. The DZ regulars are his eyes and ears, and, on a good well run DZ, are part of the safety system, and can take an active part in it. Everyone is responsible for what happens on a DZ, because everyone is affected by events on it. Everyone is a "safety officer" if you like. I would be pissed off if one of my senior jumpers noticed and ignored a potential issue. The DZSO is just the "go to" person for anything to do with questions/answers anyone has on DZ etiquette, or to take charge and give direction if there is an incident or issue that crops up. Its not that difficult. Most senior jumpers are capable of taking on some responsibility. It doesn't/should never be, about money. And no DZ makes money by being shut down/sued off the planet, or having a bad reputation. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I was gonna say contact numbers and addresses of your local mortician. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Great post. As you say, every DZ is a local operation, and should have good relationships with all the outside local authorities also. Every DZ needs to have a dedicated drop zone safety officer in charge, whenever operations are proceeding. Either the Chief Instructor or one of his deputies. This happens at most DZs. Back in the day, we initiated a specific DZSO rating. Needed a C licence minimum. There was an exam, which if passed, meant you had the rating. To hold the rating though, you needed to hold a current first aid certificate, issued by Red Cross or similar. Holders of the rating were able to run the DZ in the absence of the Chief Safety Officer, and had all his authority, but for disciplinary sanctions, which were limited to 24 hours until the CSO could be informed. The training involved all aspects of running a DZ, including investigating accidents and incidents, checking gear and paperwork for visitors, overseeing students, briefings, liaision with other airfield users and local authorities. Sounds like a lot, but normally most of these systems were in place and didn't involve a lot of time on the day. No DZSO or CSO present at the DZ? No jumping. Nurses, EMTs, paramedics and rescue personnel weren't thick on the ground, especially at smaller DZs. The DZSO rating was a stepping stone to higher ratings like instructor. And a Tandem Instructor (as they are known these days) was actually a Tandem Master, and not an Instructor at all. Instructor was a much higher rating. A Tandem master didn't need to know anything about first aid, running a DZ etc etc. With accidents most times, the professionals didn't like us messing too much with injured people apart from treating for shock, unless it was a life or death situation. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I'm not a great believer in bans, long ones just make the jumper uncurrent and more likely to screw up again. But your next 5 jumps would be hop and pops from minimum altitude. No higher than 4 grand anyway. That'll learn ya. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

. Ok, this was in Incidents, and a couple of off topic posts followed which were axed. I guessed this was aimed at me, and so responded. Without going thru it all again, basically I pointed out that having jumped in quite a few different countries, I am quite well aware how USPA and other organisations operate (or not). The US stands out on its own. In NZ at least, CAA is not regarded as a scary monster, because as long as you don't draw their attention by repeated acts of stupidity, they will leave us alone. Its not really an adverserel relationship, they are more likely to help find solutions rather than wield the big stick. And they will back off a dispute if you present your points logically. They prefer skydiving to run its own affairs, and one of the advantages of being a small country is that skydive operators all know each other pretty well, and its pretty easy to get consensus, especially when it comes to operations. Any screw ups reflect on all,so there is strong motivation to keep standards high. Adventure activities in NZ are pretty important to the economy, so regulations give a fair bit of freedom to operators to do their thing. The attitude is more like "how can we make it happen" rather than "you can't..." It really helps that there is no culture of suing at the drop of a hat, which as I see it is a huge negative for the US. And that seems to drive the reluctance to disseminate information which could reduce incidents. Most other countries seem to do OK. To an outsider, the US system seems broken. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....